Sunday Dolphins Mailbag: Holland, Biggest Need, Bridgewater, and More
Part 3 of the latest SI Fan Nation All Dolphins mailbag:
From Bob Lumbard (via email):
Hi Alain, as a lifelong Dolphins fan I thoroughly enjoy your questions/answers column. You provide great insight and most of the time are right on target. My question is this: If Miami had been able to beat Buffalo and advanced to the divisional round, would Tua have been cleared to play? Also, would Teddy Bridgewater have been ready to play this past weekend? I believe that he had a broken pinkie finger on his throwing hand but didn’t Aaron Rogers have the same injury this season and he played with it? Keep up the good work.
Hey Bob, I’m right “most of the time”?!?!??! What the hell? JK. The fact that Tua remains in concussion protocol and won’t participate in the Pro Bowl tells us that, no, he wouldn’t have played in the divisional round. I’m not sure about Bridgewater, but understand his injury was to his pinkie, whereas Rodgers had a thumb injury and (as weird as this may sound), there’s more pressure on the pinkie when throwing the ball.
From Brady Meadows (via email):
Hey Alain, I read your post every week. Question, is it me or concussions more common now in the NFL? The old helmets seemed fine with the bird cage facemask; it may be teams didn't report them like they do now.
Hey Brady, yeah, you answered your question right there. There’s a lot more attention paid to concussions nowadays and they’re being monitored in a way that didn’t happen “in the old days.” I think we might be flabbergasted if we had an accurate count of concussions from the 1970s, for example.
From Thomas Hudson (via email):
Here is a question driven by my frustration with people on forums. Do you think Tua can continue to develop into a better QB? He is still only 24. He has thrown fewer passes in the NFL than any other top AFC QB, including Lawrence. Can he learn to go to the ground better? Can he continue to build arm strength? I see a QB who has improved each year in the league. Why do so many people just want to give up on him?
Hey Thomas, here’s my answer and I’m getting the feeling you won’t like it: Sure, Tua can get better in certain areas, like more consistent decision-making, but he's already been in the league three years and at some point we need to understand this is who he is, good and bad. No, his arm strength isn’t going to improve, nor did it improve in 2022 from 2021 (despite what some might tell you). He was a lot better in 2022 than his previous two seasons because he played in a better scheme and he also had the fastest wide receiver tandem in the NFL. Having said that, he had a very good season overall, but I’m not sure how much higher his ceiling is, to be very blunt. And that’s not addressing the durability concerns, which unfortunately always will be there.
From Mike (via email):
Hello Alain: Regarding Chris Grier's statement on Tua not being concussion-prone: Do you believe this was based on a medical expert's opinion or Grier's wishful thinking?
Hey Mike, I can’t believe that Chris Grier would make that kind of statement based on wishful thinking. That would be grossly irresponsible, and that’s not who Chris Grier is. Now, the issue might be that not every medical expert agrees with the assertion that Tua isn’t at any more risk than anybody else, but it wasn’t said frivolously.
From Marvin Woods (via email):
Do you think Mike McDaniel still believes giving veterans so many days off during training camp will help limit injuries?
Hey Marvin, I don’t necessarily see a correlation between giving veterans days off and the injury issues where we’re talking about a torn ACL, an Achilles injury, torn triceps or things of that nature. So, yes, I would expect veterans to get days off again next season.
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FOR EVEN MORE COVERAGE ON THE MIAMI DOLPHINS, CHECK OUT SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S MIAMI DOLPHINS PAGE ON SI.COM
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From Jeff (via email):
Hello Alain, I enjoyed reading through your trio of articles about several Dolphins players, especially when we get to talk about X. One of my biggest hangups when people bash on him this year is that he has been beat up, how badly none of us know. On his interview prior to the bye week the media had asked him about recovery and he laughed and said something along the lines of "Yeah, I need that.” This was following the week when his coach had said he's all healed up. For me, I think X, Holland, and some players were playing handcuffed, meaning that they weren't free to focus on just their role, but had to mentor, guide, keep one eye in another direction. I also don't think the play-calling from Boyer helped at times. What is your view with how the scheme and play-calling helped or harmed a player like X this year, especially given some of those limitations on defense in the back of the field?
Hey Jeff, you make an interesting argument, but I’m not big on blaming scheme for a player not performing up to par on defense. With X, I think his drop in performance was a lot more related to his injuries than the scheme or defensive play-calling. With Jevon Holland, he was pretty solid, but not quite as dynamic as I would have expected in his second season.
From Gary (via email):
Not sure if your mailbag segments have finished now that the season is over, but here goes. Just watched the Grier/McDaniel presser where Grier says he's not worried about concussions. If that didn't set my alarm off, he then said Tua already wears the safest helmet available!! Now I'm really looking forward to who the backup QB will be as that to me will be telling.. Your thoughts. Thanks for all your work and insights this season. Look forward to reading more in ’23.
Hey Gary, the backup QB needs to be somebody with no durability questions, period. I also think you’re looking for somebody comfortable with being a backup if Tua, as Grier stated, clearly is the starter.
From Craig M (@Dolfan2334):
Biggest need on the team this offseason? Number one “must do” this offseason?
The biggest need would be a toss-up between a stud TE, cornerback, or off-the-ball linebacker. As to the number 1 “must do,” it’s gotta be getting a reliable backup QB to avoid the issues of 2022.
From Wade Tripp (@WadeTripp1):
Which DC candidate's scheme works best with the players we already have on the roster?
Hey Wade, I think I’d have to eliminate Anthony Campanile from the equation because he’s never been a defensive coordinator in college or the NFL, so we don’t know his scheme. I do think Fangio’s scheme would fit with the personnel or Desai believes in the same principles, so that works too.
From Chris Harne, CFA, MBA (@mindlesstrades):
What area should Mike McDaniel's focus on improving as a coach that would have the biggest impact to the team?
Hey Chris, I think clock management has to be the answer here, right? And it may be that he has to sacrifice some of the pre-snap motion to get things going quicker at the line of scrimmage.
From 30h5Gamecock (@305Gamecock):
Desai or Campanile if Fangio says no?
Between those two, I think the choice would have to be Desai because while Campanile clearly is held in high regard, he just doesn’t have experience leading a defense in college or the NFL.
From Della Monte (@DellaMonte4):
Is Teddy Bridgewater finished here?
Very simple answer here is more than likely. If the Dolphins are rolling with Tua as their starter in 2023, it just doesn’t make sense to bring back Bridgewater when he couldn’t finish either of the two games he started.
