Which Dolphins Players Are X-Factors for 2025 Season?

Everyone knows the Miami Dolphins had a disappointing 2024 season, missing the playoffs for the first time under coach Mike McDaniel. The team made numerous changes this offseason, but to return to the postseason, specific players will need to make a more significant impact. 

Those players are usually referred to as X-factors. With the Dolphins’ first game of the season against the Colts set for next weekend, we’re going to look at one X-factor from each unit — offense, defense, and special teams. 

This is not meant to be a list of each unit’s best player. X-factors are typically under-the-radar players who serve an important niche function, or ones that could take the step to stardom this coming season. 

Dolphins’ Offensive X-Factor 

Aaron Brewer, Center 

The narrative around the Dolphins’ offense is that it can’t run the ball between the tackles. The team brought on guards James Daniels and Jonah Savaiianea to help with that, but Brewer plays a part in that, too. 

Brewer had the best year of his career in 2024. He was solid in pass protection for most of the season, allowing just three quarterback pressures in the first 10 weeks. His athletic ability made him an asset in the running and screen game, too. 

It’s hard to think of a better scheme fit for the undersized but athletic center, and it allowed Brewer to look like an above-average starter for the first time in his career. 

A repeat of the 2024 season likely would be good enough for the Dolphins, but what makes Brewer an X-factor is that any slight improvements can push the Dolphins’ ceiling much higher. 

He’ll never be a people mover on inside running concepts, but even getting him to become an average blocker in those scenarios would go a long way. 

On the flip side, Brewer might be Miami’s best pass protector following Terron Armstead’s retirement. That could change by the end of the season, but Brewer needs to anchor the Dolphins unit in that area at least in the first part of the season. 

If he can play in pass protection like he did for the first 10 games of last season for 17 games in 2025, the Dolphins’ offensive line would be significantly better for it. 

Brewer is already a good player, but he could push the Dolphins’ offense to new heights by improving just a bit. 

Dolphins’ Defensive X-Factor

Tyrel Dodson/Wille Gay Jr., Linebacker 

The Dolphins should have an impressive front seven this season. 

The pass-rush group is anchored by four high-quality rushers in Jaelan Phillips, Chop Robinson, Bradley Chubb and Matthew Judon. The interior defensive line has a star in Zach Sieler, who will be paired with young, talented players like Kenneth Grant and Jordan Phillips. 

At linebacker, Jordyn Brooks had an impressive 2024 season and looks ready to carry that into 2025 based on reports from training camp. 

The only real hiccup is the linebacker spot next to him, which is where Tyrel Dodson and Willie Gay Jr. come in. 

Miami has struggled to find two good linebackers at the same time in recent years, and it’s given them a massive weak link in the middle of the field. As good as Brooks was last year, David Long Jr. and Anthony Walker Jr. cost the Dolphins a lot of yards and points at times. 

Dodson is expected to start next to Brooks after he showed some promise in a limited sample size last season, and Gay made a lot of plays during training camp. 

If one or both of these players can provide the Dolphins with average linebacker play next to Brooks, it would go a long way toward solidifying the Dolphins’ front seven as potentially one of the better groups in the NFL. 

Other things have to go right for that to happen, of course, but even if those things go right, a repeat of last year’s linebacker problem could sink the ship more than some realize. 

Dolphins’ Special Teams X-Factor

Riley Patterson, Kicker 

Finding a true X-factor for special teams is quite challenging. Miami’s special teams, in general, can be an X-factor for the team, but Riley Patterson gets the nod for the purposes of this piece. 

Jason Sanders was placed on injured reserve with a hip injury, which means he’ll miss at least four games. Some national reporters have indicated he could miss up to six games.  

Patterson was signed to the practice squad to fill in for Sanders, and while four to six games doesn’t seem like a lot, kickers can absolutely be the difference between wins and losses. The offense can drive down the field with 30 seconds left, but if the kicker misses, none of it matters. 

Exactly how many games Patterson will serve as the kicker is open-ended because players are allowed only three practice squad elevations per season, after which they either will get released or signed to the active roster.

The more specific reason Patterson makes this list is that he has an opportunity to raise his game. He’s struggled quite a bit in recent seasons, including last year when he played on three teams and made just 4 of his 7 field goal attempts. 

He’s had an incredibly underwhelming career from long distance, too. Patterson has made just four of his nine attempts from 50+ yards and 16 of his 20 attempts from 40+ yards. 

Sanders’ ability to hit long kicks was a significant advantage for Miami in 2024, and the numbers indicate Patterson won’t be as good. Even though it’ll be a small sample size, Patterson proving he’s back to his 2022 form — he hit 30 of his 35 kicks that season — is a huge deal for Miami.