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!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
steveccnv
says:
August 15, 2026 at 4:56 pm
then please explain, why they were interested in Diggs? Why they traded for Wallace?
Jonnu will only be acquired on the relative cheap, 4m or less
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I believe we may have ‘shown’ interest in Diggs (on the wrong side of 30 years old), only to drive his price up and away from our AFC East rivals… it’s part of the game. Don’t believe everything ya hear.
Steve, I’m obviously not calling the shots in Miami. All I can say is what I think may be the case, and I may be completely wrong.
We could have had Rasul Douglas for under $2M… and we passed. There are several other decent vets we could have had on the cheap… and we passed.
Trading for Caedan Wallace? He cost us less than ramen noodles and we needed to get better at the bottom of our roster (constantly churning). Wallace is also young… unlike Rasul Douglas or Jonnu Smith, who are on the wrong side of 30 years old like Diggs.
THIS is how I’m interpreting all of roster moves to date. We’ve the youngest roster in the NFL (developmental), we’re in a terrible cap situation this season, and we aren’t actively trying to win the Super Bowl this season (quite obviously).
I don’t think we should be interested in adding too many vets
let the young guys get some playing time
you make some good points
seems like they’re doing just enough to not embarrass the franchise, we’ll see, if they succeeded
lots of national people like the direction we’re going
Tua had a horrible game last night
according to Warren Sharp “Tua threw 5 passes zero attempts traveled even 5 yards in the air all 5 were thrown underneath he averaged -0.2 air yards”
that’s miserable
I’m not rooting against Tua but I’m so glad we parted ways with him
Malik said, in his post game presser, he was glad to be out of the red jersey, that everytime someone would get close to him in practice they’d yell sack, and he’d be like not even close
watching recording now …. Decent first drive
defence same
couple nice runs by Gordon and wright
Willie gay showing up in preseason again .. nice pick by Wilson
lame ass pick by Ewers wtf was he looking at
DL Notvgetting a ton of pressure but not getting pushed around either
Ewers soft sailing throws.. lobbing when he needs zip
miller also sailing the ball
lotta keystone Kops trying to pass the ball to refs after the play. Noticed it a few times now
fall away jumper by miller for a pick
yeah I think we can be better at the backup qb position.. churn
Ty Simpson had a very good first outing completing 21 of 25 for 190 and 2 TD’s.
can we ask any more from Proctor on his first start?
Our top 2 O picks so far are studs, top 2 D picks should be the same
If you go back and watch Ryder’s video on Jonah again the first play Ryder breaks down, you can see Proctor kind of whiff on his block. The run was to the other side and didn’t affect the play, but he got beat bad. The rest of his snaps looked good. He’s got some quickness when pulling for such a big dude. Though, he needs to square up a little better on the LB’s or DB’s he is trying to block when pulling. I like what I see.
what is it about these late round QBs, that bite as pups, then suck tge 2nd year. Skylar, now Ewers
Another one of the UDFA QB’s I wanted instead of Gronowski had a nice night for the Ravens. Joe Fagnano was 22 of 28 for 224 with 1 TD and 1 INT. We brought Austin Reed in for a visit when we cut Gronowski but didn’t sign him. He signed this week with the Ravens but only got a few snaps tonight and was 2 of 2 for 14, 3 rushes for 12 with a TD.
A TE I wanted us to draft in the 5th round but was drafted by the Ravens in the 4th round had a good night. Matthew Hibner had 5 rec for 61 yards on 5 targets.
It’s not over yet for Quinn Ewers. He can absolutely turn it around. I doubt anyone is panicking on the Dolphins staff that he can be our backup QB. He’ll figure it out. He got less reps last season too as the backup, but he didn’t have to play until Week 13. He had all that time to hone his game. He’s in a different offense with different receivers, he just has to get more comfortable and I think he’s capable of doing that.
a day before the draft I saw a video of Proctor, they were cautiously praising him. The praise was for his ceiling, caution was for his weight related to taking plays off
with our 1st pick I thought it was too risky, my concerns have been removed
with Proctor and Savaiinaea killin’ it at guard…too bad we don’t have a C to play between them🤪
watching O plays from Friday, the OL was very good, while Savaiinaea and Proctor were on the field. I don’t see lack of confidence I saw in Jonah last year, he’s playing better than anyone could’ve expected
Proctor is so wide, even when he gets beat initially, he still has time to get back in the play
Achane was all smiles on the sideline, he could have a monster season
and we really haven’t mentioned Kacmarek’s contribution, he’s been blocking DL straight up
Hafley’s message, about receivers blocking, came in loud and clear Friday
Dolphins have placed OL Jamaree Salyer on the injured reserve list. Not sure if it’s IR(return) or just IR, it doesn’t clarify that
Question for you guys and gals . . .
Do you have any issue with Hafley pulling Ollie Gordon from the game due to the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty?
no, I’d have a problem, if he didn’t
Ollie came back in and ran with a vengeance
Tahj was also pulled after a presnap penalty
I think it’s refreshing after MM’s lack of discipline.
Salyer is done for the year. Sheesh!
Ryder said, we used a lot of 12 personnel, with Kacmarek and FB Herman (playing HB)
I won’t be surprised, if Herman makes the 53
Gronowski was re-signed
Mike E.
says:
August 16, 2026 at 1:54 pm
Salyer is done for the year. Sheesh!
————-
That sucks. I suppose we’ll be looking for another O-Lineman… and pickings are getting really slim at this point.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/available/_/year/2026/position/ol
Eichenberg 😜
M – James Daniels is available! He never misses time! 😂
Yeah, to be on IR to return you have to be on the initial 53 then put on IR to return. If they are put on IR prior, they are done for the season. That sucks.
I’d rather them bring in another OT who can play OG like Wallace. Not sure they bring someone in at this point. They may wait until the cut down at this point.
Cut day is only 2 weeks from today at 5pm, August 30.
I think Wallace was already the replacement brought in for Salyer.
They shit the bed on signing a QB so they had to resort bringing Gronowski back. Only other option was bringing in 34yo Jimmy G right now. No thanks. Should have went ahead and gave Austin Reed a try.
Reed played decent for the Dallas UFL team this year.
It will be interesting come August 30 to see what we do. I bet there are at least 2 players we take from other teams. There are a couple teams 4 deep at QB like the Steelers and a few who are 10 deep at OL. They can’t keep them all.
I also think our practice squad may be more enticing to a player cut from another team than the practice squad for a team who has a lot of depth/competition.
Maybe I will scan other teams rosters for possible cut players if I am not busy at work tonight to pass the time. I can only watch so many youtube video’s at work before I get bored. lol