The Dolphins’ interest in top defensive tackles from the 2026 NFL Draft may be more than smoke if you check the receipts from Jeff Hafley and Sean Duggan
Some quotes from earlier this offseason from Miami Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley and defensive coordinator Sean Duggan may be hinting that some 30 visits are more than smokescreens for Miami.
The Miami Dolphins should be considered a “no-holds-barred” option for the 2026 NFL Draft. Maybe you won’t see them draft a running back early. Maybe they don’t consider a quarterback in the top-100. But head coach Jeff Hafley’s bunch is likely open to endless possibilities.
But by and large, Miami is starting from scratch. Which is why the Dolphins’ presumed interest in defensive tackles like Kayden McDonald and Christen Miller is not overly surprising. The new reporting of Miller’s scheduled visit and the prospect of a defensive tackle being drafted early takes me back to a quote from Jeff Hafley (and another from defensive coordinator Sean Duggan) from earlier this offseason. Both may be clues to the Dolphins’ interest in more defensive line fortifications.
Picking up the breadcrumbs from Jeff Hafley and Sean Duggan to Dolphins’ potential interest in more DTs
“(Bringing in Micah Parsons via trade was) a little challenging at first, because we went from the year before — we had (DT) TJ Slaton & Kenny Clark. So you had two big guys on the inside, right? And then we lose TJ Slaton to free agency, but we’ve got Kenny Clark. So as we built all throughout training camp and OTAs, we’re building with Kenny Clark and different players. Well then you lose Kenny and you add Micah.”
— Dolphins head coach Jeff Hafley on the evolution of his defensive front in Green Bay from 2024 to 2025 via Pro Football Talk
So let’s start here. The Packers, in 2024, boasted 6-foot-4, 330 pound TJ Slaton and 6-foot-3, 315 pound Kenny Clark. That season, the Packers averaged 4.0 yards allowed per rush on the season. The number was 3.9 yards per rush when Clark was on the field. With Slaton on the field, the number was 3.4 — and the duo combined to defend 139 rushes on the field together and averaged 3.5 yards per rush allowed.
Some of this can be explained by situational football and personnel packages. Putting both defenders on the field together would likely suggest heavy personnel groupings on offense and run-heavy situations.
But when you parlay the numbers with Hafley’s comments, and then stack defensive coordinator Sean Duggan’s comments on top of it all, you can find enough breadcrumbs to suggest there may be a vision here that’s being pursued.
“I think you’ve got to have the ability to change (your front) and not give the same presentation every single play. (Four-down) allows guys to get on edges, both in the run game and the pass game, create some one-on-one blocks for different positions where if you get in odd spacing, some guys are dealing with some more double teams but also creates one-on-ones for other guys. So I think there’s got to be a little balance of both…Four-down gives you some advantages, but there’s also parts where you’re like, ‘OK, I like odd spacing better in this look.’ I think you’ve got to have the ability to do a little bit of both. I know we had a style we played in Green Bay last year that was really good for us, and again, it fit to our players. If you go back two years ago, we played more odd spacing. So I think again, it’s what players do you have, put them in the best positions to play and let them play fast. You’ve got to be adaptable.”
Sean Duggan
Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator
Miami’s current interest in 2026 defensive tackles
The Dolphins now have shown interest in two very particular skill sets at defensive tackle via pre-draft visits. Both Ohio State’s Kayden McDonald and Georgia’s Christen Miller are point of attack stalwarts who can defend the run at a high level. Miller projects to have a bit more in the way of pass rush upside at the next level, but both are powerful interior defenders.
How does that pair with the Dolphins’ current collection of talent from the 2025 NFL Draft? That depends on how they see Kenneth Grant best implemented. Do they want him playing more of an aggressive, upfield penetration role? Is he a 3-technique and more of a pass rusher in their eyes? Or do they envision him being Kenny Clark reincarnated? The same question applies to Jordan Phillips, is he just a nose tackle for this regime? Do they envision him as a 4i-alignment and an odd-front defensive end? Where does Zeek Biggers fit? Biggers played just 9 of his 214 snaps in the A-gaps, which makes him a non-threat to compete against hypothetical draft choices in McDonald and Miller, both of which played 100+ snaps in the A-gaps this past season.
The biggest question lingering among the potential addition of either run defending stalwart in the early portions of this draft shift to what it means for veteran Zach Sieler. He can still play at a high level, which we saw in spurts in 2025. But he’s an expensive veteran on a roster that doesn’t have many expensive veterans. He’s an aging player on the youngest roster in football.
I say all of this to deliver a simple message. The Packers, in Hafley’s first season on the staff, employed a series of heavyweight, Titan-sized tackles in the middle. So don’t be surprised if the Dolphins go shopping for another one this month despite having three promising young guns in the pipeline as is. I don’t think this is simply smoke.
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