Dolphins Saturday Mailbag: Trader, Rodriguez, O-line, and More

Part 1 of a Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag on the final weekend before the 2026 preseason opener:

From Mike Marchese:

Hola Alain……since offensive linemen that are available are few and far between, do you think we wait until final cuts to find a replacement for Jackson at tackle, or do we maybe trade Dante Trader Jr. straight up for someone now?

Hey Mike, good to see you at camp this year as always, but I have to pretty quickly dismiss your idea. The Dolphins want to find building blocks for the future, and Trader potentially could be one of those guys, so I see practically no way he would be traded (unless the trade is disproportionate, of course). If the Dolphins have to replace Austin Jackson this year and don’t want to move any of their interior offensive linemen (Proctor, Savaiinaea), then the waiver wire definitely becomes the logical place to look.

From williamgoesbywilliam:

I remember under the last regime hearing Dan Marino‘s name mentioned quite frequently (especially during practices). With the new regime, I have not heard anything about him being at practice or anything else. Is he no longer with the team? Thank you for what you do!

Hey William (or William), yes, Dan Marino remains with the team, though now that you mentioned his name, I haven’t seen him at practice this summer nearly as often as we used to. It’s possible his role has changed or will change considering he’s been special advisor to the vice chairman/president/ceo, and Tom Garfinkel not longer is president/ceo but now only vice chairman.

From LeoSaison:

From Davis Loose:

Any updates on Storm Duck?

Not really. We see Duck at practice every day, but I haven’t really seen him do any conditioning or rehabilitation work that would suggest he’s close to returning and getting removed from PUP. My best guess is he’ll start the regular season on that list and miss at least the first four games.

HAFLEY'S PRACTICE RITUAL

From Randy Millard:

Please educate me. I read that Hafley is foregoing 7v7 for 11v11 during training camp. What are the pros and cons of 7v7? There must be a reason for a majority of teams running both. Thanks!

Hey Randy, this wasn’t a replacement but rather the elimination of 7v7 because 11v11 always are going to take place, otherwise your offensive and defensive linemen never will be ready for the start of the regular season. While some coaches, including Mike McDaniel, like the 7v7 work to refine the passing game and pass defense, the down side is it doesn’t replicate game action like 11v11 because there’s no pressure on the quarterback, which is why Jeff Hafley doesn’t like it and doesn’t do it.

From Dave Campbell:

Greetings Alain! Watching Coach Hafley's & remembering McDaniel's press briefings, they've all seemed fairly cordial. Has there ever been a HC that had a really rough & gruff reputation with a large portion of the media room? Also, is the offense having ball security problems or is the defense better a getting turnovers? When I read about Ollie Gordon II with multiple fumbles, I thought I had stepped into the Time Tunnel (last old TV show reference I promise) and had seen Sammie Smith, who I thought was a pretty good RB who just lost all his confidence. I always look forward to both All Dolphins and Dolphins Collective podcasts plus all the great written content on Miami Dolphins on SI.Com. Best Training Camp info I can remember as a longtime, grumpy old man Dolphins fan.

Thanks for the kind words as always, Dave. If we want to talk about gruff head coaches, I’ll just say that Brian Flores and Nick Saban were two who could have been — how shall we put this? — more congenial, and the late great Don Shula also had his moments. As for the turnovers, it’s a combination of both, but I have noticed the offense being pretty loose with the ball and the defense trying to punch the ball out to a higher degree than ever before. As for the Gordon-Sammie Smith comp, there are slight similarities with both being big backs who speed, but I just hope Dolphins fans will be more reasonable than they were in 1989 during Smith’s rookie year.

From Jorge Francisco Boyd:

Hi Alain, do you think the defense will be any good. From the Dolphins team I see the LB unit and the DL as the stronger groups, the problem is the secondary. If it’s any good, probably we can have a decent defense. What do you think?

Hey Jorge, like the entire Dolphins team, what the defense will look like is a great big unknown. Because they’ll be relying on so many rookies and young players, I have a hard time seeing it being a great defense and the question is how consistent it can become.

THE O-LINE POTENTIAL

From John Flora:

Could this O-line, dare I say, be good?

Hey John, sure, but that would require Kadyn Proctor being good as a rookie, Jonah Savaiianea making a big jump in his second season and Austin Jackson staying healthy. That’s a lot of its, but I refuse to say it’s impossible.

From Ed Helinski:

What, if any, good and bad surprises have occurred so far during training camp?

Hey Ed, this is all based on what my expectations were, but good surprises for me have included Cameron Goode, Ronnie Harrison Jr. and Zayne Anderson, and bad surprises have been Quinn Ewers, Tutu Atwell and Charlie Heck.

From BBQ:

With Ewers looking like hot garbage at camp, asking you about Anthony Richardson last week and watching the HOF game last night - I just want to remind you of a question I asked on 10/29. I begged the Phins to get more dynamic at the QB position cus I was beyond sick of watching Tua either die on the field or just lay down the second there was pressure, with zero in between. I mentioned specifically drafting Haynes King and hoping he could out-Josh Allen, Josh Allen. Sure, we got Willis now. But my question is how the heck that kid went undrafted, and why we didn’t get him as an UDFA? He’d easily be our #2 right now. How am I a better talent evaluator than actual NFL employees? Lol

Hey Brandon, spoiler alert (and don’t take this personally), you’re not. And you’re getting carried away by one preseason game where King was going against third-teamers. And rest assured there’s a reason he went undrafted. Just like Mark Gronowski, who I was told by many fans was going to be a steal as a UDFA and yet ended up being waived before even the first preseason game.

TURNAROUND TIME?

From Jayco:

In 2008 Tony Sparano inherits a 1-15 team, wins 11 games and the division. In 2016 under Adam Gase they go 10-6 after going 6-10 the previous year. Could history be repeating itself this season?

Stranger things have happened, right? The one big difference, and where things get dicey, is the fact that the 2008 and 2016 team didn’t have so many rookies and/or unproven players. But, yes, anything is possible.

From SciGuy17:

Rodriguez hasn't been mentioned much this preseason by beat writers. Does he look like he merited a 2nd? Too early to tell? Frankly, haven't heard “dazzling” news about any of rookies.

Yeah, it’s way too early to make any judgments about any of the rookies. Rodriguez has flashed a couple of times, but again nothing significant enough to call him a hit yet.

From Darryl Carpenter:

Hi Alain, thanks for all you do, for a 40-plus-year Dolphins fan in the UK watching lots of football, it amazes me that NFL teams seem so coy when it comes to injuries. In England it would be inconceivable if a Coach didn't give injury details in full and likely timescales for a player to return. It’s always baffled me why the secrecy? Fans over here simply wouldn't tolerate the wall of silence. Your thoughts and explanation would be lovely thanks.

Hey Darryl, this might be a North American thing because the National Hockey League operates kind of the same way with their designations of “upper body” or “lower body” injuries. Football is in a league of its own — pun intended — here, though, and it’s not restricted solely to injuries because teams restrict media access to practices and some have reporting policies preventing disclosure of things (some available to the public on hand) or what player is working with each unit.

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