Mailbag: Talking Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins’ backfield and more
The Dolphins took care of business in the lighter part of their schedule, beating the teams they were expected to en route to six straight wins, a .500 record for the first time since Week 2 and realistic playoff hopes. The road gets tougher in the final three games of the regular season, starting with Monday night’s prime-time road game against the New Orleans Saints.
In this week’s mailbag, I take a look at quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s uncharacteristic outing against the New York Jets, the state of the Dolphins’ backfield and more. And a reminder that if you have questions you would like me to answer in future mailbags, you can ask me on Twitter or email me.
Here we go:
So yesterday was Tua’s worst game of the year. Did the Jets do something different on defense to rattle him? Or was it just one of those days? - @David13David
I would say this was a game that showed the value of wide receiver Jaylen Waddle to Tagovailoa and this offense. One of the reasons Tagovailoa had so much success getting the ball out of his hand quickly was because of Waddle’s ability to create separation. But without that, you saw a quarterback that had to hold onto the ball a little longer, which got him into some bad situations, like his two interceptions.
I won’t make too much of it because it was probably Tagovailoa’s only shaky performance during the winning streak and to his credit, he rebounded from the pick-six to throw the game-winning touchdown. Having Waddle back for the Saints game should help but Tagovailoa will need to play better if the Dolphins want to win their final three games.
Do we anticipate Miami utilizing an extra lineman to help facilitate a more efficient run game? It seemed like it helped yesterday? - @Dan_B_Phin_Phan
I know many fans had clamored for this earlier in the season to jump-start the running game and they picked an interesting time to bring it out. Robert Jones played 10 snaps, his first time on offense since Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills, and I would say the situational use didn’t drive the breakout running game but was still helpful. On six designed runs, the team only rushed for 13 yards but one of the plays was a touchdown run by Duke Johnson and on two other runs, they set up third-and-short opportunities.
Brian Flores said the use of the extra lineman was more game-plan-specific. I wouldn’t expect this to become the offense’s base personnel but it’s a nice wrinkle to get the run game going in short-yardage situations.
With the addition of Duke Johnson, which of the RBs on the roster has to go and why? - @1972wasgreat
I wouldn’t say any of the running backs are necessarily gone, at least this season, but bringing Johnson to the 53-man roster will make for some interesting decisions over the final three games. Flores said the team will always dress at least three running backs for game day and they have four on the active roster in Johnson, Myles Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed and Phillip Lindsay back from the reserve/COVID-19 list. Ahmed didn’t play a single snap last Sunday despite returning from coronavirus protocols and Flores said that was more because of Johnson and Gaskin having the hot hand. If I had to guess, I would say Ahmed is probably the odd man out. The team brought Lindsay in midseason for a reason and while Johnson might not be the lead back every week, I have a hard time seeing them not keeping Johnson a part of the offense.
Who do you think the Dolphins should target in free agency? - @David13David
Doesn’t this seem a little premature, especially with the team in the midst of a playoff push? I guess it’s never a bad time to look at possible additions. With Flores announcing that wide receiver Will Fuller is not expected to return from a finger injury that has sidelined him since Week 4, I think it’s safe to say the team will be in the market for another wideout next spring. I know he just sustained a season-ending knee injury but if his rehabilitation process and the medical people give the go-ahead, I would look into Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Chris Godwin.
And although the offensive line has made some strides in recent weeks, I still do think tackle will need an upgrade to allow this offense to truly blossom. Players such as the Kansas City Chiefs’ Orlando Brown Jr. or Saints’ Terron Armstead, if they reach unrestricted free agency, would command top dollar but would be interesting options.
