{"id":86285,"date":"2025-05-28T21:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T21:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/86285\/"},"modified":"2025-05-28T21:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T21:15:09","slug":"miami-dolphins-otas-confirm-youth-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/86285\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Dolphins OTAs confirm youth movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 A lot happens during OTAs. And you notice a lot of things when you attend the Miami Dolphins\u2019 organized team activities<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what became obvious Wednesday while watching the Dolphins<\/a> go through OTAs: There\u2019s a big youth movement going on in this organization.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t a huge surprise.<\/p>\n

We heard coach Mike McDaniel<\/a> refer to this during the league meetings in Palm Beach in March, how they wanted the team to be shaped through its draftees.<\/p>\n

But it was drilled home watching OTAs.<\/p>\n

Most of the key 30-somethings from the past few seasons are going or gone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Granted, some of us saw newly retired left tackle Terron Armstead after Wednesday\u2019s session and chatted him up a bit (he\u2019s lost 30 pounds and is trying to delay having right knee replacement surgery). Nowadays he\u2019s practically a volunteer coach.<\/p>\n

But most of the key 30-somethings from the past few seasons are going or gone. They\u2019ve been purged.<\/p>\n

That was tough to miss.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s something else that became obvious Wednesday: it\u2019s time to get excited about football again.<\/p>\n

I watched, and I got excited \u2014 for football, for possibilities, and for the future.<\/p>\n

OTAs do that to me.<\/p>\n

I admit it. I got swept up.<\/p>\n

Youth does that to me.<\/p>\n

Seeing rookies such as defensive tackle Kenneth Grant, the first-round pick<\/a>, and guard Jonah Savaiinaea, the second-round pick, out there running around with life-giving joy and their sky-high potential was refreshing.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s another OTA reality.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a time for optimism.<\/p>\n

You want to see these guys fulfill their dreams, and OTAs represent the start of that, or the continuation.<\/p>\n

You want to see enough from these guys in OTAs that you think their best is within reach.<\/p>\n

You want to see cornerback Cam Smith play well enough that there\u2019s no doubt he should be a starter, you want to see edge rushers Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips<\/a> give indications they\u2019ll both be healthy and capable of posting double-digit sack seasons, you want to see safeties Iffy Melifonwu, Ashtyn Davis, Elijah Campbell and Patrick McMorris play as though they all deserve to be starters.<\/p>\n

You love to see people realizing their dreams.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what OTAs represent, for drafted and undrafted rookies, for veterans and newcomers.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fresh start, a positive look ahead.<\/p>\n

OTAs make you think anything is possible.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like a kid on the first day of school.<\/p>\n

Or someone starting a new job.<\/p>\n

Or a new relationship.<\/p>\n

You convince yourself that everything will turn out well.<\/p>\n

For now, you forget about cornerback Jalen Ramsey and the negativity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the past.<\/p>\n

This is a new beginning.<\/p>\n

My stance on the Dolphins, for now, is well known.<\/p>\n

At this point I consider the Dolphins 9-8 team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll be far from terrible, and they\u2019ll be close to a playoff team.<\/p>\n

Losing Ramsey is huge.<\/p>\n

Without Ramsey, the Dolphins could have the worst secondary in the NFL.<\/p>\n

Whatever.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still June-1 cuts, and training camp cuts. Talent can still be found.<\/p>\n

The Dolphins signed defensive tackle Calais Campbell, the future Hall of Famer who was probably the runner-up to fellow defensive tackle Zach Sieler as team MVP, on June 13 last year.<\/p>\n

Difference-making moves are out there.<\/p>\n

That brings us back to the youth movement.<\/p>\n

Consider the 30-somethings that played key roles last season, even briefly, or were expected to play that aren\u2019t returning.<\/p>\n

Campbell. Ramsey. Armstead. Safety Jordan Poyer. Running back Raheem Mostert. Safety Marcus Maye. Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. Backup offensive tackle Kendall Lamm. Backup edge rusher Emmanuel Ogbah. Special teams ace Siran Neal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There aren\u2019t many key 30-somethings remaining. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill (31)<\/a>. Tight end Pharaoh Brown (31). Long snapper Joe Cardona (33). Cornerback Artie Burns (30).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Among players who will turn 30 this season are tight end Jonnu Smith (Aug. 22), safety Elijah Campbell (Aug. 24), Sieler (Sept. 7), defensive tackle Matt Dickerson (Nov. 9), and kicker Jason Sanders (Nov. 16).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a youth movement going on with the Dolphins.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bit of a reason to be wary, but more than that it\u2019s a reason to be encouraged and excited, which is how I feel watching the Dolphins go through OTAs.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: May 28, 2025 at 4:55 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI GARDENS \u2014 A lot happens during OTAs. And you notice a lot of things when you attend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[4835,217,7,216,251,2087,4836,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-86285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-dolphins","8":"tag-chris-grier","9":"tag-dolphins","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-miami","12":"tag-miami-dolphins","13":"tag-miamidolphins","14":"tag-mike-mcdaniel","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114587535190696230","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86285","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=86285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}