It was not the kind of Sunday that builds confidence in Miami.
The Dolphins came out looking like they had taken a step forward in the first half, then fell apart after the break. That second-half collapse overshadowed whatever progress they flashed early, and it left the same old problems staring back at them: pre-snap penalties, busted lane discipline, and too many players failing to do their part. The message remains simple, even if the execution is not - this team keeps talking about doing its “1-11th,” but right now it might be better served focusing on being “1.”
That frustration shows up clearly in the Week 2 trust report, which isn’t just about one bad afternoon. It tracks where players stand over time, using injuries, snap counts, good and bad plays, impact moments, and growth from week to week to judge who the coaches can really lean on.
At the top, nothing changed. The Tier 1 group stayed intact, and none of those four players did anything in Week 2 to shake that trust. No one climbed into that elite tier either, which tells you how hard it is to earn that kind of confidence.
The more interesting movement came just below that, where a few players are making a case for bigger roles while others are slipping fast.
Kadyn Proctor is still hanging onto his spot in Tier 2. The left guard had a couple of ugly penalties, but the physicality and movement skills remain there. He’s winning enough blocks to stay in the positive, even if the cleanup work still needs to happen.
Michael Taaffe also stayed on the rise. He put together another productive, physical game, and while it wasn’t flawless, it was another clear sign of progress. He now has 13 tackles this year after adding nine on Sunday, and he’s giving Jeff Hafley something coaches value highly: dependable play.
Malik Washington joined that second tier after a quieter outing in the opener. Against the Raiders, he was targeted eight times and caught only three. Against the 49ers, he caught four of five targets for 43 yards, and with Chris Bell disappearing on Sunday, Washington earned his way onto the list.
The trouble starts in the tier where trust is slipping.
Aaron Brewer is still there, even after a PFF grade of 65.7 that ranked among the five highest on Sunday. That was solid enough, but not strong enough to move him upward. He remains a player who hasn’t fully reassured anyone yet.
Chris Johnson landed in this group too, and for good reason. He followed up his Week 1 with another rough showing.
After posting 11 tackles in the opener, he managed just one against the 49ers. He wasn’t buried by the grading, but the eye test still hasn’t answered the biggest question: why was he worth trading up for?
Jonah Savaiinaea got a modest bump because his 65.9 grade against the 49ers was better than Brewer’s, but that doesn’t mean people trust him. Not yet.
D.J. Herman is also sliding.
The fullback had an 18-yard catch, but the mistakes in blocking and assignment work outweighed the splash play. Against better edge talent, that kind of inconsistency gets exposed quickly, and Sunday was no exception.
Then there’s the group where patience is fading or already gone.
Chris Tabor is still there, and the trust level around the special teams operation is as low as it gets. The punt unit and kickoff unit gave up major yardage to the 49ers, players were out of their lanes, Riley Patterson missed another kick, and Bradley Pinion’s dropped snap made the whole thing even uglier. It was a rough day all around for the special teams coordinator.
Austin Jackson took a hard hit in the evaluation. He was already bad against the Raiders, and the 49ers game was even worse.
Whether Joey Bosa was lined up across from him or not, Jackson’s job is to open lanes in the run game and keep Malik Willis protected, and he didn’t do it. He was one of the lowest-graded players in Week 2, and the trust is clearly draining away.
Riley Patterson’s situation is even more stark. In 2025, he missed only two kicks all season.
Two games into 2026, he has already matched that total. At this point, he is on a short leash, and there’s real reason to wonder how much confidence the Dolphins can have in him when the game is on the line.
There were also two notable players who dropped off the tiers entirely.
Chop Robinson is out of the conversation for now because he is in the concussion protocol, so he gets a pass this week.
Malik Willis, meanwhile, didn’t have a disastrous outing, but he didn’t do enough to inspire confidence either. The issue is still the same: he’s holding the ball too long, and he has to know when to give it up.
The five-yard loss on a second-and-goal scramble was unacceptable. He needs to throw the ball away.
In Other News...
Dolphins Just Added An Edge Rusher With Bigger Roster Implications
The Dolphins added some edge depth by signing Andre Jones Jr. off the Buffalo Bills practice squad, a move that brings in a fourth-year NFL veteran with 19 games of experience over three seasons. Jones also has a familiar face in Miamis building, having been coached in Buffalo by special teams coordinator Chris Tabor, which gives the pickup a little more context than a routine late-season transaction.
The bigger part of the deal is what comes next for Miamis roster. Jones has to be carried on the active roster for at least three weeks, so the Dolphins will need to clear a spot to make the signing official in practice and on game days, a small move on paper that can still ripple through the back end of the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons QB Situation Suddenly Looks Worse Than Fans Feared
Through the first two weeks of the 2026 season, the quarterback conversation has already split cleanly between the usual stars and the passers trying to keep jobs from slipping away. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen are doing what they normally do, while the early struggles from players like Cooper Rush and Malik Willis have helped define the other end of the rankings. Injuries to Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels have only added to the sense that the league is sorting out its QB hierarchy fast, and not always cleanly.
For Miami, the larger takeaway is less about the top of the list than how teams are handling their own quarterbacks in the margins. The Dolphins have already come under scrutiny for not leaning enough into Malik Williss running ability, which is the kind of detail that can matter in a season when every advantage counts. With the quarterback picture still shifting this early, decisions like that can end up looking bigger as the weeks go on. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins May Not Regret This Familiar Darren Waller Problem
Darren Wallers NFL return with Miami in 2025 was always going to come with some variance. The 34-year-old tight end had already stepped away from the game once before coming back, and while his time with the Dolphins included stretches of limited impact, it also came with the kind of flash that reminded teams why he was still worth the gamble.
Now with Carolina, Waller is bringing that same mix of highs and lows to another offense, and the Panthers are sorting through what his role should look like. For Miami, the familiar part of the story is almost the point: the Dolphins already lived through the volatility, so even as Waller continues to produce at times, the uncertainty around him is nothing new. [Read more 🡒]