Five Miami Dolphins players to watch during the 2025 season

Here are five key players to watch during the Dolphins’ 2025 season:

QB Tua Tagovailoa

The list has to start with QB1. And the main thing we’re watching is availability after he missed six games in 2024. If we’re watching backup Zach Wilson instead of Tagovailoa, it could spell bad news for the Dolphins this season.

Tagovailoa has answered a number of questions in his career, but the injury question, including concussions, once again comes to the forefront for him after he appeared to get over that hump in 2023, his lone fully healthy NFL season. When he is playing, he will be looking to get back to consistently finding Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle downfield.

WR Tyreek Hill

Which leads us to our next one. Hill needs to do his part. He’s coming off his first season missing the 1,000-yard receiving mark in Miami. He missed the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.

Hill needs to get back to producing the way he’s capable of, but moreso, he must fix his behavior in and out of the locker room. With 2024 leaders like Calais Campbell and Terron Armstead gone, Hill needs to be a plus in providing leadership, not a detriment that true leaders need to counter. Keep an eye on whether he fulfills that role, as incorporating his offseason track training for Noah Lyles race that never happened probably helped keep him in good football shape.

S Minkah Fitzpatrick

The Dolphins’ 2018 first-round pick is back! He was originally shipped out as part of the 2019 rebuild, and as cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith were traded to the Steelers, Fitzpatrick returns. The Dolphins’ secondary, on paper, is questionable heading into the season. If Fitzpatrick at safety can help mask some of the potential deficiencies at cornerback, that would be a huge plus for defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver’s unit.

Fitzpatrick is versatile in his capability of lining up in different spots, something Ramsey was doing for Weaver in 2024 and which fellow safety Ifeatu Melifonwu can also do. A Pro Bowl-caliber season from Fitzpatrick at 28 would be very welcome in his return to Miami.

OLB Chop Robinson

The other way the defense can make up for possible lack of pass coverage from cornerbacks is if it can get the pass rush to affect opposing quarterbacks. Robinson can spearhead that effort, expanding on his six sacks as a rookie last season, taking off around the midway point of the schedule. He can elevate to new heights as a pass rusher, but he also must prove he can set the edge in run defense.

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The potential for pressure packages including Robinson, Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb has to excite folks heading into the season, and that trio will be part of a strong overall defensive front, led by defensive tackles Zach Sieler and rookie Kenneth Grant, along with linebacker Jordyn Brooks roaming the middle.

LT Patrick Paul

All eyes will be on the 2024 second-round pick at left tackle. Armstead retired and passed him the keys to the position after Paul benefited from a rookie season behind him. The mammoth 6-foot-8 blocker has the size and athleticism to be that franchise left tackle, but he’ll have to prove he has developed from the raw prospect he was coming out of Houston in his draft.

As right tackle Austin Jackson, when healthy, and center Aaron Brewer are the steady forces on the offensive line and new guards James Daniels and rookie Jonah Savaiinaea are expected to upgrade the Dolphins there, Paul is the wild card in terms of what he can do for the Dolphins at left tackle in Year 2 for him.

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