Dolphins midseason superlatives: The best and worst after 9 games
Entering Thursday night’s home game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Dolphins sit at 2-7 and the bottom of the AFC East, a massive disappointment for a team that finished last season with 10 wins and was expected to be a fringe playoff contender.
Last Sunday’s 17-9 win over the Houston Texans ended a seven-game losing streak but the residue of weeks of shortcomings still linger for a team not expected to make the playoffs. As the Dolphins enter the second half of their schedule, here is the best and worst from the first half of the 2021 season:
Offensive MVP
Mike Gesicki: In a contract year, Gesicki has shown his worth and then some in this Dolphins offense. Gesicki is currently on pace to set career highs for targets, receptions and receiving yards. In a season that has seen Dolphins wide receivers miss games for a litany of reasons, Gesicki has been a dependable pass-catcher for whichever quarterback has been in the lineup. Much has been made about Gesicki’s blocking — or lack thereof — but he’s proving far too valuable and dependable to let walk in free agency. His pair of one-handed catches in the win over the Texans were highlight-reel plays but no surprise to his teammates, who lauded his work ethic.
“It to me it’s not a shock,” safety Eric Rowe said, “because I’m telling you, every day in practice, you know, either walk-through or real practice, he is catching at least, 150 balls a day. While we’re up on defense, you know, doing — like on scout team, he is over there just catching passes constantly, constantly. One-handed, both hands, two hands, no-looks. I mean, he is doing it constantly, so when he does it on the field, it’s a great play, but it’s not a shock to me because I’m, like, man, he does that every day in practice consistently.”
Defensive MVP
Emmanuel Ogbah: Ogbah and Christian Wilkins, who’s having his best season to date, were neck-and-neck but Ogbah gets the nod after a career-high 21/2-sack performance against the Texans. It brought Ogbah, who is also an unrestricted free agent after the season, up to a team-high five sacks this season. The sacks are certainly tangible stats to bring to the negotiating table in the offseason, but Ogbah, who led the Dolphins with nine sacks in 2020, has been impacting quarterbacks all season. He has a team-high 15 quarterback hits and ranks third with six passes defended.
“I’m definitely getting more attention this year,” Ogbah said days before the win over Houston. “Like I said, when I go into a game, if there’s any way I can affect the quarterback — I might not bring him down. Batted balls are huge, too. Hits. If I can affect him and throw him off the spot, then I take that as I’m doing my job helping this team give us a chance to win games. I know last year I had the numbers, but this year I’m having the numbers too. I’m just not getting sacks, which is OK. As long as I’m doing my job helping the team win.”
Offensive Rookie of the Year
Jaylen Waddle: Waddle is well on his way to writing his name in the franchise record books — his 56 receptions rank fourth in Dolphins history among rookies — and yet, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2021 Draft has still been underutilized this season. He’s averaging 8.9 yards per reception this season after 18.9 at Alabama. His longest reception this season has been 36 yards — in Week 1 — and he has been infrequently targeted downfield. All of this is a byproduct of an offensive line that hasn’t allowed for many deep attempts but Waddle has flashed his potential when the ball has been placed in his hands.
“When he got here, we had a conversation about the receiver position and not just being a slot,” co-offensive coordinator George Godsey said Tuesday. “That’s how we look at the tight ends, that’s how we look at a lot of the players whether it’s a back catching the ball out of the backfield. We want to be very capable of playing them inside, playing them outside, using him in motion, shifting him across the formation. As a rookie, to absorb all of that and still be productive in both spots, it’s a credit to him, his preparation and knowing the [defensive backs] he’s going against. There is a lot that goes into that. He’s done an excellent job for his first year of taking that information and then going out there and being productive.”
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Jevon Holland: Jaelan Phillips (two sacks) was an early front-runner for this recognition, but Holland has come on strong as of late and the coaching staff has rewarded him with a full-time role in the past month. In the win over the Texans, he recorded his first interception, and three weeks ago against the Falcons, he recorded his first sack, showing his versatility around the box and in coverage. He, along with Phillips, appear to be hits for this front office.
“He’s improving,” defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander said of Holland last week. “Some of the stuff he has done on tape has been encouraging. We still need to continue to improve his skill set. The sky is the limit for that kid. He’s a great worker. He’s diligent. He’s a guy that has a very mature approach about the game.”
Most Positive Development
The emergence of the young safeties: Sunday was a bright glimpse of the future in a season that has been a lot of doom and gloom. Safety Brandon Jones applied the quarterback hit on the errant pass that Holland intercepted. Jones later recovered the fumble that sealed the Dolphins’ win over the Texans.
Miami’s defense began the season rotating between Holland and Jones, a second-year player, and Jason McCourty and Eric Rowe, more established and veteran players. McCourty’s foot injury, which landed him on injured reserve and appears to be a long-term injury, made the decision to give the younger safeties more snaps a little easier, but the Dolphins appear to be all in on their future now. Among Holland, Jones, Phillips and Wilkins, the defense has a really promising young core.
“I think both of those guys are both athletic, they’re both physical,” defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said. “I think they got a good instinct for the game. I think they work extremely hard at it and I think the more experience they gain, the better that they are getting. I don’t think anything substitutes experience and I think those guys are doing a good job for us and we’ll ask them to do more, we’ll ask them to continue to get better.”
Most Disappointing Development
The regression of the offense: The Dolphins invested countless resources last offseason into building the offense around quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. They moved on from former offensive coordinator Chan Gailey and tapped Godsey and Eric Studesville to be co-OCs. Charlie Frye, who has a relationship with Tagovailoa dating to high school, was hired as quarterbacks coach. Waddle was drafted in the first round, offensive lineman Liam Eichenberg was drafted in the second and the team signed wide receiver Will Fuller to add more speed.
With all those moves made, the Dolphins expected to see an offense that was more explosive and one of the better units in the league. Instead, Tagovailoa has missed four games to injury and could miss a fifth Thursday night. The Dolphins spent the offseason and first month of the season hiding who their play-caller is — a development that is still a bit unclear. Eichenberg and the entire offensive line has struggled. And Fuller has played just 65 snaps in two games, sidelined to injuries. He’s not alone — DeVante Parker and Preston Williams have also missed games to injury, leaving the offense with a depleted receiving corps.
Ranking last in most statistical categories, the Dolphins are going to have to go back to the drawing board and rethink everything when they address the offense.
Best Offseason Move
The 2021 Draft picks: The Dolphins’ top four picks — Waddle, Phillips, Holland, Eichenberg — have all played prominent roles and three have flashed at moments during the first half of the season. Eichenberg has given up a lot of pressure since his move to left tackle, but there’s hope that he will improve and can possibly be a serviceable offensive lineman. General manager Chris Grier has had his share of draft misses, but it looks like he got something with the 2021 draft class.
Worst Offseason Move
Signing Will Fuller: The Dolphins always knew that signing Fuller to a one-year, $10 million deal was a risk. He had missed several games in Houston due to injury. But his first season in Miami has been an unmitigated failure. He was already going to miss the first game of the season because of a suspension dating to last season but sat out Week 2 because of personal reasons. He then played in Week 3 but left shortly into the fourth game of the season with a broken finger that will sideline him for Thursday night’s game. After Thursday, Fuller would have missed eight games and played just 65 snaps. He’s caught four passes for 26 yards this season.
Predicted 2021 Finish
5-12: The Dolphins have the third-easiest remaining schedule, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, and with games against the New York Jets, New York Giants and Carolina Panthers remaining, you would think Miami would be able to rack up some wins to close an otherwise disappointing season. Of course, that was the thought before losses to Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons. Nothing will be — and should be — taken as a guarantee the rest of the way.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 12:22 PM.
