Heading into the 2026 season, the Miami Dolphins' depth was one of the team's biggest question marks. Miami's depth was quickly tested as last year's first-round pick Kenneth Grant suffered an injury during training camp which led to the Dolphins placing him on injured reserve before the season.Now, after four weeks, Grant is eligible to return and is expected to practice this week for the Dolphins. As a result, one Dolphins analyst has put him on notice prior to his return.
While appearing on The Dolphins Collective, the Miami Herald's Omar Kelly discussed Grant's return. Kelly said, "This is going to be his opportunity to prove he's a first-round pick." Kelly added of Grant, "He's in better shape, I can tell you that. Not good shape, but better shape." As a rookie, Grant appeared in all 17 regular season games while making five starts. He registered two sacks, 33 combined tackles and two tackles for loss. Grant received a 48.4 overall grade from Pro Football Focus. He graded as a below-average pass rusher and run defender in his first season. Regarding Grant's status, Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley said , "He will practice, just like I thought. He had a good weekend. He stayed back. We wanted him to get some work done rather than come with the team in order for him to have a really good day today and get ready to practice on Wednesday. So I'm excited to see where he's at."
Prior to the season and his injury, Kenneth Grant was named by PFF's Gordon McGuinness as the team's breakout candidate. McGuinness wrote: "Defensive tackle Kenneth Grant endured a rough start to his NFL career, earning a 30.4 PFF grade over the first five weeks of the season. He steadily improved as the year went on, though, and his 62.0 PFF grade from Week 6 through the end of the season ranked third among the 14 rookie interior defensive linemen who played at least 200 snaps during that span. His 16 defensive stops over that stretch also ranked second in the group. With a full NFL offseason under his belt, expect Grant to continue that upward trajectory in 2026."While Grant has not yet lived up to expectations of a first-round pick, he does possess considerable talent. Prior to the 2025 NFL Draft, NFL.com's Lance Zierlein wrote of Grant: "Grant is a broad-bodied nose tackle whose tape can run hot and cold depending on the game and the types of blocks he's facing. He struggles to anchor when hit with down blocks due to his narrow base and tall pads, but he uses his power and length to beat single blocks and split double teams when he finds the crease. He had some sack production in college, and we could see him improve in that area once he learns to create more rush space with his hands. Grant's game will finally come together in full when he's able to take his impressive physical attributes and impose his will on opponents."Hopefully, now that he appears to be in better shape, Grant can begin to show what he's truly capable of.
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