Dolphins Sunday Mailbag: Chop, Proctor, Legette, Uniforms, and More

Part 2 of the Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag for the final 2026 weekend before the team's rookies report for training camp:

From Ed Helinski:

Which players will you be paying a bit more attention to during training camp? Or are there too many new players in camp to go that route?

Hey Ed, I always try every summer to get my eyeballs on as many players as possible while always devoting more attention to key guys, usually the unknowns I need to examine more. And starting with the first practice July 29 this year for me that’s going to be Malik Willis, Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell (when he gets healthy), Chris Johnson. For the trench players, I’ll usually pay more attention in preseason games or the start of the regular season.

From Jayco:

Have you ever gotten a sense who they might have picked if Proctor was gone at the time of their selection?

I’ll be lying to you if I said that any names really surfaced as Dolphins targets ahead of the 2026 draft. They did their due diligence and brought in their players for 30 visits as always, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything beyond being thorough. Since Spencer Fano and Frances Mauigoa were the two picks right before the Dolphins’ original slot at 11, my best guess would be that it would have been one of those two if available. So, for instance, had the Browns gone Proctor instead of Fano at 9, then the Dolphins would have picked whoever of Mauigoa or Fano would have been left after the Giants’ pick at 10.

From Charles Boyd:

Alain, thanks for the great work you do. What position do you think the Dolphins may be looking at to grab a player cut by another team in the cut to 53?

Hey Charles, I think the Dolphins could be busy claiming players off waivers after the cuts to 53 because the bottom of their roster should be very fluid with the large numbers of unproven players they have. So we could see players added at almost any position, though logic right now tells you that the focus might be safety, cornerback and edge defender.

HOW MANY ROOKIES WILL MAKE IMPACT?

From Jorge Francisco boyd:

Hi Alain, how many of the 2026 rookies you think will make an impact on the 2026 Miami Dolphins and who are?

Hey Jorge, I count the number of rookies on the current roster at 24, including 13 draft picks and 11 undrafted free agents, and my guess is we’re looking at five likely to make an immediate impact in 2026. Those five would be Kadyn Proctor, Chris Johnson, Jacob Rodriguez, Will Kacmarek and Kyle Louis. The others who have a good shot at doing that would be Caleb Douglas, Trey Moore and Kevin Coleman Jr. Notice I have left out Chris Bell, who’s the best of the three wide receivers the Dolphins draft but also the biggest question mark for 2026 because of his November knee injury.

From Wylie Goat:

How are our 3rd receivers doing? Will Bell be ready? Do they make our receiver room better than projected?

Third receivers? The first question is finding out who the clear numbers 1 and 2 are. I would be surprised (in a great way) if Chris Bell wound up being able to start camp on time and not have to go on PUP for a bit and he might be the biggest wild card here with his unquestioned talent but also question mark with his knee. It’s also not going to be difficult for the receiver room to be better than projected considering just how poorly it’s being viewed.

From Stephen Adcock:

Hi AP, hope you're well, the recent article about Regrets in the ESPN top 10, very interesting read, is it indicative of how bad the Phins have been drafting or would similar in-depth looks show it happens with most teams & just seems worse as it’s our main focus.

Hey Stephen, yeah, it absolutely happens all over the league, but maybe not quite as frequently and maybe not without such consequential decisions. For example, I pointed out taking Charles Harris over T.J. Watt, but we need to remember Watt was taken 30th overall and the Cowboys took Taco Charlton two spots before him. The really bad one for me — and this is not a knock on Jaylen Waddle — was surrendering one of the two extra first-round picks the Dolphins got from the 49ers to move down from 12 to 6 and then compounding the mistake by taking a good, not great, wide receiver instead of a future Hall of Fame tackle or a future Hall of Fame cornerback.

McDANIEL AND THE DOLPHINS OFFENSIVE LINE

From Thomas Hudson:

For what it is worth, I think the line will be a lot better than 29th. I think their floor is in the low 20s, and if everything comes together it could be pushing the top 10. But I also know I am a fan, which means that I am, by definition, not rational about these things. As far as the coaching change goes, I do place a lot of blame on McDaniel for the problems with the line over the last few seasons. It is a fine line coaches walk when it comes to what players can do. A coach should always be asking players to do more than they think they can do, but they have to be careful not to ask more than they can do. I think McDaniel often asked players to do more than they could do, and that led to plays getting blown up. And run plays getting blown up on first down leads to a lot more passing downs, which puts more pressure on the line. It always seemed like when I looked at the play-by-play for the losses against good teams, the Dolphins always had a lot of negative run plays on first down.

Hey Thomas, for the record, the Dolphins averaged 4.79 yards on first-and-10 runs in 2026. That ranked 11th in the NFL, behind only the Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Rams, New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers.

From Lee Michael Morrison:

My friend, I think you are likely sick of hearing about this from me and other like-minded fans. But... Would you please press the Dolphins' brass on the Aquafresh Beached Whale logo and why they won't listen to the overwhelming majority of fans who hate it & want it changed? I'll even suggest a modern concept in case Ross wants his own. New era with Sully & Hafley, so why not a look that moves on from the era of failure?

Hey Michael, I’m not so much sick of hearing about it, just a little amused about how this is so important to a not-insignificant number of Dolphins fans. I also suspect fans wouldn’t care nearly as much if the team experienced some success like — oh, I don’t know — winning a playoff game. I’m also afraid there have been absolutely no signs whatsoever that a uniform change is on the way.

FOCUS ON FORMER FIRST-ROUND PICKS

From Mike Marchese:

Hey Alain, in your honest opinion, do you have ANY hope for Chop Robinson improving this year?

Hey Mike, you know me, I don’t answer in absolutes, so there’s no way I would say there’s no hope, just like I wouldn’t say it’s a guarantee he breaks out. I’d say I’m cautiously optimistic but also concerned that Chop simply never will become a truly impactful defender. Let’s put it right now at 60-40 he takes a step forward in 2026, but at 30-70 he becomes a clear difference-maker.

From Baldylocks:

Do you think Dolphins will add a veteran to the safety mix?

I think the Dolphins will add to the mix at most positions at one time or another, but I also don’t expect any big-name additions.

From Ron Dellisanti:

Hi Alain, I understand the Dolphins have to mainly work with what they have based on salary cap restraints this season. Also understand wanting to see what they have in the young players they drafted. But would it also make sense to try and sign or trade for a player like Xavier Legette, a former 1st-round pick to help Malik Willis? A change of scenery and being in a new system can possibly make him a better receiver with also helping Willis try and redeem his starting capability and a clearer display on if he is the guy. With not wanting to force Bell and allow him to get back too 100% this seems like a no-brainer.

Hey Ron, I’m going to assume you saw that story online “suggesting” this potential trade with the Dolphins acquiring Legette from the Carolina Panthers or the Dolphins being “urged” (barf) to make this move, but those stories done purely for clicks too often omit certain facts. Such as, in this case, Legette having very little trade value after two pretty forgettable seasons, which makes you wonder why the Panthers would already give up on him for little return after having paid him his first-round signing bonus. And even for the Dolphins, Legette is guaranteed $1.9 million in salary this year and $2.5 million year. The Dolphins currently have nine players with guaranteed salary in 2027 — Malik Willis, Aaron Brewer, De’Von Achane, and the first- and second-round picks of the past three years minus Patrick Paul. Does acquiring Legette and his guaranteed salary sound like a trade the Dolphins are going to make?

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