The 2025 NFL regular season is officially two-thirds of the way over — we are through 12 weeks on the schedule.

For the Miami Dolphins, the second block of games was much kinder than the first. The Dolphins went 3-2, plus the bye week, during the season’s second block. It’s been a far cry from the 1-5 start that the Dolphins posted in the first six weeks. So what changed? Who is at the core of the progress?

Here’s my second trimester report card for the 2025 Miami Dolphins.

Offensive superlatives

MVP: C Aaron Brewer

RB De’Von Achane gets the glory but many of his explosive runs have Brewer serving a key role with his ability to play in space and attach to linebackers on the second level. Brewer has been consistently great for Miami and is playing at an elite level that is starting to get noticed across the league. With Miami’s shaky guard play this season, I shudder to think what this unit would look like without Brewer manning the middle. And yes, I’m knocking on wood that we don’t find out.

First Trimester Pick: RB De’Von Achane

Glue guy: RB De’Von Achane

This one is pretty straight forward. Achane has 218 carries through 11 games and the next closest player, RB Ollie Gordon II, has 56. WR Jaylen Waddle is third on the team with 49 total touches. With a workload that dwarfs everyone else on the roster, this offense goes as Achane does.

First Trimester Pick: OT Patrick Paul

Biggest surprise: The return of explosive plays

Since the start of Week 7, Miami is tied for the most 20+ yard rushes in the NFL. And remember, they just served their bye last week.

But it extends further than just the runs. You all remember that Tyreek Hill sob story that made the rounds in September? ‘Oh, poor Tyreek! It’s been a full calendar year since he’s had a 30-yard reception!’ You know who hasn’t had an issue finding 30+ yard receptions since Tyreek Hill went down? Jaylen Waddle. Waddle has five 30+ yard receptions since Week 5, which is the third-highest amount in the NFL over that period. He trails only George Pickens (7) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (6).

First Trimester Pick: TE Darren Waller

Biggest disappointment: OG James Daniels

Source estimates Miami OG James Daniels (pec) will miss 3-4 weeks. He did not tear the pectoral muscle, which is the good news.

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) September 8, 2025

Miami made one single big bet in free agent this offseason. They’ve seen three snaps from it so far in 2025. James Daniels was supposed to be the fortifying veteran presence at right guard that raised the floor of Miami’s interior play. And when he went down with an injury against the Colts, it was reported that Daniels did not tear his pec and would miss an estimated ‘3-4 weeks’. He’s been gone three times that duration…and counting.

First Trimester Pick: OL Injuries

Turning point of the last six weeks: The introduction of the Jumbo package

Miami simply ran out of tight ends to play against the Falcons and promptly put in a six offensive line package that has become one of the primary sources of success for the team offensively. This team no long has to account for large snap volumes to Tyreek Hill and it frees the team to load personnel up and manipulate defensive groupings more consistently. They continue to bear the fruit of this revelation and should continue to do so against a few more soft defenses on the schedule in the next month — New Orleans, New York, and Cincinnati.

First Trimester Pick: WR Tyreek Hill’s injury

Overall Grade

C. The overall performance is watered down by too many key injuries and the play of QB Tua Tagovailoa this season. The right side of the offensive line and two of the team’s three best passing weapons (Hill and TE Darren Waller) are on injured reserve. If the ball security from Tagovailoa stays better down the stretch, Miami should have enough consistency with their running game to stay competitive in every game they play — and then it becomes a question of if they can make the plays in the big moments to pull out the wins.

First Trimester Grade: C

Defensive superlatives

MVP: LB Jordyn Brooks

What do you say about a guy like Brooks at this point? He’s the NFL’s tackle leader but the tackle numbers don’t fully capture the season he is having. Brooks is the heartbeat of the defense. He’s everything you want in a linebacker and everything you want in a captain. His evolution this season into a higher-level player has been a bright spot.

First Trimester Pick: SAF Minkah Fitzpatrick

Glue guy: EDGE Bradley Chubb

Chubb’s leadership has, indeed, provided much needed direction for this defense. Chubb’s a physical player who played a starring role in Miami’s upset win over Buffalo — he logged 10 pressures to help execute a strong pass rush plan against QB Josh Allen. And now, with Jaelan Phillips playing in Philadelphia, Chubb’s experience is going to be essential to the execution up front down the stretch.

First Trimester Pick: LB Jordyn Brooks

Biggest surprise: Jack Jones‘ second trimester leap

This was going to be CB JuJu Brents before an injury put him on the shelf just two starts into his Miami career. Such is life. Instead, I’ll go with how CB Jack Jones has endeared himself to Miami and his major improvements in play as of late. Jones is a player who had a hard time landing on his feet this offseason — he didn’t sign with Miami until late July. He’d seen the Patriots and the Raiders both cash out on him as a player with years remaining on his rookie contract. But Jones appears to have turned a corner with his play and his teammates, per the released media in the locker room after the Commanders win, appear to love him.

First Trimester Pick: Where has Chop Robinson gone?

Biggest disappointment: EDGE Chop Robinson

Miami’s 2024 first-round draft choice has been missing in action for too much of this season. It was somewhat understandable at first as Miami featured Jaelan Phillips and Chubb in prominent roles. Both were hogging a vast majority of the snaps on the edge. But Robinson has offered no more visible profile now than he did before Phillips got traded to Philadelphia. It’s not time to hit the panic button, but I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t closely monitoring his play the rest of this season with some worry.

First Trimester Pick: IDL Zach Sieler

Turning point of the last six weeks: The effort against Atlanta

Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver said earlier this season ‘all our problems can be solved with more violence’. This was the first game where it really showed up. Miami generally played well against Cleveland but the offense put them on numerous short fields — which got paired with one explosive run to break the game open. Atlanta? Miami was swarming. They played pissed off and they dominated the line of scrimmage against a great player in Falcons RB Bijan Robinson.

First Trimester Pick: CB Kader Kohou’s injury

Overall Grade

C. The Dolphins defense has a lot to feel good about over the course of the last six weeks. The overall performance isn’t consistent enough still on a week-by-week measure. Washington ran for too many yards against Miami in Madrid, for example. There are individual performers that still need to get hot for this team to have the pass rush presence they’re capable of. But the young guns have settled in, Miami has an extensive rotation going on all levels, and the team appears to ‘get’ the concepts they’re running and understand how to fix that puzzle each play with their teammates. This unit has seen a big leap.

First Trimester Grade: F

2025 draft class superlatives

Overachiever: SAF Dante Trader Jr.

The Maryland Terrapins have been kind to the Miami Dolphins this year. Trader Jr.’s college teammate, Jordan Phillips, was the pick here in the first trimester of the season. Trader Jr. has become a big piece of the puzzle on the back end and helped defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver bring his exotic coverage rotations to life this season.

First Trimester Pick: IDL Jordan Phillips

Rookie we need to see more from: DL Zeek Biggers

Biggers was a seventh-round draft choice who has started to appear and flash on game days. He played nearly 20 defensive snaps against the Commanders and made several splash plays, suggesting he could be a legitimate threat to eat into odd-front snaps as a 3-4 defensive end. He’s got 48 total defensive snaps thus far this season, so it’s time to get him more down the stretch.

First Trimester Pick: RB Ollie Gordon II

Underachiever: OG Jonah Savaiinaea

Things are better than they were five or six weeks ago, but as the saying goes, heavy is the crown. Miami paid a handsome price to go up and get Savaiinaea in the top-40, despite their many needs on the roster. That boosts your expectations quite a bit and we have only now started to see the flashes of stable play that can ultimately help him justify Miami’s aggression to target him.

First Trimester Pick: DL Kenneth Grant & OG Jonah Savaiinaea

Second Trimester Overall Grade

B. Grant has seen an uptick in his splash plays, looking like a disruptive talent who could eventually take over stretches of games. Savaiinaea is coming off of the best game of his rookie season against Washington and minimized some of the ugly, fast losses that marred the first six weeks of his play. But the Day 3 crop of talent is what is giving this class some pop. Jason Marshall Jr. made several big plays down the stretch against Washington. Jordan Phillips is the best point-of-attack defensive lineman on the team. Running back Ollie Gordon II is a big-time juice guy who runs with a much-needed physical element. The last month or so from the rookie class has been great.

First Trimester Grade: D

Coaching report card

Second Trimester Grade: C+. The Dolphins are 4-7 but they have, finally, showed some evolution of their scheme under McDaniel, highlighted by the debut and expansion of their six OL jumbo package. Some of the early-tenure pain points that plagued the Dolphins appear to have gotten better throughout this season — late play calls, the personnel miscommunications, and so on. Miami’s young talent is trending in the right direction, as well. The young guys are making more plays, more often, is another win for coaching. There’s been plenty of debate over McDaniel’s decision-making over the bye week, where the Dolphins appeared to catch some major luck after leaving points on the field at the end of regulation. And the self-inflicted wounds with timeout management should continue to be an area of emphasis, too.

First Trimester Grade: D

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