Last game of the Preseason is upon us, and this game, as it always does, will finalize some roster spots for the 53 man roster cutdown, which will be Sunday, August 30th. The Dolphins recently shipped WR Tutu Atwell, formerly of the LA Rams, back to the Rams, for RB Jarquez Hunter. Atwell was one of the few WR’s on the roster with experience, which then leaves the WR with Jalen Tolbert, 4 YR veteran who played the entire 4 years for the Dallas Cowboys as the senior man. Before you get yer panties in a bunch, yes, technically WR Jalen Reagor is the senior man, but he played sparingly the last 2 seasons, just 19 games with 3 starts, while Tolbert has played 30 games with 23 starts. After Tolbert and Reagor, it’s all rookies with Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell and Kevin Coleman. We should get our first look at WR Chris Bell in this evenings game against the Falcons. He’ll probably get a handful of plays but it will be great to see him in action for the first time.
Yes, Tua the Magnificent makes his return to Hard Rock, but thankfully, not wearing aqua, white and orange. No, this time Tua will look even more awkward wearing the Falcons red, black and white uni. Some will boo (I will even though I won’t be at the game and will be watching it many hours later whenever NFLN replays it), but I’ll take solace in knowing I never have to see him under center for the Miami Dolphins ever again. You can love him or hate him, makes no difference to me because he’s gone. I still feel very strongly that if Tua wanted to do the right thing he would have retired, but he selfishly continues to play and shortchange the team he is playing for by playing to protect himself rather than to win. He’s just not going to compete and put himself in harms way which really isn’t fair for the team that he’s leading. I’m not saying he has to be reckless, but you want the guy leading your team to do what it takes to win and we didn’t say that for the last 2 seasons he was here. OK, enough wasted time on Too-ugh.
It is so hard to get a sense of what to expect from this team. Last preseason game we didn’t see our starting QB, Malik Willis, or even our backup QB, Quinn Ewers. We didn’t see many starters along the O-line either, mostly 2nd and 3rd string guys. If you’re going to evaluate the offense, how do you go about doing so fairly? You simply can’t. On defense we also didn’t get to see a lot of starters, but more than on offense for sure. I’ve read that DL Kenneth Grant may miss game 1 of the regular season with an undisclosed leg injury. We haven’t see Jordan Phillips play much either, and my guess is he won’t see much action tonight because he will likely be the replacement for Kenneth Grant if he can’t go or is limited. That would be a D-line in the 4-3 as LE Chop Robinson, LDT Jordan Phillips, RDT Zach Sieler, and RE Joshua Uche. In preseason, we haven’t seen any pass rush, and that’s disappointing, although as we know, everything is vanilla in preseason, but there is still cause for concern. What you have in preseason is just one on ones and we didn’t win many of those.
On the offensive side, I remember loving that first drive in Preseason Game 1 against Washington. While the Commanders sat their defensive starters, our offense which had our starting 5 on the O-line looked very good, and our drive was a TD drive. Everything was clicking, the O-line provided rushing lanes and protected well. After the first drive when the starters came out, the wheels fell off, but that’s not too surprising. Oddly enough, rookie OG DJ Campbell who played his entire career at Texas at RG has been playing LG. So much with playing guys on the sides that they’re comfortable on! In any case, starting RG Jonah Savaiinaea, who looked quite a lot better in his limited action will continue to play RG, where he played during his collegiate career..
I have seen a lot of disappointment regarding our rookie defensive players on our blog, such as S/LB tweener Kyle Louis. The truth is, these guys were drafted with a plan. Louis will be put in situations where he can help and succeed, he will not be starting at either LB or S. My guess is he will come in some obvious passing situations in coverage or as a blitzer and Hafley will keep teams guessing on what he will be doing. It will probably translate, at least early on, to just a handful of plays, besides playing ST’s as well. Same will go for S Michael Taaffe, if he makes the 53. ILB Jordyn Brooks is a little banged up, but you’d have to think that ILB Tyrel Dodson is a guy we can trade for a either a 2027 pick or a player at a different position of need. Of course if Brooks injury is a lingering one, then we may need Tyrel Dodson next to rookie LB Jacob Rodriguez. Rodriguez also struggled some in Preseason, so this was nowhere near a Zach Thomas/Jack Del Rio type of situation at all for those of hoping for an historical replay of that.
Someone on the blog started the Season Record Prediction post, and I said 7 wins. That’s a best case scenario, QB Malik Willis stays healthy and plays 17 games and we don’t have any major injuries. Both the offense and defense have to play well enough to accomplish that, and I think for a team that will be a very young team, a team with an average under 24 years old, would be quite the accomplishment for both Sully and Haf. This team could be very reliant on the 2025 draft class and as well as the 2026 draft class which netted a total of 21 players, 8 last season and 13 this season. RB Jalen Wright continues to disappoint, I think many of us expected him to be at the very least a competent #2 back behind our best player, RB De’Von Achane, but this hasn’t happened. Not sure how much of this factored into the trade with the Rams to acquire RB Jarquez Hunter, who is a bowling ball at 5’9 211. There’s no guarantee Hunter makes the 53, but it absolutely puts doubt as to whether one of the incumbent RB’s Jalen Wright or Ollie Gordon are in danger of getting cut, or if we’re going to carry 4 RB’s and no FB, despite some here falling in love with FB DJ Herman. We all understood the ramifications of having a salary cap crisis, we won’t be picking up expensive vets, but looking for bargains after the cutdowns occur.
For those of you not in Florida, or even in Florida but not in the area where the Dolphins vs Falcons Preseason Finale will be shown, the game will replayed on NFL Sunday August 30th at 6AM EST. I will probably stay away from the blog during and after the game as to not ruin the viewing experience. I want to watch and form my opinions and watch it as if it were live. I’m excited to see WR Chris Bell play, it’s quite the story! Many of us hoped we could see him play this season but didn’t expect to see him activated until October at the earliest. Again, curb your enthusiasm, because he’s not going to be logging tons of playing time, but he will be playing, and that’s great. He can help the team even in small doses, he’s a very talented receiver, and has the size and speed that we desperately need. I’m hoping WR Caleb Douglas is getting the job done while Bell isn’t, and also hope rookie WR Kevin Coleman is as well. I like Malik Washington, but Coleman could be even better. As always, let’s hope we stay healthy in this final game of the Preseason.
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
Roster this morning
Quarterback (3) — Malik Willis, Kyle McCord, Brady Cook
Running back (4) — De’Von Achane, Jaylen Wright, Ollie Gordon II, FB DJ Herman
Wide receivers (6) — Malik Washington, Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, Kevin Coleman Jr., Jalen Tolbert, Ryan Miller
Tight ends (4) — Greg Dulcich, Will Kacmarek, Seydou Traore, Justin Joly
Offensive line (10) — Patrick Paul, Kadyn Proctor, Aaron Brewer, Jonah Savaiinaea, Austin Jackson, Andrew Meyer, Caedan Wallace, D.J. Campbell, Chukwuebuka Godrick, Jarrett Kingston
Defensive line (4) — Zach Sieler, Zeek Biggers, Jordan Phillips, Keith Cooper Jr.
Edge (4) — Chop Robinson, Josh Uche, Robert Beal Jr., Malik Herring
Linebacker (6) — Jordyn Brooks, Jacob Rodriguez, Willie Gay Jr., Ronnie Harrison Jr., Jackson Woodard, Kyle Louis
Cornerback (5) — Chris Johnson, JuJu Brents, Jason Marshall Jr., Reese Taylor, Marcellas Dial Jr.
Safety (4) — Dante Trader Jr., Zayne Anderson, Michael Taaffe, Julius Wood
Specialists (3) — Bradley Pinion, Riley Patterson, Tucker Addingtonww.si.com
BAM!! Perfect on the page turn
FMU 2026 Season Predictions
🗿 4-13
🎣 5-12
🦈 17-0
🤚 7-10
🎰 3-14
🐘 6-11
🇨🇦 2-15
🦬 4-13
🐖 8-9
🗽4-13
📘👮♂️ 3-14
🇬🇧4-13
THIS IS NOT SPAM
I don’t know why, but when I bring the predictions over to this page from the last page it goes straight to spam.
Herd, can you do an old stoner a favor?
Thanks!
Cubs have hit 17 HR’s over the last 3 games and 9 of those HR’s came last night vs the Brewers. Crow-Armstrong has 5 of the 17 HR’s. He added 2 more leadoff HR’s giving him 9 leadoff HR’s on the season. He has the 2nd most HR’s in MLB with 38.
WOW! Did the Brewers change up the pitcher at all? 9 HR’s in one game will get a pitcher fired! LOL
question is, was the wind blowing out at Wrigley
I don’t understand why they picked up Cook from the Jets. He sucks.
As a rookie, Cook started four games for the New York Jets last season, losing all four games while throwing for 739 yards, two touchdowns and seven interceptions. One of those starts came against Miami, when he completed 14 of 30 passes for 163 yards and two interceptions.
Espescially as a waiver wire pickup causing them to have to cut someone.
Huge head scratcher for me.
did you look at his highlights or just look at the stats?
his highlights are good, he’s athletic, his lowlights don’t look horrible. My conclusion is he was on a bad team. Doesn’t mean everyone on the team is bad
IDK what their replacements will do, but it won’t include that atrocious play
———
How do you/we know that?
I like the Dial pickup, but none of them have done nothing to indicate they are better than Bonner or A.J. Green.
THAT atrocious play could only be done by those players
I was looking for a different way of writing it, but I think the idea of the bad play by those players is now an afterthought
was driving me crazy to watch Bonner give 10 yard cushions to WRs about to be cut
I can’t get this picture from training camp out of my head, tge entire left side of the zone is completely wide open, it happened play after play, only saving grace was Heck was playing RT
At the end of practice they ran what looked like a screen pass 10 yards downfield, with eligible receivers blocking, 3 plays in a row, on the 3rd one the receiver had an escort into EZ for 40 yards
our backup CBs couldn’t cover for shit. Not sure the starters are much better
well this answers my question about if wood has played special teams
Wood appeared in nine games for Tennessee in 2024 and also played most of his snaps on special teams.
More on Wood
Dallas lost just one player on waivers, with the Miami Dolphins adding safety Julius Wood, who had been a star in the preseason.
In Week 1 against the Seattle Seahawks, Wood had five tackles and then added seven against the Arizona Cardinals. He was dealing with a concussion which put his status in jeopardy ahead of Week 3, but suited up and had and six against the New Orleans Saints. That gave him 18 tackles in three games as he proved to have a nose for the football.
I hope not (moron Wood)
Rock, Brewers pitchers gave up 6 of the HR’s. Since they were getting blown out the Brewers didn’t want to dip into their bull pen anymore so they put a fielder on the mound. He gave up 9 hits, 7 runs, 3 BB and 3 more HR’s. It was like batting practice the last 2 innings so those #’s last night are a little skewed.
🤡 they didn’t want to go through their pitchers so they put a fielder on the mound?!? LOL
So glad I stopped watching baseball during the strike decades ago.
so 2026 was supposed to be about building with patience, not worrying about Ws/Ls, just player evals
after what took place in PS the patience seems to have already warn thin. I’m with Sully getter done or be gone, iur pups need to bite
Yeah, I’m all about making the roster better top to bottom. The Brady Cook waiver claim has me questioning Sully though.
Steve, I get what you are saying about the CB’s. I was trying to figure out if it was them or Hafley’s system. I was hoping it was not Hafley’s system. I still don’t have a grasp on that huge cushion they were giving up whether it was them or Hafley.
FMU 2026 Season Predictions
🗿 4-13
🎣 5-12
🦈 17-0
🤚 7-10
🎰 3-14
🐘 6-11
🇨🇦 2-15
🦬 4-13
🐖 8-9
🗽4-13
📘👮♂️ 3-14
🇬🇧4-13
⚖️ 4-13
The last prediction is Realist. Found it when I was getting Rock’s post out of spam. WordPress still sucks if anyone had a doubt about it. 🫤
Rock:
It appears you have changed your prediction?
It was 5-12….what’s up with that? 🤔
Yes, I reconsidered after we got down to 53.
And you think that would go unnoticed?!? 😂🔍
Didn’t care if it was noticed Herd.
I wonder if we are really going into the season with just 4 DT’s and 4 edge and still 10 OL.
Herring is a bigger Edge type/4-3 DE. Though, he didn’t play a regular season snap last year and at 28yo (soon to be 29) he has obviously already reached his ceiling. I don’t see where he is an improvement over some of the edges we cut and now he is the backup for Uche???
This is another head scratcher for me with Sully.
it’s wild that 3 of our TEs and 3 of our WRs on the final 53 are rookies
and that doesn’t include players like Washington and Dulcich that Re fairly young
TBH, our edge and DB depth looks rather fugly right now.
at Edge we have Chop and Uche, then there’s…that’s it
getting pressure without one of those 2 on the field is going to have to come from the blitz, which we have several good candidates
losing Moore was big, with him on the field playing Edge he could slip back into coverage and allow someone else to rush, still sending only 4
on 3rd and at least moderate we’ll likely blitz a ton
as for DB, we don’t know what we don’t know. Once we see these new guys in action we’ll have a better idea
after watching PS, unless scheming and game planning play a bigger part, I’m at a loss for Hafley’s talk about being this Safety/DB guru. The talk was he didn’t need top of the draft safeties
My local KFAN does this thing…GREAT NFC DEBATE….every year where they have guys(reporters/announcers/writers) from every team in the division, each guy gives a rundown of their team and they “debate” the division.
It kinda grounds me because those guys are as big homers as some here are. It’s hilarious hearing their takes and then all of them ripping the other and telling them how delusional they are. Lol
the AFC East has the same type of podcast, with the same type of Homer’s. The worst, most delusional is always the jets guy, prolly because they always suck
The season for me comes down to can we get off the field on 3rd downs at a decent rate, if not this season will be a drag