Dolphins Open OTA Observations: Louis Shows Off Unique Skill

The media got their first look at a full Miami Dolphins practice under new head coach Jeff Hafley on Tuesday, with the first of three open OTAs.

This actually was the second of nine Dolphins OTAs this offseason, though the one Monday was closed to the media. Per NFL rules, teams have to make at least one OTA per week open to the media, along with all three days of the mandatory minicamp, which will be coming June 2-4.

The big story of this practice — and we need to remember this merely is an offseason practice — was a defense that came up with three picks, most notably one by a rookie draft pick whose calling card was his ability to cover.

Fresh off his contract extension — it has been confirmed even though it's not official yet — running back De'Von Achane did not take part in the practice session, though he was spotted doing some work on the side with a trainer.

Tackle Austin Jackson and Chris Bell also were at practice but not taking part of the almost-two-hour session. Bell, the rookie third-round pick from Louisville, is recovering from a torn ACL and also was spotted doing work on the side.

Those players not spotted were cornerbacks Storm Duck and Darrell Baker Jr., safety/linebacker Jordan Colbert, and edge defenders Cameron Goode and Robert Beal Jr.

There were no red jerseys other than those worn by the quarterbacks, and there also was no orange jersey, which under Mike McDaniel was given out in past years to the player of the day from the previous practice.

Another change from a typical McDaniel practice was that the music accompanying the work was at a lot lower decibel level.

OTA PRACTICE HIGHLIGHTS

-- We preface everything here by saying that Dolphins reporting rules prevent us from disclosing certain things we observe, such as position changes or who plays with what unit.

-- We can reveal that Kadyn Proctor is still big. Not fat, not chiseled, just a naturally very large human being. And he again showed, as he did in the rookie minicamp, that he carries his weight well and has very good mobility for someone his size.

-- Defensive line coach Austin Clark talks about the transformation of Kenneth Grant's body heading into his second OTAs, but from where we stood he looked pretty much the same as he did last year — and that's heavier (in bad weight) than either of the other two 2025 D-line draft picks, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers.

-- Gonna have to be honest here, and this might not be a major revelation, but the ball comes out very differently out of Malik Willis' hand than it does any of the other three QBs on the roster — Quinn Ewers, Cam Miller and Mark Gronowski. The velocity difference is borderline startling.

-- Because he's going to be the player under the most scrutiny, we'll start with Malik Willis' work in seven-on-seven sessions, which was fine but not overly spectacular. His best pass was a mid-range completion to the sideline to tight end Jalin Conyers with Tyrel Dodson in coverage.

-- To be honest, though, none of the quarterbacks stood out.

-- Now we have to get to rookie linebacker Kyle Louis, the fourth-round pick with the great coverage skills, who stepped in front of the receiver on rookie free agent Mark Gronowski's first pass attempt to make the pick near the sideline. In a game situation, this would have been a pick-six.

-- On the very next play of practice, Gronowski's pass to Tahj Washington over the middle was picked off by cornerback A.J. Green III after he tipped the ball up to himself.

-- While that one wasn't his fault, Washington earlier dropped a perfectly thrown deep ball down the sideline by Cam Miller. The most noteworthy part of the play, though, was that Washington got behind rookie first-round pick Chris Johnson.

-- There was a third interception by the defense, that one by second-year safety Dante Trader Jr. against Willis after his pass went off the hands of rookie third-round pick Caleb Douglas.

-- Douglas, though, looked smooth in catching the ball on a couple of other occasions and his ability to go and get the ball is pretty obvious.

-- While we mentioned the size of both Proctor and Grant, on the flip side we have to say that both rookies Jacob Rodriguez (6-1, 235) and Trey Moore (6-2, 243) look a lot smaller than their listed dimensions.

-- One thing that stood out also, and not in a good way, involved the receiver not making catchable receptions or bobbling easy catches. Along with the Douglas and Washington plays mentioned above, other culprits included Greg Dulcich, Jalin Conyers, Jaylen Wright and Tutu Atwell.

-- Again, this was the first of many practices we as the media will get to watch before even the end of the offseason program.

-- All in all, it was a typical spring practice, though Louis' big play made it stand out.

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