Why Dolphins safety Kyle Louis is ‘happy’ about his official position switch

Miami Dolphins admin September 9, 2026 0 Comments

Why Dolphins safety Kyle Louis is ‘happy’ about his official position switch

It’s official.

The Miami Dolphins’ Kyle Louis has officially made the switch to safety. After weeks of practicing with the defensive backs, Louis now officially has a safety designation next to his name on the roster.

In fact, he was listed as a second-string safety when the Dolphins revealed their Week 1 roster ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.

“I can’t lie and act like I’m not happy,” Louis said. “I’m ready to put in work wherever coach [Jeff Hafley] needs me, especially being listed as a safety, it gives him more leeway to put me in so many more situations.”

Contrary to popular belief, Louis was initially drafted to play linebacker — at least that’s what was communicated to local media. The former Pitt standout wanted to play linebacker.

“I feel the most at home at linebacker,” Louis said after being drafted. “I feel the most at home going against tight ends at linebacker, going against running backs at linebacker, beating a lineman at linebacker. And then passing downs, packages or heavy rundowns, I could definitely play the nickel role when needed.”

And so did the front office.

“Yes, absolutely, and with the ability to do different things, but he’ll be in that linebacker room as well,” assistant general manager Kyle Smith, comparing Louis’ versatility to that of linebacker Trey Moore. “Again, just like Trey could be in that linebacker room and also on the edge and they provide different things and different versatilities.”

The only suggestion otherwise came from Hafley, who couldn’t help but tinker with a few schemes in the war room following Miami’s selection of Louis.

“It’s our job as coaches to have a vision for him. Then I think it’s our job schematically to figure out how to make it work for him,” Hafley said immediately following the draft, later adding that he showed general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan what he was “drawing up” because “that’s fun for me.”

“Sometimes coaches look at, ‘We’re playing 3-4. We’re playing 4-3, and he doesn’t fit the scheme,’ I don’t agree with that,” Hafley continued. “I mean let’s get the best football players we can and let’s figure out what they can do, and now it’s going to be fun trying to figure out these guys as we watch them do individual and then we watch them play football to figure out how to make it work.”

Louis’ gradual switch to the secondary has even impressed teammates such as fellow rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.

“He’s just versatile,” Rodriguez said, explaining that he can play linebacker and defensive back. “He can do kind of everything on the football field. He really helps us out, and getting a strong guy to fit the run if we need an extra hat in there, but also he’s athletic enough and savvy enough playing football that he can play in coverage and he can play in the post and he can play a half. Like he can do everything on the football field on the defensive side.”

With Hafley’s career beginning in the secondary, the importance of Louis’ position switch cannot be understated. Even if Hafley tried to downplay his rookie’s depth chart position. ”When they told me I had to have a home for him, and I couldn’t have both, I picked the safety position because that’s been where he’s been working with right now.”

That means Hafley has an extra level of trust — and knowledge for that matter — when it comes to decisions on the backend. Louis knows this. Even better: it puts an extra battery in his back.

“He definitely could see my speed translating, my cover skills translating,” Louis said, “but the most important thing that he wants me to emphasize is my physicality. Like being an enforcer and really physical with any matchup I have out there.”