Dolphins Saturday Mailbag: Grant, Willis, Stopping the Detroit Offense, and More

What's on the minds of Dolphins fans ahead of this Week 9 matchup against Detroit:

From Ed Helinski:

Do you anticipate the Dolphins playing another close game against the Lions? Miami has been playing competitive football lately.

Hey Ed, the onus will be on the offense because asking this young defense to slow down maybe the best offense in the NFL (after struggling against the Patriots in the second half) might be unrealistic. I do get the feeling the Dolphins will keep it close for most of the game.

From Randy Millard:

Alain, last week Malik seemed to spread the ball around more than usual. Do you think that is a sign he's becoming more comfortable with his other receivers or was that just part of last week's game plan?

Hey Randy, no, I think it’s more about the game plan and how the plays were designed. Remember the Green Bay offense spread the ball around quite a bit, so this shouldn’t be surprising. And as impressive as Caleb Douglas has looked at times, until proven otherwise, the Dolphins don’t have a true No. 1 wide receiver and therefore the targets being spread among multiple players should be expected.

From SciGuy17:

Is Slowik's reluctance to use hurry-up in part because of Willis? Seems important to evaluate him in hurry-up this season. Does Ollie Gordon get how he hurts team with trash talk? I found his quotes problematic.

I’d think the reluctance to go with a hurry-up offense, which was a bit puzzling in the fourth quarter last week, actually would be due more to the inexperience of the wide receivers than it would be about Malik Willis. There already have been issues with wide receivers being on their assignments in a normally run offense, and going hurry-up probably would exacerbate that. As for Gordon, yeah, he knows. And if he didn’t know before, believe that he’s been reminded once, twice or 84 times this week. What happens is the emotions sometimes get the better of people and it takes a lot of discipline to simply walk away, and that’s something he’ll learn as he gets more mature.

From Jeff:

Hey Alain, I feel for the Lions. A portion of Dolphins' fans really have a piece of our heart for HCDC and even the prospect Jack Campbell. I really would've loved for him to be a Dolphin and a lot of us keep an eye out for what could have been with Dan Campbell in some alternate timeline. Here is to hoping Jack will be OK. Comments pointed me to the Shazier injury and his foundation he created as a result. Then I realized we play them this week. The next morning I saw the trade article suggesting Willie Gay. I feel like it would be a mistake if (almost said Grier) the GM didn't at least call or sit down with the Lions and suggest or inquire about sending Brooks to them. It helps us to do right by the player. I wouldn't even be upset if they did a package or 3 team deal to trade Brooks and Sieler for future draft picks. I think this is a situation where trading for the right reasons and the NHL equivalent of “future considerations” goes a long way and can speak volumes for the direction this organization could be headed if they make the right choices along the way. Any word on if the team is planning to have a moment of “Our thoughts are with Jack and his Family” at the next game? Do you think Brooks is a good candidate to help that Lions team even if it costs us in the short term? Thank you as always for everything.

Hey Jeff, no word on whether the Dolphins will have any kind of message, though I would suspect not because that to me maybe would be adding gravity to his situation and also head coach Jeff Hafley already offered his thoughts and prayers for Campbell before the start of his Wednesday media session. As for your trade idea, I’ve written about this quite a bit, and the question is whether the assets the Dolphins could get for Brooks and/or Sieler would be more valuable in 2027 and 2028 than having those two players, and for me the answer is easily the latter unless those are some premium picks the Dolphins can get — and I’m not sure they can get that.

From Nick:

Salut Alain, Nick from Montreal, hope all is well with you and your family. You might have been asked this question before and my apologies if I missed it somewhere but if Alain Poupart was the General Manager of the Miami Dolphins right now and was receiving the first overall pick in the 2027 NFL draft next year, which players would you pick (QB and Non-QB) ?………..The Dolphins are on the clock. P.S. Who was a better player for the Expos overall Warren Cromartie or Rondell White?

Hey Nick, love getting Expos question, so I’ll do that one first … better tools was White, better player was Cromartie. As for the 2027 draft, if I’m the Dolphins picking first, my top choice is trading back to 5 or 6 for additional capital. If a trade is off the table, my QB at this time probably would have to be Drew Mestemaker because of his ceiling and my non-QB would have to be Leonard Moore, the cornerback from Notre Dame. I’ve been very consistent in saying that I don’t care how great a prospect Jeremiah Smith might be, I’m not taking a wide receiver at No. 1 because of positional value — and I keep bringing up the Calvin Johnson example of a perfect prospect who became a Hall of Famer, and yet never won a playoff game in the NFL. It’s just easier for a pass rusher, tackle or cornerback to make a down-to-down impact on the game than a wide receiver.

From Dave Campbell:

Greetings Alain! One comment on Pats game before questions. If I were Hafley I would sit Ollie Gordon II for 1st series of Lions game but I'm a grumpy old curmudgeon. With Lions coming to town, has Hafley been asked, do you think it's a good idea, and who would be best suited to follow to follow St. Brown (3 questions in 1 lol). IMO it seems Slowik (and Hafley TBH) have problems with in-game adjustments. Thoughts? As always looking forward to both All Dolphins and Dolphins Collective podcasts plus all the great written content on Miami Dolphins on SI.Com, and on a personal note has made recovery from surgery easier (but when y'all on Collective get me laughing it still hurts lol)

Hey Dave, glad you’ve recovered. Hope you’re back to 100 percent pronto. I get the desire to bench Gordon for his bad penalty, but not sure exactly how that helps the team. Best suited to follow Amon-Ra St. Brown? Nobody. And that’s no slight on the Dolphins, the dude is just phenomenal at getting open. But if you ask for one player to handle that role, I think I’d lean toward Chris Johnson. Lastly, I’m not sure about this idea of in-game adjustments being an issue, as much as the Dolphins’ late-game problems stemming from talent rising in those circumstances and Miami simply not being there yet to where they can compete with the better teams.

From Toby Marmorino:

Hey Alain, after watching Ollie Gordon get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for the second time, don't you think it's time for Coach Hafley to send a message to the player saying that that type of play will not be tolerated? I believe that Haf should sit Gordon for the first quarter, that will show that he means business and that he is serious about setting the culture that he wants his team to embody. He gets one shot at this type of situation, I'd love to see it happen. Curious to hear your thoughts on the topic and about some type of punishment you'd like to see. Thanks and keep up the good work, I look forward to the after game podcasts.

Hey Toby, similar to what I said to Dave, I get where you’re coming from, but it’s again hurting the team as much as it hurting the player to sit Ollie for a quarter. And it doesn’t help that both of his backups, Jaylen Wright and Kaytron Allen, will be going into the Detroit game dealing with injuries. There’s really no easy answer to deal with that kind of situation, same as it was for players being late to meetings in recent years. They were getting fined. Would the Dolphins really have been better off with, say Tyreek Hill and/or Jalen Ramsey benched for a quarter? I don’t think so.

From Thomas Hudson:

I get why you have to write an article about it, but Jackson is a hard no for me. Setting aside the whole "some would argue it didn't work because the Dolphins didn't have enough at quarterback" (they would be wrong), if you go talk to Ravens fans many of them would tell you the same thing. Did Jackson kill the Dolphins? Sometimes. But that, like Mahomes and Josh Allen always killing the Dolphins was a defensive issue. I watched the second half of a Chiefs-Ravens playoff game and KC's defense basically dared Jackson to beat them deep. He couldn't do it. But none of that matters as much as this question: Think back to as many of the great running QBs as you can. Now tell me: How many of them were basically done by 30? And that is why the Dolphins should stay far away from Lamar Jackson. It is also why the Dolphins should be planning to spend a high pick on their next QB either this year or next year.

Hey Thomas, that KC-Baltimore playoff game was an abomination from a game plan standpoint by the Ravens more so than an indictment on Jackson, but I hear you. And your bigger issue is valid. Now Jackson has become a good pocket passer, but he’s not two-time MVP Lamar Jackson if you take away his running and, as you mention, he will be 30 by the start of the 2027 season. He also probably would take up a big chunk of the salary cap, and I’m not sure Jon-Eric Sullivan wants to go down that road. So, yes, bottom line is I’m with you in that the long-term answer needs to be either Malik Willis (still too early to call) or a high draft pick in either 2027 or 2028.

From Dean Rodriguez:

Will Kenneth Grant ever be in impact player? Sample size would indicate no but way too much talent to give up on.

Hey Dean, first off, yes, it’s waaaayyy too early to make any final judgments on Grant and his ability to become an impact player, though I’m reminded of the quote from Bill Parcells along the lines of “If they don’t bark as a puppy, they’re not going to bark when they’re grown.” Basically, what he was trying to say is you better see some positive signs early in any player, and we still haven’t seen enough of those from Grant since he arrived as the 13th overall pick in the 2025 draft.

From Jorge Francisco Boyd:

Hi Alain, in your opinion what can the Dolphins Defense do to slow the Lions offense? How can they attack them?

Hey Jorge, yeah, that’s a tough one because the Dolphins defense frankly wasn’t very good in the second half against New England and that offensive talent badly paled compared to what they’ll see Sunday. The most efficient way to control the Detroit offense is to make QB Jared Goff uncomfortable in the pocket and that means getting pressure. And it needs to come from Chop Robinson and his teammates up front and it may have to come from some well-timed blitzes, though those come with a risk. But if Goff has time, he’s more than likely going to carve up what’s not been a very good pass defense.

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