The Dolphins’ short-yardage mystery. And personnel, draft and compensatory news
A quick Dolphins 6-pack on a Friday:
▪ Among many issues that must be fixed under new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley: The Dolphins’ short-yardage issues, a problem that seemed solved in September and October but ultimately wasn’t solved, after all.
Rookie Ollie Gordon Jr. handled most of those short-yardage runs for Miami last season.
And after converting 8 of his first 10 short-yardage attempts (3rd and 4th or 1 and 2), he had a dry stretch for several weeks.
He finished 10 for 15 on rushing attempts on 3rd and 1 and 3rd and 2; that 66.7 percent was seventh among running backs with at least 15 attempts.
He closed 2 for 4 on rushing attempts on 4th and 1 and 4th and 2; that 50 percent was 10th among running backs with at least four attempts.
So overall, Gordon did above-average work as a short-yardage runner. But here’s the problem: At one point, the Dolphins failed to convert five of those 3rd and 4th and short runs during a damaging stretch in November and December.
So how did the Dolphins go from having one of the league’s best short yardage running games in the first half of the season to dealing with an ineffective one for much of the second half?
Blocking seemed to be the primary issue, but Gordon also could have made better decisions.
“Do I wish we had some of those plays back?” former running backs coach Eric Studesville said last December. “When you sit with a clicker and run it back and forth, you get multiple perspectives what happened. That kid gets one shot to make that play and make a split second decision against some of the best athletes in the world.
“I don’t think he turned anything down [in terms of avoiding contact]. He’s competitive, passionate about this game.”
Ladell Betts, the Dolphins’ new running backs coach, was a very effective short-yardage runner during his nine-year playing career. There’s hope this problem will be permanently fixed, with Sullivan and Hafley determined to augment the trenches and build a tough, physical team.
As for Studesville, he joined the Chicago Bears as running backs coach this week after nine seasons with the Dolphins.
▪ This isn’t a surprise, but we’re told that new general manager Sullivan will have final control over the Dolphins’ 53-man roster. This is the typical arrangement for NFL teams, with exceptions sometimes made for teams with powerful, Hall of Fame type coaches.
Chris Grier had control of the Dolphins’ 53-man roster before his dismissal last October.
▪ The Dolphins’ scouting department reportedly will have changes later this year, but because of the NFL calendar, that is impossible to execute before the draft.
Scouts typically are under contract to teams through the draft, so Sullivan cannot realistically dismiss a bunch of Dolphins’ scouts (who have studied college players and done reports for months) and hire a new set of scouts before the draft, even if he wanted to.
But Sullivan has hired two new front office executives whom he trusts: new assistant GM Kyle Smith, who held that role for the Atlanta Falcons the past three seasons and former Packers scout Venzell Boulware, who parted ways with Green Bay in mid-January. Boulware previously was an offensive lineman for the Miami Hurricanes.
During the season, the Dolphins moved on from personnel executives Anthony Hunt and Adam Engroff, and parted ways with assistant GM Reggie McKenzie in January.
Champ Kelly, who finished out the season as the Dolphins’ interim general manager, remains with the team in the role for which he was hired last March -- senior personnel executive.
▪ Lance Zielein, the top draft expert for NFL.com, has Miami taking Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy at No. 11 in his first mock draft, just after Cincinnati drafts UM right tackle Francis Mauigoa at No. 10.
“Several names make sense in this spot to improve the Dolphins, but adding a big, talented cornerback might be the priority,” Zierlien said. “McCoy probably wouldn’t be available for Miami if he hadn’t missed the entire 2025 season with a torn ACL.”
Zierlein has Miami bypassing, among others, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs and linebacker Sonny Styles, Southern Cal receiver Makai Lemon, Arizona State receiver Jordyn Tyson and UM defensive end Akheem Mesidor.
▪ Overthecap.com is projecting the Dolphins to have no compensatory pick in April’s draft, but it doesn’t rule out the possibility that Miami could be awarded a fourth-round pick for losing Jevon Holland to the Giants and a seventh-round pick involving Ifeatu Melifonwu, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and other free agent moves.
▪ We hear the Dolphins were impressed with several head coaching candidates besides Hafley.
One of them, former Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski, made quite an impression on the Dolphins and would have interviewed a second time if he hadn’t taken the Falcons head coaching job, a source said.
But the Dolphins were blown away by Hafley, who impressed everyone in the interviews and was well positioned to get another head job if Miami hadn’t made him an offer on the day of his second interview.
This story was originally published February 6, 2026 at 2:43 PM.
