Is 2022 Phins Last Year with Van Ginkel?
Andrew Van Ginkel took a big step forward from 2020 to 2021
Andrew Van Ginkel is a quiet guy in interviews, but on the field he is anything but that. The 2019 5th Round draft pick has grown year after year and is poised for his best season yet. Now, in the final year of his contract, if he takes another step forward he might help the 2022 Dolphins hope of reaching the playoffs… and price himself out of their future.
Van Ginkel is better than many Phins fans realize
In 2020, Van Ginkel posted a PFF grade of 79.1 Overall in 400 snaps, which was good enough for 12th best edge defender. But, in 2021, his PFF Grade fell to 62.8 ranking him the 71st edge defender and with Jaelen Phillips in the mix, many are ho-hum about Van Ginkel. On the surface it looks like Van Ginkel is trending downward… this isn’t a accurate portrayal of his trajectory.
Compare his growth from 2020 to 2021:
While his coverage did suffer at times, he earned 7 passes defended to compensate. Also, his 51 solo tackles led all edge defenders and he was a force in pass rush despite only posting 4 sacks. Van Ginkel was 29th in pressures with 31, 19th with 20 hits on QBs, 39th with 12 hurries and his 14 knockdowns was 9th best. This production adds a ton of context to his 4 sacks.
Will Van Ginkel be back in 2022?
You can bet with the best pay per head that Jaelen Phillips having a great sophomore season in both run and pass defense would make losing Van Ginkel much more palatable. Maybe getting rents like Melvin Ingram could too. But, Van Ginkel is a quality player in his ability to both rush the passer AND defend against the run… and then there is his hustle. I watch a lot of film and Van Ginkel over 2020 and 2021 was a not stop machine with a motor that never, ever quit.
To me, he’s a 100 % keeper and I’m hoping he gets a second contract. Unfortunately, Miami will be tight against the cap next season and they spent big on Ogbah and have Phillips. You can’t keep everyone, sadly. If Van Ginkel has a very good season it will be a ton of helping getting the Phins to the postseason, but it might also grease the skids for him going to another team! In this case, one out of two wouldn’t be my best case scenario, but at least it would be a great send off for the kid. Go Phins!!!
MJ,
Totally agree. If Van Ginkle plays well get what we can out of Ingram this season and then let him go. Van Ginkle’s play was the major reason we got rid of Van Noy after just one (1) season. Van Noy was very surprised but I seem to remember that you said Van Ginkle overall played better! Just my opinion.
He was more consistent than Van Noy and better in run stop… Van Noy has some very nice impact plays though. I do think they moved on from Van Noy because of the cap and Van Ginkel playing the way he did… something though was going on in the background too… that was a very weird offseason. Hope all is well, Stephen!!!