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The Miami Dolphins, in the first few months following the regime change from Mike McDaniel and Chris Grier to Jeff Hafley and Jon-Eric Sullivan, have moved on from some of their best players to speed up a rebuild after a 7-10 season and third-place finish in the division.
With that, Miami's roster was left without the true talent to compete for the AFC East in 2026, but they were able to add some young players who should help them in the future.
In fact, ESPN's Aaron Schatz recently ranked the Dolphins' young core (players under 25 years old) as the 12th-best in the NFL, highlighting Jonah Savaiinaea as a blue-chip piece.
"As you would expect from a team that is rebuilding, the Dolphins have a ton of young talent but few top players," Schatz wrote. "After all, they had 13 draft picks this year but only three came in the top two rounds. Kadyn Proctor, who will start at left guard before moving to tackle, is 21. Cornerback Chris Johnson is also 21, while linebacker Jacob Rodriguez is 23.
"Also along the offensive line, left tackle Patrick Paul is 24. Savaiinaea, who will play right guard, is 22. Running back De'Von Achane has impressed to start his NFL career and doesn't turn 25 until October. Rookie wide receivers Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell are each 22. The defensive line features 22-year-olds Kenneth Grant and Jordan Phillips."
Miami may not be fighting for the division this year, but their goal should be to develop these younger guys into legitimate difference-makers, so that when the team is at that point, they'll all be ready to go.
As for, the teams with better young cores that the Dolphins. Schatz listed the Los Angeles Chargers (No. 11), New Orleans Saints (No. 10), New York Giants (No. 9), Seattle Seahawks (No. 8), New York Jets (No. 7), Las Vegas Raiders (No. 6), Tennessee Titans (No. 5), Cleveland Browns (No. 4), Chicago Bears (No. 3), Houston Texans (No. 2) and New England Patriots (No. 1).
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Dolphins young core lands surprisingly high in league rankings
