Dolphins Sunday Mailbag: Grant, Uche, Jonah, and More

Part 2 of the pre-Colts game Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag:

From Colin Crabb:

Hi Alain, with Uche getting huge backing being named a captain, what sort of deal do you expect? This is Grant's chance; should we have high expectations of him finally living up to his draft status? A loss is a win on Sunday considering the Jets have their pick … thoughts? Thanks

Hey Colin, let’s begin with the idea that Josh Uche absolutely deserves a contract extension after the way his season has started, and how he finishes will determine what kind of contract he might get. I don’t know it will be big money regardless, but maybe a second year gets tacked on. As for Grant, yes, this absolutely is a big moment for him because he’s going to get additional snaps and he’s further removed from the foot injury that cost him the start of the season. He needs to show something, period. As far as the game and the draft, the Colts don’t have that extra incentive — if any team were so inclined — to lose because their 2027 first-round pick belongs to the Jets.

From Damian from Pittsburgh:

Hi Mr. P! Greetings from Pittsburgh. Hope all is well, and your holiday plans are coming into focus. Thinking about the OLine, specifically the disappointing right side. Jackson is a lost cause; even setting aside the injuries, he's a below-average RT. Not quite a bust, but way overdrafted. I'm more interested in Jonah, and if he's salvageable. Is he gonna come around? And what if MIA swapped him to LG? Put him between two strong OLineman, and pop Proctor over to the right side (guard or tackle). Thoughts?

Hey Damian, Jackson has been a solid starter for most of his career, though, yes, absolutely overdrafted. With Jonah, no, I would not advocate switching him back to the left side. At some point, he’s got to make it work on his own. The good news with him is he’s definitely better than he was as a rookie, though there still are some holes in his game, particularly in pass protection.

From Daniel:

Hi Alain, good to see the Dolphins defense contain Goff and the Lions last week. It made me wonder about your thoughts on Hafley’s defensive philosophy and his tree. My understanding is that he runs a scheme similar to Fangio’s but from what I can tell, he never worked with Vic. Do you have any insights on his defensive influence, and how you feel about his coaching overall at the halfway mark of the season?

Hey Daniel, I’d say overall I’ve been very impressed by Hafley in terms of getting his players ready to play and I like his defensive scheme and how it’s progressed throughout this season. The inspiration for his defense come from the Pete Carroll scheme with the Seattle Seahawks and also from working with Robert Saleh when the two were assistants with the San Francisco 49ers. My only complaint with Hafley is I’d like to see him be a more aggressive in fourth-down decisions, but that’s being picky because I do think he’s off to a very good start.

From Lee Nixon:

Hi Alain. Great work as always. Any idea how much a GM considers a draftees age as part of the evaluation process prior to drafting? As a for instance and considering two recently drafted Dolphins players, Chop has played 39 NFL games vs. Jacob’s 8 with Chop being 4 months younger. I appreciate that a longer college career could mean a more developed player coming out and possibly maturity issues but considering wear and tear long term, I would assume if the potential is seen to be there a younger prospect is seen as a big bonus. Thanks again for the fantastic, objective reporting.

Thanks Lee, appreciate the kind of words. As you indicated, an older prospect logically gives you a more mature, more polished draft pick, while the younger prospect might have a longer shelf life. But the reality is a GM won’t be thinking 8-9 years down the road, so the longevity issue takes a back seat to getting somebody more ready to contribute quickly. So if everything else is equal, particularly in terms of ceiling, a GM likely will go with the older prospect who’s going a better chance to help out right away.

From Dave Campbell:

Greetings Alain ! After the Colts started their own rebuild, I thought Miami had a good chance to win. But now the Dolphins have a QB who has never thrown a pass in a real NFL game & in a hostile environment. While they may have traded best their best D-lineman, they still have Sauce Garder & Charvarius Ward vs rookie WRs plus Lou Anarumo, who can confuse a young QB. They still have Jonathan Taylor vs a Miami DL without Zach Sieler. Not to mention a terrible Special Teams unit. As the late, great Dick Enberg used to say, "Oh my!" Do we see a heavy dose of Ollie Gordon ? A lot of check-down passes ? As always, I look forward to both All Dolphins (appreciate the shout-out, doing much better) & Dolphins Collective podcasts plus all the best out there written content on Miami DolphinsonSI.Com.

Thanks Dave, it’s a pretty good assessment of the game you had right there, and a heavy dose of Ollie Gordon II and check-downs absolutely is a logical thing to expect, simply to make Kyle McCord’s NFL debut as simple as possible.

From gburg63:

If McCord goes 2-2 and plays well, does Willis return as starter?

Jeff Hafley already has said that Willis will be the starter once he returns, and it’s exactly what Hafley should have said but with the understanding that if McCord lights it up, then he’ll have every right to reconsider that stance. And it’s not going to be about whether the Dolphins win or lose, but rather how McCord performs. But it would have to be a really impressie performance to just shelve Willis like that.

From Mmmm:

Not a game question, but I read things about Miami’s team needs, I see lots of positions of need but it’s almost as if WR is being considered not a need. This is one of the worst rooms in football, even if Douglas is somewhat OK. Do you think they still need upgrades there, Alain?

Oh, without question. What the Dolphins have at wide receiver is a lot of potential with Douglas, Chris Bell and Kevin Coleman Jr., but only Douglas should be locked in for a big role in 2027, along with Malik Washington. So, yeah, that group still could use some help, which is why so many fans like the idea of taking Jeremiah Smith if the Dolphins have the chance.

Add us as a preferred source on Google