The 2019 NFL season will be a much different experience for defensive back Bobby McCain. A draft selection by the Dolphins in 2015, there isn’t much that McCain hasn’t seen to this point in his NFL career — until now. Because for the first time in his pro career, Bobby McCain is playing something other than cornerback. McCain confirmed yesterday the rumor of the offseason — that he’s now playing free safety.

“I’ve definitely got to know it all. I’ve got to know all five positions on the field. But right now, yeah I’m definitely deep (safety),” said McCain yesterday.

One luxury of coach Brian Flores’ defense is that there’s going to be a ton of moving parts — players are going to be coached just as much on concepts and spacing vs. being held accountable for only a single position on the field. And it would be a wise bet to assume that McCain will still get his fair share of reps in man to man coverage in the slot.

But as far as titles go, McCain is entering uncharted waters. That isn’t impacting his confidence in any capacity, though. McCain is confident that he’s the man for the job and that his past playing experience is a large reason why.

“I’m the guy to get the job done. I get the ball on the ground. At the end of the day, I’m rangy, I can move well, I can tackle, I can cover. Free safeties do a lot more covering than you think,” said McCain when asked why the transition makes sense for him. But how has his play at nickel helped prep him for the change?

“…I can tell you where (the free safety’s) help is, I know where his strengths and weaknesses are, I know where the outside strengths and weaknesses are and now I’m controlling the field in the back end, just looking around and you can tell, ‘this is where he is going. Okay, you’ve got a three-by-one, this is where he’s going.’ You can look at the quarterback, you can read him and make plays on the football.”

If the Bobby McCain experiment doesn’t work at free safety, it won’t be for a lack of confidence on Bobby’s part.