A former Miami Dolphins first-round pick re-signed with his new team Tuesday.
Cornerback Noah Igbinoghene, who the Dolphins selected 30th overall in the 2020 NFL draft, is returning to the Washington Commanders. Igbinoghene appeared in 17 games for the Commanders last season, starting 10.
“Just being here last year, I feel like I grew a lot as a player last year,” Igbinoghene said in a press conference Tuesday. “I love this coaching staff, and I love everything about this team and organization.”
Those 10 starts were by far the most of his career. Those starts also allowed Igbinoghene to surpass his career high in significant stats, like pass breakups (7), tackles (55), and tackles for loss (1).
Although Igbinoghene was a consistent contributor for the Commanders, his coverage numbers show a player who struggled when targeted, according to Pro Football Focus. He allowed a catch on 62.8 percent of his targets for a whopping 556 yards. His Pro Football Reference were much better; he was charged with allowing 56.3 percent of the passes thrown in his direction for 396 yards.
One thing that will be different for Igbinoghene in 2025 will be his uniform number. He wore 1 last season, but the Commanders gave out that number to new wide receiver Deebo Samuel after he was acquired in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers.
IGBINOGHENE'S FORGETTABLE SOUTH FLORIDA STINT
Igbinoghene flamed out in Miami pretty quickly despite being a first-round pick. He played in 32 games across three seasons with the Dolphins, recording just five starts, five pass breakups, and one interception.
The Dolphins selected Igbinoghene late in the first round after trading back with the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay sent Miami an additional fourth-round pick — turned into Rams tight end Brycen Hopkins — to move up from 30th to 26th overall.
The Packers selected quarterback Jordan Love 26th overall, and he turned out to be the team’s franchise quarterback in the post-Aaron Rodgers era.
Obviously, Love was off the Dolphins’ board at that point in the draft since they took Tua Tagovailoa fifth overall.
As for Igbinoghene, he was asked to play impact snaps right away, and it was clear he was overmatched. His passer rating allowed that season was 135.3 compared to 86.4 this past season.
Prior to the start of the 2023 season, the Dolphins traded Igbinoghene to the Dallas Cowboys for Kelvin Joseph, another struggling young cornerback.
Igbinoghene appeared in just five games for the Cowboys and made zero starts, while Joseph appeared in four games for the Dolphins before he was released.
Igbinoghene isn’t the only former Dolphins draft pick who re-signed with the Commanders this offseason, either. Offensive lineman Michael Deiter, a third-round pick of the Dolphins in the 2019 NFL Draft, is also returning to Washington next season.
Deiter played in every game last season but only made two starts at center at the end of the season (Week 15, 18). He played in 57 games for the Dolphins and started in 23 before leaving for Houston as an unrestricted free agent.
