Jon-Eric Sullivan’s first five weeks running the Dolphins have produced a mixed bag on offense, and the numbers tell the story quickly: Miami ranks 31st in points, 28th in yards and, yes, is still winless.
That backdrop makes the evaluation pretty blunt. Sullivan inherited a brutal situation, but he’s still being judged on the calls he has made, the ones he passed on, and the few moves that have actually helped an offense in rough shape. Through the bye, the ledger leans both ways.
The clearest win is the first-round choice of Kadyn Proctor, a pick that drew plenty of skepticism with Caleb Downs and Reuben Bain Jr. still available. Proctor answered by getting to work, and the early returns have been strong.
He is the eighth-highest-graded rookie offensive lineman in the league this season. According to Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post, Miami rushes behind Proctor are averaging 6.0 yards per carry.
Paired with left tackle Patrick Paul, he has the look of a long-term pillar on the left side. Sullivan wanted to build from the inside out, and at least here, he stuck to it.
There’s also real credit due for not falling into the trap of discarding useful players because someone else brought them in. De'Von Achane, Malik Washington, Patrick Paul, and Aaron Brewer were already in place when Sullivan arrived, but he treated them like keepers instead of clean-up projects.
Achane and Brewer both got fair, market-rate extensions. Achane was injured, though nobody could’ve forecast that, and the upside is that he’ll return next year with one less season of wear on his legs.
Brewer has kept doing his job and is PFF’s No. 8 center this season. Washington has been the most steady receiver Miami has had, and Paul’s rise has continued.
Sullivan also took heat for his conviction on Caleb Douglas, but that move at least has a pulse. It’s early - Douglas has only played in two games - yet his work against the Las Vegas Raiders popped.
He caught five passes for 94 yards, which matched the best debut by a Dolphins wide receiver and was the most by a rookie in team history. Even with that limited sample, he sits 11th on the rookie receiving ladder.
If he’s healthy after the bye, Miami badly needs the spark and the chemistry he seemed to be building with Malik Willis.
The problems, though, have been obvious too. The Willis deal is the biggest swing-and-miss on the board so far: $67.5 million, with $45 million guaranteed, for production that simply hasn’t matched the price.
He’s PFF’s 38th-ranked quarterback out of 40 qualifiers. The issues have shown up everywhere - holding the ball too long, passing up open throws, and being wildly inaccurate.
And the pain is worse because cheaper alternatives were sitting there. Tyler Huntley, Marcus Mariota and Carson Wentz all cost far less and have produced better results.
Sullivan was betting on youth and experience growth here, but five games in, that bet has not paid off.
Miami’s search for bargain help at receiver has gone just as poorly. Jalen Tolbert, Tutu Atwell, Jalen Reagor and Terrace Marshall Jr. were all part of the effort to patch together a stripped-down wideout room, but the returns have been thin to nonexistent.
Atwell was traded back to the Los Angeles Rams for Jarquez Hunter, who didn’t make the roster and was recently released from the practice squad. Reagor is on Miami’s practice squad, Marshall never made the team, and Tolbert has only one catch - 22 yards on three targets.
Meanwhile, the modest veterans Miami passed over have outperformed their deals: Tyquan Thornton had 11 catches for 219 yards and two touchdowns before getting hurt, Kendrick Bourne posted 17 receptions for 178 yards, Kalif Raymond has 24 catches for 226 yards and a score, and Deebo Samuel has 16 receptions for 206 yards and three touchdowns. The bigger lesson is hard to miss: Miami needed a veteran presence in that room.
Then there’s Austin Jackson, a move that feels more like delayed pain than a fresh idea. Jackson is the second-longest-tenured Dolphin behind Zach Sieler, and his track record has been uneven since arriving in the 2020 class.
This season, he has been Miami’s second-worst-graded offensive player, ahead of only undrafted rookie fullback D.J. Herman.
Sullivan considered releasing him in the offseason, then settled on a contract adjustment that kept him around for one more year. That decision looks shaky now.
Jackson has been beaten early and often, and he’s given up 19 pressures and three sacks, both team highs. For a team looking for stability, that has been a costly outcome.
In Other News...
Malik Willis Keeps Ignoring One Dolphins Fix They Clearly Need
Through five games of the 2026 season, Malik Willis has given the Dolphins enough to work with at quarterback, but his decision-making has also left a clear opening in the offense. One of the easiest ways to clean that up should be right in front of him. Miamis tight ends have been involved in the game plan, and Greg Dulcich and Will Kacmarek have both helped the unit in different ways, yet the passing game has not leaned on that group nearly enough.
That matters because the Dolphins have a position room that can help open things up if Willis and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik are willing to use it more consistently. Dulcich has flashed as a receiver, while Kacmarek has mostly been asked to do the dirty work, and the balance there suggests Miami has more room to grow on offense than it has shown so far. The question is whether Willis will start trusting the middle of the field more often, or keep leaving one of the teams clearest fixes on the table. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Ownership Just Got More Crowded Than Many Fans Realize
Stephen Ross has continued to widen the circle around the Dolphins, recently agreeing to sell a small minority stake in the franchise to Jean Eric Salata, pending approval. It is the latest sign that Miamis ownership structure has become a little more layered over time, with Ross bringing in outside capital while still holding the principal role that has defined the teams modern era.
Salata would join a long list of recognizable investors who already have ties to the Dolphins, a group that has included Ares Management, Lin Bin, Joe Tsai and Oliver Weisberg, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Serena and Venus Williams, Marc Anthony, and Fergie. For fans, the takeaway is less about boardroom mechanics than the breadth of names attached to the franchise now, and how much more crowded that ownership picture has become. [Read more 🡒]
Malik Willis Pushes Back On What Dolphins Fans Saw Sunday
Before Miamis Week 5 matchup, Bengals safety Jordan Battle pointed to something he thought he saw from Malik Willis, suggesting the quarterback was tapping the ball before he threw it and that the habit helped lead to two interceptions. It was the kind of pregame remark that can stick with a player, especially when it sounds like a clean explanation for a turnover-heavy day.
Willis pushed back on that version of events, saying the interceptions came down to tipped passes and a scramble-drill mistake rather than any tell in his delivery. For Dolphins fans who had already noticed the playmaking swings around those turnovers, the dispute adds another layer to the debate over what really happened and whether the issue was habit, execution, or just a couple of bad breaks. [Read more 🡒]