MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins won, and that’s the best thing that has happened for the team all season.
Inevitably, though, a portion of the fan base will worry, if the wins start to become a trend after the Dolphins’ 28-25 victory over the New York Jets, that it could be detrimental to the all-important draft position in 2027 for this franchise.
Could it cost the team a shot at Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, the South Florida product out of Chaminade-Madonna High who is largely considered the draft’s top prospect regardless of position?
Or would it be Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons going elsewhere?
Or the draft’s top quarterback, which started out as Texas’ Arch Manning but the momentum has since shifted to Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker during the college football season?
Sure, adding any of these top prospects would boost the future outlook of the franchise, but shelve those thoughts for now.
We just watched the 2026 Dolphins — yes, as they fell from the No. 2 pick in the draft to No. 3 with the win — look as good as they have. That shows progress, still not even at the halfway point of the first season of the rebuild under new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley.
And progress now means there’s less ground to make up in order to return to contending once next season comes around, or the year after. These Dolphins, if they continue to pull out wins, can establish a more advanced starting point for 2027. Having that, along with a still-very-good player to be selected a pick or two behind your favorite draft prospect, is more valuable than forcing said prospect, who still could turn out to be a bust, to build up a winner from scratch.
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Don’t bring any of that talk around Hafley, who after experiencing his first NFL head coaching victory, couldn’t fathom any fan of his team perceiving the win as a negative.
“I have a hard time even kind of grasping that, to be honest with you,” Hafley said Monday. “Everything we do and every move we make and, every day, we give everything we got to try to win a game. I hope they see that, and I hope they’re happy we won the game. And, hopefully, we’ll get more.”
Earning that win back home in New Jersey, Dolphins players released pent-up energy from an 0-5 start by dousing Hafley in water when he got to the MetLife Stadium visitors’ locker room after the game.
One of Hafley’s key points in his postgame speech to his players was something he expressed in the media prior to facing the Jets, belief.
“I believe in you guys!” proclaimed Hafley, the way he believed in the offensive line and quarterback Malik Willis when he made the call to go for it on fourth-and-1 to seal the win.
As Hafley said he was going to give a game ball to all his players, Dolphins owner Steve Ross stepped in and presented Hafley with his own game ball. Sullivan and Hafley shared a hug, a symbol of how unified they are in the pursuit of this first win — and many more.
Throughout their five losses to start the season, the Dolphins had shown intermittent glimpses of a formula or a path to how they could potentially find wins in a rebuilding 2026 season.
Sunday against the Jets, they showed how they can actually win a game.
They’ve established an identity of physicality. Pounding out 39 rushing attempts, without counting the two kneeldowns at the end, they rushed for 156 yards as a team, 103 from running back Ollie Gordon II. The defensive line stood strong at the goal line early in the fourth quarter, when the Jets had first-and-goal at the 1 but went backwards on three consecutive plays to settle for a field goal instead of a tying touchdown.
Miami combined the trench play with Willis looking as sharp and as decisive as he has been as the team’s starter. He found the open receiver, took the easy completion, saw the blitz and found the area vacated by the defense.
The Dolphins didn’t do everything right, either, which still gives Hafley plenty to harp on with his team as players look to build on the taste of success.
For one, the Dolphins didn’t defend the run or pass particularly well. They allowed Jets backup running back Braelon Allen, with Breece Hall out, to rush for 104 yards. As Miami played with a lead for the first time, New York kept inching back closer in the second half, due in part to chunk plays surrendered in the passing game.
“There’s plenty from that game we have to improve. We’ll make a big deal out of that,” Hafley said Monday.
And Sunday’s game against the Jets served to see where the Dolphins stack up in a realistic comparison against an AFC East rival also trying to build. Miami, in Year 1 under Sullivan, is starting off ahead of the Jets, in the second year under coach Aaron Glenn.
The Dolphins (1-5) return home to face another divisional foe in the New England Patriots (4-3), who last year made a quick turnaround all the way to the Super Bowl under coach Mike Vrabel. To double it up against that opponent would only be more encouraging.
Let this team maximize on winning as much as it can this season, and then we’ll come around to the draft pick when it comes time for that after the season.