Dolphins Mailbag: WR Topics, Trade Assets, More Tua Talk

From Dan Giunta (@Dan_B_Phin_Phan):

Out of all the Dolphins receivers currently on the roster, which WR do you believe will have the most impactful season?

Hmm, there's an interesting question because there truly are some good candidates, from DeVante Parker to Jaylen Waddle to Will Fuller V to Preston Williams. The best answer for the Dolphins and their fans would be Waddle because he's the rookie first-round pick, and I do expect the Dolphins to feed him the ball quite a bit. Until proven otherwise, Parker is the best receiver on the team (provided he can stay healthy), but I'll go ahead and give Waddle a slight nod here.

From Jim Ryan (@jdryan5000):

If the Dolphins were going to trade someone for draft capital, who would it be?

The way to answer that is to try to figure who could bring draft capital in return. The Dolphins have a surplus of wide receiver, but who in the group is somebody another team would give up a draft pick to get? Parker certainly, but who else? Yes, Waddle, but he's not getting traded. Same with Fuller. Williams has shown great potential, but is any team giving up a draft pick for a player who's sustained two significant injuries in his two NFL seasons? So, at wide receiver it's Parker. Mike Gesicki also could get a draft pick in a trade, but his value would be hurt by the fact he's a pending unrestricted free agent. And then there's the elephant in the room, and that's Xavien Howard. He's the best player on the roster, but has a new agent and that brings the likelihood he'll be looking for a new contract two years after signing a five-year extension. If the Dolphins trade him after June 1, they would face a cap hit of just $1.4 million for each of the next three years. We're not saying that's what's going to happen or that the Dolphins should do it, but if the question is who the Dolphins could trade for draft capital, he needs to be mentioned as a possibility.

RELATED: Dolphins Mailbag Heavy on Tua Topics

From Father Keanu (@natronbacon):

Which WR do you think the Dolphins end up with of their roster? What do you think the depth chart looks like?

Great question because the Dolphins are loaded here (yes, loaded) and have a couple of players who might make the team purely because of their special teams contributions. So let's say for now the Dolphins will keep six wide receivers on the 53-man roster. I'd guess those six would be Waddle, Fuller, Parker, Williams, Lynn Bowden Jr. and Mack Hollins. As for a depth chart, then you get into the various wide receiver spots, and Waddle, Bowden and Wilson would be the depth chart in the slot; at the X spot, maybe Parker, Williams, Hurns; and then maybe Fuller, Grant, Merritt at the Y.

From Rubén Ramirez (rubeneramirez):

On a critical situation who will call the play? Eric Studesville or George Godsey?

The question of who will call plays has been asked of the Dolphins coaches more than once already and there has been no definitive answer provided. Based strictly on the fact that Godsey was an offensive coordinator in 2015-16 with Houston, whereas this is Studesville's first time in that role in the NFL, my guess would be Godsey.

Mark Schoninger (@SchoningerMark):

Last year, the Dolphins wide receivers struggled to get separation at the line of scrimmage. Do you think they’ll more readily achieve that separation this year?

That's certainly the hope because it would make Tua's job entirely easier, though that's not necessarily a strength for either Parker or Williams, whose best attribute is being to win battles for 50-50 balls. The speed of Fuller and Waddle certainly might convince opposing defenses to play a bit off because if either of those two win cleanly at the line, they're not getting caught. And one would expect the Dolphins to put Waddle in motion or even have him line up in the backfield at times to help himi get a clean release. So the long-winded answer is yes.

From Bam gotta bam #HEAT (@Fins4E):

Did it seem like Tua Tagovailoa was practicing coach speak when he sidestepped the question on former OC Chan Gailey's play-calling?

Actually, the initial question was about the lack of playmakers he had at wide receiver at the end of the season, and Tua isn't the kind of guy who would throw anybody under the bus, player or coach. But he also could have answered the question without mentioning the play-calling and not knowing the playbook well, so, no, I'm not ready to call that a matter of coach speak.

From Greg the Nurse (@BACinDemand):

What should give the Dolfans hope for the future? What should give them concern?

The answer to the first question is the fact the Dolphins went 10-6 last season without a dynamic offense, so think of the possibilities if Tua makes a big jump in his second year. There's also every reason to be optimistic because it should be clear by now that Brian Flores absolutely can coach because I'm not totally convinced the 2020 Dolphins really had a 10-win roster. I would see two causes for concern, the first obviously being that Tua doesn't make that expected jump and the offense once again is pedestrian. The other is that the defense can't duplicate its success in creating turnovers and looks more like the unit we saw in the season finale at Buffalo than the one that shut down the Rams and Chargers (to name just two opponents).