Examining the Pain Associated With the Dolphins' All-Rookie Shutout

The Miami Dolphins got a lot of contributions from their rookie class, but there were no difference-makers

Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Kenneth Grant (90) enters the field before the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Hard Rock Stadium in Week 16. | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The NFL All-Rookie team was announced Tuesday, and it didn't include any members of the Miami Dolphins.

The team did get a lot of contributions from their rookie class this past season, with all eight of their draft picks seeing playing time and all but one (DT Zeek Biggers) starting at least one game. That was the good news for the 2025 rookie class because there's the hope that with some development the Dolphins found themselves perhaps a solid group of contributors for the future.

The bad news was that none of the rookie draft picks was a difference-maker, at least not enough to earn All-Rookie honors from the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA).

The more troubling, at least until further notice, is that the All-Rookie team featured some players the Dolphins bypassed when they were available and clearly would have fit a need.

That list includes tight end Tyler Warren of the Indianapolis Colts, cornerback Will Johnson of the Arizona Cardinals, and guard Grey Zabel and safety Nick Emmanwori of the Seattle Seahawks.

Warren, of course, was selected one spot after the Dolphins took defensive tackle Kenneth Grant with the 13th overall pick and became an all-around force for the Colts as both a blocker and pass catcher.

Zabel was selected 18th in the first round and the Dolphins clearly needed guard help, which is why they traded up in the second round to select Jonah Savaiinaea near the top of the second round, though he ended up ranking 80th of 80 guards according to the Pro Football Focus grades.

To get Savaiinaea moved up from 48th to 37th in the second round and got a fifth-round pick after a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders where they surrendered picks in the second, third and fourth rounds.

Johnson wound up getting selected at 47 overall by the Cardinals after a draft season when his durability became a hot topic. But Johnson made a very quick impact for Arizona and he's definitely somebody the Dolphins could use now after a season where they did patchwork at cornerback and their starters weren't signed until the summer.

Emmanwori isn't as simple because he was the third pick in the second round, so the Dolphins would have needed to either use the 13th overall pick on him or traded down and taken him later in the first round. Emmanwori's versatility helped him become a key player for a defense that helped the Seahawks finish with a 14-3 record.

The All-Rookie team also featured two of the three immediate picks after the Dolphins took Savaiinaea, New England running back TreVeyon Henderson at 38 and New Orleans quarterback Tyler Shough at 40.

There was no reason for the Dolphins to even consider Henderson in the draft given their many needs, and Miami wasn't going to take a quarterback in the second round with Tua Tagovailoa on the roster, though having Shough on the roster right now would make the Dolphins' prospects for 2026 a lot brighter.

THE DOLPHINS' ALL-ROOKIE HISTORY

This marked the third time in four years that the Dolphins didn't have one player on the PFWA All-Rookie team, though there was a good excuse in 2022 and 2023 when Miami had only four selections each time and no first-round pick.

Linebacker Chop Robinson earned All-Rookie honors in 2024, though he wasn't able to follow up with the kind of season his second-half surge suggested he could deliver.

And this is where we'll point out that just because the Dolphins missed out on those All-Rookie selections for this season doesn't mean they'll regret for years to come.

But the early returns certainly included a lot of what could have been.