Omar Kelly: Rookie Trey Moore is favored to win Dolphins starting role

Omar Kelly, Miami Herald on Aug 19, 2026

Published in Football

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MIAMI — Life isn’t fair, so why should we expect football to be?

Just like children, everyone has favorites (it’s my brother for my mother) and kids they worry about (hand raised).

The NFL is no exception, and it’s quite clear the Miami Dolphins favor some youngsters — mostly the draft picks and second-year players — over others.

Trey Moore and David Ojabo, a fifth-year veteran signed as a free agent, are a perfect example of this. Both defenders have similar skill sets, and should be competing for the strong-side linebacker role.

But they aren’t, and haven’t been, and that’s because Moore was the 130th pick in the 2026 NFL draft, one of 13 draft selections made by this new Dolphins regime, and those draft picks will be given every edge, every opportunity, every possible snap, that can help them succeed because this 2026 season isn’t about now.

It’s about investing in the future, and seeing growth.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

“Consistency, versatility,” head coach Jeff Hafley said when asked about Moore recently. “He gives you a linebacker who can play all three downs. He can play in zones. He’s good against the run and he’s got rush value to him.”

Investing playing time into young talent with upside is wise/ideal for a rebuilding franchise, one that’s talent-deprived of depth partly because of the $179 million in dead cap the franchise is stomaching this season because of poor budgeting, irresponsible contract extensions and a ridiculous amount of void years placed in contracts written by the past regime.

Just understand there is usually a price to be paid going young. Last year’s Dolphins team blamed most of the early season struggles (2-7 start) on the draftees playing prominent roles in 2025.

The hope is that the playing time invested in Kenneth Grant, Jonah Savaiinaea, Dante Trader Jr., Jordan Phillips, Zeek Biggers and Jason Marshall, who are all projected starters in 2026, produce favorable returns this season.

And then wash, rinse, repeat with the 2026 draftees.

So far, it seems like most of those second-year players have taken a step forward, which shifts the focus to this year’s rookies, who are being given every opportunity to earn prominent roles, if not starting spots.

Listen to Moore for two minutes and you will immediately get why he has been the starting strong-side linebacker since OTAs..

He talks fast, and says plenty during those chats.

He’s seemingly quick-witted, and while it’s unfair to stereotype athletes, the intelligence is evident.

“I’ve played in multiple schemes. I’ve played in multiple positions through college and that’s helped me transition to the NFL and be able to do the same thing,” said Moore, who was Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year while playing at UTSA, before transferring to Texas for his final two college seasons. “I think I can handle it.”

Former Dolphins receiver Brian Hartline once told me the difference between a young player who plays and those who don’t usually comes down to intelligence, not athleticism.

I’ve never forgotten what Hartline, who is now the head coach at the University of South Florida, told me more than a decade ago, and since that conversation I have learned he’s 85% accurate, with an exception sneaking through the cracks here and there.

Now I get why Moore has been the starting strong-side linebacker since OTAs this summer.

“I’ve played in multiple schemes. I’ve played in multiple positions through college and that’s helped me transition to the NFL and be able to do the same thing,” said Moore, who produced 175 tackles (50 for loss), 30.5 sacks and forced five fumbles in his five-year collegiate career. “I think I can handle it.”

He has worked mostly as Miami’s strong-side linebacker, but during Miami’s 20-7 preseason loss to the Washington Commanders the 6-foot-2, 243 pounder was used inside plenty, and ended up playing more snaps in that game than any other defender.

The Dolphins seemingly wanted to throw him in the deep end and see if he would skin or swim.

He swam.

His performance (four tackles) wasn’t perfect, but that’s the point because that experience, and the reps he will get in Thursday’s joint practice against the New York Giants, and Saturday’s home preseason game — provides good teaching tape for Hafley and his staff to breakdown with Moore.

“It’s definitely a new level, just like high school to college, and when I transferred from the American Conference to the SEC,” Moore said. “This is another transition, another jump that you go to, and adapt to. At the end of the day it’s just football, and that’s what I do.”

Let’s hope he does it well. Only time and reps will determine that.

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