Dolphins Friday Mailbag: Ingold, Campbell, Quality of Wins, and More

Should young players getting more playing time? What grade does the team deserve through four games? Tackling those and other Miami Dolphins issues

Miami Dolphins fullback Alec Ingold (30) celebrates with running back Ollie Gordon II (31) against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the second quarter at Hard Rock Stadium during the 2025 preseason. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Part 1 of a pre-Panthers game Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag:

From David Harrison:

Should the Dolphins be buyers or sellers one month from the trade deadline? If sellers, who should be available?

Hey David, this will be depend on where the Dolphins are in the AFC standings and whether a playoff run is realistic. But even then, I have a hard time seeing the Dolphins being buyers. But if they’re out of contention, yeah, I absolutely would expect them to be sellers and I’d keep my eye on the edge rushers, like Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips.

From Lu_FromDade:

Would a Christian Wilkins reunion make sense?

Hey Lu, if you’re getting prime Christian Wilkins at a bargain price, sure, why not? But how realistic are either scenarios? I’d say not very, and then you have the issue of Wilkins being a, wait for it, progress blocker for the young DTs, so we have to ask ourselves whether it’s worth bringing him back unless there’s the chance for a legitimate run. So I’d be inclined to say it’s on the bottom half of 50-50.

From Chris Roney:

Whispers are getting louder in Baltimore about John Harbaugh's time there running out. Is the fear that Chris Grier will keep his job by scapegoating Mike McDaniel and hiring Harbaugh as cornerstone of a rebuild a real one for Miami fans?

Hey Chris, here’s the thing about John Harbaugh, who’s got this reputation as a great coach. But Baltimore also is known as maybe the best organization when it comes to procuring talent and yet they’ve reached the AFC Championship Game once since winning the Super Bowl in the 2012 season. And if the Ravens are dumping Harbaugh because of results, would bringing him to Miami really make a lot of sense?

From Ed Helinski:

Without grading on a curve or mercy, what overall grade do you give the Dolphins for the first quarter of the season? Better yet, why that grade?

Hey Ed, without a curve or mercy, I’d give the Dolphins at best a C-. I’d go above a D because they did have a chance to win both the New England and Buffalo games, but don’t deserve much better than that because they failed at the end in those and that performance in the season opener was downright embarrassing. So maybe even a D+ would be justified.

From Justin:

What happened with Ingold? At first he was one of the most valuable players on this offense but last year wasn’t overly great and this year has seemed somewhat absent. PFF has him with a 30.8 grade for run blocking. Would you consider bringing Tyreek back if they can rework his contract to add say 2 years with no extra money or is it time to move on due to age plus the unknown ability post injury?

Hey Justin, with Ingold, I’d probably say injuries have played a role in him slowing down because there have been a few of those the last couple of years. But I’d also take issue with your suggestions he was one of the most valuable players on the offense. As for Tyreek, the only way he’s coming back is if the Dolphins are totally satisfied with everything he did off the field in 2025, though I’d still would put that in the long shot category.

IT'S JUST THE JETS

From Jason Kirkland:

Hi! The Dolphins got a win, but who they beat needs to be mentioned. They'll get another this weekend, against another bottom feeder. My point is, this is Fool's Gold, they're not beating good teams anytime soon. I hope Ross isn't blinded for another go with CG & MM. Thoughts?

Hey Jason, your point is valid, but you can only play who’s on your schedule. Besides, we’ll find out more about this team when they face the Chargers in Week 6 and if they get to 3-3 after that game, then we’ll have a whole different view on Miami.

Miami Dolphins running back De'von Achane (28) reacts after rushing for a touchdown against the New York Jets during the second half at Hard Rock Stadium. | Rich Storry-Imagn Images

From Prince-Bishop Militantly Aardvark:

Hi, Alain. Now that the Dolphins have resumed their march to glory by crushing the mighty Jets *cough cough,* are we any closer to having a functioning D-line? To me it looked as if they were preparing to collapse before Jack Jones saved the day. How badly we miss Calais Campbell!

Hey PBMA, excellent point about Calais Campbell. Still not sure Dolphins fans truly appreciate just how good he was in 2024. As for the other point, yes, the defensive line remains a massive concern and the Dolphins aren’t going to have a successful defense until that changes.

From rjgrosso:

At the risk of being a downer (& not allowing a home W against a bad Jets team to change my view that are not a contender), is the smart play now to play the youngsters to learn who is worth keeping, even @ the expense of 1 or 2 useless victories against bad teams.

Hey Richard, I get what you’re saying, but it’s too early for that. There’s no way in my mind you give up on a season until it’s time to give up, and we’re nowhere near that point yet.

From xenodides:

Why doesn't McDaniel cover his mouth when he calls plays? It seems like almost all the other offensive play callers do it regularly (even ones McDaniel has worked with). Even many defensive play callers do (e.g. Saleh on TNF). If they all do it, I fear it's for a good reason and phins' disadv.

Simple answer for you in the form of a question: Do we honestly believe anybody could read lips quickly enough to recognize what play is coming and then relay that information to the defense so that the Dolphins’ play call is thwarted? If we’re talking hand signals, it’s one thing that instantly can be recognized, but that would be some kind of high-level professional lip reading to get McDaniel’s play call and everything gets relayed to the defensive captain in time for there to be any effect. In other words, it makes zero difference from where I sit.

From Dan P:

Do you any insight (or guess) as to how far Jackson and Daniels are from returning from IR? Would love to see this O-line back to full strength.

Hey Dan, both Jackson and Daniels were eligible to come off IR this week, but it obviously didn’t happen and I haven’t seen any sort of indication that either one will be back next week either.