Just 12 picks after adding his teammate on the defensive line, the 糖心视频 made Dante Trader Jr. the third of three fifth-round picks in the 2025 class. The Maryland safety joins former and new teammate Jordan Phillips (drafted No. 143 overall) as they make the trek from the DMV to South Florida to embark on their NFL careers.
"Those guys and (Maryland Head Coach) Mike Locksley, I've known him a long time and he does a great job there finding players," Dolphins General Manager Chris Greir said. "He finds those guys that love ball, that are tough, competitive, and so glad to have those two. They're really good quality people, good football players."
Wise beyond his years
Grier's comment on the Maryland football program rings especially true for safety Dante Trader Jr. He played over 2,200 snaps over his four-year college career, lining up anywhere and everywhere in the defensive backfield.
"I've played almost every position on the field that DBs can play," Trader Jr. said. I've played in the box, I've played two-high or one-high. I've covered a lot of tight ends. I've covered some slots. Even some outside corner. I'm very versatile; jack-of-all-trades."
Per Pro Football Focus, Trader Jr.'s most frequent pre-snap position (in the post) made up just 43 percent of his workload. He aligned in the box on 37 percent of his snaps and was in the slot 18 percent of the time. Sprinkle in some time on the line of scrimmage and out at wide corner, Trader's words are backed by the data.
"(Jordan Phillips and Dante Trader Jr.) were the leaders of my team," Locksley said. "Smart, tough, reliable guys that will be great pros!"
Production to match
A versatile communicator who leads by example 鈥 all great traits exhibited by Dante Trader Jr., but it's ultimately the production that matters.
Trader Jr.'s 4.8 percent missed tackle rate was the fourth lowest among Power 4 safeties that played at least 500 snaps last season, according to PFF. By volume, that's 59 total tackles with just three missed attempts. That's coming from the safety position where there is often 20 yards between him and the ball carrier at the start of the snap. Impressive.
Trader Jr. also picked off five passes over his career with 15 more passes defensed. When targeting him in coverage, college quarterbacks posted a passer rating of just 81.6. Trader Jr. became a starter as a sophomore, but over the course of his junior and senior seasons he allowed just two touchdown passes compared to three interceptions.
Two-sport star
Trader Jr. had to make a difficult choice in college between two loves 鈥 football and lacrosse. One season, he enjoyed a "thruple" situation between the two sports playing both sports. He scored five goals for the Terps lacrosse team and forced 14 turnovers all during the same year in which he logged a career-best 813 snaps for the football team.
"Doing two sports allowed me to be resilient and nothing can really bother me and get to me," Trader Jr. said. "Lacrosse is very mental, kind of like a baseball game. You can get in slumps. In football you can be nervous and be not so good and there are 10 other people to cover up your mistakes. So just being able to have the confidence you need to especially be a DB. Like we get beat one time and we get called terrible. So, you've got to be able to be next play mentality. So, I got the grit and mental fortitude from lacrosse."
For more on Dante Trader Jr., and the rest of the Dolphins 2025 draft class, download the Drive Time Podcast with Travis Wingfield.
