MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- A former defensive backs coach, Jeff Hafley is learning how to spread himself to other positions ever since taking the Miami Dolphins' head coaching job in January. It's something he's aware of whenever the team takes the practice field.
So when he gets the opportunity to talk about defensive backs, he's typically loquacious.
"There's three things when I watch a corner's tape, when I evaluate a tape, that I always look at," he said at the NFL annual league meeting in March. "There's three levels of play that I want to see if they can win at. One is the line of scrimmage. I call that Level 1. Can he win at the line? Can he press, can he make a guy stop and start his feet? Can he use his hands? Is he quick enough to change direction? Can he take good cutoff angles? When a guy steps out and goes in, is he fast enough to come back inside?
"Level 2 is all the intermediate routes, all the in-breaks, the digs, the comebacks. Can he drop his hips and accelerate out of his cuts? Or is he a high-hip guy that can't do that and maybe he doesn't have to do that because he can win so well at the line of scrimmage? And then Level 3 is can he win down the field? Can he make a play down the field?
"Now, I don't know if you're going to find many that can be elite Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 -- those are the Darrelle Revises of the world and the Hall of Famers ... but then you look to see can they at least do two out of the three? Then I go from there and then it's 'can they do one out of the three?'` If they can't do any out of three, then we're probably going to have to find a different player."
The Dolphins entered the offseason needing starting-caliber talent, depth or both at nearly every position, but cornerback was perhaps the most glaring. Last season's starters, Jack Jones and Rasul Douglas, left via free agency, as did three-year starting nickel corner Kader Kohou.
Miami didn't have the salary cap space to go after any of the top free agent cornerbacks, instead signing veterans Darrell Baker Jr., Marco Wilson and Alex Austin. It did own two picks in the first round, however, and used one of them to trade up for former San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson.
Johnson was one of Hafley's favorite players in the draft, and he will be relied on as the foundation of Miami's rebuilt secondary -- starting with learning all three cornerback positions.
"It's definitely interesting doing it at this level," Johnson said. "I feel like back in school when I did it, I was just playing man-to-man. But coming here and actually learning the zone drops and learning the different kinds of coverages, you know, it's not easy, but I'm getting it done.
"Coach Hafley, putting me in that position, just says he views me as a very important player to be able to do an important thing like playing inside and outside. So there's just a lot of pressure on me, but I enjoy pressure and I like to come out on top."
The Dolphins traded the 30th and 90th overall picks to the San Francisco 49ers to move up to pick No. 27 and make Johnson the second cornerback taken in the draft. He elevated himself to a first-round pick after running the 40-yard dash in 4.40 seconds -- which Johnson said was probably the biggest question mark about him during the pre-draft process.
Miami recorded nine interceptions in 2025, the ninth fewest in the league, and allowed a league-high 72% completion percentage.
Hafley and his staff are hoping Johnson, who intercepted six passes and defended 19 more during his career with the Aztecs, can help improve the team's numbers from a season ago.
Johnson's performance in spring practices has left the team feeling validated in its decision to trade up for him.
"I think he's done a really nice job," Hafley said. "He is very instinctual. He sees the game very fast. He works really hard in the meeting rooms. He's super athletic, has really good coverage ability. He's been able to get his hand on the football and we've asked him to do a lot and he's handled it very, very well.
"We've thrown a lot on his plate, and he's responded and I'm really excited to continue to coach him. ... He's got a good energy about him, and he's mature. You'll see it. He's really mature for a rookie."
The last rookie first-round cornerback to start at least 10 games for the Dolphins was Troy Vincent in 1992. In all, nine rookies started double-digit games for Miami, the most recent being Kohou in 2022.
Dolphins defensive coordinator Sean Duggan said Johnson's energy and ability to learn from every rep has stood out through OTAs and minicamp. Johnson will prove whether he can join the list of the franchise's rookie starters at training camp this summer -- but he passes Hafley's defensive backs assessment test.
"I think he can win at all three [levels]," Hafley said. "And he can take the ball away, and he tackles, and he's aggressive, and I love his play style and he can play inside. I mean, this was one of my favorite guys in the draft that when we started talking about him and it came time to pick him, I mean, I would not have been surprised if he was taken earlier than we took him."