Finsmob Unleashed

I’m very enthusiastic about watching our Dolphins play tonight, even if I only see glimpses of certain players and watch with the full understanding that the flavor of these games is vanilla. You’re not going to see exotic offensive plays or any trickeration, and the defense will be the most basic scheme. No one is trying to fool anyone, but that’s in some ways the beauty of these games. You can see basically just one on one matchups and get an idea where certain players are, or aren’t. I feel really good about our team, better than I have in close to 3 years. The main reason is I feel we’re building something here, we have direction, and as the youngest team in the NFL we have a lot of guys I will be elated to root for. That has not been the case, at least for me the last few years. There wasn’t a whole lot to “like’ about the players we had here, and now that has changed drastically for me.

Let me start out by saying I’m thrilled that WR Caleb Douglas is thriving. It’s so early on and it’s only practice, but there’s already a chemistry and a trust building between QB Malik Willis and WR Caleb Douglas. Yes, Caleb Douglas, poster boy here for the “Biggest Reach in the Draft”. I think most people who said would happily retract that statement now. To be fair, he hasn’t yet played a game for our team, Preseason or otherwise, but I would love nothing more than for him to show a little something tonight in Preseason numero uno against the Washington Commanders. Besides WR Caleb Douglas, there are so many players to watch tonight. We’re going to see plenty of the 2nd year Chris Grier draftees on the defensive line, namely DL Kenneth Grant, Zeek Biggers and Jordan Phillips. I believe Zach Sieler will not play this evening, so these guys will get some playing time tonight.

We all want to see the rookies, and we have plenty of those. On the offensive line, all eyes will be on LG Kadyn Proctor, our first pick in the 2026 Draft at #12. Although not a rookie, as many eyes if not more, will be on 2nd year OG, now on the right side, RG Jonah Savaiinaea. His struggles last season were well documented, he graded out at the bottom of PFF’s ratings at LG. Now, back at his more familiar RG spot, hopefully he has a better showing. As long as we’re on the topic of blocking, I can’t wait to see TE Will Kacmarek. I know blocking TE’s aren’t the most exciting thing, but for a team that is trying to become a physical team, it’s essential to have a physical TE in a league littered with “Receiving Only” TE’s. Kacmarek will get some targets as a receiver as well, but he was drafted as the best blocking TE in the draft.

There have been countless comparisons between rookie LB Jacob Rodriguez and HOF LB Zach Thomas, both from Texas Tech. Of course, you surely remember Zach Thomas as a rookie replacing veteran LB Jack Del Rio which led to Del Rio’s release. Some writers can’t help themselves by saying Tyrel Dodson is going to be the next Jack Del Rio. It’s possible, maybe a trade can happen, but I doubt wholeheartedly the Dolphins are going to release Tyrel Dodson and get nothing in return. As I’ve mentioned in a few of my articles, this team is going to have a lot of situational players, which means there’s plenty of room for opportunities for everyone. All the tweeners we have on the roster that we drafted like LB/S Kyle Louis, EDGE/LB Trey Moore, S Michael Taaffe. Even our second first round pick CB Chris Johnson will be shifting from outside CB to nickel or slot CB in specific situations. What I’m driving at is there will be a lot more team efforts, and probably not a whole lot of individual accomplishments this season. With the exception of maybe RB De’Von Achane, I wouldn’t expect to see a lot of Dolphins on the leaderboards of any particular category.

I actually love the team concept. Gone from this team are all the hard to root for “superstars”. Not to say we don’t have potential superstars on our roster, but no one can just walk in with swag onto the field like they’re better than anyone else. Everyone has a lot to prove, and I like it! The score of the game tonight is irrelevant, but you want to see the team compete and not look totally overmatched. I think HC Jeff Hafley has been getting his message across very well to the players, i think they understand what is expected of them. The team attitude has changed from “Me” to “We”. The change doesn’t occur overnight from being a weak finesse team to a physical play anywhere team, a team that can play in frigid weather or steaming hot Miami weather with the same success. I’m sure that transformation hasn’t fully taken place, but I think the attitude is well on its way to getting there.

As in any Preseason game, I don’t know how much we’re going to see of any particular player. I’d like QB Malik Willis to look efficient for however many drives he gets, I don’t want him to play recklessly, and most of all he has to stay healthy. I don’t want him to put himself in harms way in a meaningless Preseason game, so he has to be smart. No Tua selfish, I said smart! I would like to see backup QB Quinn Ewers play well. He’s been much maligned during camp, so hopefully he can shake that off and show well tonight. I don’t think we’re going to carry 3 QB’s on the 53, so despite the fact that QB Cam Miller will probably play some, I want to the top 2 guys to thrive. WR Caleb Douglas on the other hand, has done so well in camp, I’d like to see that continue and for him to be able to show how for real he is in a game situation.

I’m really looking forward to seeing all our rookies, whether drafted or undrafted. One guy we won’t be seeing but on who continues to progress in drills, is WR Chris Bell. Honestly, it doesn’t matter when he comes back, whether he shocks us all and makes the 53 immediately or is on some form of injured list for a month or so during the season. Either way, even if he comes back in October, he’s still going to play a big part of the season, and that’s awesome. I can’t thank the Dolphins enough for making the necessary moves, purging this team of the poison, players and coaches alike, and giving us a new hope. I mean that more than you know, I have not enjoyed watching this team during the Tua/MM era. Now, everything is different, and despite being in the very beginning stages of transformation from ballerina to brawler, it’s begun, and I love every minute of it!

GO DOLPHINS!!!