Who Have Been the Miami Dolphins' Top 10 Training Camp Performers?
Training camp is my favorite time of the NFL season because there’s nowhere to hide.
The media gets unfiltered looks at each team’s talent base, and it provides a baseline understanding of the talent on the roster, the concepts behind the team’s offense and defense, and provides an overall baseline for how talented the team can be.
Based on what we’ve watched in Miami’s first nine practices, I’d say the Miami Dolphins could produce double-digit wins this season. But that requires the roster to stay healthy, and for the ball to bounce Miami’s way a couple of times.
Take a look at how Omar Kelly would rank training camp’s top performers based on what the players put on the field for Miami’s first nine practices.
1. Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins - Wilkins has improved every year of his NFL career, and it seems he’s turned up the volume on what he achieved last year, a season when he set franchise records for tackles from a defensive lineman. Wilkins has either become a pass-rushing force, or Miami’s offensive guard play is a major problem. We’ll be able to identify the right answer to that riddle during this week’s joint practices against the Atlanta Falcons, where Wilkins and his unit will be facing off against a first-year starting quarterback and one of the best run-blocking O-lines in the league.
2. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa - The bar has been raised. When you’re the NFL’s top-rated quarterback from 2022, and you’re playing in the same offense for the first time since high school, the expectation is that you’d turn up the volume on your execution, and Tagovailoa has. He routinely completes deep balls, consistently converts third downs, and often throws touchdown passes when Miami is doing red zone work. While Saturday’s scrimmage was an offensive embarrassment, it was good to see Tagovailoa huddle up his unit to give them an emotionally charged speech. The Dolphins are Tua’s team, and he’s finally acting like it, taking the reins.
3. Fullback Alec Ingold - It has been pleasantly surprising how effective Ingold has been in all the packages he’s featured in. He’s a forceful short-yardage runner, a reliable pass blocker, and dangerous pass catcher. Ingold can even serve as an in-line blocker, which hints he could inherit snaps as Miami’s second tight end. Ingold’s impact has been one of camp’s more pleasant surprises.
4. Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle - Waddle, who led the NFL in yards per reception (18.1) last season and produced back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons, appears to have picked up where he left off. Waddle has been camp’s most consistent playmaker. He’s seemingly developed a chemistry with Tagovailoa that requires little communication. The only knock on Waddle’s game is the drops he commits from time to time.
5. Defensive tackle Zach Sieler - On any other team, Sieler would be the top standout on a good defensive line. But when you’re playing next to Wilkins, who has regularly dominated practices, you become a supporting actor to the studio’s biggest star. Based on how Wilkins and Sieler have practiced together, either the Dolphins have a forceful defensive tackle duo, or Miami needs to patch up the interior of its offensive line. We’ll gain clarity on this when the Falcons come to town this week for joint practices.
6. Pass rusher Bradley Chubb - Chubb, who has contributed 28.5 sacks and forced seven fumbles in the 57 games he’s played the past five seasons, has returned to a defense and scheme that allowed him to thrive in Denver. In Vic Fangio’s scheme he has the freedom to do whatever he wants, as long as he makes a play, and we’re starting to see him play faster and be more physical.
7. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill - Hill had a rough first week, but regained his swagger in the practices that followed. Understand that the standards for Hill, who is the most dynamic player I’ve ever seen on a football field, are high. Any practice where he’s not delivering at least 60 yards of offensive production is a bad day. However, this doesn’t look like a talent who can deliver a 2,000-yard season. If Hill truly did freestyle his way to 1,700 receiving yards last year, I’d suggest he get back to doing that.
8. Cornerback Xavien Howard - Howard, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, is grandfathered onto this list because it’s a blessing that he’s even gracing the practice field so early in camp. That hasn’t been Howard’s routine in past years, but he’s doing everything he can to send the younger players a message and get himself ready for the season. He’s spent nearly 70 percent of his snaps covering Hill, and you know what they say, iron sharpens iron. This week’s joint practices against the Falcons should provide Howard the work he needs to get ready for the regular season because it’s doubtful he even takes one snap in a preseason game.
9. Cornerback Cam Smith - The Dolphins’ 2023 second-round pick generally covers his receiver tightly, and is good for one pass breakup per day. He’s clearly headed in the right direction, and will be in the mix to start on the boundary opposite Howard if he stays healthy (he’s battling an undisclosed injury at the moment), masters the defense, and adjusts to the speed of the NFL game in the three preseason games. I’m putting Smith ahead of Kader Kohou among the top camp standouts because Kohou has a tendency to hold, which is something he needs to clean up.
10. Offensive tackle Kendall Lamm - The Dolphins have been rotating swing tackles every day, having one player man the starting left tackle spot, and the other serving as the backup right tackle, and Lamm has been the top performer in the batch. The seven-year veteran has good feet and anchors well in pass protection. He’s Miami’s sixth-best offensive lineman based on my assessment, and it will be interesting to see how he performs in joint practices and the preseason game.
