Dolphins Sunday Mailbag: Chop, Sieler, O-Line, and More

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

From Jason Kirkland:

Hey, how are you, my man? Great work here and on the All Dolphins podcast as well. Since the Dolphins are a joke, I figured I'd ask a funny question: who has more: Dolphins scoring drives or Miles Garrett sacks? Thank you as always.

Hey Jason, are the Dolphins really a joke? Or is that simply how they are coming across to their frustrated fans? I mean, we should be fair here. But in the interest of playing along, I’ll go Dolphins scoring drives, even though I don’t expect them to put up a lot of points in this game.

From Dion Gardiner:

From watching breakdown videos and it seems like the players are not paying attention to the finer details like running hard to the outside, more jogging, or not getting far enough into the middle of the field before cutting out. Does the coaching staff focus on that in practice?

Hey Dion, rest assured Dolphins coaches do pay attention to all those little things you mention because that’s what they’re paid to do. But what happens sometimes is that players, particularly if the team is losing, sometimes want to try to go beyond their assignment to make a game-changing play and that’s when overrunning or taking a bad angle comes into play.

From Gifford Louden:

Hey Alain, thanks for all the great work you do! Have you noticed a decline in fan interest in the Dolphins lately? Are your articles and videos getting the same level of engagement as before? I’ve personally checked out a bit, and I’m wondering if other fans have done the same.

Hey Gifford, without question the level of engagement has falled off after this brutal start by the Dolphins, and there’s a lot of anger and resentment among those who are sticking around. It’s just not been good in way, shape or form.

From BBQ:

Is there a single person in the Dolphins organization that isn’t rolling their eyes at Tua throwing his teammates under the bus after another 3-pick day? Guy thinks we suck because Jaylen Wright or NWI hit some traffic, not because every single one of our top paid players is hurt, stinks, or both. It’s hilarious if it didn’t make me cry every weekend. I’ll keep Achane, Waller and Paul. Burn the rest down, right? We can’t possibly not hold a firesale, right?

Hey Brandon, no, I don’t expect a firesale at all, and wrote about that very topic recently. And I’m not so sure that there wouldn’t be at least one person, if not more, who liked Tua calling out teammates for being late to film-study sessions or “player-led meetings,” however you want to phrase it.

From JP:

Do you expect the Browns to move Myles Garrett around the defensive line to take advantage of struggling rookies/reserves?

Hey JP, Myles Garrett usually lines up on the right side of the defensive formation, but it’s not like he’s never moved around and I certainly would expect that to be the case in this game.

From Shmendrick Lamar:

Why has shedding blocks seemingly become so difficult for Sieler and Chop?

This kinda, sorta always has been the concern with Robinson, that if he doesn’t win quickly with his really impressive get-off, he could have problems disengaging, but that’s never been an issue with Sieler. It has been a very disappointing start to the season all around for Sieler, who has seen his share of double teams, to be fair, but also isn’t winning one-on-one battles as often as anybody would like.

From John Z::

Hi Alain, having grown up with Shula's Dolphins those many years ago, I noticed they seemed to win the 3rd-quarter often and decided that was a good litmus test for coaches. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it doesn't seem that the Dolphins have been too solid coming out the gates after halftime in a while. Why do you think they are not winning the 3rd quarter and what do you think their odds are of winning the conference, much less the Super Bowl, without being able to consistently win the 3rd?

Hey John, I hope you’re not basing your entire premise on what happened against the Chargers last Sunday when the Dolphins were outscored 14-3 in the third quarter and outgained by the insane margin of 155-minus 11. The truth is that the third quarter hasn’t been, outside of that game, out of whack with the other three quarters. The Dolphins have been outscored 42-20 in the third quarter, which means 28-17 without the game last week. I’ll also point out the Dolphins had a pretty clear advantage in the third quarter in Mike McDaniel’s first two seasons when the team simply was better overall than the past two.

From Luis Rodriguez:

Hi Alain, I like McD and hope he survives, but if I come back to reality, I’m sure he won’t. So which coach would you choose, and why, from: McCarthy, Gruden, Shula, other (insert name)?

Hey Luis, of the three names you mentioned, the only one that intrigues me is Chris Shula, but the question is whether he’d be comfortable following in his grandfather’s footsteps (no pressure, right?). In the “insert name” category, a name that intrigues me is former Dolphins linebackers coach Anthony Campanile, who is doing a pretty good job overall in his first year as Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator (though not a great first half against the Rams today).

From Phin Phan:

The years Miami had success were in ‘08 and ‘16, they had a simple formula. Run the ball, timely passing. Thats how you win with an injury-prone good not great QB like Tua, who is good for 20-30 ppg & a mediocre D. This is obvious. Why doesn't Coach McD get this?

Because not every team is built the same way. The Dolphins went away from that idea the second they drafted Jaylen Waddle with the sixth pick in 2021 and then doubled up on the speed angle with Tyreek Hill the next year. Also, the Dolphins didn’t have success in 2023 when they had the pass-happy offense? And I’d suggest that team was way better than either of the teams in 2008 or 2016.

From Jeff Golden:

I heard a national pundit say that Cincinnati has one of the worst offensive lines in the league, around 30th, and yet Flacco and Brown (who?) both had big games against Pittsburgh. Does that indict the Miami coaching staff and quarterback?

Cincinnati does have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL, but I’m not sure I’m totally on board with your comparison. I mean, it’s not like Dolphins offense has been totally inept considering Miami has scored 21 points or more its last five games. But what you point out is important to remember whenever some folks want to keep going back to the offensive line every time the offense comes up short.

From Mark Lever:

If we have a top pick next year, what QB will you be eyeing?

Hey Mark, I wish I could tell you I’m enamored with any of them, but I’d be lying. There’s nobody like Cam Ward coming out this year, so I’m not so sure the priority shouldn’t be simply to make sure to get a complete stud at an impact position instead of forcing a QB pick.

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