Caleb Douglas drew plenty of attention around draft time, and not all of it was flattering. Many evaluators saw him as a Day 3 type of prospect, not a Day 2 name, and he landed in Miami at a moment when the Dolphins’ wide receiver room had already been stripped down.
That kind of setup can put a rookie under a harsh spotlight fast. So far in camp, though, Douglas has been showing up in a big way.
That matters because Douglas was one of the names absorbing some of the early attention that could have gone to fellow third-round pick Will Kacmarek. The tight end’s college production wasn’t overwhelming on paper - 65 receptions across five seasons - but that number only tells part of the story. His role has always been more layered than simple pass-catching, and in Miami, the early buzz has finally started to match that.
Kacmarek had barely been mentioned through the opening stretch of training camp, but that changed this week as he started to settle in. Travis Wingfield, who has been keeping fans updated from Dolphins camp, highlighted Kacmarek’s work in the run game on Tuesday: "Will Kacmarek [with] another perfectly squared up block on a toss.
He’s been as advertised in the run blocking portion of his game." For a rookie whose calling card has long been his blocking, that’s exactly the sort of note Miami wants to hear.
He kept that momentum going on Friday. Wingfield again singled him out, this time for his work in pass protection: "Will Kacmarek with a punishing blitz pickup.
What I loved about it was he didn’t sit back and wait - he went and got it." The blocking has been encouraging, but the receiving side of the ledger was still waiting for its moment.
A few minutes later, Kacmarek got it. With starter Greg Dulcich out, he found space in the red zone and turned it into a score.
Wingfield described it this way: "Beautiful high red zone design that gets Will Kacmarek all alone in the corner for an easy TD pass from Willis. The defense’s attention went to Douglas crossing the field in the other direction."
It was the kind of play that can stick with a coaching staff, especially when a rookie is still trying to carve out his place.
The opportunity in Miami is real. There isn’t a dominant target-eater on offense to crowd out the newcomers, and a lot of the burden falls on this rookie class to perform well enough to help Malik Willis show what he can do in what the article calls a crucial season. If Kacmarek keeps building on what he’s shown, he could give the Dolphins something they’ve been missing at tight end: steadiness.
Since Mike Gesicki left after the 2022 season, Miami has kept patching the spot together. Durham Smythe handled it in 2023.
Jonnu Smith took over in 2024 and put together a career year before asking for a raise, which eventually led to a trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last season, the Dolphins turned to Darren Waller after coaxing him out of retirement.
Kacmarek offers a different profile from Gesicki, Smith, and Waller. His strength is blocking, but his college tape suggests there’s more to his receiving game than the raw numbers show.
At Ohio State, he was buried behind first-round picks Emeka Egbuka and Carnell Tate, plus Jeremiah Smith, who is being described as a future superstar. Last year, Smith and Tate were still taking up targets, and tight end Max Klare was also in the mix before going in the second round of the draft to the Los Angeles Rams.
So the lack of gaudy production doesn’t mean Kacmarek can’t catch. It means he’s spent most of his college career surrounded by elite weapons.
In Miami, that kind of traffic jam doesn’t exist. If he keeps flashing, there’s a path for him to become a real piece of the offense, and it wouldn’t be a shock if he ends up among the rookie leaders in receiving at tight end this season.
That may take the rest of the football world a while to notice. The Dolphins, presumably, won’t mind at all.
In Other News...
Bradley Chubb Just Gave Dolphins Fans Another Reason To Be Frustrated
Bradley Chubbs move from Miami to Buffalo adds another layer to a Dolphins offseason already defined by change. After being released by Miami, the veteran pass rusher landed with the Bills, a division rival that has spent the early part of the summer talking like a team built for January. For Dolphins fans, it is the kind of turn that stings a little more because it keeps the focus on a player who once looked like a key piece of Miamis defense.
Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid said Chubb had interest in Buffalo as far back as 2023, and Chubb has since sounded energized about joining a team with clear playoff ambitions. Meanwhile, Miami is moving on from Chubbs contract and trying to reshape its defense, which leaves the Dolphins having to answer an uncomfortable question: did they just watch a former centerpiece head straight to the one place in the AFC East they least wanted to see him land? [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Camp Battles Are Heating Up For Several Bubble Players
Miami is midway through training camp, and with the preseason about to begin, the pressure is starting to mount for the players on the fringes of the roster. The Dolphins have until Aug. 30 to get down to 53 players, and recent practices have given the coaching staff a better feel for which pieces fit and which ones are starting to fade into the background.
Several position groups are already drawing close scrutiny as the roster picture comes into focus, with individual bubble players being weighed on how they have handled the work of camp so far. There is still time for movement, but the sense around the team is that the biggest evaluations are no longer about raw talent alone - they are about who can make the strongest final push before the decisions start to become real. [Read more 🡒]
Malik Willis Is Showing Dolphins Fans What They Needed To See
Malik Willis arrived in Miami with the kind of questions that follow any quarterback still trying to turn promise into proof, and the Dolphins are asking him to grow into the job fast. He signed a three-year contract to be their starter despite limited NFL experience, has six career starts behind him, and part of his early work has been about learning how to lead as much as how to play the position.
For the Dolphins, the attraction is obvious: there is real hope that Willis can settle in and become more than a short-term answer, but that optimism only lasts if his performance matches the work he is putting in behind the scenes. The next stretch will say plenty about whether the development he is showing now can translate into the kind of steady play Miami needs from its quarterback. [Read more 🡒]