The Miami Dolphins are about a week away from embarking on a new season with a new general manager, new head coach, new quarterback and whole bunch of other new things.
The outside expectations for the 2026 Dolphins are about as low as they can get, with ESPN's Adam Schefter the latest to pile on with his declaration that Miami is the team to beat for the No. 1 pick in the 2027 NFL draft.
With such a large volume of new faces and the departures of so most of the team's marquee players -Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Bradley Chubb, Minkah Fitzpatrick, to name five -it's understandable to be skeptical.
But there also are reasons for optimism that the Dolphins can enjoy some measure of success this season, whatever form that takes.
Yes, it has to start right here.
Malik Willis is an unknown, unproven commodity as a starting quarterback in the NFL now on his third team in his fifth season in the league, which makes him as big a question mark as there is on the roster.
But the samples everyone saw the past two seasons during his brief appearances with the Green Bay Packers absolutely were tantalizing, and that's not even up for debate.
What Willis showed in those three starts over the previous two seasons was a live arm, the ability to make every kind of throw and the escapibility in the pocket to make plays off schedule.
Put simply, he brings a skill set to the Dolphins they haven't had at quarterback since ... maybe ever.
Because of his absurdly small sample size, though, Willis isn't a sure thing because the consistency might not be there and maybe Green Bay simply presented the perfect setting for him. But the possibility does exist that the Dolphins might have landed a star at quarterback.
During their four-game winning streak in the second half of the 2025 season, the Dolphins rushed for at least 140 yards and the group responsible for that is back, with a significant improvement.
That likely upgrade is the arrival of first-round pick Kadyn Proctor on the offensive line to join returning starters Patrick Paul, Aaron Brewer, Jonah Savaiinaea and Austin Jackson.
It's also likely that Savaiinaea will be better in his second season after a tough rookie year.
And, of course, De'Von Achane is back and armed with a contract extension, and whatever the Dolphins have lost in terms outside speed to keep defenses honest could or should be offset by whatever Willis brings to the running game.
How good the running game will be in 2026 remains to be seen, but there's absolutely reason to hope it could be productive.
Maybe the biggest reason for hope for the Dolphins in 2026 also will be a reason for concern, and that's of course the large reliance on young unproven players, particularly the latest draft class.
A week before the start of the regular season, it was fair to think that as many as 11 rookies could wind up starting games, from Proctor to undrafted free agent DJ Herman.
And if the Dolphins can get above-the-line performances from, say, four or five of those rookies - with the most logical candidates being Proctor, Chris Johnson, Chris Bell, Jacob Rodriguez, Trey Moore when he comes back from IR and Will Kacmarek -that could make a clear difference for the Dolphins.
The most important thing for these rookies is to establish themselves and show enough progress to convince the Dolphins they could become key contributors on a future contender, even if they don't become difference-makers right away.
But there's nothing preventing some from making an immediate impact, and that would help the Dolphins win games in 2026.
Along with the rookies, the Dolphins also need for some of their other recent draft picks to emerge as impact players in 2026.
And maybe the player most under the spotlight in that respect is 2024 first-round pick Chop Robinson, who was productive in the second half of his rookie year before slumping as a sophomore.
What Robinson will be in 2026, who knows? But his training camp performance sure served up a dose of optimism that he's ready for a breakout year.
There's no guarantee, of course, because training camp isn't the regular season, but Robinson did look bigger and stronger this summer.
If he indeed does break out, it would do wonders for both the pass rush and the pass defense, which will rely on pressure to make the job of the secondary easier.
Nobody knows for sure what kind of head coach Jeff Hafley will become, but training camp and the preseason certainly has a different feel around the Dolphins.
This was a group that seemed a lot more about business than the previous regime, though that speaks to the make-up of the roster as much as it does on Hafley and his predecessor.
It's the regular season, though, that will provide the first major clue as to whether the Dolphins got a hit when they hired Hafley to replace Mike McDaniel.
Hafley's background is defense and the situation simiilar to when Brian Flores took over as head coach in 2019 in a rebulding situation, and his X's and O'x expertise help the Dolphins become a dangerous and competitive team after a disastrous resulting from a dizzying number of roster changes.
If Hafley can show the same kind of X's and O's acumen, maybe the Dolphins can find a way to win games they're not supposed to win, much like what they did in 2019.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/dolphins/onsi as Five Biggest Reasons for Optimism for the Miami Dolphins Heading into 2026: Willis Ceiling and More .
