Young Dolphins stepping into the spotlight as Miami's new season and new era begin

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Miami Dolphins rookie cornerback Chris Johnson expects to feel some nerves before his first NFL game on Sunday. Rookie offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor thinks he’ll cry. Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, a rare first-year player tasked with communicating play calls to the defense, is simply excited.

“I get butterflies before every game, and I feel like that’s how I know I’m prepared to play,” said Johnson, Miami’s first-round pick out of San Diego State. “If I’m not nervous, I feel like I either haven’t studied enough or I’m not confident enough. It’s like before you take a really big test. Even though you studied all week, you’re going to be a little nervous before you go into the test. But once you answer the first question, you start flowing from there.”

Numerous players on the Dolphins’ roster will play in their first regular-season NFL game on Sunday against Las Vegas, joining first-year coach Jeff Hafley in ushering in a new era for Miami.

Hafley has said he won’t think much about his head coaching debut other than a brief moment of gratitude during the national anthem, instead hoping the focus remains on his team made up of mostly newcomers.

“It’s why you work hard during the week,” Hafley said. “It’s why you prepare. It’s why if your process is right, you can go out and you can play free and there should be no hesitation. And them knowing that I’ll have their back, and there is going to be some ups and downs. I mean, that’s all these rookies. It’s just how it’s going to go. To me, it’s just how do you respond, when something good or bad happens. I’m excited to go on this journey with them.”

The Dolphins then drafted 13 players in April, all of whom are on the 53-man roster, making them the youngest team in the NFL.

That was the goal for new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan, who has been clear throughout the start of the organization’s rebuild that the Dolphins will prioritize youth and develop the players they draft.

“We will always be a young team,” Sullivan said. “We will be very, very selective in who we bring in here in free agency, and we’ll pay our core players. I think this is a young man’s game. I think from a salary cap standpoint, staying young allows you to be sustainable, and then you go pay your difference-makers versus having a bunch of mercenaries that are overpaid, if you will.”

Johnson, Proctor and Rodriguez are all expected to start, along with rookie receivers Chris Bell and Caleb Douglas. And Miami will also go into Sunday’s game with a first-time starting quarterback in Malik Willis, whom the Dolphins signed at the start of free agency soon after the decision to part ways with Tua Tagovailoa.

Hafley has said he’s seen a jump in Willis’ leadership throughout the preseason, as well as a steady growth in the 27-year-old’s chemistry with his receivers.

Willis, who played just one series in the preseason — a 14-play, 93-yard touchdown drive — said he doesn’t expect to have too many heightened emotions before kickoff.

“Obviously it’s a blessing, and I just want to do everything I can and prepare for that and just take it as it comes,” he said. “It’s a few days out. We still got practice to do. We got a lot of stuff to work on until we can get there.”

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