Dolphins Weekend Mailbag: Rookie Class, Bye Strategy, Kindley, and More

Tackling various issues on the minds of Miami Dolphins fans

The third and final part of the post-Giants, bye week SI Fan Nation All Dolphins mailbag:

From FlGuy (@WilliamCebula):

Some teams will use the bye to make schematic or philosophical changes. Do you see any of this for the Dolphins?

Hey William, it would be hard for me to envision the Dolphins wanting to change very much considering they’re on a five-game winning streak. There was some self-scouting and maybe some new wrinkles added so they don’t become predictable, but I certainly wouldn’t expect anything major.

From The Naked Isaiah (@jefflintz):

What do you think are the chances Miami places three names on the 2021 All-Rookie team?

Hey Jeff, I’d say right now they’re very good. I think Jaylen Waddle might have surpassed both Ja’Marr Chase and DeVonta Smith at wide receiver with his recent play; Jevon Holland has been an absolute stud at safety; and Jaelan Phillips’ sack numbers most definitely are going to grab a lot of attention. So, yeah, I think the chances are very good.

From Craig M (@Dolfan2334):

Alain, as we saw in Bills/Pats game, teams need to be able to run the ball in the Northeast in December. Three division opponents all play in Northeast. Why have Grier/Flores not recognized that & properly addressed run game?

Hey Craig, what if I were to tell you that the short passing game they’ve been using is like a de facto running game? I absolutely do believe that Flores would love nothing more than to have a consistent running game like that of the Patriots, but that starts with building a stud offensive line, which the Dolphins have failed to do despite using a lot of resources on that position.

From The Ogre (@Theogre59Ogre)

Alain, thank you for being such an awesome outlet for Phins info, as a fan from out of town, it's nice to get great info and dependable news. My question, if we saw such a drop in run production one week after seeing Lindsay's impact, will the Phins try more FAs?

First off, thanks for the kind words, Ogre (or is it Mr. Ogre?). Here’s the thing about the running back position, which the Dolphins under the current regime haven’t exactly put a premium on, as evidenced by the draft status of everybody on the roster. I also would hesitate to see that Lindsay made a huge impact in his one game with the Dolphins because, while he did show a nice burst on a couple of runs, he still averaged only 3.5 yards per carry, which was only slightly better than what Salvon Ahmed (3.4) and Myles Gaskin (3.1) did. That said, I think the Dolphins will keep the same philosophy at running back, which is basically trying to find bargains at the position.

From Brian (@CalandraBrian):

What had happened to Solomon Kindley - he seemed to have a ton of potential last year, and this year he’s inactive every week?

Hey Brian, this actually has been a bit of a mystery, and it started in training camp when Kindley would go from getting starter reps to working with the third unit. Kindley did start the first two games of the season, but gave way to Jesse Davis at left guard in the third game when the Dolphins kept shuffling the line and he hasn’t gotten back in there. Kindley looked a tad too big in camp, which might have explained his getting into the doghouse, but there certainly wasn’t anything overly egregious about his play in the first two games to suggest he would become a forgotten man up front. So, yeah, that one is a mystery.

From Stax (MRHOJO19):

APB on Will Fuller!

Hey Stax, yeah, it’s the great Will Fuller mystery. Truth is, the way the Dolphins are running their offense these days, I’m not convinced he would make a huge difference on offense. As it stands, I can’t even say I’m sure he’ll be back at any point in the 2021 season.

From Sewage Joe (@joe_sewage):

Alain, I'm curious as to why the Giants had Mike Glennon air it out 44 times in a low-scoring game where they were averaging like 5.5/carry.

Hey Joe, the whole Giants approach was weird to me because they were aggressive in having Glennon throw the ball and then they refused to go for the first down a couple of times when they were in Dolphins territory. The Giants rushing average was a bit misleading too because they had back-to-back runs of 23 and 17 yards in the third quarter but didn’t do a whole lot else on the ground the rest of the game. And their strategy with Glennon might have been taken from what the Jets did with Joe Flacco and it certainly would have worked better if not for Glennon missing a deep shot to tight end Evan Engram and the Giants dropping like five passes.