Thursday Dolphins Mailbag: Hill, Waddle Stat Projections; What Tua Must Do; Picks, Parker and More

Part 1 of the latest SI Fan Nation All Dolphins mailbag:

From J Soto (@dolphin_4life)_:

Hi Alain, do you sense that the organization might want to try and acquire an early draft pick for the 2022 draft?

Hey J, I don’t think there’s any question the Dolphins would love to get back into the first two rounds of the draft, though that obviously might be wishful thinking. They would love to get an early-round pick for, say, DeVante Parker, though again it might be wishful thinking, which is why I threw out the idea of maybe the Dolphins throwing in a mid-round pick along with Parker to get that done. Bottom line, yeah, the Dolphins absolutely will try to recoup a first- or second-round pick if they can get it done.

From Bob Curvelo (@curvelo13):

Do you think DeVante Parker will get traded before the draft? What's your thoughts on which side of the ball they target in the draft?

Hey Bob, very simple answer on the first question and it’s a resounding yes. Yes, GM Chris Grier said at the league meetings that he sees Parker having a role on the team in 2022, but that’s exactly what he needs to say until he gets an offer he deems acceptable. While Parker would obviously make this a very deep WR group and he’s a good player (I know, when healthy), an $8 million cap hit for a fourth receiver who doesn’t necessarily fit the offense and doesn't play special teams might be a little high. As for the second question, I’ve felt all along that this draft might focus more on the defense than the offense, and I’m feeling that way even more after all the offseason moves made so far.

From Mike McDrip (@miamikid88):

What do you look forward to the most covering the 2022 Miami Dolphins? Follow up question, what is your favorite memory covering the Miami Dolphins so far?

Hey Mike, those are two really cool questions. The first answer is pretty easy and that’s seeing what Mike McDaniel does with this offense, based on his reputation and based on the additions the team made. This is a guy with a reputation as a creative genius and now he’s got all sorts of possibilities with Tyreek Hill joining Jaylen Waddle. Second question, hmm, for a specific game I’d have to say the 2000 playoff win against Indy, which an absolutely thrilling game. I’d also be remiss not to mention the 2016 trip to Southern California when we spent 10 days there and saw the Dolphins pull out last-minute wins against the Chargers in San Diego (31-24) and the Rams (14-10).

From AB (Brtlnx):

What are your thoughts on moving Eichenberg to C? Coaches praise him for high football IQ and he has short arms for a tackle. He also played there for a bit at ND.

Hey AB, interesting thought there, though I’d almost feel bad for Eichenberg if they did that, considering he was moved around from left guard to right guard to left tackle as a rookie. As for the logistics of it, you might be on to something and I do think the Dolphins will explore every possibility in training camp to come up with the best starting five possible, though I don't think that's where Eichenberg will end up.

From Kevin (@Kevin42819304):

What's your 2022 stat predictions for Hill and Waddle?

Hey Kevin, man, that’s a tough one because I don’t do fantasy projections. So I’ll put it this way, I don’t think there’s any way Waddle gets as many catches as he did last year, so let’s put him at, say, 82 receptions, but I do think his average per reception will go up, so I’ll give him 1,056 yards and six touchdowns. As for Hill, I’ll go with 93 catches for 1,111 yards and seven touchdowns. Understand that you do not have a legal right to hold me to those projections. LOL.

From Sean Beachem (@beachbob1):

What is realistic trade value for Parker or Jones?

Hey Sean, the answer with Jones would depend on the exact structure of his newly restructured contract, though I would ask right away why you would want to trade him. Besides, he’s out for the offseason program after having foot surgery recently, and teams usually don’t make trades for recovering players. As for Parker, his value actually should be pretty good because, if my understanding of his contract is correct, an acquiring team would get hit with a cap charge of less than $6 million for a guy who is a front-line player when healthy. Parker’s health history hurts his trade value obviously, but I would think the Dolphins should be able to get something like a third-round pick for him.

From Will.NC (@WillNC32):

What value does DeVante Parker hold? Could we swap him for a ILB or get a pick potentially?

Hey Will, see the previous answer. The only way I’d see the Dolphins not being able to get a pick for Parker is if other teams become convinced Miami will simply release him if they can’t work out a trade. As for a player-to-player swap, that absolutely would make a sense if there’s a team out there that has a player with a similar contract who no longer fits into that team’s plans.

From Showtime (@Showtime_Mia):

What player from the last 3 drafts aside from QB do you want to see make a jump?

Hey Showtime, that’s an interesting question and I can’t help but go back to that 2020 draft and Austin Jackson and Noah Igbinoghene. I wrote a column this past weekend saying this is a crossroads year for Tua, and the same applies to Jackson and Igbinoghene because at some point it’ll be time to move on if those guys can’t make a jump. I believe Jackson can become serviceable with better coaching this season, but I have no clue about Igbinoghene’s NFL potential because he didn’t play defense last year. It certainly can’t hurt that he’ll be coached up by Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain.

From Rick_in_Texas (@Rick_in_TX):

Considering this is Tua's make or break year... What do you think the criteria will be for the Dolphins to say, yes he's "the guy" or no, we need to move on & find "the guy"?

Hey Rick, another good question to go along with all the really good questions this week. First off, I absolutely do not think that determination will have anything to do with stats. One thing absolutely will be Tua’s ability to step up in a money game (which he failed to do against Buffalo in 2020 and against Tennessee last year) because that will answer the question of whether the Dolphins can win big with Tua. And that ultimately will be determining factor, kind of like the Rams and Jared Goff and their ultimate decision that they needed to get better at quarterback, which worked out great for them when they traded for Matthew Stafford and then won the Super Bowl.

From J Zone (@colmenajuan):

Do you believe they’ll roll with Deiter at center?

Hey J, yeah, I kind of touched on that a little bit early in the offseason when I suggested that we shouldn’t have assumed an all-out sweeping job of all the 2021 starters (besides Robert Hunt). While he wasn’t perfect, I didn’t notice Deiter as being a huge problem on the line in 2021 and let’s not forget he missed half the season with a leg injury and he was a good prospect coming out of Wisconsin. Having said all that, I’d say it’s no lock but probably a little higher than 50-50 that Deiter indeed starts at center next season.