Dolphins Report Card: De'Von Achane and Darren Waller headline Miami's early-season stumble in a high stakes 2025 season with jobs on the line

Offensive superlatives

MVP: RB De'Von Achane

I mean, come on. Achane is averaging 99 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown per game through the first six weeks. He's been the focal point of the offense and Miami's challenge is not finding ways to get him the ball but instead finding the right ways to maximize his touches. He's an explosive play waiting to happen.

Glue guy: OT Patrick Paul

If you told me that this team was not going to ultimately miss Terron Armstead's play on the field after his retirement this fall, I would not have believed you. But that's where we are — so much so that I told Armstead that myself last week (with a laugh!). Paul has been sturdy in pass protection and has alleviated the concerns that Armstead was the glue holding a shaky offensive line together during his time in Miami.

Biggest surprise: TE Darren Waller

Waller is second on the team with four touchdowns and he missed the first three freakin' games of the season. He was retired last year and didn't come back until July. There's not a lot of feel good stories on this 1-5 football team, but Waller is one of them. He's unquestionably still a receiving mismatch despite his time away from the game.

Biggest disappointment: Those damn offensive line injuries

James Daniels lasted three plays. Austin Jackson lasted three quarters. The backup right guard, Kion Smith, isn't really a guard — he's since been benched. Daniel Brunskill got benched too. This year was supposed to be a season to flex a new identity in the trenches and instead Miami's been forced to throw rookie guard Jonah Savaiinaea into the deep end at left guard because they're having to prop up the fourth option to play right guard right now.

Turning point of the last six weeks: WR Tyreek Hill's season-ending injury

Mike McDaniel's pass offense was built heavily around Tyreek Hill. Without him, Jaylen Waddle has been electric and brought explosive plays back to Miami's passing attack. The team has transitioned to more heavy personnel — they now rank third in the NFL in 22-personnel usage. That shift doesn't happen with Tyreek in the picture. How far can it carry them? Does it serve as the forced evolution Miami needs?

Overall Grade: C. Miami got smoked offensively in Week 1 against the Colts but their overall offensive performance since ranks in the top-third of the league. Tua Tagovailoa's ball security has been spotty in losses to the Colts and Chargers and the run game has been too inconsistent, by execution or choice. But the overall product has logged 27 points in half of their games thus far, with WR Jaylen Waddle, Waller, and Achane serving as the stars.

Defensive superlatives

MVP: SAF Minkah Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick's got his hands full playing around a rookie in Dante Trader Jr., and a career backup in Ashtyn Davis. The injuries in the nickel and prompted him to play up in the box often as well. But Minkah has been good with his assignments, logged Miami's only interception this season and has shown the ability to stay sticky in coverage as a catch-point defender. He's been as advertised in his return to Miami.

Glue guy: LB Jordyn Brooks

Brooks is among the NFL's tackle leaders thanks to a leaky line in front of him. He now has churning at the linebacker spot opposite him with KJ Britt playing in place of Tyrel Dodson in Week 6. And yet he's been a reliable tackler who has been credited with a missed tackle rate below 5% so far this season. He's tough, he's a leader, and he's performing through the hardship.

Biggest surprise: Where has Chop Robinson gone?

22 snaps for Chop Robinson in Week 6. He's under 40% snap share for the season, is missing 25% of his tackle opportunities, and has failed to finish a number of his splash play opportunities through the first six weeks. Miami's 2024 first-round draft choice was supposed to be the long-term face of the pass rush unit this season after a breakout second-half of 2024. Instead, he's been largely missing in action.

Biggest disappointment: IDL Zach Sieler

Sieler got a handsome contract this August after posting back-to-back 10 sack seasons with the Dolphins in 2023 and 2024. As the only player to get a big contract this offseason, Sieler was expected to steward the Dolphins' defensive interior through a youth movement by leading by example. Instead, he's been largely overmatched each week and has failed to consistently in the point of attack.

Zach Sieler's 2025 contract extension with the Miami Dolphins

• Three years, $64 million in compensation
• $16 million signing bonus
• $43,305,000 in guarantees
• Runs through 2029 season

Turning point of the last six weeks: CB Kader Kohou's injury the first week of training camp

Not much was brought back from last year's secondary. Kader Kohou was it. And by the first Saturday of training camp, he was done for the season. Miami's shuffled nickel defenders ever since, from Mike Hilton to Jason Marshall Jr. to Cornell Armstrong to essentially conceding it to a safety. Kohou would have been the best of both worlds.

Overall Grade: F. This group has been largely catastrophic. They're allowing 29 points per game through six weeks — just two points off the average of the 2019 Dolphins. The rush defense has been awful amid a youth movement and remade secondary and things aren't gelling fast enough.

2025 draft class superlatives

Overachiever: IDL Jordan Phillips (5th-round)

The fifth-round rookie is perhaps the most consistent point of attack run defender and block de-constructor, bar none. He's a 21-year old rookie who left Maryland last year as a redshirt sophomore and now looks like a long-term staple for Miami's base defense for years to come.

Rookie we need to see more from: RB Ollie Gordon II

We want more thunder, Mike McDaniel! Gordon II was excellent in the preseason and again in Week 3 against the Bills but we haven't seen enough downhill carries for him since. His cameo appearances against the Chargers tasked him with being an agile space weapon instead of a hammer. That's not a great fit.

Underachiever(s): Kenneth Grant & Jonah Savaiinaea

Look. Neither of these guys has really played to their draft status at this stage. But this is more of an indictment on the Dolphins' roster than the rookies. Most good teams don't paint themselves into a corner and force themselves to have to start rookies, no questions asked. Miami did. They'd be much better off if they'd have avoided being thrown into the deep end and charged with figuring it out as they go.

Overall Grade: D+. It's still early. The playing time will help both of the top-40 picked players players long-term. But Grant has not been consistent at the point of attack and Savaiinaea's misses in assignments inside have too often come in late-game situations or in the scoring area.

Coaching report card

Grade: D. Mike McDaniel's group looked totally overmatched in Week 1 against the Colts. Communication and personnel issues littered Miami's Week 2 loss to the Patriots. The Dolphins completely abandoned any signs of the run game against the Panthers in Week 5 despite leading at one point by 17. Anthony Weaver's defensive effort has featured a different fatal flaw in each game, be that the interior, the secondary, or, as was the case against the Chargers, the perimeter run defense.

The outlook for Miami from here is, well, ominous. The areas to look for growth include the defensive chemistry, the coaching effort on defense, the leaps of the rookie class and McDaniel continuing to refine his balance as a play caller without Tyreek Hill in the mix.

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