Dolphins film study: What tendencies from 2021 may stick with Mike McDaniel?
First-year head coach Mike McDaniel will be tasked with leading all 53 players on the Dolphins’ roster. But his expertise on the offensive side of the ball — where he first learned the game as a ball boy for the Mike Shanahan-led Denver Broncos and worked as a longtime assistant with Mike’s son, Kyle — is what drew Dolphins decision-makers to the 39-year-old.
In his debut season in Miami, McDaniel will have a polarizing third-year quarterback, a much-maligned offensive line with a pair of veteran additions and a talented cast of skill-position players to hand and throw the ball to. He’s bringing in an offense he’s studied over his entire career, with maybe some twists and wrinkles for his current players’ unique skill sets.
The second of a two-part film study will break down a pair of concepts and tendencies from the Dolphins’ 2021 offense that McDaniel could retain.
Pre-snap motion
If there is one Dolphins tendency from 2021 likely to stick with McDaniel, it’s the team’s usage of pre-snap motion. Last season, the Dolphins had motion before the snap on 54.5 percent of plays, which ranked fifth, according to Football Outsiders.
The 49ers, though, ranked first in pre-snap motion, using it on over 75 percent of their plays, according to ESPN.
Pre-snap motion is beneficial in many ways. In the running game, it can give the offense an extra blocker with leverage to spring running lanes. In the passing game, it can help identify what coverage the defense is in and serve as eye candy to confuse defenders and free up receivers.
In the 49ers’ Week 1 game against the Detroit Lions, wide receiver Deebo Samuel motions from the right to the left before the snap and handoff to running back Elijah Mitchell.
“You’re trying to get the second-level defenders in a bind where they have to defend [Samuel],” McDaniel told the Miami Herald in March. “And then we have an outside zone to the right that by making them defend jet sweep and working at the snap point, now these guys are moving laterally as opposed to downhill to their gaps.”
Run-pass options
The run-pass option, otherwise known as RPOs, was a key fixture in the Dolphins’ offense last season. According to Pro Football Reference, the Dolphins ranked first in RPO pass attempts (111) and yards (999).
The play has a run called — and asks the offensive line to block as such — but also includes one or more passing options. If the defense is set up or reacts in a way that gives an advantage to the run game — there is typically a “conflict defender” that signals what to do — the quarterback can hand the ball off. If the defenders overflow to the look of the run, the quarterback can move to his receiving option.
This concept was a double-edged sword for the Dolphins in 2021. Tagovailoa is one of the better quarterbacks at operating RPOs because of his quick release and accuracy. And using RPOs got the ball out of Tagovailoa’s hand quickly, which helped protect an offensive line that was one of the NFL’s worst units. However, it often limited the explosiveness of the team’s passing offense. Tagovailoa’s average depth of target was just seven yards, which was only greater than Jared Goff and Ben Roethlisberger.
The 49ers ranked 10th in RPO pass attempts (47) and yards (479) last season, according to Pro Football Reference. If McDaniel opts to continue using RPOs, though likely not at the same rate as the Dolphins in 2021, it could also mean the continuation of pistol formations. In pistol, Tagovailoa takes a shotgun snap, but with the running back standing behind him instead of next to him. The Dolphins’ usage of pistol on 11.9% of their plays only trailed the Baltimore Ravens last season, according to Football Outsiders. McDaniel turned to pistol a lot when then-rookie Trey Lance was inserted into the lineup.
The Dolphins ran an RPO on their first play from scrimmage in Week 1 against the New England Patriots. Tagovailoa takes a snap from pistol and motions the ball to running back Myles Gaskin. The team also has right guard Robert Hunt pulling, which adds to the allusion of a run. With the linebackers flowing to the line of scrimmage and cornerback J.C. Jackson playing off coverage, wide receiver Jaylen Waddle is able to run a quick curl route. Tagovailoa finds Waddle and he picks up 17 yards.
“The advantage of pistol is that you’re not center,” McDaniel said, “so there are certain A-gap [between the center and guards] issues that when you’re taking a ball under center, if a linebacker walks into the A-gap, he’s a half-yard away from the center-quarterback exchange. So, you can be in the gun and the quarterback can kind of see the defense a little bit better and you don’t have to turn your back to it.
“But the advantage of pistol is that opposed to gun, defenses can play the offset and have different calls ... Pistol, they have to defend both sides and you’re still away from the line of scrimmage.”
The Dolphins potential usage of RPOs in 2022 is a projection, though. The team likely wouldn’t use it as frequently, but McDaniel said at his introductory news conference that his offense would be “a unique design of everything that’s tailored to our players.”
He pointed to his time in Washington, when the coaching staff built the offense around Robert Griffin III, installing a bunch of plays with pistol formation and read-option concepts that accentuated Griffin’s ability as a passer and runner.
“The template is that there is no template,” McDaniel told the Rich Eisen Show in February.
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 8:00 AM.
