SoFla Guide Editors
The Dolphins are 0-5, and the roster is starting to look like a Monday morning at a Hialeah body shop. Everything is getting pulled apart and bolted back together. On October 13, the team claimed running back Kaytron Allen off waivers from the Washington Commanders, released running back Jarquez Hunter from the practice squad, and signed quarterback Brady Cook to the practice squad just three days after waiving him, according to the Dolphins’ official team site.
The newest guy in the backfield
Allen is the headliner here, and his college resume explains why Miami jumped. He is Penn State’s all-time leader in both rushing yards (4,180) and attempts (769), per the team site. That is a lot of carries for one set of legs, and it is exactly the kind of workhorse profile a team wants when its backfield has been thinned out.
Allen set those marks over four seasons in Happy Valley from 2022 through 2025 before Washington took him in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. The Commanders let him go, the Dolphins put in a claim, and now he is heading to South Florida.
The timing is not a mystery. De’Von Achane tore his ACL in Week 3 and landed on injured reserve, ending his season. That hole has been sitting there for a few weeks now, and the front office finally found a body it liked to help fill it.
Goodbye, Jarquez Hunter
Hunter’s Miami story was short and a little bit of a rollercoaster. The Dolphins acquired him from the Los Angeles Rams on August 27 in a trade that sent wide receiver Tutu Atwell to Los Angeles, according to the team site. He was then waived at the 53-man roster cutdown, cleared waivers, and landed on Miami’s practice squad.
On October 13, the team site reported he was released from that practice squad. So the trade-for-a-running-back experiment lasted about six and a half weeks, and the Dolphins essentially swapped one young back for another in the same news cycle.
Hunter came out of Auburn as a 2025 fourth-round pick by the Rams, No. 117 overall. Where he goes next is anyone’s guess, but Miami clearly decided Allen was the better fit for the moment.
The Brady Cook boomerang
Here is the move that will make you squint. Quarterback Brady Cook was waived from the active roster on October 10. Three days later, on October 13, he signed to the practice squad, per the team site.
Before anyone panics about the quarterback room, a quick note: this has nothing to do with the starter. Malik Willis is the Dolphins’ starting quarterback in 2026 after signing a three-year, $67.5 million deal in the offseason, according to Yahoo Sports and Dolphins Wire. Cook is a former Jets undrafted free agent from 2025, and the practice squad shuffle is the kind of depth housekeeping that happens all over the league. The cut-him-then-bring-him-back move usually just means the team needed the roster spot for a minute and wanted him around anyway.
The team also took a look at cornerback Cobee Bryant, an undrafted free agent from the 2025 class out of Kansas, where he was a three-time First-Team All-Big 12 performer. Some headlines framed him as a Falcons draft pick. He is not. He is a Kansas product who went undrafted, so file that one under workout, not acquisition, unless the team announces otherwise.
What it means for the Fins
Zoom out and the picture is pretty clear. Miami lost 31-24 to the Bengals at Hard Rock Stadium on October 11 to fall to 0-5, and first-year head coach Jeff Hafley, who came over from the Green Bay Packers organization, is now running through the bottom of the roster looking for anything that moves the needle.
None of these moves is a blockbuster. A sixth-round rookie back, a practice squad quarterback, a workout for an undrafted corner. But winless teams in October tend to churn, and the Dolphins are churning. The Allen claim in particular is worth watching, because a back with that kind of college workload could get real snaps quickly on a team that just lost its best runner for the year.
For the fans still showing up in Miami Gardens, the hope is simple: that one of these flyers hits. Keep an eye on the Dolphins’ official site and the Monday transaction wire, because at 0-5, there is a decent chance this list gets longer before it gets shorter.
