There is no denying that when looking at the Miami Dolphins’ current roster, one thing stands out: Youth.
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The locker room is not only overflowing with players just joining the Dolphins franchise, but with players new to the NFL stage. The team signed 11 rookie free agents to add to the 13 new players they acquired in the 2026 draft.
With that, the Dolphins solidified themselves as the youngest team in the NFL for the upcoming season.
While fresh faces in the locker room bring a lot of good, fielding a young team is never easy. For starters, the lack of experience is forcing those who might still be considered new in any other locker room to take on a veteran role and a veteran mindset.
Defensive tackle Kenneth Grant is one of them. He enters just his second season with the team after being selected in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft. However, despite only having one year under his belt, he’s emerged as a leader.
“I’m definitely out there just trying to lead guys, especially because we got a young team,” he said at OTAs. “I kind of know what to do and what it takes, so I’m just trying to bring those guys along but also still working on my leadership skills, so there’s a balance to it.”
Two of the true veteran players on the Dolphins squad, linebacker Josh Uche and tight end Greg Dulcich, have also brought a more seasoned approach.
“Going on seven years in the league, been around some great coaches,” Uche said. “Just trying to bring good energy.”
Although he enters his first season with the franchise, already having several seasons to learn and get into an offseason routine, he can serve as an example of assurance and comfort in an uncertain locker room.
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Dulcich is able to do the same, having spent last season in Miami and four in the league. His approach, however, was comparatively simple.
“I want to play as much football as I can,” he said. “I think that’s kind of the team we have. Everyone wants to contribute as much as possible, and everyone’s hungry.”
For the newcomers, a lot of that hunger comes from the amount of opportunity as the season approaches. The lack of long-standing, established players in the locker room has opened doors. The young roster has given them a chance to compete for positions that wouldn’t normally be open in a team with a plethora of returners and NFL veterans.
However, for some, none of this seems to matter. Wide receiver Malik Washington embarks on this third season after being drafted by the Dolphins in 2024.
“If you let outside circumstances change your level of competition and how you approach work each and every day, it’ll never be good enough,” he said. “Everybody should have the mindset of ‘I was going to compete anyway. I don’t care who was here, who stayed and who came in, I was going to give all I had each and every practice each and every day. And I’m going to try to excel at what I do, regardless of who comes in and who comes out.’ ”
The mindset has proved to be a successful one so far, as Washington was one of the standouts throughout organized team activities and minicamp.
Despite all the uncertainties and challenges ahead of the Dolphins this season, the most prominent of the newcomers seems positive.
“Everything’s fresh, everything’s new,” coach Jeff Hafley said. “But from the attendance to the effort to the buy-in, I really couldn’t ask for anything more from this group of guys and the staff.”
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