Part 1 of a pre-49ers game Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag:

From Mark Lever:

If we were to win this game, what would be the reason or headline for the reason why?

Hey Mark, it will be a combination of the two simple factors of Achane runs wild over 49ers or defense picks off Purdy. NFL games most often come down to the line of scrimmage and the Dolphins simply can’t lose on both sides as convincingly as they did against the Raiders.

From John Flora:

Other than trying to catch the defense sleeping, what is the advantage of running to the right on short yardage when Jonah and Austin are less likely to open a hole than the 700 lbs you have on the left?

Hey John, yeah, that is an excellent and fair question, and we had a story this afternoon that pointed out that the Dolphins ran to the left or up the middle all game except for that one call. So this probably was a case of getting too cute for your own good. The Dolphins did have Caedan Wallace as sixth lineman and Will Kacmarek leading the way on that play, but they easily could have put them on the left side in front of Paul and Proctor. A head scratcher there for sure.

From Damian in Pittsburgh:

Hi Mr. P! Hope you're well, and ready for the weekend. Overall, wasn't too surprised by Week 1 from the Dolphins. (I think we're in for most weeks like that.) But I was disappointed by the trench play, particularly the OLine. My biggest concern coming in was injury. (If all 5 starters are in there, on paper they should be perfectly serviceable.) But they just looked overmatched. Question - is it just growing pains, or do we need to accept there's simply a ceiling on how good this group can be expected to perform?

Hey Damian, there are no growing pains excuses here except for Kadyn Proctor, who OC Bobby Slowik pointed out had some nice pancakes but some involving not a player he was supposed to block. I do think fans have to understand there is a ceiling with this offensive line and that the idea of this becoming a top 10 unit in 2026 probably wasn’t realistic, but there’s also no question it should be (and hopefully) will get significantly better than what we saw against Las Vegas.

From chillingLyric:

Hafley said this season was about development. So why last week when they went down by a score they all but abandoned the run and tried to play catch-up, and can we expect more of the same this week? Achane is our best player and having him touch the ball only 11 times feels criminal.

Let me point out that Achane actually had 15 touches, with 11 rushing attempts and four catches. But your point remains valid, and Bobby Slowik said the exact same thing Thursday in his media session, that he wants the ball in Achane’s hands more often. That said, I don’t believe the Dolphins would have done better with more Achane carries against the Raiders because fans seem to want to forget the fact that besides his two longest runs of 10 and 7 yards, Achane gained 19 yards on his other nine carries. I know fans want to believe that Achane invariably will break off a long one if you get him enough carries, but that’s not automatic and there will be games when it’s just not there for the running game.

From Jorge Francisco boyd:

Hi Alain, if Chop Robinson can't go on Sunday, are we going to get any pass rush; what can Malik Willis do to do better in this game aside from running more?

Hey Jorge, the Dolphins didn’t have any pass rush WITH Chop Robinson against the Raiders, so it can’t get any worse. The Dolphins blitzed between 20-25 percent of the time against Las Vegas and I suspect it will be around the same against the 49ers, but there clearly has to be improvement in the pass rush area. As for Malik Willis, what he has to do better is make quicker decisions in the pocket, whether it’s to check down if his receivers are open downfield or get out of the pocket and either scramble or throw the ball out of bounds to avoid those sacks.

From Nik:

Do I need psychiatric help cause I honestly think Dolphins are going to win?

Hey Nik, there’s nothing wrong with being an optimistic fan. All logic suggests the Dolphins are going to lose because the 49ers simply are a much better team, but upsets happen all the time in the NFL and at some point it’s Miami that’s going to produce one of those. So you’re all good.

From CT:

Best guess for the cap maneuvers? Christian Wilkins to help the DL?

I don’t believe the cap maneuvers were done with anything specific in mind other than creating more leeway for in-season emergencies like players going on IR or practice squad elevations. Jon-Eric Sullivan said it pretty clearly in the spring not to expect splash signings and I don’t in any way, shape or form see anything to make me believe there’s any kind of move involving a veteran and/or big-name player. And that certainly includes Christian Wilkins, who’s in all kinds of limbo after his messy departure from the Raiders.

From Jayco:

While fielding the youngest roster in the league and spending only 40% of the budget on active players, one of the goals is to obviously evaluate the young players. Do you think a private goal is to land a top three pick in what is considered to be a great draft?

It’s a legit question, but I’ll answer it this way: The Dolphins understand very well they’re not likely to win many games in 2026 and will stick to their plan instead of getting a veteran to squeeze a couple more. That said, they’re also going to try to win as many games as possible and then will deal with whatever draft pick they land. It’s a roundabout way of saying that, no, they’re not focused on the 2027 draft while they’re playing the 2026 season.