Wrapping up the week with a few quick, noteworthy items that didn’t always turn into stories as the Miami Dolphins are one day away from full pads and surely some new storylines, as well as a few general thoughts as the season approaches.
— Quarterback confidence in a receiver is a subconscious thing that undoubtedly affects where the ball goes on gameday. I’m curious where the majority of balls go this year between Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle given Hill’s relatively short-term future with the team, his past behaviors and Waddle’s reported strong camp.
— A player I think the preseason matters to more than we think is Jaylin Wright. Is he still struggling to find his marks and the hole once padded play and the intensity cranks up? Nobody is paying more attention than the guy who calls plays, as is easy to read in his public remarks about Wright.
— A dichotomy exists between the Dolphins claim at culture change and some of their offseason additions, and even a few who remain from last year. The difference is in the players they are making sizable investments in, versus short term contracts compared to past seasons. The majority of higher-risk players are on the lower end of the pay spectrum.
— There is no doubt the Ramsey-Smith-Fitzpatrick trade usurped some talent out of the cornerback group. The addition of Minkah Fitzpatrick overall, however, is already looking like the biggest win of all. This team NEEDS no-nonsense, from top to bottom, and that is what Fitzpatrick has shown both in his career and in his short time back in Miami. The way he chose to address things publicly, as a writer, does not bother me a bit. In the grand scheme, it’s a petty non-story because of who Fitzpatrick is as a person. Similar behavior from Ramsey would understandably mean red flags, so I guess it figures people are a little gun shy but seeing Fitzpatrick in the middle of the defensive huddle on Day 1 was enough for me.
– Don’t forget — this offense isn’t really new to Quinn Ewers and this is the physically healthiest he’s been going on 10 months.
— Will there be any change made — maybe in play nomenclature — that result in the offense being able to run plays without getting the play clock in single low digits? If not, after three+ years, the Dolphins should consider going no huddle. They need the motion, watch takes time — calling the play and having it recited in the huddle taking too much time can’t be what mucks things up.
— Hopefully there’s no myopia here when I say that the Dolphins were the first in the league to equip their quarterback with a cam during some of their practice reps (and I’m not looking it up) but either way, the trend seems to have spread league wide. If Netflix took unfiltered QB-cam from seven-straight practice sessions where you could hear and see everything and ran it as a 7-part series — I’d watch the whole thing in a day.
— When they let assistant coaches talk again, find the ones with truth serum in their veins. With Wes Welker gone from last year and Vic Fangio the year before, that guy is TE coach Jon Embree. We’ll see about the newer guys but I’m not sure how many media or fans are interested in hearing about “the journey” anymore as much as specifically what a coach is seeing from a football standpoint.
— The Kader Kohou injury has deservedly sent a mini shock wave out and what’s washed ashore is this: if Miami sustains any significant injuries at DB this year, it will be trotting out some names who won’t be on the 53-man roster next year and may not be on anybody elses. There’s no doubt the team will be adding corners atop of their depth chart in 2026.
== I’ll keep it super brief — the addition of DB Mike Hilton was nice and I’m not sure why nobody really had him on their radar given Anthony Weaver’s penchant for random blitzers.
— Judgment Day for cornerbacks and the offensive line will begin August 8th in Lake Forest, Ill., when the Dolphins have a joint practice with the Bears.
— The Dolphins have a sizable bin of players who fall under the category “how much longer will they give them?” In my mind, that group includes LB Channing Tindall (whose athleticism has not-surprisingly flashed in this part of camp), WR Erik Ezukamna, TE Tanner Conner and CB Cam Smith. Of all of them, Ezukanma may be the most frustrating because he’s shown NFL playmaking ability. The assumption at this point is he can’t get this offense straight upstairs but hopefully he finally finds his way to the field long enough for a final, serious evaluation instead of an ongoing question mark.
Aqua & Coral Report 