Dolphins vs Raiders Week 1 Preview: What to Watch For & Injury Latest
The Dolphins open the Jeff Hafley era as projected underdogs in Las Vegas, but a late injury to Raiders star Brock Bowers has quietly turned a potential loss into something closer.
I’ll admit it — I sat down to write this preview expecting to talk myself into a respectable loss for Miami. Then Wednesday happened, and suddenly this Week 1 trip to Vegas looks a little less like a certainty.
Repeat After Me: This is a Rebuild
Let’s back up. This is a rebuild. There’s no dressing that up. Jeff Hafley is starting his NFL head coaching career, Malik Willis is starting under center as THE guy for the first time, and the Dolphins are trotting out the NFL’s youngest roster after gutting the place — Tua’s gone, so are Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, Alec Ingold and Bradley Chubb too. Thirteen rookies on the active roster. That, my friends, is a teardown. So no, I wasn’t circling this one on the calendar as a signature win.
The Injury News That Changed Everything
But then Adam Schefter’s report landed: Raiders tight end Brock Bowers had a meniscus trim this week and is out for the opener, expected to miss “a game or two.” If you’ve watched five minutes of Raiders tape, you know what that means. Bowers is the one player on that roster who can single-handedly turn a defensive coordinator’s game plan inside out — Hafley was literally talking this week about how hard it is to defend a guy who can line up in five different spots on the same drive. That guy’s not suiting up on Sunday. For a Dolphins secondary that was already going to be potentially overmatched in spots, that’s about as good a break as this team could’ve asked for in Week 1.
And it’s not the only news. Ashton Jeanty tweaked his ankle in camp, and while Kubiak sounds confident his back is playing, multiple reports suggest he might not be fully right. Ian Rapoport’s characterized it as a low-ankle sprain, not the scarier version — but “not scary” and “100 percent” aren’t the same thing.
Meanwhile Miami? Nothing. No notable names on the official injury report, which honestly feels like a small miracle for a team this banged-up on the depth chart already. Sometimes the best injury news is… no news? (I’ll see myself out)
Malik Willis Is Still the Real Story
Willis is still the story I care about most here, injuries aside. The former Titan and Packer’s whole résumé is a paradox — three touchdowns, zero picks in each of his two years in Green Bay, which nobody’s ever done back-to-back before, but also barely any starts to his name. Four games, one start last year, 30-of-35 for 422 yards. Good numbers, tiny sample, against defenses that weren’t exactly building their whole week around stopping him. We’re about to find out what he actually is against a real NFL pass rush trying to take his head off.
What I do like is that Hafley made him a captain before he’d played a single regular-season snap for this franchise — not as a rubber stamp because he’s the quarterback, but because apparently the locker room already respects him. Willis, for his part, isn’t pretending this is going to be clean. He’s basically said out loud: expect mistakes, especially from the young guys, the only thing that matters is how we respond. That’s the blunt, honest answer. It’s also the only answer available to a team with this many new faces.
Where Miami Can Actually Hang Around
If Miami’s going to hang around Sunday, it’s going to be because of De’Von Achane. He ran for 1,350 yards last season and remains a load out of the backfield, and Hafley’s whole offensive philosophy seems built around leaning on him so Willis doesn’t have to win the game with his arm in Week 1. That’s smart, cautious coaching — and it just got a lot more workable against a Raiders offense that’s missing its best pass catching weapon and maybe playing a limited lead back of its own.
If you want to know what kind of team Miami’s building, look no further than their receiver room, where three rookies are being handed real roles far earlier than anyone expected.
The one to watch is third-round pick Caleb Douglas, out of Texas Tech. Douglas has been one of the actual surprises of Dolphins camp — he’s listed as a starter at the X receiver spot, alongside Jalen Tolbert at Z and Malik Washington in the slot, which is a wild outcome for a guy who was considered a bit of a reach when Miami drafted him. One analyst’s range of outcomes has him anywhere from a genuine 50-catch, 700-yard field-stretcher to a rotational piece who gets passed by his own rookie classmate — the formal projection lands at 41 catches for 538 yards and two scores. Given the state of Miami’s receiver room, I’d bet on the aggressive end of that range. There isn’t a clear alternative for Willis to lean on.
The other potential ace is Chris Bell, and his path here is the more remarkable one. Bell was viewed as a Day 1 or Day 2 talent at Louisville before tearing his ACL last November, and Miami still spent a third-round pick on him as a long-term bet. He’s blown past his own recovery timeline — suiting up in the preseason finale less than nine months after surgery — and impressed enough in that one appearance to leapfrog veteran Jalen Tolbert on the depth chart entirely. Hafley has said Bell won’t be on a snap count Sunday, which speaks volumes to his rehabilitation and recovery.
The name to file away for later is fifth-rounder Kevin Coleman Jr., and his path to Miami is well traveled — he played at four different schools in four years (Jackson State, Louisville, Mississippi State, and finally Missouri), following Deion Sanders to Jackson State out of high school before bouncing around the transfer portal. Wherever he’s landed, he’s produced: 198 catches for 2,501 yards and 12 touchdowns across that college career, almost entirely working out of the slot. He’s undersized at listed 5-foot-10, 179 pounds, and his combine numbers weren’t flashy, but people inside the building have noticed him — Miami’s own media team praised his ability to “uncover early” as a reliable target.
He’s starting the year as Washington’s backup in the slot rather than out on the boundary — a quieter position than Douglas or Bell, but still a role Hafley’s staff clearly trusts. If either of Miami’s third-round rookies hits a wall, or if the ACL recovery catches up with Bell physically, Coleman’s the name to watch for snaps sliding his way. He’s also a name worth knowing for special teams — Coleman handled return duties in college and profiles as a candidate for that role in Miami too.
None of this is a group I’d trust to win a contested catch against a good cornerback yet. But it is a group that’s already earning real playing time in Week 1, which tells you everything about how thin Miami’s veteran options actually are — and also gives this offense a puncher’s chance at a few explosive plays if one of these kids has a moment.
On the opposite end of the ball: If Miami’s defense going to keep this from getting out of hand, it starts up front. Zach Sieler is still the anchor at defensive tackle, but his running mate isn’t 2025 first-rounder Kenneth Grant. Grant landed on IR with a lower-leg injury and won’t be back before Week 5 at the earliest, so it’s Jordan Phillips — a fifth-round pick who quietly started 16 games as a rookie last year — lining up next to Sieler instead. On the edge, Chop Robinson headlines the group, and free-agent addition Josh Uche is starting opposite him, with David Ojabo and Robert Beal Jr. in the rotation behind them.
Linebacker got a real shakeup of its own. Veteran Tyrel Dodson — who actually led Miami in tackles last season — was a surprise cut in final roster trims, with the coaching staff opting instead to start rookie second-rounder Jacob Rodriguez next to All-Pro Jordyn Brooks. Hafley’s been effusive about Rodriguez’s early maturity, for what it’s worth. Complicating things further, rookie Trey Moore went down with an ankle injury that landed him on IR too, which opens the door for veteran Willie Gay Jr. to round out the linebacker trio. Brooks remains the one non-negotiable strength on this entire defense — a true difference-maker in his prime — but this group has genuinely turned over more than any other unit on the roster in the last two weeks.
The back end is a mix of promise and inexperience. Rookie first-rounder Chris Johnson is starting at nickel, with JuJu Brents and Jason Marshall Jr. holding down the boundary spots — Brents is coming off a strong 2025 and gives Miami a legitimately physical presence at 6-foot-3, while Marshall is still trying to shake a rough rookie season. At safety, Zayne Anderson and Dante Trader Jr. are the Week 1 starters (veteran Lonnie Johnson was also let go in final cuts), a pairing that’s combined for all of five career starts between them.
This defense has real firepower at exactly one position — Jordyn Brooks — and a lot of youth and injury-driven shuffling everywhere else. That’s precisely the kind of defense that benefits most from Brock Bowers being out. A full-strength Raiders offense would have hunted the inexperience in that secondary relentlessly. Without him, Miami’s shakier pieces get a lot easier to hide.
My Prediction
So here’s where I land: I think Miami can win this one. Kirk Cousins best days are behind him even with a good offensive line, and having Mason Crosby on defense terrorizing everybody. A week ago I’d have chalked this up as a loss, and now I think it’s genuinely closer to a coin flip, even if I am now more confident in a Dolphins win. ESPN has the Raiders as 3 to 3.5-point favorites as of this week — don’t be shocked if that line keeps shrinking as more people clock the Bowers news.
Don’t get me wrong: The Dolphins could very well still lose. Neither conclusion actually changes what actually matters for Miami this game and season. Nobody’s job security hinges on Week 1 in Las Vegas. What I want to see Sunday is whether Willis looks like he belongs, whether the young players on defense hold up physically for four quarters, and whether there’s any early evidence that Hafley’s program has an identity. Lose by three with Achane ripping off chunk plays and Willis playing clean? I’ll take that and feel good about where this thing’s headed. Get run off the field because the rookies can’t hang? That’s the version of Sunday that should actually worry people down here.
My final prediction: Miami 24, Las Vegas 20
