‘Need to fill that room up.’ The Dolphins need to find cornerbacks, edge rushers
The Miami Dolphins’ roster has a lot of holes.
Take one look at the depth chart, and you will notice not just a lack of talent, but sheer personnel as the Dolphins have more than 30 restricted and unrestricted free agents in 2026. New coach Jeff Hafley has a defensive background, yet two of the premium positions, namely edge rusher and cornerback, need serious attention.
“The edge rusher position right now, we need to fill that room up,” Jeff Hafley said. “There’s not many left on the roster right now, so not many to evaluate so we have to obviously add some depth there. There’s some good pieces in place that I’m really excited to work with, and the same with the cornerbacks. There’s some guys that have played football, there’s some youth there obviously, so excited to have those guys compete as well.”
When it comes to the room of edge rushers, Chop Robinson immediately comes to mind as he remains the only player with consistent NFL snaps. The 2024 first-round pick, however, has not had the best start to his NFL career. In his two seasons, Robinson has registered just three starts to go along with 10 sacks, 21 quarterback hits and 12 tackles for loss.
Despite the lackluster numbers, Robinson had the support of everyone, especially from players like fellow edge rusher Bradley Chubb.
“I’m really excited about what he will do in the future,” Chubb said in late December. “This season, we talk about it all the time, from the words of his mouth, just not what he thought it was going to be, not the expectations he had for himself. I told him today, it’s a lot of factors that go into that. I’m not going to make excuses for him, but it’s a lot of factors that go into that plus him as well. I know where his head is at going into this offseason.”
Sure, there are reasons behind his lack of production. The edge rusher room was a bit clogged prior to the Dolphins trade of Jaelan Phillips to the Philadelphia Eagles at the trade deadline. Robinson sustained two concussions in 2025 that limited his snaps. And, as former defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver once said, the lack of starts has more so to do with what opposing offenses trot out first than anything else.
“The more he’s out there, the more you’re going to feel him in the game,” Weaver said of Robinson. “I think he’s a volume — like you have volume shooters in basketball — I think he’s a volume player when it comes to football so just him being on the field, yeah, he’s going to make some mistakes like they all do, but he’s going to make more plays than he hurts you.”
The bottom line, however, is clear: Robinson needs to produce in 2026.
“Chop is in a great position because he’s going to be the elder statesmen and in a position of leadership,” general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan said. “My expectations for him are to work his ass off, continue to improve and be a leader in that locker room.”
Additionally, the Dolphins have their fair chance to add talent in what’s widely considered a deep draft at the edge rusher position. While Miami would love to bring in some of the top talent such as Texas Tech’s David Bailey, Ohio State’s Arvell Reese or Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr., they likely would have to settle for guys who could fall to Day 2 such as fellow Hurricane Akheem Mesidor, Auburn’s Keldric Faulk or Missouri’s Zion Young.
“We’re light right now in that room,” Sullivan said. “It needs tot be addressed.”
The cornerback situation is even more dire. The Dolphins’ main options are JuJu Brents, who showed flashes in his two-game stint as a starter yet sustained a season-ending foot injury, andd 2025 fifth-round pick Jason Marshall Jr., an outside corner who primarily played in the slot last season.
“I’m excited about Marshall,” Sullivan said. “ I want to see JuJu Brents get healthy.”
The two other rostered corners — Storm Duck, another player who missed most of the season with a knee injury, and a practice squad guy in Ethan Robinson — show that the Dolphins have a serious need.
“There’s some good players in the draft,” Sullivan said, later adding that he plans “to allocate every avenue of player acquisition to build this thing out, especially in Year 1.”
The Dolphins’ need at corner happens to be so egregious that either Louisiana State’s Mansoor Delane or Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy repeatedly ends up in Miami in several mock drafts. Delane has a special connection to the Dolphins.
“Coach Hafley, he’s the guy who recruited me at Boston College, so I’m very familiar with him,” Delane said Thursday, later adding that he’s excited to reconnect with Hafley, something that happened later that day.
Regardless of who the Dolphins draft, the prospect will have a chance to play from the moment he gets inside the building, a rare opportunity. Hopefully, Sullivan and Hafley can get the picks right.
