The Miami Dolphins have spent five weeks searching for their first win, and the numbers around the team tell a brutal story. They’ve been outscored 132-70, and the passing game has been one of the clearest problem spots. Through five games, Miami ranks last in the league in passing yards at 156.3 per game, with Malik Willis starting every contest and completing 56.2% of his throws for 849 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions.
But not everyone is lining up to pin the mess on Willis. Former Dolphins offensive lineman Richie Incognito thinks the bigger issue is the roster around him.
“It's tough to really pass judgment on Malik Willis because it's up and down. I think the rest of the roster is really, really bad," Incognito recently told NFL writer DJ Siddiqi."
They're paying $180 million to guys that are no longer there. Overall, they're just not a very good football team.
There's a lot of holes in the roster. Maybe they make a change at quarterback.
It doesn't matter. I think just looking at the roster, they don't have enough talent, and they're not playing well.
“Everyone knew it was going to be a rebuild going into the season. They grabbed Malik Willis kind of as a bridge quarterback, and it's tough.
It's tough to evaluate players when you're playing on a roster where you have not that many great players. We'll see what they're able to put together.
I think it's important that they have a great offseason, a great draft, great free agency class, and then really start building this thing out."
Miami’s offseason stripped away several of the team’s biggest names, including Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Darren Waller. Then the injury hit: Pro Bowl running back De'Von Achane tore his ACL early in Week 3.
That’s left Willis working with Malik Washington, Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell and Kevin Coleman Jr. at receiver, while Ollie Gordon II, a 2025 sixth-round pick, has taken over as the starting running back. It’s not a friendly setup for any quarterback, and especially not for one trying to carry an offense with this little margin for error.
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 🡒]