MIAMI DOLPHINS ROSTER BREAKDOWN - PART 2

In the second part of our team review before the 2026 draft, we look at offensive line, tight end, kicker and punter.

Kicking of with the O-line, the team has three players pencilled in as 2026 week one starters barring injury or trade. Patrick Paul, Aaron Brewer and Austin Jackson are as good as locked in as they can be, the only problem being, Jackson can’t seem to stay healthy.

Paul has cemented his position for the time being, he has been solid and should get better. He does need to raise his game to the next level, last season PFF graded his as the 28^th best pass blocking tackle and 63^rd at run blocking, which puts him 45^th among the 89 qualified tackles, so there is definitely room for improvement.

On the other side Jackson is of equal ability as his pass blocking came in at 33^rd and run blocking was 55^th which ranks him at 51^st amongst qualified tackles. The big question mark is, can he stay healthy as he only played a 3^rd of the amount of snaps Paul did, and when he was out the line suffered. Since 2021 he has never played a full season, he played two games in 2022, sixteen in 2023, eight in 2024 and six last season. It would be great if he could avoid the injury bug, but they need to have a solid back up plan in place moving forward.

Since going undrafted in 2020, converting from guard to centre, and then joining Dolphins in 2024 Aaron Brewer has made his name as one of the best in the game, he will be a free agent at the end of this season so it is imperative that he is extended before he gets chance to test the market, losing him would leave a big hole in the middle of the line, one that wouldn’t be filled that easily.

The starters at guard are presumed to be Jonah Savaiinaea and Jamaree Salyer but out of the three positions along the line this is the one’s with the least certainty. Savaiinaea was a glaring weakness when he started out, he did improve but still has a long way to go and needs to step up otherwise could find himself losing out to Josh Priebe or Kion Smith. Salyer may have a bit more grace as he has been brought in by the new regime and will get every chance to prove his worth.

Beyond the first five, Braeden Daniels, Charlie Heck, Carter Warren and Andrew Meyer provide depth but, the only one with meaningful starting experience is Heck, the remaining three have one start between them, so it would be a total surprise if Jon-Eric Sullivan doesn’t call an O-lineman’s name on day one or two of the draft, the question is will it be at eleven or thirty with so many other holes to fill.

At tight end the anointed starter is Greg Dulcich but Ben Sims should see plenty of action as well because Bobby Slowick leans heavily on 12/13 personnel to create flexibility in the run and pass. The other two tight ends on the roster are Jalin Conyers who went undrafted in 2025, and Cole Turner who was drafted by the Commanders in the fifth round of the 2022 draft but was waived just before the start of the 2025 season. He joined the Titans practice squad last year and then signed a reserve / futures contract in January this year. He played in twenty-two games with three starts for the Commanders and appeared in one for the Titans, in that time he caught thirteen balls for 143 yards, so hasn’t set the world alight.  

Dulcich is primarily a pass catcher, although he has developed into a functional and willing blocker while Ben Sims is the blocking tight end and has extensive experience playing in run heavy schemes. Between them they provide an effective combination, Conyers and Turner are unknowns so there could be a huge drop of if either one of Dulcich or Sims gets injured.

Drafting a TE is very much a possibility, there are number of prospects in this year’s draft, the cream of the crop being Kenyon Sadiq. If there weren’t so many other holes to fill this would be a great pick, he has speed, runs an advanced route tree and is effective deep. But that isn’t the only part of his game, as he is one of the best blockers, and is relentless when latched on. Having the dual threat in one package would leave teams less likely to diagnose the upcoming play. Sadly, it would be a surprise if they called his name and after their first pick, he is likely to have his name called.

With regards to the kicking duties the Dolphins currently have Riley Patterson and Zane Gonzalez on the team, one will be gone before week one. It will be a tight camp battle as there isn’t much that separates them, Gonzalez has a career long of 57 with a career percentage of 81, where as Patterson’s long is 54 with a slightly higher percentage of 87.4, so not much in it. Their extra point conversion percentage is almost identical, neither are perfect, but not far from it, which is to be expected.

As for punter, the team lost Jake Bailey who played well in 2025, averaging net 42.6 yards per punt with 21 punts pinned inside the twenty, PFF had him graded as the 12^th best at the position. Replacing him is Bradley Pinion who was ranked a spot above him. His net average of 40.6 is lower than Bailey’s, but he pinned opponents inside the twenty thirty-six times which is considerably higher, so technically they have upgraded the position.

Offensive line is going to be a position called, possibly early depending on who is sitting there, but they may decide to leave it until day two as good guards can be found in later rounds. Expect TE to be called with several pundits predicting they select one in round three, we will have to wait and see.