Receiver standing out at Dolphins camp
Wide receiver a standout early at Dolphins camp.
Wide receiver Isaiah Ford has been an early breakout performer in Dolphins camp, but he could’ve been a star in basketball as well.
DAVIE — If Isaiah Ford wasn’t here, as a breakout performer early in Miami Dolphins training camp, we could blame former Duke basketball player Grayson Allen.
Come again?
Well, as Ford explains it, he and Allen were close friends, growing up in Jacksonville. And Ford was a really good basketball player, too.
“It was my love,” Ford said Monday, after yet another practice in which he made yet another splendid diving catch.
Ford was disappointed in his freshman year on the football team at Trinity Christian Academy.
“I was a quarterback and I wasn’t playing much,” Ford said. “So they converted me to receiver. We won the state championship. But I didn’t really do anything. I didn’t quite feel part of a team.”
Allen, who you may recall as a somewhat feisty Blue Devil, was
recently drafted by the Utah Jazz. Dolphins coaches have actually talked about how Ford is athletic enough now to be in the NBA.
Anyhow, Allen had basically convinced Ford to give up football and transfer to his rival, Providence School.
“My Mom wouldn’t let me,” Ford said.
Ford loved basketball so much he decided to play both sports in college. He loved Florida State, but elected to play for Rick Pitino and Charlie Strong at Louisville.
Then Strong went to Texas. Ford changed his commitment to Virginia Tech, where he became one of the school’s most talented all-time receivers.
We can’t underplay how good a basketball player Ford was. As a high school senior, he averaged 37 points per game. Does he ever think about what would have happened if he’d played for Pitino at Louisville?
“Sometimes,” Ford said. “My Dad would joke around all the time and say how he never knows how the Lord is going to bless me. He thinks I can still go out there and play. Sometimes I do sit there and wonder what if. But at the same time, I love the position I’m in. The opportunity that I have.”
Ford was a seventh-round pick in the 2016 NFL draft. He slipped in the eyes of scouts after running a 4.61 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.
“It was disappointing to me, just because I knew I could run faster,” Ford said. “It wouldn’t show how good of an athlete I was. I knew it would hurt my draft stock. There was a lot going on with my family, in-house things that are situated now. Sometimes God takes us through certain things, to get us to refocus.”
Dolphins coaches praise Ford for his intelligence and work ethic. At this point, it would seem an upset if he did not make the 53-man roster. But he knows he has to earn it in the preseason, as well as prove he can stay healthy.
Ford missed all of last season with a knee injury. And he has recently worn a red no-contact jersey in practice after sustaining an upperbody injury on a long pass play.
“He has a better understanding of how to get open (at the slot receiver position), how to use the defense as leverage, and made a lot of plays in the spring,” Miami coach Adam Gase said. “Now you see him. He’s making plays. We just need to keep working on strengthening certain body parts and keeping him healthy.”
Ford has shown excellent body control, hands and an ability to make acrobatic plays. At 6-foot-2, he’s also taller than eight Dolphins receivers. His basketball pedigree and athleticism also intrigue the team.
“This is what I left college early to do, to play in the NFL,” Ford said. “... My job is to do what I can do, to play as hard as I can, to be available, to be a great teammate, study my stuff and be ready when my number is called.”