Dolphins Putting 'Special' in Special Teams
Kicker Jason Sanders has been in the news a lot this season, what with his consecutive five-field-goal games in early October and his back-to-back nods as the Special Teams Player of the Month.
But while he clearly has been the standout of the show, Sanders is far from the only Dolphins special teams player enjoying a good season.
There is, after all, a reason the Miami special teams have been as good as any in the NFL in 2020.
The rankings prove it:
The Dolphins rank first in the league in punt return average (13.9) and kickoff return average allowed (16.8); they are second in punt return average allowed (4.3); and they're fifth in field goal percentage (96.0).
The Dolphins have had their share of big special teams plays not involving Sanders, with the two that stand out being Jakeem Grant's punt return for a touchdown in the victory against the Rams and Andrew Van Ginkel's punt block two weeks later against the Chargers.
RELATED: Sanders Named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month
It has been, quite simply, a remarkable season for the Dolphins special teams so far.
“To me, it goes all the way back to last season when we started working towards our goal of building this team, of the type of players in the classroom, on the practice field, to games, the kind of players and people we were looking for," special teams coach Danny Crossman said this week. "We have a long way to go to really build a vision of what we’re all trying to gain. But when you have a good nucleus of guys who work hard and take a lot of pride in what they are doing, we felt that we were going to have an opportunity to have a solid group. Like I said, we have a long way to go and there are a lot more things that we can be a lot better in a lot of situations.”
Arguably the Dolphins' three main contributors on special teams this season have been offseason acquisitions Clayton Fejedelem and Kavon Frazier and 2019 December pick-up Mack Hollins. Another key contributor has been long-snapper Blake Ferguson, who the Dolphins selected in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL draft.
Fejedelem and Frazier were elected as special teams captains for 2020, while Hollins is the team's nominee for the Pro Bowl among special-teamers for his work as the gunner (outside player running down the field first to cover punts).
“Anybody who has ever played gunner will tell you that it’s probably like the hardest rep you can get in football," Hollins said. "I mean, it’s basically just run as fast as you can but get beat up along the way. It’s just a ‘who wants it more’ type of thing. Usually it’s one-on-one. Every once in a while you get a vice or a two-on-one, but if it’s one-on-one, it’s just who wants it more. And I really enjoy that because in my mind, I’ll always want it more than the person across from me. That’s just my opportunity to prove that. I really enjoy that play because I’m able to run, I’m able to be physical and that goes to my traits as a player, being a big and fast guy. I really enjoy it. Gunner is probably my favorite position special teams-wise and I like causing that disruption down there.”
Among players with stats, Grant leads the NFL with his 13.9-yard punt return average, Haack is sixth in net punting average at 42.6 and third in ratio of punts inside to 20 to touchbacks at 19:1, and Sanders is tied for first for his one miss on field goals and extra points, along with Graham Gano and Justin Tucker.
Along with having ascending players in key spots and valuable role players at others, the Dolphins obviously have benefited from some good coaching — because the kind of success they're having would not be possible without it.
Fejedelem discussed Crossman's coaching and his style this week.
“He just demands that you know your assignment," Fejedelem said. "You’re only getting chewed out if you’re not going through all the scouting reports with a fine-tooth comb. He holds the players to a standard, the guys on this team hold each other to a standard and that’s why we’re executing the way we are right now.”
