Jeff Hafley thinks Kenneth Grant is getting back to the player he saw on college tape, and that puts 2026 at the center of the story for the Miami Dolphins. Grant did not deliver the rookie season fans expected, but Hafley said the defensive lineman now looks more like himself.
Hafley Sees College Tape
“He looks more like the guy I saw on his college tape with his lateral quickness, his pass-rush ability, his ability to play the run.” That was the clearest public read on Grant’s direction, and it came with a direct expectation that he can have a big season in 2026.
That is the kind of statement that carries weight because it is not just praise for effort. Hafley pointed to movement traits and complete-down ability, which means the evaluation is about whether Grant can turn the raw tools he showed at Michigan into steady production on Sundays.
Grant’s Rookie Line
The numbers from 2025 explain why the second-year leap matters. Grant finished his rookie season with 33 tackles, 4.5 run stuffs, and two sacks. For a player brought in to help the middle of the defense, that stat line left room for more.
The source frames that season as a disappointment after fans expected more from a first-round pick. That is the friction in the story: Grant is being praised for looking more like the player from college, but the production still has to catch up.
Dolphins Need Interior Help
The Dolphins ranked 26th in rushing yards allowed and 26th in EPA allowed per pass attempt, so the interior defense has real ground to make up. Jordyn Brooks was identified as the team’s only All-Pro linebacker, which leaves Grant as one of the players most tied to how much that unit can improve around him.
Grant was a major factor in the elite Michigan defenses that ruled over college football in 2023 and 2024, and that is the version Hafley is pointing to now. If the same lateral quickness and run defense show up more consistently, the 2026 outlook shifts from hope to a clearer path for the middle of the line.
That is the real next step for Kenneth Grant and the Miami Dolphins: not a headline, but a season in which the traits Hafley described start showing up in the numbers. The test begins with whether the player from the college tape can become the player the defense needs now.
