The Phinsider
Monday’s defeat at the hand of the Pittsburgh Steelers happened just a few days ago, but the Miami Dolphins are already looking like a far different team than they were while getting spanked by Aaron Rodgers and company.
Outside linebacker Matthew Judon was released on Wednesday to give the veteran an opportunity to chase a championship ring with a contender now that Miami has been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.
But the major change everyone is talking about is the benching of starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Rookie seventh round selection Quinn Ewers will take over the starting quarterback role for the Dolphins on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals amidst the worst professional season Tagovailoa has had since he entered the National Football League with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
This week’s Fins Up player is tight end Julian Hill. Hill has had his growing pains as a member of the Dolphins since he joined the squad as an undrafted free agent following the 2023 NFL Draft, however he is putting together the type of strong campaign in 2025 that shows why he could be a contributing member of the tight end room for the team in future years.
Hill doesn’t have flashy numbers. That’s not his game. What he does do for Miami is be a willing blocker. Against the Steelers on Monday, while Hill only had two receptions for 25 yards, he earned the third highest pass blocking grade (78.2) of any Dolphins player not named Austin Jackson (80.4) or Aaron Brewer (83.1).
For that reason, he earns his flowers as our Fins Up player this week.
This week’s Fins Down player is, of course, Tua Tagovailoa. While his final stat line — 22 completions on 28 attempts, for 253 yards, two passing touchdowns and one interception — might look decent, most of his production came during garbage time when the game was already basically wrapped up.
As mentioned above, 2025 has been a supremely disappointing year for the 6-year passer. He has regressed heavily from the type of play in 2022 and 2023 that earned him a monster contract ahead of the 2024 season — so much so, that he now finds himself as Miami’s third string quarterback behind Quinn Ewers and even Zach Wilson.
While Tagovailoa vowed to help in any way he can moving forward, one has to strongly consider that the lefty signal-caller may never again take the field for the Dolphins, especially with a new general manager hire likely in the cards for the franchise this upcoming offseason.
