If you want to understand why the Miami Dolphins’ 5.2 yards per play number matters, start with the roster Bobby Slowik has had to work with.
The quarterback room has been thin from the jump: Malik Willis has six career starts and is in his fifth season. The receiver group leans on two rookie third-round picks and a third-year player who has not topped 600 career yards.
Miami did have a superstar running back, but he tore his ACL two and a half games into the season. At tight end, the group starts with a fifth-year veteran who has under 800 career yards, then turns to three rookies.
Up front, the line has a couple of standouts at center and left tackle, a rookie and a heavily criticized second-year player at guard, and a volatile veteran at right tackle.
That is the backdrop for trying to score with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs or Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals on the other sideline. And yet, through a 1-5 start, the Dolphins are tied for 18th in the league in yards per play.
That is not a championship-level offense. It is not supposed to be. But for this group, it is a solid place to begin.
The company Miami is keeping says plenty. The NFC East-leading New York Giants are tied with the Dolphins.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, despite major investment on offense, sit 21st. The AFC North-leading Cleveland Browns are 23rd.
The Denver Broncos, with former Dolphin wide receiver Jaylen Waddle added to the mix, are 26th. None of that is elite territory, but it is a lot better than being lumped in with the Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Chargers at the bottom.
Slowik deserves credit for that. In Miami’s first five games, all losses, the broadcasts often caught replays of Willis passing up a short, open completion in favor of a deep throw.
That is not on the play caller. The coordinator can scheme answers and create openings, but he cannot make the quarterback take the easy throw.
That part belongs to the player.
Willis appeared to do that more often in Week 7, and the Dolphins got their first win. That performance should matter going forward, and it should be treated as a step to build on rather than something to shrug off.
It is a shared operation, of course. Coaches are often criticized when they refuse to publicly pin blame on their players, but there is little to gain from Jeff Hafley, Bush Hamdan, or Slowik going out and blasting Willis to the media. They are all tied to the same result.
What matters most is the tape, and last week’s tape was Willis’ best game. Miami will get another chance to see if that carries over when it hosts the New England Patriots on Sunday. If Slowik keeps calling it the way he has, Willis may be able to keep building on it too.
In Other News...
Dolphins New Staff Is Changing Everything About Chris Griers Draft Legacy
The Dolphins are still living with the draft footprint left behind by former general manager Chris Grier, but the picture around that group is starting to look different under the current coaching staff. Miami has 13 remaining draft picks from Griers tenure, and six of them are now starting in the 2026 season, giving the organization a steady stream of young players whose development will keep shaping the roster for a while.
Under Jeff Hafley and the current staff, several of those holdovers have taken clear steps forward, including Jonah Savaiinaea, Malik Washington, Chop Robinson and Dante Trader. The broader question for Miami is whether that trend can keep building, because not every name from Griers draft history has followed the same path, and the gap between the players who are flourishing and the ones who have not is becoming harder to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Jonah Savaiinaea Is Making The Dolphins Rethink A Major Concern
Jonah Savaiinaea has gone from a question mark to one of the more encouraging developments on the Dolphins offensive line this season. After a rocky rookie year, the guard has looked far more settled in 2025, showing the kind of steady play Miami has been searching for as it tries to firm up protection and keep its offense on schedule.
The progress has not happened in a vacuum. A different coaching voice and a more demanding schematic approach under Jeff Hafley appear to have pushed Savaiinaea in the right direction, and the early results are hard to ignore. For a team that entered the year with real concern about the interior line, his growth is starting to make that problem look a little less urgent. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Rookie Rotation Suddenly Raises Questions On Both Sides
The Dolphins rookie usage against New England offered a clear look at how thin the margins can get in a single game. With Kadyn Proctor out because of a concussion, Miami had to shuffle its options up front, while backup quarterback Kyle McCord and offensive lineman Andrew Meyer were active but never got onto the field. On offense, Caleb Douglas ended up carrying the heaviest rookie load, logging the most snaps among the first-year group as the Dolphins leaned on younger depth in key spots.
Will Kacmareks role was far more limited, and his reduced workload stood out in a game where the rookie rotation was already in flux. On the other side of the ball, four defenders played every snap, Kyle Louis returned from injury for a season-high workload, and new additions Chukwuebuka Godrick and Kaytron Allen both made their first appearances of the season in brief cameos. For Miami, the bigger question is how these pieces fit once the roster is closer to full strength. [Read more 🡒]