What Dolphins Coach Revealed About Long-Term Plan for Marshall Jr.

The Miami Dolphins have had to rely a lot on their rookie class this season, and one player who was surprisingly thrust into a big-time role was CB Jason Marshall Jr.

Because of injuries and his own strong performance, the rookie fifth-round pick left training camp as the team’s primary slot cornerback. It was surprising given his draft pedigree and the fact that he never played in the slot during college.

However, a midseason stint on injured reserve and some less-than-great coverage grades might have put Marshall in a position to play outside again, especially if you consider the team’s long-term outlook at cornerback.

Dolphins cornerbacks coach Mathieu Araujo was asked about Marshall’s long-term role, and his comments reveal where the team thinks Marshall does his best work.

“It's most natural for him to play on the outside,” Araujo told reporters Monday. “We've definitely asked him to do a lot, especially as a rookie, moving inside. A lot of it is just because we've had a ton of injuries, and we're trying to get the best 11 on the field as often as we can.

“So moving him around has really just been to get him on the field. Some of it's out of necessity, but other is really just his skill set, and we felt like he could do that, and he's done a phenomenal job.”

Marshall’s Inside vs. Outside Performance

It shouldn’t be too surprising that the team feels like Marshall’s long-term role is on the outside — that’s what he did at Florida. But even if you look at the small sample size of reps from the 2025 season, it’s pretty obvious how much better he looks outside.

The overwhelming majority of his snaps this season have come from the slot, but he got a chance to play outside in the team’s win against the Washington Commanders.

JuJu Brents suffered his season-ending injury in the fourth quarter, and Rasul Douglas was inactive with a foot/ankle injury. So, the team turned to Marshall, and he performed well.

Jack Jones, rightfully, gets a lot of credit for the game-sealing interception against Washington — he’s the one who made the play after all.

However, if you watch Marcus Mariota’s eyes, you can see he wanted to throw the ball to Marshall’s assignment, but the rookie was in a good position.

That forced Mariota to be late progressing to his next read, giving Jones enough time to undercut the pass. Marshall also had a PBU near the far sideline that helped keep Washington from kicking a short field goal in the fourth quarter.

Marshall’s tape from the slot just doesn’t look quite as good. In the first three games of the season, Marshall was targeted seven times in coverage, and he gave up a catch each time.

He also allowed five of his seven targets to be caught against the Bills in Week 10, according to Pro Football Focus.

“Jason, specifically, every stride that he takes is just a notch in his confidence, because it's experience, you know, like early on in the year, we made it hard on him by moving him inside, having him get comfortable playing inside some of those plays,” Araujo said.

“He's playing in space he's never really played in before. So, as the coaches, we take as much responsibility for some plays that he might not have made over him, but all of that was experience. So, as he got that experience that built his confidence, and now he's not doing stuff for the first time.”

Those stats don’t tell the full story. Some of those were plays where he made a quick tackle, but the overall picture is that Marshall was struggling inside.

The Dolphins Future at Cornerback

Marshall probably will still get reps in the slot this season just because the Dolphins have suffered so many injuries at cornerback.

Past 2025, it makes a lot more sense to consider him an option for a starting spot on the outside. The only cornerbacks under contract for next season are Storm Duck, Jason Maitre, Brents, and Marshall.

The latter three players are injured, and the Dolphins’ current starting outside duo of Jones and Douglas will be free agents when the season is over. Essentially, Miami has no solid plan at cornerback outside of Marshall.

We’ll see how he plays and where he lines up as the season goes, but remember that he might be playing out of position for now.

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