If the Miami Dolphins are going to punch above their weight this season, they’re going to need a long list of unproven players to deliver. That reality shows up all over the roster, but it feels especially stark at defensive end.
Outside of 2024 first-round pick Chop Robinson, the position group doesn’t exactly jump off the page. For a team that needs someone to emerge in a hurry once training camp opens, the best bet might already be in the building: David Ojabo, the former Baltimore Raven who signed a one-year prove-it deal in free agency.
Ojabo’s case starts with the kind of draft pedigree that still matters. Baltimore took him in the second round even after he suffered an Achilles injury while training during the pre-draft process, and the Ravens clearly believed enough in his talent to take that swing.
Since then, though, his NFL résumé has been held back by injuries and limited reps. He missed most of his rookie season in 2022 while recovering, then landed on injured reserve again the next year and appeared in only five total games across his first two seasons.
That lack of live action is part of why there’s still intrigue here. Former Ravens coach John Harbaugh laid it out last August, when Ojabo was finally coming off his first truly healthy offseason, telling The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec:
"The thing about David Ojabo, he’s not a guy who played a lot of football... He was late to football in high school, might’ve played one year of high school football.
He really only played one year of college football as far as a full season. Then, he got hurt coming out.
So, football is kind of one of these games where the more you play it, the better feel you have for it. It’s like any sport, probably, but I think his upside is really there, and I believe that we’ll see it.
I think we’ve seen it already in camp. I’m looking forward to the games so everybody can see it."
That upside is exactly what Miami is betting on. Ojabo is 6'4", 252 pounds, which gives him a different kind of presence than Josh Uche, the main competition for the job.
Uche is listed at 226 pounds and is apparently trying to make it work as an edge defender at that size. Ojabo, meanwhile, brings a frame and a profile that still suggests more room to grow.
There’s also the flash of what he once was at Michigan, where he posted 11 sacks in 2021 under Jim Harbaugh. Between that and John Harbaugh’s belief in him, the Dolphins have reason to think there’s still something worth unlocking.
If Miami is going to get a surprise out of camp, Ojabo looks like the cleanest candidate. And if it were up to me, I’d make the No. 2 defensive end job his to lose.
In Other News...
Dolphins Training Camp Could Wipe Out Chris Griers Draft Legacy
Austin Jackson is the last Miami draft pick from 2020 still standing as training camp opens, and even his place has come with some offseason reshuffling. The Dolphins reworked his contract to create cap room, and while health and durability have been part of the conversation, Jackson is still expected to be part of the plan as the team sorts through a roster that looks very different from the one Chris Grier kept building over the past several years.
What makes this camp so telling is how many of those earlier draft classes are already hanging by a thread. Miamis 2021 group is gone, the 2022 class could be wiped out if Cameron Goode loses his linebacker battle, and even younger names like Malik and Tahj Washington, plus Jaylen Wright, are not locked in despite their pedigree. The 2025 class appears safer for now, but the bigger question is whether this summer becomes the point where Griers draft history is trimmed down to almost nothing before the final roster is even set. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Offense Enters Camp With One Massive Question Hanging Over It
The Dolphins are heading into camp with an offense that looks nothing like the one fans watched a year ago, a reflection of how much turnover has hit the unit in a short span. With Mike McDaniel gone and Bobby Slowik taking over as offensive coordinator, Miami is trying to rebuild its identity while blending in a new quarterback and several fresh faces before the 2026 season.
Slowiks arrival gives the Dolphins a clear direction, but it also puts the spotlight on how quickly the group can come together after so much change around the quarterback room and the skill positions. Camp will now be less about refining an established system and more about figuring out what this version of the offense can actually become, which is exactly why the biggest question still hangs over the whole operation. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Fans Just Got A Brutal Reality Check On This Rebuild
The early read on Miamis rebuild is not as bleak as some fans might fear, even if the ceiling still looks limited. With a revamped coaching staff and roster in transition, the Dolphins are being sized up against a schedule that will ask plenty of them right away, and the betting market is already hinting that this team may still scrape together enough to avoid the bottom of the league.
There is at least some cautious optimism baked into the projection, from young offensive pieces to a few structural reasons the offense could be steadier than expected. Still, the bigger question is whether that is enough in a division and matchup slate that leaves little margin for error, and whether Miami can turn a reset year into something more than a long grind toward respectability. [Read more 🡒]