Sunday Dolphins Mailbag: Tua, McDaniel, Tyreek

Part 2 of the pre-Jets game All Dolphins mailbag:

From Ed Helinski (@MrEd315):

Might the Dolphins find themselves looking past the Jets because of upcoming games against Dallas, Baltimore and Buffalo? Or was the loss to Tennessee a wake-up call and Miami stays focused for 60 minutes?

Hey Ed, if the Dolphins don’t win against the Jets, it will have exactly ZERO to do with not being ready or overlooking the Jets. The Dolphins are in crunch time and coming off a crushing loss, so there absolutely will be no looking past the Jets here.

From Brian Z (via email):

I love Coach McDaniel as a coach, and he seems like a great person. The offensive coaches have led our team to a 9-4 record and 1st in the AFC East. So far, so good.

However, a few things on the offense side of the ball concern me:

1) Red zone offense. I feel we have a lot of room for improvement here. Too much settling for field goals. I think this is more on the coaching/play calling than the players.

2) Alternatives to Tyreek Hill. Omar mentioned the other WRs need to step up. I feel the play calling relied on Hill wayyy too much. I know we all want to see him get 2,000 yards, but would rather see the team have a offensive attack that opposing DCs have no answer for. It should have begun when Robbie Chosen was brought in, and hyped up more when Chase Claypool came in. Practice with Tua constantly with those guys. Get Wilson and Berrios in the slot more often. Tell Wilson constantly he is a valued member of this team (instead of having his big salary and lack of targets get in his head). Use the RBs as receiving targets more often. Use the TEs as receivers at all (red zone threat for one), let alone more often. Throw the ball thousands of times to Waddle (use the backup QBs if needed) to perhaps control his drops. I'm no NFL coach, but if we can be better in the red zone, and have a multi-headed offense attack that opposing DCs can not plan for, we have a shot at the AFC final and maybe the Super Bowl.

Hey Brian, I’m going to take issue with your points by pointing out that the Dolphins have no major red zone issues when you consider they’re No. 1 in the NFL in touchdown success rate in those situations. Yes, the red zone offense wasn’t good against Tennessee, but that was just one game. Goal-line offense, which ranks in the middle of the pack, is a bigger issue. And, as stated earlier, I don’t get all the cries for wanting changes on offense given the Dolphins are at or near the top in all major offensive statistical categories.

From ScD (@dmoney29):

What ratio of run to pass would you prefer Mike call? Obviously Tyreek playing vs not a factor….or should it be?

I’d like to see the Dolphins run slightly more runs than pass plays, but if Tyreek is in the lineup and effective you absolutely can’t ignore him because he’s the game-changer for this team.

From Jimmy Boulding (via email):

Hey Alain, with the injuries we've had on the offensive line, should the Dolphins have signed Dalton Risner when they had the chance?...

Hey Jimmy, it’s easy to second-guess at this time, but I don’t have a major issue with what the Dolphins have done at guard in terms of adding depth — although one could question how they’ve handled the center position.

From Elliot Zovighian (@ElliotZovighian):

How do you see McDaniel changing his play-calling in this December stretch. How willing is he to use different personnel, formations, and philosophy to be less predictable?

Hey Elliot, this is a story that remains to be written and it depends also on game situations. But the reality is they will remain a pass-first team as long as Tyreek Hill is creating game-changing plays on a regular basis.

From Free2Talk (@Free2Talknow):

Who is our center? What is your opinion on him?

I’m assuming you’re talking about newcomer Jonotthan Harrison and I will make two points about him. On the positive side, this is a guy with a lot of NFL starting experience who at one time was considered a serviceable starter. And he is some kind of put together. On the down side, though, he hasn’t played an NFL game in four years and it wasn’t injury-related, and there’s gotta be a reason for that.

From Adnas (@Anase815):

Why is Jason Sanders still on the roster?

Weird timing on the question, to be honest, because if you’re mad about the field goal block, that wasn’t on him and before that he’d been pretty solid. But to answer your overall question, the amount of guaranteed money he had coming to him in 2023 made him uncuttable (the Dolphins did restructure his contract).

From Mike Mangaras (@mangaras_mike):

In all your guys lifetime, have you ever seen a QB get so much hate and scrutiny as Tua? I literally can’t watch sports talk anymore because of all the BS; why do you think that is? I’m 58 and have NEVER seen anything like it. I mean, have you ever met a nicer guy?

Hey Mike, on those points, not sure what Tua being a nice guy has anything to do with “hate and scrutiny” as you call it because it’s his play that’s being dissected, not his personality. And what is “hate and scrutiny” beyond some analysts not loving his work at quarterback as much as others and praising him at every turn, which I know is what you’d like to see. And, to be fair, for every NFL analyst who criticizes Tua are two or three (Dan Orlovsky, Louis Riddick are two that quickly come to mind) who gush over him. All that said, understand that it’s 2023 and there are thousands and thousands of hours of talking heads dissecting everything related to the NFL and you just have to accept that there are few players who get nothing but flowers.

Saturday Dolphins Mailbag: Run Game, Waddle, and More