Dolphins Saturday Mailbag: Is Malik Willis the Most Mobile QB Ever?

Part 1 of a Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag on the final weekend of 2026 before rookies report for training camp:

From rjgrosso:

AP .. you remain the most enjoyable, straightforward read & watch in the market. 1. How/where can folks support the work; 2. How do you have the amazing recall about years/games/rosters long in the past. I assume some back stash of material, but u come up stuff instantly during podcasts. How?

Hi Richard, thanks so much for the kind words. The best way to support my work is reading every story posted on this site and subscribe to the two podcasts I do, the All Dolphins Podcast and the Dolphins Collective. As for my ability to recall, don’t know what to say other than remembering names and numbers is something I’ve always been able to do. It also helps that I’ve very often had to go back to look at past year, whether for a story or when editing a Dolphins book.

From Matt Thau:

Hope you enjoy the last few weeks before camp. I’ve seen memes online comparing World Cup teams to their NFL equivalents. How would you compare the Dolphins? Any comps for the other P4 sports? For college football my guess would be UCLA. Great history, won a championship, not currently relevant.

Hey Matt, that’s a very interesting question. The NBA equivalent before this past season would have been the Knicks, I would think, so maybe the comp still applies and the Dolphins win the Super Bowl. For hockey, I’m thinking maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs would be a good comp (no recent title, lot of big names, underachieve, now rebuilding). That would leave Major League Baseball, and here maybe the Cincinnati Reds or Pittsburgh Piirates with past glory but no recent success.

WHAT MADE SHULA GREAT

From SciGuy17:

Summer drags, so for us older folks, what made Coach Shula great, in a nutshell? And would he be just as good in current NFL?

Maybe the biggest thing that made Don Shula great was his ability to adapt to personnel, the best illustration being his quick transition from a run-oriented offense to a pass-happy attack once he was able to land Dan Marino. The other thing is how disciplined he made his team. This was a team that often was among the league leaders in fewest penalties and also didn’t beat itself. Not sure how well his no-nonsense (hard) approach would work with today’s NFL players. He would have had to adjust his approach and not sure he would have had it in him.

Legendary Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shul — Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula on the sidelines against the Cincinnati Bengals at Riverfront Stadium in 1987. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

From Marcus Zahn:

So Alain , can we have you with a Dolphins cap if the Dolphins win 7+ games?

Hey Marcus, that sounds like a deal. I will make the pledge right now to wear a Dolphins hat for a week straight on the two podcasts I host (or co-host) if they get to seven wins in the 2026 season. I would be very surprised if that happened, but I also gladly would take it.

From Jon Russell:

Hi Alain. I’m hopeful the Fins find a safety perhaps off the waiver wire but then teams usually let a player go for a reason. As things stand do you think they are good enough at safety or can you see a waiver wire addition or low-level trade?

Hey Jon, no, I don’t think the Dolphins are good enough at safety as constituted, barring some unexpected growth and emergence of some of their unproven commodities. Having said that, I wouldn’t expect a big-name safety to be added to the group because it’s just not how the Dolphins have operated this year. I think they’ll just roll with what they have (barring injuries) and hope somebody breaks out.

IS MALIK THE MOST MOBILE?

From Dave Campbell:

Greetings Alain! When Training Camp starts, how many days of actual pads and tackling are allowed? Sounds like Hafley considers that real football. I missed a big chunk of Miami Dolphins in the ‘80s & 2008-16 stationed all over world & country, so maybe a strange question. Who was (is) the most mobile/athletic QB for Dolphins? I would say in this order Malik Willis, David Woodley, Jay Fiedler. You? Always enjoy both All Dolphins and Dolphins Collective plus all the best written work on Dolphins on SI.Com, especially in these days before Training Camp. Found out last week we're same age , let's start a Grumpy Old Man club! LOL.

Hey Dave, thanks as always. I actually should start a Grumpy Old Man podcast. Your ranking of mobile/athletic QBs is good, though Pat White should be in there if there’s no game minimum requirement and I wouldn’t undersell Ryan Tannehill here. I think I might have him above Fiedler. So for me, because I can’t include White since he basically had a cup of coffee, it would be Willis, Woodley and then Tannehill. As for padded practices, what I found in the CBA is that teams can’t have more than three consecutive days in pads, and those can’t start until a five-day “acclimation period.” During the regular season, teams are allowed to have 14 padded practices, but 11 of them have to come in the first 11 weeks.

From Tim Gore:

You mentioned something about Brooks being an "off ball" LB; I've never heard that phrase. What is it and what are his responsibilities in this position?

Hey Tim, the term basically is used to described the old-fashioned linebacker who lines up behind the defensive line and not at the line of scrimmage, in other words “off the ball.” It’s used to differentiate from linebackers who line up at the end of the line of scrimmage and are described as either outside linebackers or edge defenders. While “off-the-ball” linebackers absolutely can and do blitz, the usual responsibility on pass plays is coverage.

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