The Miami Dolphins got a HUGE win this week by not losing to anyone. It’s a small victory in a season that will lack them, but it’s one we’ll have to take. The Dolphins will be coming off the bye hoping to get healthy, stay healthy, and build some momentum in the development of the young players. Since there were no game observations this week, I thought I would take a look at the roster and compare each position group to where they were at the beginning of the season to now and whether they are trending
up or down.
QUARTERBACK – TRENDING DOWN
The struggles of Malik Willis have been documented far and wide. I think this video explains it best.
RUNNING BACK – TRENDING UP
The Dolphins lost superstar De’Von Achane, but Ollie Gordon II has stepped up to fill the void. The sophomore runner is averaging 5.0 YPC and has 3 rushing TDs on the season, one in each game he has started or played a prominent role. The Dolphins will continue to be a run-oriented team, and the success of that venture will be determined by OG2. Wright has struggled in limited reps and needs to step up. The Dolphins also acquired Kaytron Allen from the Commanders via the waiver wire. He is another physical, downhill runner which may indicate the Dolphins have a type at RB.
WIDE RECEIVER – TRENDING EVEN
Caleb Douglas had a breakout game in week 1 but was lost with an ankle injury in week 2 and hasn’t been seen since. His absence was felt as the passing game didn’t have a go-to player. Fellow rookie Chris Bell has had his moments but has been inconsistent. Kevin Coleman Jr. has started getting more reps and was the first of the 3 rookies to score a TD. The reason this group isn’t trending down is the play of Malik Washington. He’s not a star player, but he has been doing his job, even if it only shows up on the tape and not in the box score. He should have had a couple of scores already but was simply missed by the QB.
TIGHT END – TRENDING DOWN
I predicted that Greg Dulcich would surpass 1000 yards this season. He’s on pace for less than 500 yards. I am utterly shocked that the TE position has been underutilized as much as it has. Dulcich is tied with Kevin Coleman in targets with 17, but with the QB struggling, this position could offer some help. Will Kacmarek is a forceful blocker and has added some receptions. But that’s it. Perhaps after the bye, they can start incorporating more targets to receiving TEs Seydou Traore and waiver wire addition Justin Joly. There is some potential in this group, but it isn’t materializing.
OFFENSIVE TACKLE – TRENDING EVEN
Patrick Paul is trending up. He’s had some rough moments in games, but he is tied for 12th in pass block win rate at 90%. He is turning the corner to becoming a franchise left tackle. Austin Jackson has been abysmal to this point and is trending down. He has been a complete liability in pass protection. His issues in the past were about injuries. He has played every snap thus far but played them mostly poorly. The Dolphins may shop him at the trade deadline to see what they can get. I’m not sure if Caedan Wallace is ready, but we all know that Jackson is not the answer and will not be a Dolphin past 2026.
OFFENSIVE GUARD – TRENDING UP
The weakness of the offensive line in recent years is turning into a strength. Rookie Kadyn Proctor is a people mover and is getting better each week. Sophomore Jonah Savaiinaea has been much improved. He unfortunately went down with an ankle injury in the last game, but it sounds like he’ll be ready to go. However, waiver wire OL Jarrett Kingston stepped right into the RG role after Savaiinaea left and the OL didn’t miss a beat. Quality starters at OG and good depth? What are you gonna say next… dogs and cats living together?
CENTER – TRENDING EVEN
Aaron Brewer isn’t playing at an All-Pro level, but he is playing like a very good center. Nothing much to add here.
INTERIOR DEFENSIVE LINE – TRENDING DOWN
This group gets a vote downward due to the overall lack of pass rush. They have a good yards per carry against rate at 3.7, which is top ten, but they are still allowing 110.6 yards per game, which is right smack in the middle. Sieler has 2 sacks on the season, but the rest are at 0 and aren’t adding much in terms of pressure. Kenneth Grant just returned from IR and will hopefully add some juice to the pass rush mix. At worst, he should maintain the run defense.
EDGE RUSHER – TRENDING UP
This group seems like it should be going the other direction, but the edge guys have stepped up. The issue is they just aren’t getting home with the sacks. Chop Robinson missed a week due to concussion stuff, but he is tied for 1st in pass rush win rate at 36%. He has won 20 reps out of 55. That’s a good start and it won’t be long before the wins start paying off. Uche has been solid also. Malik Herring has been a decent run defender from the edge group. They likely need one piece to make this group more fearsome. Perhaps that can come from rookie Trey Moore upon his return.
LINEBACKER – TRENDING UP
This one is all about rookie Jacob Rodriguez. He is currently 3rd in the league in total tackles with 57. The 2 players ahead of him have played 6 games vs. the 5 for Rodriguez. He is always around the ball and while he hasn’t had success punching the ball out, he does have an INT on the season. Brooks is playing well and the Dolphins look like they have a quality LB duo for seasons to come. Willie Gay Jr. has not been great so far, but once Moore returns, those reps will go to the rookie.
CORNERBACK – TRENDING EVEN
I really wanted to make this a trending-up, but the completion percentage stat is a problem. The Dolphins are allowing a league worst 76.6% CP to their opponents while also allowing a 7.8 YPA. In the past two games, the Dolphins have still allowed the QB to complete 70% of the passes, but they did so with a sub 7.0 YPA allowed. In other words, they are allowing the short completions and keeping everything in front of them. There are questions as to whether this issue comes from the coverage schemes. They have some tough matchups coming up and if they can start to reverse the CP issue, then they’ll certainly be moving up. Individually, the players are moving in an upward trend, with Chris Johnson looking like a 1st round pick should look. Juju Brents has been solid. The surprise has been Jason Marshall Jr. as the other starter. He has played the 5th most snaps thus far and he looks like an NFL starter. He gave up a TD to Chase in the last game, but the rep showed what he is becoming. He was in tight coverage, but the All-Pro WR just made a better play. I won’t go so far as to say that JMJ is pushing CB down the needs list, but that’s the way it’s headed. The depth is improving as veterans Darrell Baker Jr. and Storm Duck are possibly coming off PUP soon. The Dolphins could do a lot worse than having those guys come off the bench.
SAFETY – TRENDING UP
I want to keep this one in the “even” category but given the dearth of talent at the beginning of the season, they have made great improvements. Rookie Michael Taaffe is the primary safety in terms of snaps played. Sophomore Dante Trader Jr. didn’t start the season playing much but has moved into the opposite starting role. Both have been decent in coverage, and both have generated an INT. Now, they aren’t GOOD yet. There are still some issues that need to be worked out. But at the beginning of the season, this was arguably the worst position group in the NFL and it has been surprisingly better than expected. The depth is solid too with Zayne Anderson, who is a solid player. Kyle Louis was going to be the big nickel safety, but had a stint on IR. He could be coming back soon. If he can play solid coverage on TEs, then the whole secondary could be making like George and Weezy.
KICKER – TRENDING DOWN
Riley Patterson is currently 21st in the league in FG percentage. League average is 85.6% is his 77.8% is falling short. His longest kick is 41 yards and he is 1-3 on kicks over 40 yards. In a league where teams routinely kick 50+ yarders, his lack of production from deep is hurting the team. The offense is struggling to generate points and Patterson’s inconsistency means the offense has to get closer. Not to say that they just need points, but anything that can help get this team on the right track is needed. This likely isn’t something that will be fixed in 2026 as there aren’t good kickers out there on the street. But they at least need to look.
PUNTER – TRENDING EVEN
Punter Bradley Pinion looked pretty rough in preseason but is playing well so far. Outside of the gaff in the 49ers game, he has been a decent punter. His averages aren’t great overall, but his net yards per punt average is hurt by the overall play of the special teams unit. The good news is he has only punted 17 times, which is tied for 24th most. The bad news is the reason his total is so low is not due to an awesome offense. Could the Dolphins use an upgrade? Sure. Is it a priority? No.
LONG SNAPPER – TRENDING EVEN
I don’t recall seeing any bad snaps. Aside from being on the injury report, Addington has been invisible. Which is what you want from your long snapper.
HEAD COACHING – TRENDING UP
Jeff Hafley has his hands full with a young inexperienced team that is learning the NFL game on the fly. But he has his team playing hard every week. You don’t see players quitting if things aren’t going their way. The Dolphins are tied for 18th in penalties per game, which considering everything, isn’t that bad. As he said himself, this season is about growth and development, and we are seeing that.
OFFENSIVE COACHING – TRENDING DOWN
This topic has been covered previously by many others, so I’ll be quick with it. The playcalling is questionable at times with limited route concepts and too much downfield. Slowik needs to dial up easy completions in the short game and utilize Willis as a runner more. Willis has been scrambling and making things happen, but not as a true threat in the run game. If this area doesn’t get addressed soon, I don’t think Slowik will return in 2027.
DEFENSIVE COACHING – TRENDING UP
Out of the top 11 snap takers on defense for the Dolphins, 7 are rookies or 2nd year players with limited snaps. The top 3 are rookies. Only Jordyn Brooks, Zach Sieler, and Josh Uche have played 1000 or more snaps in their careers. If we are being real about it, you can add Chop Robinson (12th in snaps this season) in there has he had less than 1000 career snaps prior to this season. That is a LOT of inexperience that is getting the work now. New players + new league + new scheme generally equals being really bad. Yet, they have started gelling even in the losses and we are starting to see the vision. There is still some discrepancy in talent vs. their opponents, but defense is slowly getting better. It won’t be long before we see the breakout game.
SPECIAL TEAMS COACHING – TRENDING DOWN
I will be willing to give Chris Tabor some benefit of the doubt regarding his group. There are a lot of players he gets that probably should be on a practice squad. But every team has young players or cheap vets that should focus solely on ST. His group shouldn’t be that much worse. In the return game, Miami is 24th in the league with 52 total PR yards, though they are 6th in yards per return. They only have 4 total returns. The Dolphins are 12th in KR yards, but 18th in yards per return. They did have the longest KR of the year by any team at 79 yards. That was topped by the 81 yard return they allowed against Cincinnati. In the punt game, the Dolphins are 18th in total yards at 100 and 22nd in yards per return allowed at 11.1. In kickoffs, the Dolphins are 2nd in total yards at 375. That’s only because they don’t kickoff much with 11 kickoffs – only the Titans have less (10). However, the Dolphins have the league worst average in yards per return allowed 34.1. No other team is over 30. Part of that is sample size. With 11 total kickoffs, any big return can skew the numbers. Taking out that 81-yard return, the Dolphins have allowed 294 yards on 10 returns, which is 29.4 yards per return… which is still worst in the league. Ideally, if the Dolphins are going to be that bad, they need to dilute the average with more attempts, i.e. more offensive scoring and more kickoffs. Since that might be asking too much, they need to clean up the kick return coverage pronto. The Dolphins allow the second worst starting field position, with teams beginning at the 36.7-yard line on average. When you factor in that the Dolphins are 26th in the league, starting at their own 28-yard line, that difference puts everyone on both sides of the ball in a bind.
I SAID WHAT I SAID
For a team that is starting a massive rebuild, having some positives to build upon is a must. Both the offense and the defense have some areas upon which they can hang their hat both now and moving forward. Special teams needs work and the quarterback position is what it is at this point. But there are other areas that we can point to each week and say, “OK… I see the path… I see the silver lining there.” Can it all come together in a game or two this season for a W?
