The new regime of the Miami Dolphins has made big changes at several key positions this offseason. Though arguably, none of them were as big as at the quarterback position.
All signs had been pointing to the fact that Tua Tagovailoa had played his last game as a Dolphin, and Malik Willis was the heavy favorite to land in Miami following the hirings of general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley from Green Bay. So when the two sides came together in just a matter of hours at the start of free agency, it wasn't viewed as a bombshell report. But with it being the QB position—the most important in all of sports—it will have the biggest impact on this franchise going forward.
Naturally, though, we don't know what to expect from Miami's quarterback room. And even if performance outweighs expectations, it's widely believed the Dolphins will still struggle in 2026. That's why it's not hard to believe that at least one outlet has Miami's QB room ranked in the bottom 10 of the NFL heading into next season.
CBS Sports ranks Miami Dolphins' QB room sixth-worst in the NFL
Just a few weeks before the 2026 NFL Draft, FanSided's Christopher Kline ranked the Dolphins' QB room 25th out of 32 NFL teams. Following the weekend spectacle, CBS Sports gives the unit a slight fall in the rankings to 26th.
With 11 picks going in and winding up with 13 overall, it was widely believed that the Dolphins would draft a quarterback at some point of the three-day process. They didn't, though, and ended up signing Iowa's Mark Gronowski as an undrafted free agent.
Gronowski's addition makes next to no impact on CBS's rankings, although a Day 2 or early Day 3 selection may have slightly moved Miami in the other direction, depending on who was available. Cam Miller also has little impact on the Dolphins' QB room. Both will battle it out for QB3, and if all goes as planned, neither will see the field at all during the regular season.
Instead, CBS's rankings rely solely on Willis and Miami's 2025 seventh-round selection, Quinn Ewers. The latter started three games for the Dolphins last season when the former coaching staff was finally done watching Tagovailoa become Tua turn the ball ova.
In his three starts, Ewers performed admirably, completing 66.7% of his passes, with three touchdowns and three interceptions. He didn't necessarily stand out or look like the steal of the draft, similar to how Brock Purdy did for the 49ers, but at the very least, Ewers looked better than the seventh-round pick he was. He could be a viable backup in this league—with the upside to be even better.
Willis is the real wild card, and the reasoning for Miami's considerably low ranking by CBS. In fairness to the outlet, though, I think they got it right on this one. One could argue that the Dolphins could be even lower on their list, but it's hard to claim that any of the Falcons, Cardinals, Steelers (without Aaron Rodgers still), Jets, or Browns have a better QB room right now than Miami. (Although Arizona and Cleveland's units would be more entertaining.)
The Dolphins gave Willis a hefty payday, but we still don't know what kind of quarterback he can be as the full-time starter. His time in Tennessee was rough, but Willis bounced back with Green Bay while Jordan Love was out.
Willis went 2-1 as a starter for the Packers, including a terrific outing against the Ravens this past year in Week 17. On the day, Willis completed 18 of his 21 pass attempts for 288 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing the ball for 60 yards on nine attempts and adding two more scores. Green Bay lost the game, but Willis showed out with his performance, which ultimately catapulted him to the most sought-after QB in free agency.
Willis certainly looks to be a more improved player than he was in Tennessee, but it's still such a small sample size in terms of what he's done so far in the NFL. He has just six starts through four seasons, with only 155 total pass attempts to go with it.
Willis has almost half that amount, though, in terms of rushing the ball (74 attempts for his career), meaning he brings Miami something they've never had at the QB position...mobility. And with a less-than-stellar WR room, Willis, in all likelihood, will use his legs far more than any Dolphins starter we've seen before him.
For Miami to be successful, though, and to potentially move up the rankings, Willis will have to prove it with his arm. Thankfully, he's been one of the more accurate quarterbacks the past few seasons, even though his recent first pitch at a Marlins game could make that hard to believe.
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