Omar Kelly: Dolphins have plenty reasons to be thankful for this disappointing season

Omar Kelly, Miami Herald on Nov 26, 2025

Published in Football

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MIAMI — This Miami Dolphins’ 2025 season has been a disaster, but there are still reasons to be thankful.

Despite a 4-7 record, the Dolphins aren’t eliminated from playoff consideration, and the schedule sets up wonderfully for Miami, which could qualify for the postseason if it wins all six remaining games.

While that feat seems extremely unlikely, a strong finish might produce a third winning season for head coach Mike McDaniel and his staff.

What that means to owner Steve Ross? Nobody knows.

Fortunately, Ross did determine the team’s top decision-makers on the football side of the franchise has held the team back, and subsequently removed Chris Grier last month.

Grier swung and missed too often in the talent evaluation aspect of his job. While there are no guarantees on what happens from here, change will be refreshing. It plants a seed of hope.

We should also be thankful that this season has revealed the Dolphins have five foundational players — De’Von Achane, Jaylen Waddle, Patrick Paul, Jordyn Brooks and Aaron Brewer — the franchise can build around.

This season we’re seeing Waddle become more than a supporting cast member in this offense. Despite not having Tyreek Hill on the field because of the season-ending knee injury the All-Pro receiver sustained in Week 4, Waddle has made an impact in every game but one this season.

And he’s not alone.

Achane is putting together a body of work that hints he’s a Pro Bowl-caliber talent. Only four skill players in the NFL have been more productive than Miami’s third-year tailback this season. For the second consecutive season, Achane is proving he can handle the workload of being a featured weapon.

That’s something this franchise can build around, as is Paul, who looks like a franchise left tackle in his first season as a full-time starter.

Paul and Brewer, a six-year veteran who is in his second season with the Dolphins, have established themselves as upper-echelon players at their position this season, helping pave the way for the Dolphins to have the eighth-best yards-per-carry average (4.77) in the NFL heading into Sunday’s home game against the New Orleans Saints.

Cole Strange, a 2022 first-round pick, joined the team in September and helped stabilize the offensive line when he became the starting right guard.

Darren Waller came out of retirement and proved he’s still a game-changing talent. Julian Hill has cleaned up his game, becoming a respectable in-line blocking tight end, and Greg Dulcich has shown some promise in his first season in Miami.

Speaking of players who made a return to the field, Chubb came back from a troublesome knee injury he sustained in 2023 and has been an impactful player, contributing 30 tackles, five sacks, one forced fumble and recovering another. He has also blossomed into a respected team leader.

And he’s not the only player on defense who has.

Brooks, who leads the NFL in tackles, has gone from a reserved, quiet player and transformed into Miami’s in-your face alpha leader. This is his team, and his defense.

Dolphins fans should also be thankful that kicker Riley Patterson replaced Jason Sanders, who injured his hip, and Miami had very little drop-off in the kicking game.

The Dolphins’ rookie class struggled early, but is beginning to turn the corner in the second half of the season. All three of Miami’s rookie defensive tackles — Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers — are contributing and no longer liabilities.

We should be thankful that the rookies are steadily improving and haven’t hit the rookie wall yet.

Tailback Ollie Gordon II helped Miami solve the short-yardage conversion struggles McDaniel’s team had in his first three seasons. And Dante Trader Jr. and Jason Marshall Jr. have emerged as regular contributors, and possible starters in the secondary.

They should all serve as building blocks for the next leader of this franchise, who inherits seven draft picks in 2026, which includes two third-round selections gained through trades, and have the possibility of gaining another if a compensatory pick for losing safety Jevon Holland to the New York Giants comes through.

As traumatic as the 2025 season has been, the biggest blessing has been seeing the fight for this team, which continues to fight for each other and their coaches, keeping the season relevant.

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