The calendar has changed from 2025 to 2026, and while all of us would love to get a mulligan on some of the things we did last year, the Miami Dolphins are no different.
There were a lot of expectations heading into last season, but with a snap of the fingers, things didn't turn out the way the team and the fans had hoped. Now, we can only look back and ask "What if?"
For the better part of 20 years, Dolphins fans have wondered what the answers to that question would be. Drew Brees over Dante Culpepper, Anquan Boldin over Eddie Moore, and Mike Tomlin instead of Cam Cameron. It's a long list.
The Miami Dolphins could have looked a lot different if these issues hadn't happened
Tyreek Hill stayed healthy
Like the flutter of a butterfly's wing, what might the season have looked like if Hill hadn't gotten hurt? Would Tua Taovialoa have played better? Would Mike McDaniel have discovered his run game? So many questions and no answers. Instead, we are left with the knowledge that Hill will more than likely not be back next season. Had he stayed healthy, however, there's no certainty the Dolphins would have been any better, but they might have been if the run game evolved as it did with Hill on the field.
James Daniels stayed healthy
It's sad when you have to consider the health of players as to why a season went south so quickly. Daniels was supposed to be the solution to the guard position for Miami; instead, he showed what he could do for about four plays before taking the rest of the year off to do rehab work. Had he stayed healthy, Miami's interior play would have been better, and maybe Tagovailoa wouldn't have been so skittish in the pocket.
Chop Robinson's growth (or lack there of)
Four sacks aren't good enough for a starting defensive end at the NFL level. Robinson knows that. His sack total this year is a backup's number, not a defensive lineman's, not a starting edge rusher whose only job is to sack quarterbacks.
Robinson didn't grow from his rookie season, and that will continue to be another bad look for Chris Grier's ability to draft. Not that he cares about it anymore. If Miami is going to succeed in 2026, Robinson has to be better, a lot better.
Tate Ratledge in the 2nd
Since we are looking back in time through rose-colored glasses, we may as well consider what the team may have looked like with Ratledge over Jonah Savaiinaea in round two of last year's draft.
Miami held the 48th overall pick. Someone in the war room panicked and traded up for Savaiinaea, who was rumored to be the target of the Patriots. There is another "What if" to dissect on its own. Had Miami opted to stay at 48, they could have taken Ratledge, who wasn't drafted until Detroit took him at 57. Ratledge has been good all year long for the Lions, just as fans predicted.
Had this happened, the Dolphins also would have kept their picks at 98 and 135, rounds three and four. With the 98th pick, they could have taken CB Upton Stout, a position they desperately needed. Stout went to the 49ers at pick 100. At 135, they could have addressed the WR position.