The PFF View of the Dolphins' Offensive Talent

The Miami Dolphins clearly are hoping to become more explosive and more productive on offense in 2021 after ranking in the 20s in practically every statistical category last season.

The one major exception was points scored, where the Dolphins ranked 15th in part because of the help they got from the defense and special teams.

In the offseason, the Dolphins brought in speedy wide receivers Will Fuller V and rookie Jaylen Waddle, along with rookie tight end Hunter Long and offensive tackle Liam Eichenberg.

But the offense still lacks elite players, based off Pro Football Focus' rankings heading into the 2021 season.

Pro Football Focus ranked the top 32 players at every position offense, explaining that its ranking were "based on grading every player on every play and tapping into multiple years of data to project future performance. We go beyond just last season’s performances, and the grading works to isolate each (player)’s performance from that of his supporting cast, making for more effective projections."

Based on those PFF rankings, the Dolphins better hope their offense's sum is greater than the total of its parts.

PFF broke down their rankings on offense in seven positions — quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, centers, guards and tackles — and the Dolphins had only five players ranked among the top 32 at their position.

Only one of them, tight end Mike Gesicki, was ranked than 24th. He came in at number 8.

The other four players ranked at least among the top 32 at their position were quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (29th), wide receivers Fuller (25th) and DeVante Parker (27th), and guard Robert Hunt (24th).

Having Hunt at 24 certainly is interesting considering the 2020 second-round pick played tackle as a rookie and offensive line coach Lemuel Jean-Pierre said this week no decision has been made as to where he'll play in 2021. This speaks to Hunt's potential and the belief among many draft analysts that his best position coming out of Louisiana-Lafayette was guard and not tackle.

With Parker, his ranking no doubt is affected by his inability to stay healthy, which has led to him playing a full season only once since arriving as a first-round pick in 2015.

That said, the Dolphins are one of eight teams to have two players ranked in the top 32 at wide receivers, along with Atlanta, Buffalo, Minnesota, Tampa Bay (which has three), Seattle, Cleveland and the L.A. Rams.

Finally, we get to Tua, and his ranking isn't entirely out of line based on what happened last year, though it's eye-opening to see him placed behind quarterbacks like Jared Goff, Daniel Jones, Sam Darnold, and the Saints combination of Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill.

This is what PFF wrote about him: "It’s hard to adjust to the speed of the game as a rookie, especially when you don’t know when you're going to be pulled for a savvy veteran. Tua has an opportunity this year to take control of the offense and show he belongs. The Dolphins continue to make solid roster moves through trades, free agency and the draft to surround their young QB with weapons. Tua was exceptionally conservative last year, with only seven big-time throws all season. That's not the worst thing, but he also had 13 turnover-worthy plays."