Greg Dulcich — Week 1: Two Targets, Both Before Halftime
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 14
Dulcich was thrown to twice Sunday and caught both, for six and twelve yards on the same second-quarter drive, and was not targeted after halftime. The rookie Will Kacmarek had one target; Malik Willis threw twenty-seven times, eight of them to Malik Washington and seven to Caleb Douglas, in a 27–13 loss to the Raiders.
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Greg Dulcich's two catches Sunday came on the same drive, two De'Von Achane carries apart. The one that mattered was second and nine at the Las Vegas 43, seven 33 left in the second quarter, Miami down 10 to nothing: Malik Willis short left, 12 yards to the 31, first down. The catch was worth +1.3 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and +4.1 points of win probability, the chance of winning after the play against before it, and only three Dolphins passes or runs gained more win probability all afternoon. The first catch was the same drive, first and 10 at the Miami 45 with nine 36 left, short right, six yards to the Las Vegas 49. The drive reached the Las Vegas 22 and ended with a field goal after De'Von Achane was stopped for −1 on third and one.
The line: two targets, two catches, 18 yards, one first down, +1.6 expected points on the targets. One yard of the 18 was in the air; 17 came after the catch. Both targets came before halftime, when Miami had 14 pass plays; after halftime Miami had 18 pass plays and Dulcich was not thrown to on any of them. Neither target came on third down. His name does not appear on any other play in the game.
What the passing game did around him is the football. Willis threw 27 times on 32 pass plays, 15 completions, 220 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, five sacks, and the pass plays came out at −9.2 expected points. Eight targets went to Malik Washington, seven to Caleb Douglas, five to Achane, two each to Dulcich, Chris Bell and Kevin Coleman Jr., one to the rookie tight end Will Kacmarek, whose target was an incompletion short left on first and 10 at the Miami 23 with nine 53 left in the third. Among tight ends that is Dulcich two, Kacmarek one — three of 32 pass plays. 11 of Willis's throws went deep and five were caught; the tight-end targets were short, and both of Dulcich's were caught. The Dolphins' only touchdown was a scramble.
Back in June the preview made no call on Dulcich — tight end 27 at pick one 85, a one-year prove-it deal at the top of a depth chart Miami had deliberately crowded with two drafted rookies — and said the first thing to watch was the camp battle with Kacmarek, then where Willis's checkdowns land. Sunday the targets went two to one in his favor, both of his were caught and one moved the chains, and none came after halftime in a game Miami had 18 pass plays in the second half. One game with two targets settles nothing about the claim on this tree. Miami is at the 49ers on Sunday the twentieth. The number to watch is two.
_Data via nflverse._
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