Omar Kelly: This is what a Miami Dolphins rebuild looks like

MIAMI — Tua Tagovailoa isn’t around to serve as a stabilizing presence for the Miami Dolphins offense.

There is no Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle here to play superhero, delivering big plays.

Darren Waller, a once-elite tight end, isn’t around to bring down touchdowns in the red zone.

No Rasul Douglas, a veteran cornerback, to lock down an opponent’s best receiver.

Miami doesn’t have Jaelen Phillips and Bradley Chubb, two proven, established pass rushers, to hound the opposition’s quarterback.

And Minkah Fitzpatrick, a former All-Pro safety, isn’t back there in the secondary to lead the back end of the defense.

There isn’t even Ashtyn Davis or Cameron Goode around to serve as the reliable special teams contributors.

Most Dolphins fans wanted a fresh start for South Florida’s NFL franchise, and here we are.

This is what a scorched-earth rebuild for an NFL team looks like.

There will be early disappointments, like the rough start the Dolphins (0-2) got off to in road losses to the Las Vegas Raiders and San Francisco 49ers. But teachable moments for everyone, including the coaching staff, are loading.

“I think right now, especially on our journey, we need to focus on ourselves,” said Malik Washington, a third-year receiver who has become a focal point in the passing game by default. “We need to focus on cleaning up what we did from the last game, getting better at each facet of our game, and everybody just doing their one-eleventh.”

We have witnessed two massive Dolphins rebuilds during the post Dan Marino era, which has resulted in 26 years without a playoff win.

The first occurred in 2008, when Bill Parcells and his clan took over the franchise after Cam Cameron’s 1-15 season.

Parcells began that rebuild by purging the roster, releasing nine veterans, which included Hall of Fame linebacker Zach Thomas, all at once. The coaching legend-turned-team czar then signed a series of free agents and made a couple of trades, adding veterans who were familiar with his culture.

That veteran-laden team acquired Chad Pennington right before the regular season started, and he led that 2008 squad to an 11-5 season, which happened to be Miami’s last year of winning the AFC East division.

The second rebuild took place in 2019 when Chris Grier took over the franchise he spent two decades with. He hired Brian Flores as his head coach, and in their first season the Dolphins traded away just about everything of value (Laremy Tunsil, Kenny Stills, Kiko Alonso, Raekwon McMillan), securing numerous draft picks in 2020 and 2021 with the hopes of building a strong foundation with those picks.

What general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley inherited is the aftermath of that rebuild, and their job is to preserve what’s salvageable and start anew, going younger and subsequently cheaper with the roster.

That’s why this season isn’t about half measures. Miami’s new management of Sullivan and Hafley didn’t do any patchwork roster moves.

They took a flamethrower to the land, clearing all the vegetation to create a blank slate, new life, a fresh foundation, giving everything and everyone an opportunity at new beginnings.

The 2026 season is about throwing the rookies — 15 of them if we’re counting — into the deep end of the pool and seeing who learns to swim.

It’s about watching offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor clean up his game, blocking the right person more often, and committing fewer penalties.

It’s about linebacker Jacob Rodriguez handling the green dot, conducting the defense, as a rookie, cornerback Chris Johnson carrying the heaviest load on defense despite being a rookie, and an offensive built around rookie receivers.

It’s about Michael Taaffe consistently taking steps forward as Miami’s starting free safety.

“He’s a young player who is seeing stuff for the first time from really good veteran players, teams and coordinators,” Hafley said about Taaffe, who has personified the week-to-week growth the Dolphins hope to see from all its rookies. “It’s not always going to be perfect, but what is really impressive is his preparation. You are going to see continued growth and improvement.”

Hafley said Taaffe’s preparation will allow the rookie safety to play faster as the year goes on, and that’s the vision for the entire team, especially the youngsters.

Learn from the mistakes so you can grow from it.

This year is about investing in the third-, second- and first-year players, allowing them to experience things they haven’t before. Giving them opportunity to stumble around like toddlers, touching things they aren’t supposed to, putting things in their hand and mouth to know what it feels and tastes like.

This staff’s job is to guide them through this process, teaching them from their struggles, and keep their confidence high.

“We know how everybody responds if we win. Everything’s good, everybody’s up. Then we get beat the way that we got beat [Sunday], and you start to see who’s who. You can see the character of men,” Brooks said. “Are we still going to play hard even though there’s no way we can win the game? Are we still going to play hard?”

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