Dolphins Game-Day Mailbag: Should Chris Johnson Stay Outside?

Part 2 of the pre-Chiefs game Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag:

From Fins Fan Ryan:

Hi Alain,

Thanks for the great work on the website and all your pods. Hardest working man in Fins- business! I know the season is young, but at what stage do you see Hafley shaking some things up with respect to the lineup, especially on defense with what appears to be players missing their assignments and blown coverages, etc. Does he really have any options with this paper-thin roster? Also, what are the chances of bribing Jason Taylor and Cameron Wake out of retirement? Might get more pass rush than what we have.

Hey Ryan, yeah, maybe JT and Wake could help the pass rush and it sure does need help LOL. As for lineup changes, yes, that could happen at some point but as you mentioned it’s not like there are a ton of appealing options and Jeff Hafley has to be willing to let young players go through their growing pains and make their mistakes. I think there’ll be less tolerance for mental mistakes with veterans for sure.

From FZB_dolphins:

I call this year , the year of pain , we all knew it, to this end, we definitely need more draft picks for next year’s draft , you think the Dolphins will entertain dealing away the few veterans we still have?, INCLUDING Achane. Me personally?, I would .

It’s a nice though, except the Dolphins just don’t have a lot of players who would fetch very much in a trade, and do really want to trade the team’s best player when he still should be effective for at least a few more years and he’s just been selected as a team captain? Me personally? I wouldn’t.

From Stuart:

Hey Alain, you always seem to be the steady voice of reason with your great work. As a Dolphins fan, I have realistic expectations for this season; my primary hope is simply identifying core talent we can build around moving forward. However, two games in, a concern has emerged regarding Malik Willis's evaluation. While Willis has flashed potential, his lack of starting experience is evident. Because the entire offensive unit is experiencing a simultaneous learning curve, it will be incredibly difficult to determine if he is a true franchise quarterback. The real danger is that this creates built-in excuses about his supporting cast. If management falls into the trap of blaming the offensive line or receivers, we risk repeating the exact same cycle of patience we endured with Tua—meaning Miami could tragically pass up a premium opportunity to draft an elite signal-caller next spring. I hope Malik is the guy, but if we don’t know that definitively by the end of the season, I think we need to draft the best quarterback available—unless, of course, management strongly feels that the incoming class isn't the right fit.

The other factor to consider, as I wrote this week, is making sure any quarterback who’s lining up behind center, is put in a position to succeed. As you mentioned near the top, we’re only two games in and there’ll be plenty of time before the next draft for the Dolphins to have formed a solid opinion on where they stand with Willis and how urgently they need to get a quarterback. What the Dolphins shouldn’t do is take a quarterback for the sake of taking a quarterback because they don’t appear right now to be just a quarterback away from contention.

From Jayco:

How much longer do we wait on former draft picks like Chop Robinson, Kenneth Grant, Ollie Gordon, Malik Washington, Jason Marshall to produce? The silence in their play is deafening.

This is a little premature two games in, no? Grant, Gordon and Marshall are early in their second season, so we need to give them a little more time to be fair. Washington is in his third season and he’s perfectly fine as a complementary piece on offense as well as being a good punt returner and a solid kickoff returner. And with Chop Robinson, yeah, he needs to start producing this season. That’s the only one I’ll give you.

From Toby Marmorino:

Hey Alain, I'm having a big problem with the way the Dolphins are handling Chris Johnson, which I brought up to you during one of your live podcasts. If the Dolphins drafted him to potentially be a shut-down cornerback I don't know why they're stunting his growth by trying to put him in the slot. When I said that to you, you said well the Broncos drafted a first-round cornerback (Barron) and turned him into a nickel slot guy, that may be true but they already had Pat Surtain as their lock-down corner. They basically admitted the mistake that was done to Marshall Jr by last year's staff when they said he should be a full-time outside corner. Yet they're doing the same thing to Chris johnson. I believe they should just leave him outside and see if he can lock down No. 1 WRs. And we should poach Kader Kohou off of Kansas city's practice squad to man the slot, which he was very good at. What are your thoughts? Keep up the good work

Hey Toby, let’s set the record straight here. Jaddhae Barron played the slot at Texas; the Broncos didn’t move him to slot. No argument with Marshall, who the Dolphins tried there last year because they just didn’t have a lot of options. Chris Johnson has the skill set to play both outside and in the slot, though I’m actually kind of with you that I think at least for now I would prefer he be kept on the outside. Lastly, Kohou didn’t make the Chiefs’ 53 and is coming back from a torn ACL; why are you assuming he can be as good as he was his last season with Miami

From JROD-S THE TRUTH:

I am a little concerned by what the coaches have said this week about Willis because it matches what I’m seeing with my very unprofessional eyes. They’ve talk a lot about teaching Willis to go through his progressions. This is year 5 for Wills. That means 5 OTAs. 5 minicamps. 5 training camps. 4 years on the second team. If he can’t smoothly work through his progressions, will he ever be able to?

Hey Dana, four years on the second team? Uh, no. He spent two years with Tennessee, two years with Green Bay, and now is in his first year with Miami. And, yes, working through his progressions is an area where Willis should and figures to improve, and it may be why he has stayed in the pocket or backfield so far this season when maybe he had an opportunity to take off and run.

From JK:

How many QB hurries did Miami have in first two games? Was it a league low?

According to Pro Football Reference, the Dolphins had a grand total of seven pressures, which was tied for last in the NFL with (oddly enough) the New York Giants. It’s worth noting that three players alone had a higher total — Minnesota’s Dallas Turner with 16, Las Vegas’ Maxx Crosby with 10, and Buffalo’s Greg Rousseau with nine.

From Jeff Horst:

Alain, why did the Dolphins leave RT Jackson on an island the past two games with elite pass rushers? No chips or help it seemed.

Hey Jeff, Jeff Hafley and Bobby Slowik both said during the week they probably could have helped out Jackson more against Crosby and Nick Bosa and I would suspect they’ll adjust next time they face a pass rusher of that caliber.

From Mark Lever:

Is Chop a bust? Is there any possibility that he can still have a big season this year?

Hey Mark, it’s still too early in this season to make definitive judgments about Chop Robinson after what everyone would agree was a very good training camp showing. But he does need to pick up his game quite a bit after a very disappointing second season.

From Dan P:

Us Dolphins fans sure are dramatic. Are we asking Robin to be Batman? Is Sieler a sidekick and he excelled when playing next to Wilkins, then Campbell. Or, is it that none of the other DTs can play the required role yet?

Hey Dan, that is a very good and interesting question. I think maybe it could be that Sieler is a very solid defensive tackle regardless, but he just won’t get the sack production if he doesn’t have a sidekick next to him with the ability to affect the quarterback the way Campbell and Wilkins did. The next question would be whether Grant, Biggers or Phillips could become that kind of player, and I’m not sure how confident I feel about that at this moment.

From Jason Kirkland:

Hi Alain, anyone with a rational view, knew this roster wasn't very good. So, when injuries happened, it was gonna be bad. Another thing that a bad roster does is allows starters that aren't playing well to keep their job, because what's behind them is worse than bad. Thoughts?

Hey Jason, sure, but I think fans are a bit too overzealous with their desire to bench anybody and everybody. It makes zero sense at this time to be benching young players for making mistakes young players will make. This is what growing pains look like. Now, if a veteran player who may or may not fit into the team's long-term vision keeps messing up, that's another story. But I'm not sure we're there yet with any player.

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