The Miami Dolphins are in the throes of a rebuild, thanks in large part to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa falling apart during the 2025 season.
Mind you, this isn't to say Tua's body failed him. He was at least healthy enough to start the Dolphins' first 14 games. Unfortunately, he lost six of those first seven starts, and continued to backslide even when Miami strung together a late-season surge to try to save head coach Mike McDaniel's job.
None of it was enough in the end. Tua got benched for seventh-round rookie Quinn Ewers. New General Manager Jon-Eric Sullivan's first order of business on the personnel side is to figure out how to move off Tua as smoothly as possible.
Saying all that to say, Saturday's announcement of The Associated Press' All-Pro teams, with two Dolphins receiving their deserved flowers, landed as particularly bittersweet.
Dolphins stars Jordyn Brooks & Aaron Brewer earn All-Pro honors, but Tua Tagovailoa's epic flop dims their shine
The AP's Rob Maaddi broke the news of how the All-Pro teams shook out, with a complete list of first- and second-teamers, along with the full voting breakdowns.
Center Aaron Brewer is one of the premier athletes in the league at his position. If Kansas City's Creed Humphrey wasn't such a machine of annual consistency, Brewer would've had a strong case for a first-team bid.
Quite respectable for Brewer to only lose 26-19 to Humphrey in first-place votes, though. What a journey, too!
Such a cool story, Aaron Brewer. 6'2, 274lb undrafted OL out of Texas State, bounces around positions across four years in Tennessee with the Titans — gets a shot at center his final season before FA and in two years in Miami lands All-Pro recognition while finally finding the… https://t.co/9j3lEOw74D
— Kyle Crabbs (@KyleCrabbs) January 10, 2026
Pretty easy to see why Jordyn Brooks was a first-team All-Pro, albeit in a somewhat controversial selection over the Jaguars' Devin Lloyd. Brooks earned 78 total voting points to Lloyd's 71, with a 21-19 edge in first-place votes that were worth three points each. Detroit's Jack Campbell led the AP ballot among linebackers.
Box score scouting isn't always effective, but Brooks did something right en route to leading the NFL in total tackles with 183. That's absurd production. Not to mention, he had 13 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and was the glue that held the defense together when it would've been so easy for Miami's unit to throw in the towel early.
And this is where we circle back to the comprehensive nature of Tua's failure.
Departed GM Chris Grier did indeed hit on Brewer as a free-agent signing, yet he absolutely blew it when he traded up for second-round rookie left guard Jonah Savaiinaea. He was horrendous this season.
Suspect interior pass protection from the Dolphins' guards was an underrated part of the team's early-season struggles. A more mobile QB could evade the rush, but Tua is very much a pure pocket passer who must be on his spot and on time to thrive. The likes of Savaiinaea and Cole Strange often made those objectives borderline impossible.
Oh, and Brooks didn't receive enough support on defense either. Miami waited until the 11th hour to find viable cornerbacks in Rasul Douglas and Jack Jones. While they played quite well, safety depth was a major issue that continued to rear its ugly head throughout the 2025 campaign.
Miami could've supported Tua better pass-catcher-wise, too. Luring Darren Waller out of retirement, signing Greg Dulcich after late-August roster cuts, and...standing pat with only two viable wide receivers were certainly choices! Not good choices, but choices nonetheless.
Unless John Harbaugh or another big-name coach is indeed walking through that door, it's baffling to me as to why McDaniel became such a fall guy for the Dolphins. He elevated Tua as much as he could...until he couldn't anymore.
But at the end of the day, Tua got that $200+ million contract. It was on him to play up to that deal. With that kind of paycheck, he was expected to elevate the supporting cast around him. Tua couldn't do that and squandered the extraordinary efforts of Brewer, Brooks, and even electrifying tailback De'Von Achane in the process.
Woof.