Just because the Miami Dolphins have made some major changes on offense this offseason doesn’t mean they are pushovers for the Las Vegas Raiders in the Week 1 matchup. Sure, they have a quarterback starting his first NFL season as “the guy.” There may be no more Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, or Darren Waller and an offensive line with question marks. But, what challenges does the Dolphins offense present?
The Workhorse
De’Von Achane is the Dolphins running back and primary offensive threat on paper.
Last season, he made the now-defunct Pro Bowl, running for 1,350 yards on 238 carries a 5.7 yards per carry, scoring eight touchdowns on the ground. As a pass catcher out of the backfield he caught 67 passes for 488 yards and four more touchdowns.
Achane is a one-cut runner with a whole lot of speed and enough wiggle to squeeze in between the smallest of creases. In truth, he should scare Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Leonard to death. Leonard has shown a multi-faceted approach to his defensive alignments, but if the Dolphins can counter certain looks with a well-timed audible, holes in the defense will be exploitable.
The trenches
With only three preseason games to go off of and a vanilla offensive scheme, it’s hard to predict what the offensive line will be. From the limited sample size provided by the first-team offensive line, a few things are apparent. It is a group with a healthy amount of size and athleticism. When the elephants go on parade, they keep it tight and don’t allow defenders past them.
They are well coached, employing primarily a zone blocking scheme in the run game; there is a lot of organized chaos. Meaning, the blocking scheme is less about driving opponents off the ball and backwards and more about creating creases and walling off defenders with timing—lots of pulling offensive linemen and less hat-on-hat blocking. It is a scheme that will pose many challenges to the Raiders’ light defensive front.
In pass protection, the line appears to be solid. A West Coast passing attack doesn’t ask linemen to protect for a long time, but rather to make an initial punch and keep lanes open for the quarterback to scramble. So far, they have been solid in their attempts. Defenses that employ a lot of twists and stunts will have success in bypassing the protection packages but then they will need to deal with the legs of Malik Willis.
The quarterback
Willis is a dual-threat quarterback drafted from Liberty University. He may not have set any NCAA records, but he was plenty effective for the Flames. In his final college season, he passed for 2,857 yards, 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while running for 878 yards and 13 touchdowns to boot. Willis isn’t particularly big, nor is he the fastest quarterback in the NFL, but he has a complete game. He can spin the pill, throw with touch, make solid decisions and his ball placement is impeccable.
If his receivers are covered and the opportunity presents itself, he isn’t scared to pull it down, tuck it and run. Going back to the Raiders defensive interior, this set of skills will prove to be the most challenging for them to overcome. An accurate quarterback versed in working with less, who can scramble and assess where to go with the football and get it there, will be tough to deal with.
Pass Catchers
The wildcards of the offense are all the pass catchers the Dolphins will be using to attack defenses. Dolphins’ offensive coordinator, Bobby Slowik, has brought a style of offense geared towards spreading out defenses and attacking space. It’s a great way to operate when you don’t have a lot of known commodities on offense and guys have yet to establish themselves.
The Raiders young secondary displayed a weakness against larger receivers running possession-type routes, as seen against the Arizona Cardinals in week 1 of the preseason. Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert and Greg Dulcich aren’t going to scare many people individually. However, tight end Dulcich is a chain mover who started producing down the stretch last season.
Washington, Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell, in my opinion, are the three most viable options to account for, as they have the greatest ability to make a difference with the ball in their hands. Washington is more of a return man/gadget player who, if provided with space, can make magic happen. Douglas and Bell are both tall rookie wide receivers with speed and good hands.
Bell has shown promise as an all-purpose receiver and is worth keeping an eye on, yet hasn’t played an NFL regular-season game. Douglas was more of a deep guy last season for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Having an NFL quarterback with more polish than Behren Morton should allow him to have even more success.
Fair warning
The 2026 Raiders schedule is daunting; while the Dolphins may be in transition, they can’t be taken lightly. Styles make fights and sometimes matchups overrule the consensus. On paper, the Dolphins are nothing special, but the Raiders last 20+ years of futility indicate that may be a greater cause for concern. This game can be simple if the Raiders are able to neutralize Achane, disrupt pass protection and contain Willis. If they can’t than the season will feel a whole lot longer than 17 games.
