The Miami Dolphins wrapped up their 2025 training camp when they conducted their one joint practice with the Jacksonville Jaguars, a little more than four weeks after their first summer practice.
This training camp will be remembered most, unfortunately, for the injuries that cost the Dolphins the services of Kader Kohou, Alexander Mattison and Artie Burns for the season and those that sidelined Tyreek Hill, Austin Jackson and De’Von Achane, among others, for large chunks of the summer.
On the field, it was a fairly typical Dolphins training camp in that it was hot and humid, and some players shined more than others.
Here, then, are some of the highs and lows we saw on the practice field at the Baptist Health Training Complex and in Chicago and Detroit over the past month.
The Dolphins got younger in 2025, and that puts more of an onus on the team’s 20-somethings to produce if they are to have a successful season. That’s why it was so encouraging to see 2024 draft picks Chop Robinson, Patrick Paul and Malik Washington consistently deliver strong performances this summer.
Sorry, there’s just no way around it. The Dolphins did not look good in their three combined joint practices in Chicago and Detroit, with two really bad days on offense (one in Chicago and one in Detroit) and two rough outings on defense against the Lions. And we’re not even discussing the issue of the Bears crossing the line by not adhering to normal joint practice rules with their defense; the Dolphins simply didn’t execute.
There wasn’t a player on the Dolphins roster who was as consistently productive during training camp as wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who caught a large number of passes (often over the middle) without a drop that comes to mind. With Hill sidelined, Waddle shined and gave every indication he could be back to his 2023 form after a down 2024 season.
When the Dolphins signed Nick Westbrook-Ikhine as a free agent in the offseason, the hope was that his size would make him an ideal third wide receiver option for Tua Tagovailoa, but NWI’s production in camp was very uneven and there never seemed to be any sort of connection between quarterback and receiver. There’s obviously time for that to change before the start of the regular season, but ideally it would happened already — or at least begun to happen.
Between his sacks, interceptions or near-interceptions, there hardly was a day at the start of camp when Gay wasn’t finding a way to stand out, to the point where many media members were clamoring for him to get awarded the orange jersey.
Those plays, however, stopped happening later in training camp, just about the time of the first set of joint practices with the Bears or a tad before. It was reminiscent of what happened last summer with Quinton Bell, who was a playmaking machine early in camp before he got very quiet. Now, Bell did provide solid work during the regular season, so maybe that’s what Gay will do as well.
The Dolphins came into camp with three proven pass rushers with Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips and Chop Robinson, but those guys had a hard time keeping up with young players like Derrick McLendon and Grayson Murphy, and even Cameron Goode at times.
While offensive coordinator Frank Smith was quick to point out a lot of the issues dealt with the offensive line not creating holes up front, it’s still a fact that second-year running back Jaylen Wright had a hard time in camp and the preseason gaining much traction. The lowlight was getting stuffed near the goal line in the preseason opener on two plays where he had no chance, but there were other plays where he also wasn’t able to break a tackle or make somebody miss. And to make matters worse, he sustained an injury that caused him to leave the joint practice with Jacksonville early.
While it’s only practice — thank you, Allen Iverson — the Dolphins have reason to feel good about the prospects for their three rookie draft picks along the defensive line because Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips and Zeek Biggers all had their moments during the summer.
One man’s opinion on the best players of camp at each position, based largely on performance versus expectations
Tua Tagovailoa clearly was the most consistent quarterback, as should be expected, but Ewers seemed to definitely answer the question as to whether he’s got a future as an NFL quarterback, something that’s not always a guarantee for a seventh-round pick.
This is an easy call because De’Von Achane got injured, Jaylen Wright kind of disappointed, and Alexander Mattison wound up on IR.
An argument could be made here for 2024 seventh-round pick Tahj Washington, who flashed coming off a rookie year spent on IR, but Eskridge easily was the most consistent wide receiver outside of Jaylen Waddle.
Tanner Conner was the player who caught the most passes, but Brown’s body of work probably was more impressive given his run blocking.
It wasn’t just about Paul dominated one-on-one pass-rushing drills, including putting players on the ground, the 2024 second-round pick was just very good from start to finish during camp.
This is a really tough call because we could make a case for any of the draft picks, but Dickerson was flying under the radar heading into camp and he was pretty consistent.
Grayson Murphy was the most impactful pass rusher among the non-big names, but McLendon might have been better all around.
It would be very easy to go with Willie Gay Jr. here, but Asante again surpassed expectations as a rookie free agent.
Jason Marshall Jr.’s strong finish aside, we’re going with Armstrong here because he looked much more effective as a defensive back than he did in his first stint with the Dolphins.
Rookie free agent John Saunders Jr. had his moments in camp, but Colbert was more impactful after spending last season on the practice squad.
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