Waller, Jackson activated. And Dolphins’ past two top picks candid about status
Two key players returned to the Dolphins’ active roster on Saturday when Miami activated right tackle Austin Jackson and tight end Darren Waller off injured reserve.
To make room on the 53-man roster, Miami waived tight end Hayden Rucci and offensive lineman Kion Smith.
Jackson has been sidelined since re-aggravating a toe injury in the season opener against Indianapolis. Larry Borom has filled in at right tackle in his absence.
Waller returns after missing four games with a pectoral injury. He missed the season’s first three games with a hip injury, then caught 10 passes for 117 yards and four touchdowns in four games before going down with the pec injury. He joins Julian Hill and Greg Dulcich in Miami’s tight end room.
Rucci was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster on Nov. 8 and played 39 offensive snaps.
Smith has been on the Dolphins’ active roster or practice squad for portions of the past five seasons and played 215 offensive snaps, including 145 this season.
Robinson, Grant updates
The sheer numbers are hardly befitting of any team’s two most recent first-round draft picks.
Chop Robinson, the Dolphins’ top pick in 2024, enters the final six games with one sack and two tackles for loss in 239 defensive plays.
Kenneth Grant, the Dolphins’ top pick in 2025, begins the stretch run of his rookie season with just two tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks, in 358 defensive plays.
“I think I’m still a-ways a way, to be honest,” Grant said at his locker this week.
“I’m definitely not doing the same thing I did compared to last year,” Chop Robinson said, reflecting on a rookie season that included six sacks and eight tackles for loss.
And yet, there remain moments - flashes - that suggest the possibility for more.
For Grant, there was a key stop on a 3rd and 1 run against Washington in the Nov. 16 victory in Spain.
For Robinson, there was pressure applied in the end zone in one sequence, nearly resulting in a sack.
Though Robinson’s playing time jumped against Washington, in the aftermath of Jaelan Phillips’ trade to Philadelphia, he did not start the game. In fact, he has started only once in 27 NFL appearances.
Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said Matthew Judon started opposite Bradley Chubb because of the personnel that Washington used to open the game.
“That was all package-based,” Weaver said. “I’m not trying to put him in as a primary cover guy, where Matt Judon has done that job throughout his entire career, so he felt comfortable there.
“If they would have come out in a smaller grouping, then Chop would have started the game. So I’m happy with where Chop’s at.”
Robinson played 37 defensive snaps against Washington, after averaging 22 per game this season before Phillips was traded. Judon played 38 and Chubb 52.
Whether he starts or not, Robinson wants to use these final six weeks to remind everyone what he’s capable of.
“Personally, I feel a lot of people really forgot who I am, the type of player I am,” he said. “That’s not for me to show them. It’s for me to show myself.”
Though Robinson had only one tackle in extended playing time against Washington, Weaver said: “I think you’ll feel Chop the more snaps he gets. The more he’s out there, the more he kind of gets the rhythm of the game, the more impactful he’ll be for us.”
But the pass rushing productivity is down - from six sacks and 56 pressures in 344 pass rushing chances as a rookie to one and 10 in 133 this season.
“Every lineman I go against tries to stop my speed because they know that’s my number one thing,” he said. “It was like that last year and I feel that will always be the main thing they try to stop.
“You can add extra moves but you don’t really need that many moves in the toolbox. The top rushers around the league, they’re not really using many moves,” he added, citing Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett. “You just have to perfect the things you’ve got.”
His work against the run remains a work in progress.
“I could of course get better at it,” he said. “I’ll be able to focus on it this week.”
Weaver said he trusts “Chop in all facets of the game. It’s not any situation where we’re like, ‘Hey, this is a run down, get him out.’ I don’t feel that way at all.”
As for Grant, Pro Football Focus rates him 119 of 128 defensive tackles. But there has been growth.
Defensive line coach Austin Clark has “gotten me out of that slump,” Grant said. “I’m starting to play a little bit of good football.”
Has getting off blocks in the pros been harder than expected?
“Yeah, it’s a little harder, but… I’m getting off blocks pretty well. There’s still more to be done.
My hands are my biggest problem right now. But it’s getting fixed. I’m striving to work on it every day and be dominant.”
