Football

Dolphins 2026 Camp QB Preview: Willis Watch Set to Begin

By Alain Poupart Sports Illustrated

Updated July 13, 2026 2:05 PM

The Miami Dolphins are inching ever closer to the start of another training camp, one that's filled with mystery and intrigue as the result of the most complete overhaul the franchise has seen in many years.

The Dolphins will head into this training camp with a new general manager (Jon-Eric Sullivan), new head coach (Jeff Hafley) and new quarterback (Malik Willis) since 2008 - though we could put an asterisk on 2019 when the Dolphins had Brian Flores as a first-year head coach, Ryan Fitzpatrick as a new quarterback and Chris Grier returning as GM but with more authority after the departure of Executive Vice President of Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum.

Regardless, it's a brand new day for the Miami Dolphins, and after the first steps of the offseason comes the real leadup to the 2026 regular season with training camp.

With a roster overloaded with young or unproven players, this should be one of the more interesting training camps in a while and we'll be previewing it with a series of position previews.

We're starting with the quarterbacks.

Quarterback Position Breakdown

On the roster: Malik Willis, Quinn Ewers, Cam Miller, Mark Gronowski

2025 stats:

Willis (with Green Bay): 4 games, 1 start, 30 completions in 35 attempts (85.7 percent) for 422 yards, with 3 TD, 0 INT and a passer rating of 145.5, 22 rushing attempts for 123 yards and two touchdowns

Ewers: 4 games, 3 starts, 55-for-83 (66.3 percent) for 622 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT and an 85.5 passer rating

Miller: DNP

Gronowski (at Iowa): 13 games, 166-for-262 (63.4 percent) for 1741 yards with 10 TD, 7 INT, 130 rushing attempts for 545 yards and 16 TD

Projected depth chart: Malik Willis, Quinn Ewers

Offseason moves: Released Tua Tagovailoa ... Zach Wilson signed as a free agent with the New Orleans Saints ... signed Malik Willis as a UFA from the Green Bay Packers ... signed Mark Gronowski as an undrafted rookie free agent

Training camp QBs one year ago: Tua Tagovailoa, Quinn Ewers, Zach Wilson, Brett Gabbert

Position better or worse than at the end of the 2025 season: This is a very tough call because Willis is such an unknown quantity, but we also have to go better here because by the end of last season Tagovailoa simply was not a very good quarterback. If we were to evaluate things from the standpoint of where each group was heading into camp, it probably would be closer, with probably even the edge going to the 2025 group because Tagovailoa was expected to be effective.

THE THREE BIGGEST QUESTIONS AT QUARTERBACK

1. Could there be a competition for the starting job?

We always preach the concept of never saying never here at good old Miami Dolphins On SI, but barring an injury we just flat out don't see it happening. As we indicated before, Sullivan and Hafley didn't bring Willis over from Green Bay after observing him up close for two years and guarantee $45 million without a clear idea he'd be their quarterback at the start of their Miami tenure. And the argument that Willis just hasn't done enough in his NFL career to deserve being guaranteed a starting job might have merit on the surface, but the circumstances clearly dictate otherwise. Besides, there is nothing Hafley or Sullivan has said this offseason to suggest anything other than Willis is the man.

2. What are realistic expectations for Malik Willis?

Willis was ridiculously impressive (78.7 completion percentage, 134.6 passer rating) in his two seasons with the Packers whenever he got game action, but the sample size of 11 games and three starts is just too small to confidently assume that kind of performance will carry over. Trying to project his stats for 2026 is a bold challenge, and maybe the biggest expectation beyond numbers is that he'll prove to the Dolphins that he should be their QB1 moving forward. As for numbers, something around 3,300 passing yards with at least a 2:1 TD:INT ratio would work, along with, say, 400 rushing yards or thereabouts.

3. Will the Dolphins carry three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster?

In terms of roles and playing status, this is the only logical question heading into camp. And it says here, as indicated in our latest 53-man roster projection, that neither Cam Miller nor Mark Gronowski look like must keeps and the Dolphins should be able to sneak at least one through waivers, if not both, after cutting them. While their opportunities were very limited, there was nothing in the spring that really stood out and the reality is the Dolphins are in trouble if either have to see game action in 2026.

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This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 1:53 PM.