The Miami Dolphins are walking into 2026 with a roster that looks almost unrecognizable, a new general manager, a new head coach and a new quarterback all in place. The outside noise has been brutal, too. ESPN’s Adam Schefter recently went as far as calling Miami the team to beat for the No. 1 pick in the 2027 NFL draft.
That kind of skepticism makes sense when you look at the departures. Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Bradley Chubb and Minkah Fitzpatrick are among the names gone. But even with that kind of turnover, there are still reasons to think the Dolphins can make some noise this season.
Start with Malik Willis, who is the kind of quarterback gamble that can tilt a season in either direction. He’s on his third team in his fifth NFL season and arrives in Miami as one of the biggest unknowns on the roster. But the flashes he showed over the past two seasons with the Green Bay Packers were impossible to ignore.
In three starts across the previous two years, Willis showed a live arm, the ability to make every kind of throw and the escapibility in the pocket to make plays off schedule. That’s a skill set the Dolphins haven’t had at quarterback since ... maybe ever.
Of course, the sample is tiny, which is exactly why there’s real uncertainty here. Maybe the consistency won’t be there.
Maybe Green Bay was the perfect fit. But there is also a real chance Miami has landed a star at the position.
The ground game is another place where optimism starts to build. During the Dolphins’ four-game winning streak in the second half of the 2025 season, they rushed for at least 140 yards in each game, and that same group is back with a meaningful boost.
The big addition is first-round pick Kadyn Proctor on the offensive line, joining Patrick Paul, Aaron Brewer, Jonah Savaiinaea and Austin Jackson. Savaiinaea should also be better in his second season after a rough rookie year. And De'Von Achane is back after signing his extension.
What Miami may have lost in pure outside speed could be softened by what Willis can bring as a runner. That doesn’t guarantee a great rushing attack, but it gives the Dolphins a legitimate path to one.
There’s also the rookie class, which may be both the biggest reason for hope and the biggest source of anxiety. A week before the regular season, it was reasonable to think as many as 11 rookies could end up starting games, from Proctor to undrafted free agent DJ Herman.
If four or five of them can deliver above-the-line play - with the clearest candidates being Proctor, Chris Johnson, Chris Bell, Jacob Rodriguez, Trey Moore when he comes back from IR and Will Kacmarek - that could matter a lot. The Dolphins don’t need every rookie to be a star right away. They just need enough of them to show they can become part of something bigger down the road.
Still, some of them could help immediately, and that would go a long way toward helping Miami win games in 2026.
The same goes for the recent draft picks who need to take a step. One name sitting right in the spotlight is 2024 first-round pick Chop Robinson. He was productive in the second half of his rookie season, then faded as a sophomore.
What he becomes in 2026 is still unknown, but his training camp did provide a reason to believe a breakout could be coming. He looked bigger and stronger this summer.
If that carries over, it could change the pass rush and make life easier for the secondary, which will need pressure up front to function at its best.
Then there’s Jeff Hafley. Nobody can say with certainty how he’ll look as a head coach, but the tone around training camp and the preseason felt different. The group came off more businesslike than the previous regime, though that’s tied to the roster makeup as much as the coaching change.
The regular season will be the first real test of whether Miami made the right call in hiring Hafley to replace Mike McDaniel. His background is on defense, and the situation has some similarities to Brian Flores taking over in 2019 during a rebuild. If Hafley can bring that same kind of X's and O's expertise, the Dolphins could become a tougher, more dangerous team than people expect, even in the middle of all the roster upheaval.
And if that happens, Miami may find a way to win games it isn’t supposed to win, just like it did in 2019.
In Other News...
Hall Of Fame Change Just Made This Tougher For Deserving Dolphins
The Pro Football Hall of Fames latest election changes have added another layer of difficulty for former Dolphins who have spent years waiting for real traction. By trimming the selection committee from 50 voters to 28, removing the split between modern-era and senior candidates, and shrinking the finalist pool, the process now leaves less room for the kind of long-overlooked names Miami fans have been pushing for.
For a franchise with several worthy players still searching for Canton recognition, the timing stings. Bob Kuechenberg and Mark Clayton have both been part of that conversation for years, and the new setup appears to make the path even narrower for seniors and other deserving candidates who already needed momentum from a crowded field to break through. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Rookies Are Already Forcing A Big Preseason Roster Debate
The Dolphins head into their season opener with an unusually young edge to the roster, carrying 13 rookies on the 53-man group, including 11 draft picks, one undrafted free agent and one waiver claim. That kind of influx always changes the feel of a team in September, but in Miami it also creates a real personnel conversation because several of those first-year players are not just making the team, they are expected to matter right away.
Trey Moore is out of the active mix for now because of injury, and Max Llewellyn is currently on the practice squad, but the broader rookie class has already pushed its way into the conversation. Some of these players are slated for meaningful snaps and a few could even wind up starting, which is why Miamis early-season outlook is tied so closely to how quickly this group settles in and how much trust the staff is willing to place in them. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Holdovers Suddenly Face A Huge Chance Under Miamis New Staff
When a new coaching staff takes over, the first thing everyone watches is who gets a fresh start. For the Dolphins, a group of 24 holdovers from the 2025 roster now has a real chance to carve out bigger roles under Jeff Hafley and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, and a few names stand out as obvious beneficiaries of the change in direction. Wide receiver Malik Washington, defensive player Jason Marshall Jr. and second-year lineman Jonah Savaiinaea all fit that category, with the shifting scheme and tone giving them a cleaner path than they had before.
Washington already looks like a player whose spot can grow if the offense leans differently, while Marshall could profit from the new defensive structure and the opportunities that come with it. Savaiinaea is the more intriguing one because the Dolphins are looking at him through a completely different lens now, after a rocky first year under the old staff. For a team trying to reset without turning over everything, these are exactly the kinds of internal wins that can matter, even if the full payoff has yet to show itself. [Read more 🡒]