Friday Dolphins Mailbag: Hand, Wilson, Records, and More

Part 1 of the pre-Eagles game All Dolphins mailbag:

From Leon Fresco (@FrescoLeon):

Da’Shawn Hand….massively underrated or is PFF meaningless? What if he is really good and he is not being played enough? (Like AVG in past years).

Hey Leon, while I don’t think PFF should be considered the end-all, be-all of player evaluation, I do pay attention to their grades and, yes, I do think there’s definitely something there with Hand. And the book on him out of Detroit was that he always was pretty solid except he constantly was dealing with injury issues. It’s also possible that he can only handle a certain amount of snaps every game.

From Dave (@angryvet59):

Gonna use my alloted cliches rapid fire : Get right game for Eagles? Statement game for Dolphins? Next man up for X? Must at least be a competitive game for Miami to be taken seriously? Music only but "The Brazilian" by Genesis is a fave. Used on a Magnum, p.i. episode.

Hey Dave, lot of stuff here. Here we go: No, because the Dolphins are not a “get-right” team; absolutely and I wrote a story about it earlier Friday; hmm, Cam Smith?; absolutely has to be at least a competitive game or you’re going to hear about the Dolphins’ soft schedule until they play the Chiefs in two weeks; can honestly tell you I’ve never heard “The Brazilian,” but I’ll make it a point to check it out.

From Miami mark (@MarkWardlaw97):

Got a pair for you! First do you think Jeff Wilson not getting any chance to get reps in last week will slow him down against Philly? I was hoping he could “warm up” against Carolina. Also, any real chance the Gronk stuff turns into a signing?

Hey Mark, don’t think it makes much of a difference that Wilson didn’t get to play against Carolina as far as his effectiveness against the Eagles. As for Gronk, I’m not buying that there’s anything to it beyond him just recognizing that the Dolphins offense would be fun for anybody to play in.

From dolphins stan (@georgesburn3r):

If you had to bet on a position being traded for before the deadline, what would it be? Grier has only meddled in WR and CB depth since TC, it seems.

Hey Stan, my best guess would be an interior defensive lineman because there’s not a ton of depth there.

From Jayco (@ljc):

With so many star players expected back in November, which players stand to be cut?

The best place to start obviously is at the bottom of the depth chart. I think two players who stand as being vulnerable would be offensive lineman Kion Smith and cornerback Kelvin Joseph. The Dolphins also have six wide receivers on the active roster right now, so if they end up activating either River Cracraft or Erik Ezukanma at some point, it wouldn’t bode well for Robbie Chosen.

From Todd Lynch (@ToddLyn68220233):

No question. Just wanted to say it’s enjoyable to listen to respectful disagreements while allowing the other person to present their arguments without constant interruptions. Well done, fellas!

Much appreciated, Todd. Omar and I thank you.

From Ed Helinski (@MrEd315):

Alain, in your opinion, is this Miami roster set or will there be a trade or two prior to the deadline on the 31st?

Hey Ed, my best guess is it’s 60-40 the Dolphins will be making a trade before the Oct. 31 deadline.

From Zach M (@moorez985):

What will be a respectable and reasonable expectation for the run defense?

Hey Zach, I’m not sure whether you mean for the rest of the season or strictly in the game against the Eagles? A reasonable expectation is to be stout enough that run defense never is a reason the Dolphins would lose a game, like it almost was in the season opener against the Chargers.

From Jeff (via email):

Hello Alain, I've been doing some thinking about what could be possible this season and I know you don't enjoy predictions. In my view all of these have some sort of potential to happen, given where the team is right now, do you think most of these records could very likely be broken this year? More importantly, what does it say about this team if we see them knock on the door for these records in particular? ... -Miami Dolphins team record, single game receiving yards. (B. Hartline, 253 yds) .. -NFL Record, receiving yards in a season (C. Johnson, 1,964 yds, 2012) ... Hill is at 814 Yds ... -Miami Dolphins team record, most TDs in a season (M. Clayton, 18 tds, 1984) ... -NFL Record, TDs in a season, (LT, 31 TDs, 2006) ... Mostert is at 11 TDs total ... -Miami Dolphins team record, single season passing yds (Marino, 5,084 yds) ... Tua is at 1,876 yds ... -Miami Dolphins team record, most rushing yards in a game (R. Williams, 228 yds) ... -Miami Dolphins team record, most receptions in a game (C. Chambers, 15 rec) ... -Miami Dolphins team record, most rushing yards by a rookie (K. Abdul-Jabar, 1,116 yds) ... Achane is at 460 yds

Hey Jeff, there’s no way I’m going to predict single-game records, but I’ll say I wouldn’t put anything past this team based on the way the offense has been able to produce big numbers. As for season-long records, all I’ll say is I think Hill setting a new NFL receiving yardage record and Tua breaking Marino’s mark might be the most likely.

From Brice (@Bricefrom LA):

What happens if a player isn’t activated after the 4 week window?

Hey Brice, it’s actually three weeks of practice before a player has to be activated, otherwise he remains on IR (or PUP) or the Dolphins waives/releases him.

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