Jeff Hafley is in the same boat as Malik Willis and the rest of the Miami Dolphins roster. So are Jon-Eric Sullivan, Brandon Shore, and even Danny Sillman. The Dolphins are rebuilding, regardless of whether they want to admit it openly or not.
With rebuilds comes a strong need for patience. In 2019, the Dolphins attempted to rebuild, but even Chris Grier didn't have the ability to let it take place naturally. A year later, he was looking for big pieces of the puzzle. By year four, they were showing Brian Flores the door.
Everyone in the circles of the NFL believes this Dolphins team could be one of the worst in franchise history. There are more predictions that the Dolphins will finish last in the league and secure the number one overall pick in next year's draft. Those, however, are not questions that need to be answered. Those are realistic expectations.
Miami Dolphins have to trust themselves on every level of the team for this rebuild to work
Question 1: What will be the biggest needs when the season is over?
It may sound like an unimportant question, but how this season ends will be a huge factor in how the Dolphins approach the roster next offseason. Both the 2027 draft and free agency will be predicated on how each unit performs as a whole. Do the Dolphins create holes with underperforming players, or do they find holes?
The Dolphins are relying on their draft class and other inexperienced young veterans, but if some of them don't develop enough over the course of the season, the Dolphins will need to address it in the offseason.
Question 2: Will Jeff Hafley learn from his mistakes, or keep making the same ones all season?
We may not learn what kind of coach Hafley will be, but one of the most frustrating things about Mike McDaniel was that he never learned from his mistakes. This is something Hafley has to do. If he makes a couple of mistakes early in the season, he can't make the same mistakes in Week 18. That's not growth.
Hafley has to learn his way around the NFL as a head coach now; it's imperative that he continues to develop just as he expects his players to.
Question 3: Can Malik Willis elevate the Dolphins roster and prove he is a franchise player?
Willis wasn't given a stable of experienced and proven receivers, and that is going to make him look bad at times, but you can still evaluate a quarterback for more than just stats. If Willis throws 20 passes in a game and only 10 of them are completed, you have to ask why. If five were dropped, that's a WR problem. You get the picture.
Willis is playing for his Dolphins' future, if not his NFL future. The WR room won't be held against him, but his performance will be under a microscope. A stellar season may give Miami pause to use a top draft pick on a QB, or they may find themselves with no other choice. Willis controls that more than anything. His contract is good for three years, but the Dolphins could still draft a QB next year and let Willis run longer if he can succeed. What he does this year will play a part in the Dolphins' decision.
Question 4: Will the Dolphins show enough improvement over the season?
The Dolphins are not going to win a lot of football games this year. There is hope that they will shock and surprise the league, but we all know that the road ahead will be tough, and it's going to be full of potholes.
What we need to see, however, is improvement. Just like coaching, players making the same mistakes in week 18 that were made in week one is not progression. We expect Jacob Rodriguez to struggle a bit in the early weeks, but by the end of the season we expect him to be a lot better. That goes with every player on the roster, and every position unit as well.
If the Dolphins are not improving, this rebuild isn't going as planned. That's when panic sets in from those higher up on the decision-making chain. It's what helped end the Flores regime quickly. The Dolphins will not be judged on wins or losses, but on how they attack the game each week. It's a long season with plenty of time to grow; so will they?
Question 5: Can Jeff Hafley keep his players invested when the losing begins to mount?
The Dolphins are all in on being a team. It's the priority they preach. The players are excited about the opportunities and the wonders of the NFL for those who have never played in a real game, but they can be as optimistic as they want to be. When the losing starts, and it will, can Hafley keep them all on the right track?
The biggest way to lose your football team isn't by losing; it's by not holding them together. By not improving as a group. Losing will rot a player's mind quicker than anything. Players hate to experience it, and as Dolphins fans have known for decades, once it sets into your brain, it doesn't leave easily.
This is Hafley's biggest challenge in 2026. He has to keep his players focused on the bigger picture. That picture isn't winning; it's buying into what they are selling despite the lack of wins. If he can keep them motivated through losing streaks, he will have done more than any other coach dating back to Jimmy Johnson.
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