Dolphins Friday Mailbag: Hafley, Jackson, Chop, and More

Part 1 of a Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag for the first weekend of Training Camp 2026:

From Danny Torano:

My question is, why does everyone think the Dolphins will be worse than last year? We have a better O-line, RB room, LBs, D-line is equal. WRs took a dip but let’s be real, minus Waddle since Tyreek missed all year. QB is considered an upgrade. Secondary is still weak. Why not us?

Hey Danny, it’s a fair question you ask and I think it starts with the fact the schedule doesn’t play well for the Dolphins because they have to face the AFC West and the NFC North, which are two brutal divisional assignments. And you did bring up the two biggest issues, and that’s wide receiver and then the secondary. And I would add there is a question mark at tight end too with Darren Waller gone because Greg Dulcich is unproven. And the real issue is that it’s a roster full of unproven or young players and why there’s so much doubt about how good they can be.

From Cesar Pizarro:

Love what I'm hearing from Hafley after the first couple of days, so refreshing to get honest and coherent responses. How does his coaching style differ from his predecessor, and will he finally get the team over the "soft" label?

Hey Cesar, what you see in the press conferences is kind of symbolical of the styles of Hafley and McDaniel and the best way I could sum it up is Hafley is old school and McDaniel is new age. And the soft label will disappear to a large degree if the Dolphins stop depending so much on speed and finesse offensively. Winning agains a good team in the cold wouldn’t hurt either.

WHO LEADS THE WIDE RECEIVER GROUP?

From Maki Gero:

Who is gonna get the chance throughout the season at the WR position?

Hey Maki, I would suspect the six wide receivers on the opening 53-man roster will be Caleb Douglas, Kevin Coleman Jr., Chris Bell, Malik Washington, Tutu Atwell and Jalen Tolbert, and I’d expect all of them to get their turn. Injuries obviously will be a key determining factor, but I suspect this will be a group effort rather than one or two guys dominating the targets.

From FZB_Dolphins:

Every time I think Austin Jackson at RT I start hyperventilating thinking who we are going to play there after the first game of the season when Jackson goes into the IR. Am I wrong here?

Wow, you’ve already got Jackson going on IR? Ouch! I get the concern, but the Dolphins do have option there, whether it be veteran free agent pick-up Charlie Heck or Jamaree Salyer, both of whom have played right tackle in the past. There’s also no law that says the Dolphins have to keep Kadyn Proctor at left guard and maybe the Dolphins get started on his career there if something does happen to Jackson, which I think might be the most logical option if Jackson is going to be sidelined for a while.

From Bladeaux:

While I’d rather focus on the future, this bothers me as a result of some of the comments on the podcast(s): Folks poopoo McD now but talk about how much they respected Weaver as a leader — so how do we excuse some guys on D not getting with the program when they were here?

That is a completely fair position to take, and I do think the fact that Weaver is a former NFL defensive lineman whereas McDaniel was an Ivy League wide receiver plays into the perception of who was or wasn’t a good leader. But the reality is that both guys had issues dealing with some of the high-profile stars on the team (we know who they are) and getting them to fully buy into the team-first concept.

WILLIE GAY JR.'S ROLE

From The Man The Myth:

How and when will Willie Gay see the field this year?

I suspect the Dolphins are going to be rotating linebackers this year unlike 2025 when it was Jordyn Brooks and Tyrel Dodson and that was basically it. I think Gay then will have somewhat of a role, and that would be as a strongside linebacker when Miami has three LBs on the field. But I don’t know that I’d expect to a ton of snaps for him, though certainly more than last season.

From Chris Shields:

I know you can’t divulge starters or depth charts. Can you tell us which safety has lined up next to trader the most? Which edge has lined up the most opposite Chop? Let’s pivot from players. What’s your early take on the coaching staff as a whole? Anyone position coaches in particular that you’ve been impressed with?

Hey Chris, first off it’s too early for me to be talking about which position coach has impressed me because we’re only days into training camp. That’s a question I can better answer in a week or two. As for the edge and safety spots you mentioned, I’m not going to tell you who’s lined up the most where but would say to think about Josh Uche and David Ojabo on the edge and then at safety keep an eye on Zayne Anderson, Lonnie Johnson Jr. and rookie Michael Taaffe.

From Matthew:

Hi Alain, hope you're good. Can I give a shout out to how close us all Dolphins fans are to seeing you in a Dolphins hat in the pod, and request more people reading your Mailbag to subscribe. As for a question, I know you love making predictions. What's your prediction for how well Seydou Traore can do with the Dolphins (not necessarily Year 1, but do you see the potential for a future for him)? Just read a great article about him over here in the UK, and hoping he can succeed.

Hey Matthew, happy to report that we crossed the 17,000 subscriber mark on the All Dolphins Podcast last Thursday, so the Friday episode will have me wearing a Dolphins hat. My pledge is to wear Dolphins gear every time we reach another 1,000 and then go full out at 20,000. As for Traore, I have seen nothing so far to suggest he’s going to become a star in the NFL, just like I haven’t seen anything that would have me thinking it can’t happen. As you said, I wouldn’t expect very much during his rookie season, though.

From Ed Helinski:

Who has impressed so far? And who needs to?

Hey Ed, Chop Robinson is the easy answer as the one player who has impressed so far, though I would add I’ve really liked the play of cornerbacks JuJu Brents and Jason Marshall Jr. And for who needs to, that would be Kenneth Grant, Jonah Savaiinaea and Kadyn Proctor.

From James Batkowski:

Is Malik completing passes? Showing he can lead drives? Seems like we only talk about the bad. How about simple completions and bigger plays?

Hey James, if you check out the Friday training camp report, you will read that Willis had a good day. But as I can emphasizing, nobody should overreact to what we’re seeing in the first week of practices.

From chillingLyric:

Am I optimistic because I don't think the Dolphins are gonna be as bad as projected? I don't think they're a playoff team, but I can definitely see 6 to 7 wins and a team that's super competitive week in and week out. I also see a promising foundation.

I can be on board with what you’re suggesting. This is by no means a great team, but I’m with you that some of the low projections are a bit over the top. Six or seven wins does sounds feasible, without question.

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