Let\u2019s be clear about something: The Miami Dolphins enter the 2025 season relying on Plan B – winning with draftees and young players.<\/p>\n
The Dolphins are on Plan B because Plan A – winning with veterans – failed. Plan A didn\u2019t deliver its goal of winning a Super Bowl. It didn\u2019t even produce a playoff win.<\/p>\n
So, the Dolphins have abandoned Plan A.<\/p>\n
The question now is whether Plan B is built on a solid foundation.<\/p>\n
To help provide an answer to that question, let\u2019s identify the young players that form the building blocks for Plan B\u2019s potential success.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll consider a young player, for these purposes, third year or younger in 2025. Under that circumstance, the player would still be relatively young, fourth year or younger, in 2026, which is when Plan B should bear fruit in the form of a playoff appearance.<\/p>\n
Among the obvious tent poles for Plan B\u2019s success are cornerback Kader Kohou, the star of the 2022 rookie class despite being undrafted; running back De\u2019Von Achane, the 2023 third-round pick; edge rusher Chop Robinson, the 2024 first-round pick; left tackle Patrick Paul, the 2024 second-round pick; defensive tackle Kenneth Grant, the 2025 first-round pick; and guard Jonah Savaiinaea, the 2025 second-round pick.<\/p>\n
The key, however, is finding another four or five foundational pieces on the current roster.<\/p>\n
If not, the Dolphins must rely heavily on their 2026 draft class to make Plan B work.<\/p>\n
By the way, Plan B, when it\u2019s expected to mature in 2026, will have a stable of middle-aged and older players, meaning fifth year in the league or longer, including quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, guard James Daniels, right tackle Austin Jackson, center Aaron Brewer, edge rushers Jalean Phillips and Bradley Chubb, defensive tackle Zach Sieler and inside linebacker Jordyn Brooks, among others.<\/p>\n
In summation, I\u2019ll add this: The obvious risks with Plan B are that general manager Chris Grier\u2019s draft history after the second round is shaky, so a strategy that relies on draftees is questionable; the Dolphins didn\u2019t previously pursue young players as foundational building blocks in the Mike McDaniel era, which started in 2022, so the cupboard is relatively bare when it comes to promising young players.<\/p>\n
Oh, yeah, this, too: I don\u2019t understand how trading out of the third and fourth rounds in the 2025 draft fits into the Plan B strategy of building with draftees and young players.<\/p>\n
Plan B foundational pieces<\/p>\n
\u2022 Kader Kohou: He\u2019ll be a fourth-year starter at slot cornerback in 2025, and more than ready to star in the Dolphins\u2019 resurgence. He\u2019s tough, tough-minded, athletic and experienced.<\/p>\n
\u2022 De\u2019Von Achane: Plan B has Achane, who had 1,499 yards from scrimmage last season, as the face of the offense in 2026. That\u2019s because 2025 will likely be the final year for wide receiver Tyreek Hill (due to count $51.9 million against the salary cap in 2026) and no one else, including Waddle, fits the bill as the No. 1 offensive option.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Chop Robinson: He came on strong in the second half of last year, finishing with six sacks, and if he keeps progressing, the pass rush is on solid ground given the tenuous contract status of both Phillips and Chubb. If Robinson remains stable or takes a step back in 2025, the Dolphins might require a high-round draftee or big-money free agent at edge rusher in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Kenneth Grant: Grant, selected at No. 13 this year, could have lots of time to develop while playing alongside fellow defensive tackle Zach Sieler and edge rushers Robinson, Phillips and Chubb. Or, he could have no time to develop as Sieler draws double teams, Phillips and Chubb struggle to get back to 100% while recovering from knee injuries, and Robinson struggles to replicate his late-season success. He should hope for the former and prepare for the latter.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Jonah Savaiinaea: The Dolphins said they must \u201cinvest\u201d in the offensive line. Savaiinaea, who the Dolphins traded up to acquire, is a big part of that return on investment, and fans want to see positive results quickly. He\u2019s a huge part of Plan B, possibly bigger than Grant.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Patrick Paul: He replaces one of the foundational pieces of Plan A – Pro Bowl left tackle Terron Armstead – and plays one of the most important positions in the league. If he\u2019s not ready, it\u2019s a major setback for Plan B.<\/p>\n
Plan B hopeful pieces<\/p>\n
\u2022 Cam Smith: Smith could fill a valuable role as the Dolphins need a No. 1 boundary cornerback (Kohou plays the slot) with Jalen Ramsey unlikely to return. But Smith doesn\u2019t appear anywhere near being a No. 1 or No. 2 cornerback in Plan B.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Storm Duck: As an undrafted rookie from 2024, he was good. But as a No. 1 or No. 2 cornerback in 2025, he\u2019s lacking. We\u2019ll watch him in training camp to see if the Dolphins can count on him in Plan B.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Jaylen Wright: There was that 86-yard rushing game against New England last season, but that\u2019s it. The Dolphins added two running backs in the offseason (Alexander Mattison and Ollie Gordon II) so we\u2019ll see if Wright can earn a Plan B role in minicamp and training camp.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Malik Washington: He was promising as a rookie 2024 fifth-round draft pick, but at this point, it\u2019s tough to envision Washington as a starting slot receiver in 2026. His bigger contribution to Plan B might be on special teams.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Channing Tindall: We haven\u2019t seen much from the 2022 third-round pick. Perhaps he has a surprise emergence, but he can\u2019t be counted on as a building block for Plan B.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Erik Ezukanma: The 2022 fourth-round pick shows promise, but then gets injured. There\u2019s still time to be a key piece of the team, but he can\u2019t be counted on as a key piece of Plan B.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Cameron Goode: As a 2022 seventh-round pick, he\u2019s been a success story to remain on the roster. But he\u2019s not a foundational Plan B piece.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s be clear about something: The Miami Dolphins enter the 2025 season relying on Plan B – winning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[265,5445,5443,637,3334,217,7,636,216,251,2087,122,633,634,631,6,646,3007,632,635,9,638],"class_list":{"0":"post-138883","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-american-football","9":"tag-american-football-league","10":"tag-american-football-league-teams","11":"tag-american-football-teams","12":"tag-cornerback","13":"tag-dolphins","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-gridiron-football-variants","16":"tag-miami","17":"tag-miami-dolphins","18":"tag-miamidolphins","19":"tag-national-football-league","20":"tag-national-football-league-seasons","21":"tag-national-football-league-teams","22":"tag-national-football-league-teams-seasons","23":"tag-nfl","24":"tag-outdoor-sports","25":"tag-running-back","26":"tag-seasons-in-american-football","27":"tag-seasons-in-american-sport","28":"tag-sports","29":"tag-team-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}