Dolphins in Depth: Can Dolphins patch up these leaks?

So we knew the 2026 season was going to be a rebuilding year Dolphins opened the season with a tough schedule on the road against the las vegas raiders And then on the road against the san francisco 49ers west coast trip One opponent which was a comparable talent, but then the other opponent probably one of the best Nfl teams out there in the san francisco 49ers miami took two tough difficult challenging losses What have they learned from this experience? We'll discuss that on this week's dolphins in depth joining me as isaiah smalls I'm, omar kelly miami hero columnist isaiah This is what a scorched earth rebuild looks like It looks like struggle It looks like learning opportunities. It looks like tough losses The question is at one point when does it look like? The talent will surface uh Are we at that point miami at home against the kansas city chiefs week three? Are we at that point yet? No, I think it's going to get a lot of ways before it gets better to be honest especially based on what I saw because look The chiefs that was a good old-fashioned book weapon. Like it just was it was what it was. It's hard to find Um, you mean the 49ers 49ers, i'm sorry, what did I say? What did I say? Yeah, yeah that that also is going to be a good old-fashioned but i'm sorry, but i'm speaking a little bit preemptively but to me I mean like there are positives you can take away from the game Like they controlled the time of possession in the first half. They controlled the ball further for the first time It just they didn't turn Field goals and touchdowns like those you got you got to score When you're 10 yards it in like you're taking a field goal there, that's a That's a misstep defensively. I mean they stopped the run like christian mccaffrey is one of the better running backs in this League and you know for all sorts of purposes. He was he was held up and so I think there are positives to take away from I think the miscommunication on the back end really really um, really shined. Unfortunately I was um, you know in the second half in the second half in the second half. Yes I'm re-watching just some of these these passing plays that shanahan drew up in it And a lot of these guys are just wide open some of it is is scheme And just kyle shanahan and you know operating at a higher level but the other part of is these guys are talking and you know, that's gonna be my biggest question for jeff happened today just Okay, I you said communication is an issue But how do you fix that because it can't just be all you guys gotta talk about like that's not it right is maybe it's Maybe a different way to talk or certain things I just i'm i'm curious because anytime you have those communication issues other teams are going to see that and if you don't think Andy reed is going to exploit what he saw kyle shanahan. Do you got a another thing coming? Every team has communication issues That's what what leads to big plays and i'm not one of those people who's going to sit here and tell you Oh, the secondary sucks. They're not communicating. I'm actually quite impressed with the secondary. I thought of a few breakdowns against um, the 49ers Um, you know really and a lot of those breakdowns I would put on the linebackers So I I can't sit here Can't sit here and tell you that the secondary's out here struggling. That's true That's that's really the quarterbacks. When have the cornerbacks been exposed? I mean mike evans He had some productive plays, but he didn't wasn't like he got off and he did get off on this one pass that was a a broken that scramble play by brock purdy who just looked like a Elite quarterback at that point and I will make the argument the bronc purdy is an elite quarterback Yeah, he's definitely I was doing me and uh, you know, jaylen from cbs We were doing some quarterback ranking just tiering tier one tier two tier three And you know purdy to me, especially after that game. He's a tier two quarterback, uh in my eyes top top of tier two Top tier two tier two is like I mean there's guys that have won more because to me jaylen hurts He's a tier two quarterback just based on ability, but he's won more than purdy. So you're not gonna tell me Purdy is you know ahead of him in that regard. No, like are they the same quarterback class, too? Uh, I think so. I think you are right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Uh, no, no, no, no because trade so purdy's in the trey lance class and hurts is in the in the tuith class so They are one year separated. But yeah, he is I mean Look at the win-loss record I i'm not gonna sit here and cape for purdy because I do think he's a very efficient effective quarterback The two incompletions against the dolphins like that I don't care who you are Here's the problem that I have with a lot of people blaming a lot of things on the secondary The quarterbacks can't cover forever. Where's the pass rush? Yeah. No, of course. No if we're if we're assigning blame on you know Purdy's near perfect day. It's definitely the pass rush and you could tell Halfly at the you know in the postgame press conference was a little bit frustrated At that because look like you have zero sacks in two games That's not good at all Um, you might have two quarterback hits in two games and and to me I think Graded like okay chop. Robinson was out like you can you can use that as an excuse but only so much because You know, I love chop to death but like he didn't show up he was nowhere to be found and so I mean, it's it's too easy to be like, well, he wasn't there in game one He's not gonna be there in game two. Like i'm not gonna fall into that trap, right? But at the same time It begs the question Okay. Well, okay if he returns in game three What do we I I think you have to start exploring some other options outside of this blocking that you currently have because I don't know if the guys in this locker room can can get it done, right at least through two games They haven't shown that they can get it done when it comes up Well, well, that's the exact reason why they go out and claim a player off another team's practice squad It's it's it's the exact reason why practice squad players are going to have the opportunity to play if they show up and and perform um Cleveland farrell Did not as of yet, but that doesn't mean that he's not going to um, honestly And everything that I say will come down to well, this is what rebuilding teams look like This is what teams that have scorched earth rebuilds look like I mean Did you expect them to have a pass rush this season? uh, I Well, I think it kind of goes back to something that is a valuable lesson I learned last year just because a player is excelling against his own team. Does it trend does it mean it's going to translate? to the game Why well because sometimes the play that he's excelling against isn't that good anymore? and anymore i'm putting any more on it because to me And again, I don't want to just harp on austin jackson because I think there's issues bigger at play But when we go back to preseason or not preseason, yeah preseason training camp those days We look at chop robertson's success. Who was it coming against? Okay, and so just because that's the case, I mean obviously as we learn now, you know, austin jackson might have just Regrets and I think that that's that's fair. That's an argument that I you know Was kind of got into a little bit on go on on twitter because it's like to me I think players Fans really think that these players are chess pieces, right? Like they think oh because just because you have a good rating on madden Or you started good on madden or you were good last year That like you're good this year and that's not always the case Injuries pile up the wearing tear can be down all these, you know Different variables can affect the player that you see today And sometimes the play that you see today is that the player you saw last year and when that's the case You have to be able to one evaluate it with your eyes very quickly but also come up with solutions if you're and I think What is and we'll see i'm not i'm not you know Going scorch earth or you know going balls of the wall like no like we we have an austin jackson problem to me It's just it's something it's concerning right now. It's something that I wrote about Throughout the preseason. It's like look like this offensive line can be good If jonah takes that step if kp looks like a first round pick Patrick paul continues his upward trajectory. Aaron brewer is Goes for another all-pro season And then austin jackson stays healthy it doesn't regress It's looking are you saying that this is regression? Yes to me. This looks like regression. Yes Okay Through two games again. It's it's just a very small sample size games versus net crosby. No, and again i'm gonna Yes, that was gonna be my next point like it's against two Of the best at their position now. I want to see what you look against the edge rushers in kc like, um, they have the the guy Um from I I care fact it starts with a k prologue. Yeah, you know what i'm talking about Like he he's solid. He's not one of the on the upper echelon, but he's a good player so I think that will be more of a Accurate evaluation for me. Um of austin jackson. Okay. How do you perform against a guy? That's Good and not not great or elite right? And so again, I don't want to bang the table too Yeah, I just it's just a little bit concerning and it's not and it's concerning because Of it's the situations that this is happening, right? It's not just her downs Which is when these pass rushers get make their money And when quarterbacks need to be at their best and also when offensive tackles need to be at their best Um, I I will make the argument to you the caliber of opponent Is a factor those are two of the top five pass rushers in the game They have chosen to attack austin jackson, which Any ever nfl team should i'm going to look at patrick paul And then i'm going to look at austin jackson and i'm going to figure out which one I want to go against It's going to be austin jackson It's coming for you, bro Now dolphin should figure that out should know it and should plan accordingly What have they done to plan accordingly? Which is? Have they given him enough help have have we seen? Um, um, will casmeric? Sat there and held austin jackson's hand like a buddy. We have not and and Also, I bring up the point to you as I said in a column that I wrote in training camp probably week one It's austin jackson till the wheels fall off big dog because you don't have any other options Yeah, do you have any other options? No, that was kind of how I ended my story that posted yesterday like The he has to improve because there's not any other options like sure you can throw katyn wallace out there But are you confident in katyn wallace's ability to perform? I'm not but I you know, then again, we haven't seen Here's a question. Could it get worse? I think if i'm the You know coach of the miami dolphins. I think that's the question I have to ask myself But from what we saw judging off what we saw in training camp that wasn't particularly good either We saw we got katyn wallace. We got jared kingston. We've got chewbacca Got good god godrick. Uh Yo That was that was bad I think he says his name's chui. Just call him chui. Chui got um, he was claimed off the kansas city chiefs. I mean If there was a time was an opportunity to step up In this week's practice and and that's one of the things Jeff hafley said that I I really enjoyed and I love from his press conference on monday. We've got to create competitive environments There's got to be competition right now austin jackson should feel pressed to get the job done And he should be pressed by another player. Um katyn wallace This is your chance big dog you want to prove that you are not uh, uh early draft pick who got waved by who got dumped by your by the uh patriots This is your chance. Here's your opportunity um Jared kingston if you want to prove that you're not a swing man offensive tackle your former usc product This is your time. This is your opportunity um and on a roster where Pretty much everybody's getting opportunity to prove that they can do it or they can't that this is this is the time. Um, Let's deal with some of the injuries and what happens if chop chop robinson Suffered his third concussion in a calendar year last week during practice Obviously, he's going to be working to participate in practice this week to gain clearance What happens if chop doesn't get that clearance i say Same thing you saw last week. I mean, it's going to be more reliant on josh uche to get the job done and then a combination of farrell Malik, erring and and bill. I mean, that's the reality and then obviously this new guy Um that that was brought in. I mean, there's not much you can do Um, I the question though. I want to ask Not just jeff halfley, but john eric sullivan and maybe this is a question i'll have to pin until later, but It's do you regret not? seeking edge rusher help in draft because This was no no, not because the way only reason the only reason i'm asking this is because One it was asked before like right after the draft. It was like, okay, you we knew this was a need You chose not to trust me And you said well with the belt the they were oh, hold on. Let's be fair about this Okay We're we're bringing it up because we knew that if they didn't address it in the first round There was gonna be really nothing left over I I disagree with that. I disagree with that because the guy on the the patrons that i saw playing well jackets Gabe jackets, that was a that wasn't a first round pitch Uh from hold on from illinois, so i'm at the senior bowl I was impressed with him at the senior both second round second round pick Okay, so you want him over over jacob rodriguez? I'm not saying that i'm not saying no because jacob I'm i'm just i'm not sure where in the board but my biggest question was I think They and they they took max wella. They they took in the seventh round and that's what I was about to bring up in the seventh round like those are the guys that Sometimes just don't make the team, right? So and we technically he did it he had to be brought back to the practice squad if we were being serious. So yeah My my question would be like And it's not a question for now. It's not a question for for next week. It's a question For maybe halfway in the season where if we still see these, um, you know these failed attempts to get to put pressure on Opposing starting quarterback. It's like do you guys regret not taking and i'm not sure Who you would who you would again Like the way that the board fell is the way that the board you knew if you did not take A pass rusher in the early downs and let's let's let's let's call it out Ruben bain was sitting there Ruben bain, they took cayden proctor over ruben bain. I understand the decision. I understand the traditional value I understand and and truth be told cayden proctor is probably going to be a good offensive lineman in the end Whether he's a right tackle a left tackle a guard and I think he's he's looks pretty good at guard He is a huge human being and he's fit He moves people. I like it. Ruben bain has done Nothing right now for the for the tampa bay buccaneers. He's struggling He's battling some some shoulder issues not to say that that's an excuse, but he's having the the usual rookie Struggles so we can't sit here and say oh, well you made a mistake because yeah And i'm not and i'm not for the record. I'm not saying they went out Here's what I like about what's going on now, and this is something that I've talked about earlier in the season Uh when when when they claimed and signed eight players after cuts They they had claimed seven signed signed. Um, uh, what's his name? Uh malik harren You gotta keep keep turning keep trying keep adding this andre jones jr. You claimed off the buffalo bills practice squad Why not? I'm, i'm good with it and hell Emmanuel aug was right now on the kansas city chiefs practice squad. I'm not saying that that's the answer because emmanuel was older than Emmanuel's a grandfather in the nfl right now. He's on double digit nfl careers He's on a team's practice squad for a reason and to be real with you He wasn't that great of a pass rusher when he was here But he did give you five sacks You know what i'm saying? you you got These are the things that you you we we know you didn't have opportunity to add pass rushes in the offseason Or the ones that you added they're not that great This is where we are big dog um It's Everything cannot be fixed in the one-off season And the question is how can you? add pressure With what you have and I think this is just a hypothetical theory I think if you move chop robinson around and use him as an elephant rusher where he's able to Pick where he's going to attack and create more confusion It'll be a lot on the defense's load a lot on chop's load But it will create more mystery about what you're doing as opposed to oh, okay Or maybe if you moved zach sealer around I don't know At at this point. Oh, you know You're not getting anything on your defensive line as I said a month ago I get christian wilkins a call be like hey big dog. Would you like to play in the nfl? Would you would you like would you like an opportunity? not to say that he's going to because For all we know christian's probably cashing out on an injury settlement. I'm on an injury on an injury Insurance and probably will never play in the nfl again for all we know. We don't know um My my next question though for you in the address before we move on and basically wrap up is At what point does it become a big enough need? That you might start thinking of whatever you were planning for that first round pick right because it's going to be hot. All right Yeah, okay at what point do you start to think? Okay, maybe I need to go edge rusher over a jj smith over a quarterback No, never not. I mean, I agree with you. I agree with you Not at any point if if we are paying the price and the consequences for this season We're gonna we're gonna cash out on something that is going to be generational and for me In 2021 where you had the chance to select a jamar chase and then chose to trade down to move out of that number two spot And let the 49ers pick trey lance and you move down the draft And pass up on the generational talent jamar chase that to me Bad bad bad call bad call If if jeremiah smith is that generational talent Go take it If you do end up with the number one or two or three pick and You are in position to take a quarterback Whoever that quarterback is whether it's arch manning. Um You know ness meyer. I uh, or or the kid from um, I don't care take him whether or not Master maker. Yeah Yeah mess about you got one more year. Don't you got one more year? I don't know I'm gonna be honest. That was the best quarterback i've seen There's a yeah, there's there's a lot there's it's it's a nice But it's a nice little crop of quarterbacks that probably all gonna need time I don't care what malik plays like Go get your quarterback have some competition. I don't I don't care Malik willis would have to be the mvp of the league for me to not draft quarterback And and this is nothing to do with malik because I do believe in his talent. I believe that he has potential. I believe that he can he can play a lot better than he has But you know how I feel about there there are certain things that have held this franchise back for two decades and the fear And intimidation that they have about quarterbacks competing or feeling uncomfortable That's some ba Mentality that I do not support do not stand for and would like to be abolished compete win job Have have a backup locked loaded and ready to go And that's not what this organization has done for the last 20 years and it's time that they change. Um, But okay, let's get to another problem caleb douglas Left the building in a boot Obviously it was precautionary i'm assuming Um, even if he practices this week a wide receiver on a bad ankle is never a good thing How do you overcome? the possible Absence if not impact of this ankle injury for caleb douglas I hate to sound like a debbie downer or a pessimist, but I don't know if you can because The wide receiver room was already super thin as it is and we saw enough from caleb douglas week one where it's like Okay, like we might have something here Again, as I maintain I think chris bell's gonna be fine. I just think it's gonna be in 2027 Kevin coleman. I mean like I think there's still some some A learning curve right that has to happen with him in this offense just because he missed time Right and it's difficult to a lot to me at least when it when I think about this office This offense like as much as you want to study it you can But it's you being on the field and being able to run through some He's a thought receiver. I I here's the thing that I don't think you're assessing Jalen tolbert Has been resting sitting watching waiting This might be his opportunity to get on the field might create a window of opportunity for him What would he look like and then? You you're not giving my dog ryan miller a little some love right and ryan miller did catch that touchdown pass He looked that was yeah Deceptively fast. That was great. Yeah, I like I like what I saw. I like what I saw from there But again, it was a garbage time touchdown. Like i'm pretty sure they had pulled most of their starters, you know They weren't really I saw fred warner on the sideline and i'm like, all right. Well, this is You know at that point i'm already i'm already in file mode You know i'm saying like i'm not even i'm i'm half watching this game at that point and it was it was pretty impressive for sure but as we saw like You got to kind of get the ball out a little bit earlier, you know, let's be honest like it was it was fine But like I mean it worked but I think you got to get the ball out a little bit earlier because he saw it And took a second to get there. Like I mean, it's I mean it it was a it was the prettiest play Malik willis is thrown in his nfl career Let's not let's not down let's not like Poopoo it No, it's best play. Ryan miller's made in his career. Let's not so But I think to me that the standard has to be better than the result Are you as as half you said you're a results guy? I'm not a i'm not a results guy. I'm uh, i'm looking for the And the process of it it had a little bit of you know, it was a little bit clunky You should have gotten the ball out of it. That's that's the truth matter. But I mean it is what it is And again, I think we we don't Put enough on us on the thing. Like that is not a receiver that he I'm sure he goes to that comment We know the starting receiver. It's chris bell. Yeah. Yeah, it's a guy And ryan miller is not working at that spot. He's not receiver. So How much of the offense he does he know hey, but he got open I would say this best player brian miller's career best player malik willis's career How i'm gonna knock it you could knock the process but Hey It happened. I need more of that if we're going to be successful You know this year like that can't just be you can't just tease me with that and then just you know, pull it away Like come on, let me say ryan miller's trying to tease you who maybe this is who he is big dog And like and and if that's the case, I hope so Like I want to see more of that I think A lot of this offense is focused on his good playability as we kind of talked about but we need to get some check down some more and I think he did somewhat of a better job of that this week, but I think it's hard and again, like I think you know, what is it? Eight eight hurries nine pressures that that austin jackson has lit up so far this year Like it's difficult according to pro football folks. Let me put that Say that but I I just You gotta give the guy time he's gotta give him time both in terms of what he needs to do in the pocket, but then also And before we give a full evaluation of most boys before we get full evaluation of this team What we're evaluating now is just what we've seen and it just it just hasn't been good And I don't think it's gonna look good on sunday, but i'm gonna be i'm sorry. I just Yeah, we'll get into our predictions later on in the week But right now the dolphins have some injuries that they need to overcome to be at full strength to even give themselves a chance against the kansas city chiefs We will be here in dolphins in depth giving you the reporting and giving you the coverage of your miami dolphins team as they head Into the week three the season opening home game. How did you like, uh, hafley's challenge to the fans? Show up and support this team I mean like you want to be honest or you want me to tell you how I always want you to be honest I mean like that's fine. But like I wouldn't pay money to go see this team. I pay money to go see pat my homes But I wouldn't pay money to go see this team Just keep it just keep it a buck. I mean you got it. Listen, everybody get a free jersey season ticket That was cool, but it also begs the question. Are you changing the uniform soon? Because why are you like? Very good. Very good call on your part When have you ever known something to be given to you for free and there's not like a you know Something else happening, you know down the line so very good call on your part there I think dolphin fans would be very excited about that if that did happen I know i'd be excited about it. I like the old logo for years You going back to the old logo you have to I mean like that's what But here is the thing and this is what I always say about the people who want to go back to the old logo You buy in both How is nike not winning on this you buy in both? I'm gonna keep the old logo around because you buy in both I mean, I mean I hear you. I understand what you're saying But like for there's i'm sure there's a certain, you know crop of fans that won't jump until they see a specific You know logo a specific colorway specific xyz and to me I I fall in that boat like, you know, I I wouldn't I like the the the nostalgia of the one plus I mean like the older one It like that's when times were good, man. You got the the The perfect season wasn't wasn't wasn't so far in the rearview mirror, you know, you had dan marino, you know i'm saying like There's a lot of positive memories that things have attached to that and If you want to resurrect those memories, man, you gotta bring that back Interesting interesting take but we will be back on dolphins in depth later on this week We appreciate you for watching listening downloading subscribing Hit that like button hit that hype button. We appreciate you for all the love. Thank you very much And again, shout out to pierre our producer of the podcast wouldn't be where we are without you pierre. Thank you very much Um on that note, we will see you later this week