Kelly: Tanking has no benefit to Dolphins. Time to focus on learning to win | Opinion
And then there were two winless NFL teams.
Tennessee’s 26-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts, which seemingly contributed to former Colts general manager Chris Ballard losing his job on Monday, leaves Miami and the Los Angeles Chargers as the NFL’s remaining winless teams in 2026.
Even though the season’s still young, the Dolphins and the Chargers, who coincidentally have two former Dolphins head coaches on its offensive staff, are the NFL’s bottom-dwellers this season.
This is important for two reasons.
Whatever team performs the worst this season will be in the driver’s seat to land Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith, a South Florida native who is being categorized as a generational talent, or one of the 2027 draft classes’ upper-echelon quarterbacks, whether it be Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker, Notre Dame’s C.J. Carr or Miami’s Darian Mensah.
Whether you’re obsessed with Smith, or have a particular quarterback preference, either route would help Miami during this latest franchise rebuild.
However, there is risk associated with making this a tank-centric season, intentionally being bad to secure the top pick, which does indeed happen often in professional sports, even though it’s strongly discouraged.
Going winless for an entire season — rebuild or not — would produce a level of shame that doesn’t get cleansed from your resume.
Being the first 0-17 team in NFL history is about the only thing that would make me lose faith, belief in what this regime building, doing.
As I’ve said for a few months now, I’ve learned my lesson from the 2019 Tank for Tua season. Losing is a way of life. It creates a soft mentality that poisons your culture like cancer, and the last thing I want for this Dolphins franchise is another era of softness, another regime poisoned by toxicity.
That’s why the focus needs to be placed on doing whatever it takes to producing the season’s first win, securing at least one victory before injuries water down the roster.
“I really like this team, and I know that at 0-5 everybody could look at me like I’m crazy,” coach Jeff Hafley said Monday, his first news conference following the bye Miami was granted last week.
Actually, I don’t think Hafley’s crazy.
I like plenty about Miami’s frontline talent. This roster’s lack of depth is troublesome, but if everyone who is playing now continues to contribute, remains healthy, grows and develops, this team will eventually find a way to win games.
Malik Willis has the arm and athleticism that maybe half a dozen NFL quarterbacks possess. What he lacks is comfort in this offense, experience, and most importantly, weapons he can trust.
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Ollie Gordon II, who has served as De’Von Achane’s replacement after Miami’s Pro Bowl tailback sustained a season-ending left knee injury last month, is averaging 5.0 yards per carry. The second-year back is on pace to rushing for 1,000 yards if his yards per carry average stays consistent, and he’s given at least 13 carries a game the rest of the season.
Running behind a forceful offensive line, like the one the Dolphins seemingly possess, will do that for a young, talented back.
And Miami’s defense, which is led by Zach Sieler and Jordyn Brooks, has also done its part when it comes to stopping the run (3.7 yards per carry allowed) and 110.6 rushing yards per game.
That unit also has a lot of young defenders in Zeek Biggers, Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips, Chop Robinson, Jacob Rodgriuez, Chris Johnson, Jason Marshall Jr, Dante Trader Jr. and Michael Taaffe, who are trending upwards.
With each game that goes by that unit is learning to figure things out.
What they need is better pass rushing, and for Miami’s offense and special teams to get their acts together, figuring out how to play complementary football.
“The energy that this team has, the connection that this group has, the youth, it’s almost like a fun [youthful energy] to be around. They really love playing football. They really love playing with each other,” Hafley said. “I know you asked me about the Xs and Os and all that, it’s bigger than that. It’s me reflecting on the people that we’ve brought in here. It’s me reflecting on everything that these guys have put in and will continue to. It’s me looking at the foundation that’s being set for this team.
“We all want to win. I want to win more than you guys have any idea. But what we’re building right now, and [what] a lot of people need to see before they believe. I believe,” Hafley continued. “I believe in this team before maybe most people can see it. But what we’re doing right now, we’re going to look back on and it’s going to be awesome.”
This franchise knows plenty about in-season turnarounds considering it has been the norm for quite a few years, under quite a few coaches.
“The message for me would be, to the guys who haven’t been through something like this, is to keep going,” Brooks said, referring to his first two seasons with the Dolphins, which each featured disastrous starts that were followed by respectable turnarounds.
In 2024 the Dolphins began that season 2-6 before finishing out the year 6-3.
Then last season Miami had a 1-6 start to the 2025 season before winning six of the final nine games.
“You never know how this season is going to end up,” Brooks continued. “[We] closed the gap, had a fighting chance at the end. So I know it’s real, I know it’s possible. But the way to do that is to keep going, not letting outside noise affect us, not letting anything externally affect us as a group and staying together.”
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