Dolphins Rookie Stock Report After Week 1

The Miami Dolphins’ rookie class will be a significant part of the team’s success, or lack thereof, this season. 

After making only two picks in the top four rounds, the Dolphins are relying on several players drafted on Day 3 to play impact snaps this season. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to track each rookie’s progress this season. 

After watching each rookie’s film, here’s whose stock is up, down, and not moving. 

Kenneth Grant, IDL 

Stock: Slightly Down

You’ll notice we’re going to be pretty conservative with our evaluations. Every player on this list was playing their first NFL game, so getting too negative too early doesn’t make sense. 

Grant might have had the toughest assignment of the bunch, too. He saw plenty of his 43 reps come against future Hall of Famer Quenton Nelson, which is a tough “welcome to the NFL” matchup. 

The Michigan product had a couple of OK plays in the running game, and his effort was solid. However, Grant was sealed off in the running game a bunch and didn’t do much in the passing game. 

His only pressure came off a stunt with Zach Sieler, when Grant was the crasher and just happened to get through. Overall, Grant’s debut wasn’t ideal, but he got no help from his fellow linemates and was dealing with Nelson. It’s not even close to panic time. 

Jonah Savaiinaea, IOL 

Stock: No Movement

Like Grant, Savaiinaea played like someone who was making their first NFL start. We’d suggest he was better than Grant, but hardly a positive overall for the Dolphins’ offense. 

Savaiinaea had some miscommunications in run blocking that led to some negative plays. He also cleared out one or two gaps throughout the game. 

In pass protection, Savaiinaea mostly held up. He was charged with two pressures late in the fourth quarter — he got pushed into Tua’s lap on the first one and struggled to handle a stunt on the second. 

There’s no reason to believe Savaiinaea can’t be a solid guard based on his performance Sunday. He still looks athletic and strong enough to hold up, but it’s clear he’s still settling into his role and the offense, which is to be expected. 

Jordan Phillips, IDL 

Stock: No Movement 

Phillips looked like a Day 3 interior defensive lineman playing in his first career game. He wasn’t completely overwhelmed by any means, but the interior of the Colts’ line is no joke, and they clearly got the better of him. 

Indianapolis also employed a pass-heavy game plan early in the game, which didn’t give Phillips many chances to use his strengths in the running game. That said, Phillips’ pass-rush reps were fairly uninspiring. 

When the Colts started running the ball more down the stretch, Phillips made a few nice plays. He’s clearly strong and athletic enough to be a solid contributor for an NFL defensive line, but there’s a lot of room for growth. 

He played roughly how we anticipated in this matchup, so his stock won’t move for now. 

Jason Marshall Jr., CB 

Stock: Slightly Down

Marshall Jr. was the hardest player on this list to grade. He had only 15 reps in coverage, with most coming in the slot as everyone projected. On those 16 reps, he was targeted just once. 

That play was a short pass to Tyler Warren, who Marshall dragged down at first contact. His other coverage reps looked solid enough. He spent most of them trailing Josh Downs, who didn’t have a huge impact on the game. 

However, it’s hard to ignore some of Marshall’s struggles in the other areas of the game. He made what can only be described as a baffling attempt against Jonathan Taylor that turned second-and-9 into first-and-10. 

He got too far upfield on a jet sweep in the red zone, allowing the Colts’ receiver to run right by him, and he appeared to miss another tackle in run defense after slipping a block. 

He did generate a QB pressure on one of his two slot blitzes and forced Daniel Jones inside on a third-down scramble to get a stop on the first drive, so there’s that. Overall, we think the negatives slightly outweigh the positives this week. Still, Marshall was OK on Sunday. 

Dante Trader Jr., SAF

Stock: Slightly Up

Trader played only 20 snaps on Sunday, but he made a few nice plays and didn’t have any back-breaking mistakes. His best play was helping stuff Taylor near the goal line despite starting a few yards into the end zone. 

He made a few other open-field tackles on a day when Miami’s tackling was fairly questionable across the board. He wasn’t tested in coverage at all, but he looked to be in the right spot when taking his zone drops. 

He got looks at deep safety and in the box, so he’s clearly got some versatility to his game. We’ll see if he gets more reps against New England, but it was a solid start for him in Week 1. 

Ollie Gordon II, RB 

Stock: No Movement

Gordon only received 12 offensive reps and three touches in this game, and most of his reps came in garbage time next to Zach Wilson. On his first carry, Gordon ran through a big hole to convert a third-and-short. 

It seems that will be where the Dolphins try to use him the most for now, which is at least an encouraging sign for the team’s rampant issues in short yardage under coach Mike McDaniel. 

His other carry was blown up because Kion Smith missed his block when pulling across the line. Colts LB Cameron McGrone completely avoided Smith and brought down Gordon with little issue. 

The running back’s only catch went for minus-1 yard, but it was a screen thrown to a side of the field where the Dolphins had one blocker for three Colts defenders, so it was doomed from the start. 

Gordon’s two carries point to some hope that he’ll get red zone and short-yardage work for now, but he didn’t get enough chances for us to move his stock in either direction.