Miami Dolphins: Sam Eguavoen making case to become a starter

The Miami Dolphins may have found Cameron Wake 2.0 in Sam Eguavoen as he continues to make a strong impression in the 2019 preseason.

The Miami Dolphins signed Cameron Wake out of the Canadian Football League in 2009. Wake signed with Tennessee in March as an unrestricted free agent. Miami may have found their next defensive standout from the Great White North in Sam Eguavoen.

Like Wake, he was a defensive standout in Canada. He spent three seasons as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He led his team in total tackles with 91. Also, Eguavoen forced two fumbles and returned one for a 30-yard touchdown.

Miami signed him to a reserve/futures contract in January. He signed a two-year contract worth $1.080 million, according to Spotrac.com. It looks they are getting tremendous play at an enormous discount given what Eguavoen has been doing in the preseason.

Eguavoen has made a huge impression with his dynamic play. In fact, Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald said the following about the defensive end:

"Sam Eguavoen isn’t just a lock to make the Dolphins’ 53-man roster, he’s going to be awfully hard to eject from the starting lineup, even when the Dolphins’ more heralded linebackers get healthy."

Against Tampa Bay, he made seven tackles and forced one fumble. Two of his tackles were for a loss. Eguavoen described his approach to the game to Beasley:

"“Just playing fearless,” he said. “That’s the one thing [Dolphins coach Brian Flores] pointed out to me in my film. He knows I’m a good player. It’s just that I need to unleash the beast. I need to play fearless out there.”"

Eguavoen is listed as the second-team linebacker behind Kiko Alonso on the current Dolphins depth chart. Alonso has been struggling with an injury for a few weeks. Perhaps Eguavoen will make his first NFL start in Week 1 for the injured Alonso.

Eguavoen was undrafted after playing collegiately at Texas Tech. He made the transition, from Texas Tech to Saskatchewan, look rather easily. Now, he is easily making the transition from the Canadian game to becoming a major contributor to the Dolphins defense.