One part of Dolphins’ offense that has shown signs of promise
As the Dolphins’ search for more explosive pass plays continues, one piece of the offense provided a glimpse of promise in the overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday.
The Dolphins rushed for 133 yards, passing the century mark in a game for the first time this season, and averaged 4.9 yards per carry. For an offensive line that has struggled in pass protection, it has fared much better in run blocking, which could be the focal point of an offense trying to gain its footing without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for at least the next two games.
The running game is only averaging 92.7 yards per game and 4 yards per rush — numbers perhaps skewed by a unit that has had to throw significantly more while trailing in large portions of the last two games — but advanced metrics showed an improved run blocking unit so far.
According to ESPN Analytics, the Dolphins rank 14th in team run block win rate, defined as the proportion of plays in which a player “won” his block on designed running plays. The ranking doesn’t place the Dolphins’ offensive line in the upper echelon of the league’s units but is a significant improvement from last season, when it ranked 23rd in run block win rate. (The Dolphins ranked 27th last season in team pass block win rate and are 28th through three games of the 2021 season).
“As an O-line, that’s what you want to do,” guard Robert Hunt said Thursday. “You want to run the ball so you won’t be in third-and-10s and they bring the house. We want to run the ball and we want to be good at it so we can manage the down-and-distance, so we can be third-and-2, third-and-3 and third-and-5. So yeah, it’s a big emphasis to run the football. That’s what we want to do.”
Of the seven offensive linemen to have played a snap, only Hunt and center Michael Deiter have higher pass blocking grades than run blocking grades, according to Pro Football Focus.
One of the brightest moments of the offense’s performance against Las Vegas came in the first quarter when the left side of the offensive line cleared out a path for Malcolm Brown’s 24-yard touchdown run.
Hunt said the same nuances associated with pass protection can be applied to run blocking, with things like the timing of double-team blocks. He added that it’s a bit easier to block on a designed run play, as opposed to a run-pass option. Linemen are only allowed to be 1 yard downfield on pass plays. With Jacoby Brissett starting, the Dolphins appeared to run fewer RPOs against the Las Vegas Raiders than in their first two games.
“It’s a normal run play. You’ve got to go. You pin your ears back and let’s go,” Hunt said. “RPOs, being downfield, you’ve got to be kind of careful with it.”
The offensive line, however, could see its fourth starting combination in as many games with Deiter’s availability for Sunday in question. After being limited in Wednesday’s practice because of a foot and quad injury, Deiter did not practice Thursday. If Deiter, who has the sixth-highest run block win rate among centers, cannot play, seven-year veteran Greg Mancz would likely start. Mancz, acquired in an August trade with the Baltimore Ravens, has appeared in 58 games, making 28 starts.
“Greg practices just like the rest of us,” Hunt said. “We’re all in the same meeting room learning the same deals. He’s a center so he’s definitely in-tune with everything that’s going on. I think we’ll be fine.”
Regardless of whether the offense is more comfortable running or passing, running back Myles Gaskins said the unit will have to find a more balanced, and efficient, approach if it wants to improve.
“The success of the team doesn’t just come from one thing at all,” said Gaskin, whose 5.1 yards per carry average ranks seventh among players with at least 20 attempts. “If you just have [a lot of rushing yards] and then no passing yards, then hell no. I think everything needs to be balanced. I feel like ‘E’ [co-offensive coordinator/running backs coach Eric Studesville] and [co-offensive coordinator/tight ends coach] George [Godsey] have been taking good care of that. We’re figuring it out as we go. Obviously we’re trying to find out our strengths as a team still and running the ball has been good for us at times. But in different games, we’ve got different things we need to do.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 5:56 PM.
