It is a new era for the Miami Dolphins as they have moved away from the regime that was led by Mike McDaniel, and into a new vision with Jeff Hafley as the man in charge.
Hafley is looking to dig to Dolphins out of the depths of a rebuild and into the postseason, where they are chasing their first win since a 23-17 overtime win over Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts in December of 2000.
Hafley recently joined the podcast of one of his former players , Hall of Fame cornerback Richard Sherman , to discuss his vision for the team, and who he was surprised to see was still available at a specific spot in the draft.
The first draft choice of the Jeff Hafley and Jon-Eric Sullivan era came with a bit of controversy. As the first 10 picks came off the board, the Dolphins were in a good spot to take either the top player on the board by consensus in Ohio State's Caleb Downs or local favorite Rueben Bain Jr. of the University of Miami .
The Dolphins could have used a pass rusher to replace Bradley Chubb , who they released earlier this offseason, to provide some juice to their pass rush.
A player with the skill set of Downs would fit in any defense, and the Dolphins eventually took more players in the later rounds like Kyle Louis to potentially fill one of the roles Downs could have fit in.
Instead, the Dolphins made a small move down the board before making a big move, literally. They moved back one spot with the Dallas Cowboys, who took Downs, and the Dolphins would counter by selecting Alabama offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor. As Hafley tells it, Proctor was the guy that the Dolphins were targeting all along.
"I mean, I know for us, like Proctor, I mean that when he was still available for us to pick, then when we pick, because we moved back and got two extra picks, and he was going to be the guy we took at 11, but we got him at 12 with two extra picks on top of it, which I thought was an awesome job by Jon-Eric," Hafley said.
While the two extra picks are a nice bonus, the first pick of any new regime is a statement. The hope is that player becomes a foundational piece for years to come, and the Dolphins certainly think they found something like that.
There are not many men in the world that are as big and athletic as Proctor, but the pick does come with some risk.
Hafley believes that his team has a vision for the big offensive tackle, and he could be a potential steal if he realizes the potential they believe he has.
"With his size and his potential and how young he is," Hafley said. "He's a guy that we could be looking at down the road, and people to say, 'Wow, how'd that guy get drafted at 12?'
"At a premium position, with how young he is, how big he is, and how talented he is. That one, I think people might look back on it a few years and try to figure out what, what made him fall to us right?"
With Proctor, Hafley's confidence goes back to what he's seen on film and how both he and the scouting staff believe he can reach his ceiling.
Only time will tell how the selection of Proctor over a player like Downs will play out, but it's been clear since the Dolphins drafted him that this regime has clear conviction and a clear vision for him and the player they believe he can be.
To the outside world, the Dolphins selecting Proctor arguably was the biggest surprise of the draft for the Dolphins.
On the inside? The surprise was different.
In the second round, the Dolphins were on the clock with a plethora of quality choices to make, but again chose with conviction.
They took Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, who has been mentored by Jordyn Brooks and Zach Thomas.
The surprise to Hafley was not that his team took a linebacker that early, but rather that Rodriguez was still on the board for them to pick.
"One guy I didn't think would be there when we took him was probably Rodriguez; I thought he would have been picked sooner," Hafley said. "Just his college tape. I think the upside, I think the potential, I think the leadership capability, the playmaking ability, the production, I thought he would have been gone by that pick. So when he was, when he was still there that one, we were all pretty excited about that pick."
The production on the field was evident, as Rodriguez was one of the most dynamic players in college football as a linebacker, racking up seven forced fumbles and four interceptions in 2025.
Prior to the draft, the biggest question in Miami was how they were going to move forward at the game's most important position. The Dolphins were quick to move on from Tua Tagovailoa at the end of the 2025 season, and the move made sense with a new regime coming in.
The answer the Dolphins provided was not a draft choice, but someone the new general manager and head coach were very familiar with.
Malik Willis signed a 3-year deal worth $67 million to be the team's starting quarterback. Willis, as it turns out, has an excellent rapport with Hafley even though he was the defensive coordinator in Green Bay.
"So he was our scout team quarterback. So I was actually, I communicated with him more than I communicated with Jordan," Hafley said. "Because each week I wanted a certain look. I wanted him to play a certain way. I wanted him. I wanted him to be free and play the game, because I didn't want to tell him who to throw to. But there are weeks I wanted him to stay in the pocket, because that's quarterback we're going to play. There's weeks when I wanted him to run around and scramble. There are weeks where I wanted him to operate in a certain manner. So him and I developed a really good relationship, and then obviously I got to see him play, and he's competitive, he's tough, he can throw the ball, he's accurate. He's really accurate down the field, and he's really athletic. I mean, he's strong, he can make plays with his feet, and when he breaks the pocket, he's really accurate."
The talent on the field with Willis is obvious, but being a starter is different than being a backup. A quarterback is always in a leadership position, and Hafley believes his new franchise quarterback is made of the right stuff.
"On top of all that," Hafley said, "I love the person on the field, off the field. He's got this unique way that he leads. He's not this outspoken, loud guy, but people kind of gravitate to him. So to get a quarterback like that, which is the key position of our team that you trust as we build this foundation and we have a type of leader that we want, I think that's huge."
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/dolphins/onsi as Hafley Explains Potential Steals and Why Willis Was the Choice .
