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The Miami Dolphins are about to head into a 2026 regular season that’s expected by most everybody outside their facility to bring a lot of losses.
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The opener against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium actually looks like one of the most winnable games on the schedule at this time, but the Dolphins still are underdogs in this game – as they figure to be pretty much all season.
But the reality is this season, at the risk of repeating something that’s already been said or stating the obvious, isn’t about wins and losses for the Dolphins.
They’re in the first year of a rebuilding project – even though new head coach Jeff Hafley doesn’t care for the term, that’s just a fact – and there’s a greater goal than simply having a good or at least respectable won-loss record.
So what are those goals? What would make the 2026 season a successful one for the Dolphins given that the idea of hoping to contend for a playoff spot seems highly unrealistic?
THE THREE THINGS THAT WOULD MAKE FOR A GOOD DOLPHINS SEASON
1. MALIK WILLIS SHOWS HE’S THE ANSWER AT QUARTERBACK
It’s going to take more than just having a good quarterback for the Dolphins to get back to contention, but getting that position right always will be the best and fastest way to get there.
GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and Hafley didn’t bring Willis over with them from Green Bay merely to hold down the fort before they get a franchise quarterback in the draft, they did it because of a belief he has the physical traits and the intangibles (leadership, work ethic) to become that franchise quarterback himself.
It’s obviously not a sure thing because three starts in two years in Green Bay just isn’t enough of a sample size to have any assurance, but there is a chance Willis could be that guy.
And if he is that guy, then the Dolphins not only will have the most important piece secured, it also will give them the leeway to use their first pick in the 2027 draft however they choose and not be pretty much forced to make it a quarterback.
2. A GOOD NUMBER OF ROOKIES OR YOUNG PLAYERS SHOW THEY’RE LEGIT
The Dolphins will head into the 2026 regular season with 36 players on their 53-man roster with two or less years of NFL experience, not even including IR defenders Kenneth Grant and Trey Moore.
For the Dolphins’ rebuilding project to start really cranking in 2027, the Dolphins need for a good number of those players to at the very least show this season they could be or should be expected to be major contributors to a contending team in the near future.
The obvious players who stand out in this respect include, say, the six players taken in the first three rounds of the 2026 draft (Kadyn Proctor, Chris Johnson, Jacob Rodriguez, Caleb Douglas, Will Kacmarek, Chris Bell), as well as other recent high draft picks like Grant, Jonah Savaiinaea, Chop Robinson and Patrick Paul.
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Because it’s just how things work in the NFL, it’s unrealistic to expect all of those players to pan out, but the Dolphins need for clearly more than half of the aforementioned 10 players to become key contributors. This is not to say that the rookies have to become front-line players right away because that’s not easy to do, but they do have to show the signs of being future stars or at least impact players.
3. THE DOLPHINS NEED TO STEADILY IMPROVE
The 2019 Dolphins were a perfect example of what we’re talking about here because they were badly overmatched while starting the season 0-7, but then closed out with a 5-4 record over the final nine games that included that season-ending shocker at New England.
The 2026 Dolphins look like a much better team to start the regular season than seven years ago, but steady progress remains an important goal.
It will be a good reflection not only on the vast number of young players on the roster, but also – and perhaps more importantly – on the coaching staff’s ability to help players grow.
Sullivan and Hafley had said repeatedly they believe in the draft-and-develop philosophy and now we’ve arrived at the development stage for those 2026 draft picks.
As with everything else connected to the Dolphins this season, the progress and development of the team shouldn’t be measured by wins and losses, but Miami simply has to be a better team by the end of the 2026 season than at the beginning.
THE BOTTOM LINE
If the Dolphins accomplish those three goals in 2026, chances are their final record might be slightly or significantly better than expected.
But there also exists a world where Willis does look like a franchise quarterback, a good number of young players show enough to feel confident they can be the nucleus of a contender, the team does get better as the year progresses, yet the final record still looks ugly.
That last scenario isn’t necessarily the most likely, but it still would make for a successful season for the Dolphins.
Today’s best reads
- Dolphins Motto: March for Arch? Mess Up for Mensah? How About Win With Willis?
- Breaking Down the 2026 Dolphins Captains (And What Jeff Hafley Expects)
- Five Biggest Reasons for Optimism for the Miami Dolphins Heading into 2026: Willis Ceiling and More
- Examining the Dolphins Trend with Backup QBs (And Why McCord Makes Sense)
- Dolphins Friday Mailbag: Hafley, Taaffe, Joly, and More
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This story was originally published September 11, 2026 at 7:01 AM.