Updating draft, more Dolphins issues to be clarified Sunday. And a dozen tidbits
The big-picture priority for Sunday’s Dolphins finale at New England should be evaluating how rookie quarterback Quinn Ewers plays on the road against a very good team.
Among other issues that will gain clarity as daylight turns to darkness on Sunday:
▪ Draft order: Miami began Week 17 with the 10th overall pick and entered Monday 12th, with the ability to move to 11th if Atlanta beats the Rams on “Monday Night Football.”
The Dolphins (7-9) also can jump the three 6-10 teams — No. 8 New Orleans, No. 9 Kansas City and No. 10 Cincinnati — if Miami loses at the Patriots (4:25 p.m., Fox) and the Saints beat the Falcons, the Chiefs beat the Raiders and the Bengals beat the Browns.
Miami is positioned to draft ahead of all three of those teams — if they have the same record — because their opponents have a worse cumulative record than the Saints’, Chiefs’ and Bengals’ opponents.
Miami’s opponents also have a worse record than Tampa Bay’s opponents, which explains why the 7-9 Dolphins are 12th and the 7-9 Buccaneers are 13th.
While the Dolphins can move as high as eighth, they can fall as low as 14th if they beat the Patriots, the Buccaneers lose to Carolina and the Cowboys lose to the Giants.
▪ Next year’s schedule: Two more 2026 opponents were firmed up during the weekend: As the AFC East’s No. 3 team, the Dolphins will play at the Colts, which clinched third in the AFC South, and will host the Bengals, who clinched third in the AFC North.
Miami also will play home games in 2026 against Buffalo, New England, the New York Jets, Kansas City, the Los Angeles Chargers, Chicago and Detroit.
Besides the Colts, the Dolphins will play road games in 2026 against Buffalo, New England, the Jets, Denver, Green Bay, Las Vegas and Minnesota.
The only unresolved element of the 2026 schedule: Miami will play at the third-place team in the NFC West, which is currently the Rams but also could be Seattle or San Francisco.
▪ Will the Dolphins have a league leader in anything?: Jordyn Brooks leads the NFL in tackles with 174 — six ahead of the Raiders’ Devin White. But whether Brooks will lead the league in that category will hinge in part on whether he can play through a hamstring injury sustained against Tampa Bay.
▪ Where De’Von Achane’s season stands historically: With his 112-yard day against Tampa Bay, Achane passed Tyreek Hill’s 2022 and 2023 seasons for the second-most scrimmage yards in a season in franchise history.
But forget moving into the top spot. Achane has 1,821 yards, but he would need an unfathomable 368 yards to reach Ricky Williams’ club record of 2,206 yards from scrimmage in 2002.
Achane is in good position to pass Williams for the second-most rushing yards in a season in Dolphins history. On Sunday, Achane (1,350 rushing yards) passed Jay Ajayi’s 2016 season (1,272 yards) for third on the all-time Dolphins list.
Achane isn’t going to catch Williams for No. 1; Williams had 1,853 yards rushing in 2002. But Achane needs only 23 yards to surpass Williams’ 2003 rushing total for second on the list.
He’s also positioned to lead the league in yards per carry at 5.7; the closest to him is Buffalo’s James Cook at 5.2. His 40 rushes of 10-plus yards lead the league, four more than the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor, who’s second.
Achane likely will finish fourth in the NFL in rushing yards, behind Cook, Taylor and Baltimore’s Derrick Henry.
▪ Patterson’s bid for a record:
Patterson, signed after a tryout when the Dolphins lost Jason Sanders to an August hip injury, has been a revelation, connecting on 26 of 28 field-goal attempts.
That 92.9 percentage would set the franchise’s single-season field-goal percentage record (minimum 15 field goal attempts), topping Jason Sanders’ 92.3, established in 2020.
Sanders appears ready to return, but the Dolphins have stuck with Patterson, with a decision for Week 18 pending in the days ahead.
Offensive position notes
▪ Quinn Ewers’ 63 yard TD pass to Theo Wease Jr. marked the first time a Dolphins quarterback threw his first career touchdown pass to a receiver who caught his first career TD since Chad Henne threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Brian Hartline against Buffalo in October 2009.
▪ Wease’s 63-yard touchdown reception is the longest by a Dolphins rookie since Chris Chambers had a 74-yarder against the Colts in November 2001.
▪ Because Jaylen Waddle left for a time with a rib injury, Cedrick Wilson Jr. ended up playing the most offensive snaps among Dolphins receivers (38). Malik Washington logged 35 offensive snaps, Wease 15, Waddle 14 and Tahj Washington five.
▪ Pro Football Focus said Miami’s five best players on offense were tight end Greg Dulcich, running back Jaylen Wright, Wease and offensive lineman Austin Jackson and Cole Strange. PFF rated left guard Jonah Savaiinaea worst of the 19 players on offense, as has often been the case this season.
▪ Center Andrew Meyer, filling in for the injured Aaron Brewer, didn’t allow a single quarterback pressure or sack in his NFL debut. PFF said he was Miami’s second-worst run blocker among starting linemen, ahead of only Savaiinaea.
▪ Wright and Ollie Gordon II each played eight offensive snaps, but Gordon didn’t get a carry, while Wright ran five times for 56 yards.
▪ Left tackle Patrick Paul permitted a sack. That was his fourth allowed this season, per PFF.
Defensive position notes
▪ With Chop Robinson leaving in the second quarter and now in concussion protocol, the Dolphins gave 32 snaps to Quinton Bell and 15 to Cameron Goode.
PFF rated Goode 10th and Bell 14th among 19 Dolphins defenders.
Bradley Chubb played 55 of 67 defensive sacks, and his 8.5 sacks are eighth in the AFC.
▪ With Brooks limited to 43 snaps because of a hamstring injury and Dodson playing 55 of Miami’s 67 snaps, Willie Gay Jr. played a season-high 26 snaps. K.J. Britt played 10 snaps before leaving with a fourth-quarter groin injury.
▪ PFF rated these players are the Dolphins’ five best defenders on Sunday: Brooks, defensive lineman Zach Sieler, Chubb, rookie defensive lineman Kenneth Grant and safety Ifeatu Melifonwu.
▪ Matthew Butler (17 snaps) essentially took Benito Jones’ spot in the rotation after Jones went on injured reserve Saturday with a back injury.
▪ Rookie cornerback/safety Jason Marshall Jr. played 57 of the Dolphins’ 67 defensive snaps, but rookie safety Dante Trader Jr. played only 21, as Miami opted to use Ashtyn Davis on all 67 defensive snaps.
In pass coverage, Marshall had a dynamic interception but also allowed seven of nine targets in his coverage area to be caught for 80 yards, per PFF.
Davis had an interception but permitted six of seven targets to be caught for 73 yards and a touchdown. Jack Jones also permitted a TD pass, among the seven completions (in 10 targets) that he yielded, for 56 yards.
Here’s my 10-step plan for Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.
Here’s what Mike McDaniel said about Quinn Ewers, the franchise quarterback search and more after the game.
This story was originally published December 29, 2025 at 12:08 PM.
