Could the Dolphins’ Jevon Holland be the next Pro Bowl safety under Vic Fangio?

A year ago, Jevon Holland spoke about his time at the Pro Bowl following his rookie season and the inspiration he gained from being around the NFL’s best players.

As he enters his third season, the 23-year-old is now paired with a defensive coordinator in Vic Fangio who has a track record of producing Pro Bowl safeties. And if Miami’s defense rebounds in 2023, Holland could be in line to receive the accolade for the first time.

In Fangio’s two-plus-decades as a defensive coordinator, Justin Simmons, Eric Reid and Donte Whitner are among the safeties who have been named to the league’s all-star event under his tutelage. And while the defining move of the Dolphins’ offseason was their trade for All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, Holland’s versatility could allow him to thrive in a defense that will rely on pre- and post-snap deception.

“It’s exciting to just learn from him,” Holland said Tuesday on a virtual news conference. “He’s been in the league longer than I’ve been alive. So, it’s nice to hear him speak about football and his perspective about defense and philosophy and scheme. I’m learning a lot from him, just from the simplest thing to the most complex thing. He explains the game in a very knowledgeable manner. I’m excited to learn and grow underneath him.”

Since taking over as a full-time starter in Week 5 of his rookie season, Holland has rarely left the field for the Dolphins’ defense. In 2022, he recorded 96 tackles, an improvement from his first year, along with two interceptions, 1.5 sacks and seven pass deflections. But a bevy of injuries in the secondary, most notably to fellow starting safety Brandon Jones, forced Holland to take on new roles, specifically lining up closer to the line of scrimmage.

“Tackling out of the post is always a difficult feat for free safeties, safeties in general,” Holland said when asked what he wants to work on. “I feel like I improved on that, as the season progressed. I was put in a lot of different positions during the season last year, and I was able to handle those. So, I was proud of myself for that, but also wanting to build and capitalize on the opportunities that are in front of me. Not leaving money on the field, things like that.

“There’s a lot of moving parts, getting to know the defense better, just understanding more. So, baby steps right now.”

Jones tore his ACL in the first half of the 2022 season and the chemistry built between him and Holland played an instrumental role in the defense’s success in the second half of 2021 when the unit led a midseason turnaround from 1-7. There’s familiarity across the position room, too. Verone McKinley III, who played with Holland at Oregon, logged significant snaps as an undrafted rookie last season. DeShon Elliott, who signed with the Dolphins in free agency, played with Jones at Texas. And Elliott and McKinley have ties from their roots in Dallas.

“Being able to function together on the field, moving around, moving [to] different positions should be seamless, Holland said. “Guys understand that they can be interchangeable and everybody’s willing and able to move around when they need to.”

Holland echoed the sentiments of many of his teammates in downplaying the impact of outside expectations for a defense — and team — that has added multiple star players in the past year. “I’m not really goal based. When you’re goal based and you don’t succeed or get to your goal, you kind of fall into a depressive state or a negative state.”

But the trajectory of Holland in 2023 could tell a lot about how the Dolphins’ defense performs.

“I think this defense is very talented,” Holland said. “I think we all have a like-minded expectation for us to be successful, as every high-level competitor should be.”