Fifteen notes, nuggets and observations from the Dolphins’ season-opening 27-13 loss to the Raiders on Sunday in Las Vegas:
▪ In an ideal world, the Dolphins hope this rebuild (and yes, I know that’s a taboo word in their building) can be orchestrated as quickly and successfully as it was achieved in New England, which suffered two hideous seasons (4-13, 4-13) before returning to contention, and a Super Bowl, last season.
But this looks like a long and painful process unless Malik Willis proves to be a franchise quarterback (Sunday wasn’t a good start), unless Sunday’s offensive line performance was an anomaly and unless some of these young defenders become genuine building blocks – not “we-hope-they’re-building-blocks,” but legitimate building blocks.
Ask yourself this: If you had a significant wager on the line, which of these Dolphins defenders would you feel confident about projecting as a quality starter on a championship-caliber defense, besides Jordyn Brooks and perhaps Jacob Rodriguez, who had some good moments in his debut?
Possibly rookie first-round cornerback Chris Johnson, who had a role in allowing two touchdowns Sunday in a mildly disappointing first game.
But is there anyone else? Chop Robinson? For all of the offseason accolades from coaches and teammates, he was a nonfactor Sunday, closing with one tackle.
Safeties Michael Taaffe or Dante Trader Jr? Cornerbacks JuJu Brents and Jason Marshall Jr? Could they be rotation players long-term? Absolutely. But core long-term starters? We will see; all were decent or better Sunday.
Credit Taaffe and Trader for interceptions. While hardly imposing physically, Taaffe’s intelligence and instincts give him a chance.
More worrisome is whether the Dolphins have a single long-term starter on their defensive line.
Jordan Phillips was pushed around on far too many running plays Sunday; for as much as the Dolphins rave about his core strength, the 2025 fifth-round pick has a ways to go to be an impactful starter, if he ever becomes one. He rubbed his belly after making one of two his notable plays (a run stop for a loss of two). He also had a quarterback hit.
Zeek Biggers also had a quiet day, looking a second late and dollar short on multiple Ashton Jeanty runs in his area. And Kenneth Grant did nothing particularly notable as a rookie and is now on injured reserve with an undisclosed issue that coach Jeff Hafley said he didn’t think would land Grant on IR.
Zach Sieler, 30, had two terrific run stops in the fourth quarter, but is there anything that would motivate the Dolphins to pay him any of the nonguaranteed $44 million he’s owed between 2027 and 2029?
Rodriguez was a tackling machine, as he was in college, finishing with 14 of them (none for loss). He was sealed off on a handful of running plays, but he has a high motor and is generally around the ball.
Jeanty had 23 carries for 102 yards (4.4 per carry), and rookie Mike Washington Jr. had 7 for 41 (5.9 per carry). If the first half was a harbinger of what the run defense will look like, it’s going to be incredibly demoralizing for a young team.
This defense is going to take at least two drafts to rebuild, considering the Dolphins — with their new draft and develop philosophy — don’t want to spend big money in free agency unless it’s for a genuine difference-maker.
Here’s the problem: If Willis doesn’t give the Dolphins confidence that he’s “the guy,” then the first-round pick in 2027 will need to be used on a quarterback. And then the Dolphins will be relying on second- and third-round picks to lift a defense that likely will need at least six, and potentially as many as nine, long-term starters.
And if this Dolphins offensive line — which was supposed to be a strength — isn’t much better than it was Sunday, then some of those high picks will need to be used on that side of the ball.
This will be a long and difficult rebuild, and if the goal is to identify long-term building blocks, Sunday offered mixed early results. More should have been expected against a team that finished 3-14 last season.
▪ Biggest disappointment Sunday? An offensive line that often didn’t measure up against a mediocre defense (Maxx Crosby and a couple of others aside).
Patrick Paul and Aaron Brewer committed back-to-back holding penalties.
Kadyn Proctor was pushed back on a couple of plays, then committed a false start. In the second half, the Alabama rookie allowed a sack when he and De’Von Achane seemed confused over who should block Kwity Paye, who dumped Willis on a third-and-5. Proctor struggled on several stunts.
Paul permitted a possession-ending third down sack to All Pro Crosby early in the fourth quarter, with the Dolphins down 13.
Austin Jackson committed an illegal hands-to-the-face penalty on Crosby, negating a big late third-down conversion on a pass to Achane.
Of the five sacks allowed, Willis was mostly responsible for two.
Miami’s line — which features two first-round picks and two second-round picks and a Pro Bowl center in Aaron Brewer — had a large role in allowing 17 quarterback pressures.
Most discouraging: Achane, who led the NFL in per carry average at 5.7 last season, was held to 36 yards on 3.3 per carry. That’s more a reflection of the blockers, not Achane.
▪ Because the Dolphins have a tepid pass rush, Kirk Cousins had too much time to throw and surgically carved up the Dolphins in the first half, opening 9 for 9 and closing 21 for 30 for 160 yards. Miami never sacked Cousins all day.
And Cousins did it without his top weapon, Pro Bowl tight end Brock Bowers. Cousins made two foolish mistakes, on the interceptions by Trader and Taaffe.
Johnson, who has a lot more experience on the boundary than the slot, moved inside when the Dolphins played nickel, and he had a difficult time when matched up against Raiders tight end Michael Mayer and receiver Jack Bech. Taaffe said he should have offered help on Bech’s early TD reception against Johnson, who slowed up on the play.
Johnson, when working in the slot, also allowed a catch to Jalan Nailor and a TD pass to Jeanty on a third-and-8.
Marshall gave too big a cushion on an early catch for a first down on third-and-8 but was generally fine. Brents had a solid day; he was victimized on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that seemed unjustified. Kirk Cousins threw an incomplete pass on that 3rd and 13 from the Las Vegas 30, and Brents’ penalty extended that possession, which ended in a field goal.
▪ Wills’ debut? Promising at times, but he couldn’t overcome shoddy pass protection, inexperienced receivers and his own mistakes on five consecutive second-half possessions that went nowhere with the Dolphins down 27-13.
On third down on the first of those possessions — after a 79-yard kickoff return by Jaylen Wright — Willis took an unnecessary sack from Jakobe Dean. On the second, Willis was helpless to prevent a Crosby sack.
On the third, Willis had his first-down pass batted down, threw wide on a crossing pattern on second down and then was sacked on third down. On the fourth, the drive ended with two incomplete passes and a delay of game penalty. On the fifth, Malik Washington fumbled after a 30-yard catch and run.
For Willis, the inability to get points on Miami’s final five possessions took the luster off some of the earlier positives, including several darts to Caleb Douglas (who caught five for 94) and the shiftiness and power displayed on his 14-yard TD run.
Watching a quarterback scramble for yards (and a touchdown), and not slide short of a first down as Tua Tagovailoa did, is a refreshing change around here.
▪ Even before those five consecutive unsuccessful possessions, there were other missteps from Willis – an interception on a poorly thrown deep pass, a delay of game penalty (one of two by the Dolphins) and another play when he mistakenly took a coverage sack instead of getting outside the pocket and throwing it away.
The biggest question of the season is whether Willis will be good enough to make the Dolphins feel confident about using their first-round pick on another position – potentially a pass rusher or Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith. There won’t be definitive clarity for a while, but Sunday did not make the case to bypass an elite QB prospect in the draft.
Willis finished 15 for 27 for 220 yards, no passing touchdowns and an interception, which computes to a poor 66.9 rating. He ran six times for 39 yards (6.5 per carry) and a TD; Tagovailoa had 43 yards rushing all of last season.
▪ Fox’s Mark Shlereth, a former offensive lineman, made a good point that Brewer is unnecessarily drawing attention to himself by wearing orange gloves. Even on questionable holding penalties, Brewer seemingly leaves himself at greater risk of being noticed by the refs.
▪ And speaking of regrettable apparel decisions…Is it really necessary for Willis to play with his shoelaces untied? Willis was insistent last month that he would never lose his shoes while scrambling because his socks are sewn inside his shoes. Yet his shoes flew off twice Sunday.
▪ Offensive lowlight of the day? Miami failing to score after Wright’s 79-yard kickoff return late in the third quarter. A touchdown would have drawn the Dolphins within 27-20. Instead, they got nothing after Willis was sacked on third down and Riley Patterson missed a 41-yard field goal.
▪ Quick stuff: Hafley said the No. 2 running back would be based on matchups. As it turns out, Ollie Gordon II never touched the ball, and Wright had only one carry (for minus-1 yards)… Kyle Louis was ruled out with a knee injury sustained on special teams…. Long snapper Tucker Addington left for a time with a shoulder injury.
▪ In a bit of a surprise, Texas rookie Taaffe — and not Trader — started alongside Anderson at safety. Johnson and Marshall started on the boundary, with Brents playing a lot — and Johnson moving inside — on nickel packages.
Brents made a couple of nice plays against the run, including snuffing out one for an 8-yard loss. Johnson had an early run stop, too.
▪ Besides Douglas’ big day, fellow third-round rookie Chris Bell had a 25-yard reception in his debut. He couldn’t hold onto his first target, but it was a high throw and would have been a difficult catch.
▪ Coverage units were atrocious. Kicker Riley Patterson was forced to make two tackles on Dylan Laube kickoff returns of 50 and 45 yards.
Punter Bradley Pinion had to make the tackle on Malik Benson’s 23 yard punt return.
▪ Proctor’s debut was uneven, but hometown hero Rueben Bain Jr. — one of the players bypassed by the Dolphins — mustered just one tackle in Tampa Bay’s loss to Cincinnati.
▪ This team is too talent-depleted to survive this many mistakes: the late fumble by Malik Washington, the eight penalties for 61 yards, the Willis interception, the communication breakdown on the Bech touchdown and the special teams catastrophes.
▪ Cousins might be the worst quarterback the Dolphins face before the bye. Up next: Brock Purdy (at 49ers), Patrick Mahomes (home against Kansas City), Kyler Murray (in Minnesota, if he recovers in time from a concussion sustained Sunday) and Joe Burrow, when the Bengals visit before Miami’s off week.
Here’s what Jeff Hafley said after the game.
This story was originally published September 13, 2026 at 8:28 PM.
Miami Herald
Barry Jackson has written for the Miami Herald since 1986 and has written the Florida Sports Buzz column since 2002.