Dolphins Monday Mailbag: Is Wright Now the Right Choice at RB2?

Third and final part of the pre-Steelers game Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag:

From Dave Campbell:

Greetings Alain ! Always appreciate your work on All Dolphins & Dolphins Collective podcasts. Great stuff ! I agree with you on the cold weather & it being team losses. Something that's always stuck in my mind though is Tua throughout the KC playoff game. He'd come off the field & sit down on heated bench, bundle up in his coat & look totally disinterested to anything on the field. Just a bad look IMHO. I get it, he's a Hawaiian guy, hates cold. I was born & raised in Florida but my Army time stationed in Germany, upstate NY, etc. At least stand in front of those heaters & pretend to be interested to the game! Now getting off my soap box & to my question. I really wanted McDaniel fired after the Browns game, but I think he's earned another year. How short of a leash would he be on & if Weaver gets a HC job, who would be your dream DC to replace? Thanks for all your hard work.

Hey Dave, I’m not even sure I have any takes on that Kansas City game because the weather conditions were just so ridiculous. To your question, I think D-line coach Austin Clark is somebody I would consider based on everything I’ve seen and heard about him. He’s the one currently on the staff who really jumps out as a strong candidate. I’d have to do some research to come up with some good names from outside the team.

From Thomas Francish:

Hi Alain. Apologies this question has lots of assumptions. But, assuming Mike McD is back in ‘26, Tua is back in ‘26 (due to his cap hit), and assuming Tua finishes this season with his current sub-par passing, could you see the Dolphins re-signing Zach Wilson to compete for the starting job against Tua? Thanks for your thoughts, I enjoy all your content.

Hey Thomas, this is a very interesting question and it would make sense in terms of continuity and having QBs with familiarity with the system, but I’m still not sold on Wilson being a good fit for what McDaniel likes to do in the passing game. Quinn Ewers taking the No. 2 QB job for that Cleveland game also was a bit troublesome in terms of the confidence level. I’d be inclined to say possible, but maybe not probable.

From Dolfan Rob:

Do you know why Wright was the backup to Achane rather than Gordon last week? Was it because of the hesitancy on those 4th-and-short plays? Do you expect that to continue? I mean, do you think Wright has won the #2 spot back for now?

Hey Rob, Mike McDaniel explained that Wright got the extra work load based on the way he practiced and I suspect we could see a scenario where Wright and Gordon take turns getting the bulk of the non-Achane carries depending on how practice went and the flow of the game. As for that hesitation on the fourth-and-1 run against New Orleans, it certainly wasn’t ideal, but he wasn’t getting the first down going straight ahead, either.

From John Flora:

It’s early, but will you feel comfortable with Ewers as QB2 next year?

Hey John, not unless I see more in the final weeks of the regular season. It’s why it makes sense for me to have the Dolphins give Ewers a couple of starts once the team is mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, though that doesn’t serve McDaniel if he’s still fighting to retain his job.

From Dandi144:

Alain, now that we've seen in the last 5 games that the Dolphins apparently do have talent capable of playing winning football, what does that do to the popular "Chris Grier is the problem" narrative? Personally, I think this win streak shows that the problem resides squarely on McDaniel's doorstep. Two years in a row, the Dolphins have been woefully unprepared to play NFL quality football out of the gate. That's coaching, not picking the right players.

There is some merit to your argument, but let’s also understand this is a team that had an awful lot of personnel change from last year and the slow start maybe shouldn’t have been such a surprise. I also would caution against thinking the Dolphins have arrived until we see them actually win some games late in the season against quality opponents so it’s more than the one-off against the Bills followed by taking care of bad teams.

From Crash Jensen:

Thanks for all that you do, Poup! The Steelers’ offense and defense seem to be pretty bad, and they just lost Watt. But the weather will be below freezing. Besides the obvious tenets of Run the Ball and Limit Turnovers, what do you think the keys to winning the game will be?

Hey Crash, you kind of summed it up pretty well right there. Win the turnover the battle will be big, and that’s also where the Steelers really will miss T.J. Watt and his sack-strip ability. The Dolphins also can give up a big play on special teams like they did against the Jets … because they’re not playing the Jets on Monday night.

From Jorge Boyd:

Hi Alain, can the Dolphins run the ball on the Steelers. I have been hearing they might put 8 on the box, but I wonder, didn't they put 8 in the box against Bufalo and Baltimore and both those teams rushed for a lot of yards against the Steelers?

Hey Jorge, the Steelers didn’t put eight men in the box against the Bills and Ravens, who both rushed for more than 200 yards against them the past two weeks. One key factor last week was the absence of rookie first-round pick Derrick Harmon in the middle of the defensive line and he’s questionable for the game Monday night. The Dolphins absolutely should be able to run the ball against the Steelers, but for exactly how many yards, we’ll have to wait and see.

From Marc Rainford:

What’s your view on NWI? Carry on playing him and lose the 4th round compensation pick or sit him down to ensure the pick is collected?

Hey Marc, given Mike McDaniel’s situation, if he’s not yet been told he’s being retained for 2026, he’s going to play every single player he feels gives him the best chance to win every game. And that absolutely includes NWI for his run blocking, even though the receiving numbers simply haven’t been there.

From Thee Dolphins Dum Dum:

The Dolphins have stumbled out the gate 2 years in a row now. This year in particular they began the season looking unprepared, undisciplined and making foolish, self-inflicted mistakes. If McDaniel were to return, is it time for him to re-evaluate his offseason process for our Miami Dolphins?

Hey Dana, yes, there was a lot of sloppiness from the Dolphins early in the season, but I’m not sure that was the biggest factor in the slow start. It was more, for me, a combination of having to integrate a whole bunch of newcomers and young players plus the inability to make the key play at the key time. Every coach does self-scouting after the season and it’s no different with McDaniel, but I’m not exactly sure how you can totally eliminate those self-inflicted wounds.

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