The Miami Dolphins Rookie Draft Class reported to camp July 21st. There was an expected move, however, 3rd RD pick WR Chris Bell from Louisville was placed on the Active Non Football Injury list. We most likely won’t see WR Chris Bell until the 2nd half of the season or later, and that’s fine. Let him fully heal, and we’ll see him when he’s healthy and ready to go. He’s going to most likely be our best WR when he’s good to go, and probably the most impactful, and there is certainly no reason to rush the timetable on his return. The one guy who never gets any positive spin is the first WR we drafted in 2026 is 3rd RD Pick (#75) WR Caleb Douglas. I remember clearly the sentiment here, and in general as that pick went down. “We could have taken him 60 picks later”, or “OMG, what a reach!!!”. While WR Chris Bell is healing, WR Caleb Douglas has an opportunity to grab some serious playing time and earn getting the ball thrown his way. From what I’ve heard, QB Malik Willis likes Douglas and has already developed a rapport. That’s great news, or hype, but looking at the WR room, do we really want WR Jalen Tolbert or WR Tutu Atwell getting the majority of targets?

Let’s switch gears for a moment. Looking at our draft class, there are two players who should be starting immediately, and that’s both 1st RD picks, LG Kadyn Proctor (Pick #12) and CB Chris Johnson (Pick #27). Where CB Chris Johnson lines up the most doesn’t really matter, he will probably be on the field all the time on defense, either at LCB or covering the slot. Johnson has that versatility. As opposed to last year’s first OL taken (OG Jonah Savaiinaea), Proctor must play like a starting caliber OG or the Chris Grier “Boo Birds” will turn on JES real fast. The Dolphins gave ILB Jordyn Brooks a nice 3 year contract extension, 3YR/$51M/$35M Guaranteed. No doubt Brooks earned that, but it does muddy as to where 2nd RD Pick (#43) Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez will play, and how much. Also on the roster is ILB Tyrel Dodson who was 2nd in total tackles last season with 129, had 5 sacks, 1 FF and 1 FR. With Brooks under contract 3 more years, if anyone is going to get moved, Dodson figures to be that player.

Besides the 2 rookies already mentioned as the ones who will be the biggest impacts, Proctor and Johnson, who is the next guy up? When you look at our defense, one thing stands out for sure, is where is the pass rush going to come from? I’m not sure any one player we drafted will be the leading sack or pressure guy (For those of you that worship “pressures’). We did draft 2 players that could potentially be pass rushers, 4th RD Pick (#130) OLB Trey Moore 6’3 250 from Texas and then 7th RD Pick (#238) DE Max Llewellyn 6’5 263 from Iowa. In addition those two drafted pass rushers, we picked up as an UDFA a guy who has potential to surpass both of these guys, and that’s DE Mason Reiger 6’5 250 from Louisville and Wisconsin. Reiger had 8 sacks in 3 seasons with Louisville, he missed the ’24 season with a knee injury. In 2025, Reiger went to Wisconsin and recorded 5 sacks. We brought in a bunch of veteran pass rushers like LB Josh Uche (PHI), David Ojabo (BAL) and Robert Beal (SF). the last two have 5.5 sacks combined over 7 seasons, so despite being veteran players, these guys haven’t gotten it done. Uche has 21.5 sacks in his career, but 11.5 of them came in 2022 with the New England Patriots, and he has a total of 8 sacks over the last 3 seasons.

Another rookie that may end up getting a good share of playing time is 6th RD Pick (#200) OG D.J. Campbell. Listen, we all hope last year’s 2nd RD trade up for OG Jonah Savaiinaea plays well this season, and puts the doubters to sleep by having an excellent season. In addition to Savaiinaea playing well, we also hope that RT Austin Jackson stays healthy all season and plays well. If one or both of those don’t happen, it’s very possible we see OG DJ Campbell move to one of the OG spots. We do have OT/OG Jamaree Salyer who we picked up from the Chargers who can step in at either OG or RT, but my guess is they’d rather keep Salyer as a swing tackle, so if Jackson was injured I’d say Salyer moves to RT, but if Savaiinaea is playing poorly, Campbell would get the chance to play RG, where he played 4 seasons at Texas.

On defense, it’s an interesting situation. Our ILB corps could be one of the best in the NFL with ILB’s Jordyn Brooks, Tyrel Dodson and rookie Jacob Rodriguez. The defensive line is a mix of 2nd year players DT’s Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers, along veteran DE Zach Sieler. It appears on the surface that a bunch of our rookies will be situational players, like pass rushers Trey Moore, Max Llewelyn and Mason Reiger (Provided they all make the 53), as well as tweeners like LB/S Kyle Louis and S Michael Taafe. Kyle Louis is an interesting guy who may get a large role in passing downs either as a blitzer or a cover guy because of his quickness and speed. The secondary looks like it will be LCB (R) Chris Johnson, RCB Juju Brents, and 2nd year CB Jason Marshall. At safety my guess it will be Dante Trader and some combination of Lonnie Johnson Jr., Kyle Louis and Michael Taafe. When I say combination, I think playing time will be affected by each players effectiveness in certain situations.

I’ve yet to mention one guy who I think will be playing an awful lot of football for our Dolphins in 2026, and that’ rookie TE Will Kacmarek who was a 3rd RD Pick (#87). I know many of you love TE Greg Dulcich, but Dulcich doesn’t block, and Kacmarek does. I don’t we just drafted a battering ram on the O-line, although I hope he’s that for sure! I think Kacmarek will be a part of the passing game. If Dulcich is on the field in 2 TE sets, the defense will naturally flow to Dulcich, which should leave Kacmarek open. If he can take advantage of that, Kacmarek could see a bunch of targets. To add, with so much uncertainty on the O-line, especially the right side with Savaiinaea and Jackson, having an excellent blocking TE is truly not only a blessing, but a necessity. The last thing our QB needs, whether it’s Malik Willis or Quinn Ewers is to have defenders putting them on the ground in less than 2 seconds. Which rookie overall will have the biggest impact in your view?

GO DOLPHINS!!!