Dolphins’ Madison on Ramsey/Howard combo, Noah, Cam Smith. And coach on Liam’s status

A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Thursday:

▪ Long-time Dolphins fans recall the dynamic cornerback tandem of Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain.

Xavien Howard and Jalen Ramsey, on paper, seem to be Miami’s best cornerback duo since.

Can they accomplish what Madison and Surtain did?

“They really have a great opportunity to do some really good things and I’m just happy to be a part of it and watch these guys do it,” Madison, the Dolphins’ cornerbacks coach, said Thursday.

“The energy is there. Just watching these two guys communicate from Day 1. When they got here they’ve been hanging out together and that’s what it really takes and what it boils down to. Pat and I, we were hanging out together off the field and we were always communicating football. So that is what it’s going to take and they seem like they’re on the right path.”

Surtain, a Dolphins assistant last season, left this offseason to join Florida State’s coaching staff. He had 29 interceptions in seven seasons in Miami (1998 to 2004) and was first team All Pro one year and second team All Pro another. Madison had 31 interceptions in nine seasons with the Dolphins (1997 through 2005) and was first team All Pro twice and second team All Pro twice.

Howard has 28 interceptions in seven seasons with Miami and has been a first team All Pro once and second team All Pro once. Ramsey, acquired from the Rams in March, is a three-time first team All Pro with 19 picks in seven seasons.

“They can be whatever they want to be, but it’s going to take work,” Madison said of Howard and Ramsey. “It’s going to take hard work. It’s going to take dedication and they’ve got to go out there and perform the best way they know how. Then go out there and impose their will each and every week.

“There can’t be any letdowns. There’s a lot of people looking for big things from them and they know that.”

Madison’s early impressions of Ramsey?

“Phenomenal player in this league and we’re just looking to be able to build off of what he’s done in the past. He always takes playing football very seriously. Just listening to the way he’s conversing with these guys, he’s into it. I didn’t really have much experience with him and understanding him and knowing him ahead of this.

“But these last few weeks, the last month or so, it’s been really fun being around him because that’s all he talks. He talks football and being able to have him out there watching different plays and situations and watching him communicate with the younger guys saying this is how this will happen or such and such. It’s just been fun.”

▪ Madison said second-round rookie cornerback Cam Smith is “doing very well. But guess what, he’s a rookie, right? We can look around the league since football’s been in inception and they’re going to have their ups and downs. But he’s a fast learner.

“He still has a long way to go, but he’s getting better at each and every last one of those things that we’re throwing at him. We’re going to keep challenging him, we’re going to keep putting him in positions and see exactly what we can get out of him.”

Smith had multiple pass breakups in OTAs open to reporters.

▪ Madison said Noah Igbinoghene has “grown a lot. It’s a totally new system for him.”

In my view, it’s difficult to see a path for Igbinoghene to make the team in a room with Howard, Ramsey, Kader Kohou, Nik Needham (off an Achilles injury), Smith and ace special teams players Keion Crossen and Justin Bethel.

But…

“Just being able to see him on the first day for his meetings and him in there learning the defense and then being able to apply the things on the football field, it’s there,” Madison said. “The physical is there. He’s always in shape. He’s always in top-tier conditioning. Now he just has to get in that playbook.

“No matter what we say in this building, the most important part is getting your teammates’ trust and confidence to be able to go out there and play with him and he’s done that.”

▪ Madison said Kohou - who exceeded all expectations as a rookie last season - “is open to whatever challenge Vic [Fangio] throws at him. He’s open to competition because he never backs down. His body looks good. He’s taken care of some things off the field and we’re just going to... see exactly how it all plays out.”

▪ New offensive line coach Butch Barry said Thursday that he’s pleased to be back in Miami; he coached at UM in 2018.

He replaces Matt Applebaum, who wasn’t retained. How did his deal to join the Dolphins come together?

“Well, kind of dates back a few years,” Barry said. “I got to know [Mike McDaniel] in 2020 when I was in Green Bay. He was in San Fran. And then I got hired there in 2021 obviously we worked together for a full year.”

Offensive coordinator Frank Smith said Barry’s addition has “been great. He’s a great teacher. Obviously his familiarity with Mike helps because coming from being in the system in San Francisco, he had an understanding of the concepts and what we’re looking to accomplish.”

▪ Barry said he’s pleased how Liam Eichenberg has done at center in the offseason program; Eichenberg has been filling in for Connor Williams, who missed the mandatory minicamp as he seeks a new contract.

Presuming Williams returns (and he’s under contract), Eichenberg figures to return to left guard.

“He’s done everything the right way to be the left guard also,” Barry said of Eichenberg.

Dan Feeney, signed to play guard and backup center, has been sidelined by an injury.

Could Eichenberg’s cross-training at center make Feeney expendable?

I would be surprised if that happens; Feeney’s $3.25 million salary (including a signing bonus) is fully guaranteed.

COOK SITUATION

The Miami Herald’s Daniel Oyefusi has more on Dalvin Cook’s impending release from the Vikings.

Per a source, both parties are interested, but the Dolphins do not appear eager to write something akin to a blank check for Cook.

This could come down to whether Cook can get a sizable contract from another team. If he cannot, Cook to Miami becomes a better possibility.