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Marcel Louis-JacquesESPN
MIAMI — Jalen Ramsey has a simple response to any skeptic who says he’s past his prime — watch the tape.
The Miami Dolphins‘ cornerback held an introductory news conference at the team facility Thursday, one day after his trade from the Los Angeles Rams was made official. A three-time All-Pro and eight-time Pro Bowler, Ramsey allowed the second-most touchdowns as the nearest defender in the NFL last season, but has matched his career-high with four interceptions in each of the past two years.
Still only 28 years old, Ramsey brushed off the possibility of him falling off and encouraged skeptics to watch his film from last season.
“You gotta really watch it,” he said. “You don’t become this successful without actually doing good things on that field and having the respect from your peers and the media. But you know, we going to see what they have to say. Once we out on the field, that’s what matters.”
Ramsey said he and teammate Xavien Howard, who has four Pro Bowls and an All-Pro nod on his resume, form the best cornerback tandem in the NFL on paper.
They’ll be coached by one-half of one of the best tandems of all time in former Dolphins cornerback Sam Madison, now the team’s cornerbacks coach and passing game specialist. Ramsey said he didn’t want to compare himself and Howard to Madison and Patrick Surtain — who made seven combined Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams during their time together in Miami.
We trying to be the best man. We ain’t trying to really worry about comparing ourselves with anybody else,” Ramsey said. “We trying to be ourselves. We’ve had some success in our individual careers up until this point. We plan to have more success now together in the same secondary as a duo … We just going to get after it. And then when it’s all said and done, then we can talk about — we can go over all of that and we can go over all of what people say.
“We’ll keep the receipts, and we’ll go back over all of that when it’s all said done, after the fact. That’s what I’ve been doing.”
The Dolphins made a splash before the start of free agency when they agreed to send a third-round pick and tight end Hunter Long to the Rams for Ramsey — marking the second time in as many seasons they traded for an All-Pro player, after acquiring wide receiver Tyreek Hill in 2022.
It was their second major defensive addition of the offseason after they hired longtime coach Vic Fangio as their defensive coordinator in February. The Dolphins hope to improve on that side of the ball after ranking 21st in expected defensive points added last season.
Miami faces a challenging division as the AFC East already features Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and potentially Aaron Rodgers if the New York Jets can complete a trade for the four-time MVP. But Ramsey said the Dolphins are equipped to hold their own.
“We’ll be straight. We going to put the work in — it’s the NFL, any given Sunday,” Ramsey said. “But I think we’ll be good … They played well in the division without me, I’m just trying to add to that.”