The Miami Dolphins appear to like what they’ve seen from one of their summer experiments
It sure seems the Miami Dolphins’ preseason experiment revealed something to them that they liked.
The Miami Dolphins‘ 2026 season is going to be full of trial and error. This is the time to feel out the limits and boundaries of their young talent. And for one talent in particular, that feeling out process has officially yielded a change after a moving target this summer.
Rookie defender Kyle Louis is a “defensive weapon”. A linebacker at Pitt, he’s spent the summer on the roster as a linebacker, too. But Kyle Louis is no longer listed with the linebackers on the team roster. After getting tested in several spots, Kyle Louis is, officially, a safety.
Miami Dolphins rookie defender Kyle Louis officially listed on the roster as a safety
Louis saw a significant uptick in his deep usage throughout the course of the preseason. He posted 12 snaps as a deep safety and another 15 in the slot as a nickel defender across the final two preseason contests. Louis posted 20 snaps in the box as a line of scrimmage defender or stack linebacker in the first preseason game. That’s a far cry from the 10 he played in the final two games combined.
So this preseason experiment sure seems it gave the Dolphins something they liked. It has inspired the Dolphins to lean all the way into the transition. Louis’ role as a big nickel makes the positional category is somewhat semantics. But the change has still been formally made.
When the Dolphins first drafted Louis in the fourth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the team brass suggested he’ll do a bit of it all — including playing some safety and in the nickel. Sure enough, when the bullets started flying in training camp and the preseason, Louis got a taste of it all. And it also seems the Dolphins liked what they saw when he had chances to play further off the ball. With the change formally in place, now is the time to let Louis settle in. That’s the fastest way to ensure their vision for him comes to life as compared to constantly bouncing him between rooms.
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