What data shows on who has been best, worst Dolphins in seven areas. And injury, Hill news
As the Dolphins exit their bye, a look at the players who have been their best and worst in several categories so far this season, with data courtesy of Pro Football Focus:
▪ Pass blocking:
Best among the offensive line starters: Left tackle Terron Armstead, who has permitted just five pressures and no sacks in 122 pass-blocking chances.
Worst among the offensive line starters: Right tackle Austin Jackson, who has relinquished two sacks and 11 pressures and right guard Liam Eichenberg, who has yielded two sacks and eight pressures. Both have pass blocked on 207 snaps.
▪ Run blocking:
Best among the offensive line starters: Armstead. And according to PFF, it’s not even close. For all of the concerns about his durability, Armstead remains Miami’s best offensive lineman, by a fairly large margin.
Worst among the offensive line starters: Left guard Robert Jones, who has a below-average grade in 129 run blocking snaps.
Quick aside: The Dolphins’ run blocking hasn’t been good enough at other positions this season. Receivers Tyreek Hill, Braxton Berrios and Malik Washington, tight end Jonnu Smith and running back De’Von Achane are rated five of Miami’s six worst run blockers, per PFF. Left tackle Patrick Paul, who filled in for one game, is also in that bottom-six group.
On the flip side, tight end Julian Hill is rated Miami’s second-best run blocker after Armstead, just ahead of Eichenberg and center Aaron Brewer.
▪ Running through contact:
Best among running backs: Rookie Jaylen Wright, who has averaged a strong 3.4 yards after contact on his 29 attempts.
Worst among running backs: Achane at 2.02 and fullback Alec Ingold at 1.8. That partly explains why Achane’s per carry average has dropped from 7.8 on 103 rushing attempts as a rookie to 3.3 on 56 carries this season.
▪ Yards after catch:
Best: Running back Achane, who’s averaging an excellent 9.7 in YAC on his 21 receptions.
Worst: Nobody with many catches is awful in this area.
FYI: Tyreek Hill is averaging 6.0 in YAC and Waddle 4.7.
▪ Pass rush:
Best: Defensive lineman Calais Campbell, who has 14 pressures and two sacks in 92 pass-rushing chances. Close behind: Defensive lineman Zach Sieler, who has 16 pressures and two sacks in 129 pass-rushing snaps.
Worst: Miami’s edge players, who have combined for three sacks in five games (including one by Jaelan Phillips, who’s out for the season with a knee injury).
Emmanuel Ogbah (10 pressures, two sacks) has done his part in 99 pass-rushing chances.
But rookie Chop Robinson is still looking for his first NFL sack; his eight pressures in 66 pass-rush chances are encouraging.
Tyus Bowser has one pressure in 15 chances, Quinton Bell one in 14.
Something notable: Miami has blitzed defensive backs only 25 times this season, and those blitzes haven’t produced a single sack.
▪ Run defense:
Best: Per PFF, cornerback Jalen Ramsey has been Miami’s best run defender, followed by safety Jevon Holland, Bell, linebacker Jordyn Brooks and safety Marcus Maye.
Worst: Defensive tackle Benito Jones, who has a dismal 46.0 run-defense grade on 70 run-blocking snaps. Among players with a minimum of 12 run-blocking snaps, safety Jordan Poyer is ranked second worst.
▪ Pass defense:
Best: Among those who have been targeted at least 10 times, cornerback Kader Kohou has the best passer rating against, at 63.2 (a number helped by his one interception). Ramsey has been targeted just 12 times in five games and has yielded a solid 84.0 passer rating, with eight completions for 76 yards.
Worst: Miami’s safeties, who rank among the worst in the league in passer rating against, per PFF.
Holland has permitted six catches on 10 targets for 119 yards and a TD, equal to a 135.0 rating.
Poyer has allowed six of seven targets to be caught for 75 yards and a TD, equal to a 150.9 rating.
Meanwhile, starting inside linebackers Brooks and David Long Jr. have yielded 29 completions in 33 attempts, for 304 yards, which is 10.4 yards per reception.
INJURY REPORT
Five Dolphins were limited participants in Wednesday’s practice: Ogbah (bicep), Holland (broken bone in left hand), Poyer (shin) and linebackers Long (knee) and Mo Kamara (ankle).
Holland indicated that a decision on his status would come later in the week. “It’s definitely going to be day-to-day,” he said. “Feel good. It’s just my hand.”
Would it be difficult to play with a cast or protective covering if he does play? “Presumably. I’ve never done it before. I assume it’s going to be a little difficult if I have to club it. Not really sure yet. I’m going to assume it’s going to be a little hard to catch. It’s my first broken bone. It kind of feels like a bad jam.”
The only two players on the 53-man roster who didn’t practice were given rest days: defensive lineman Campbell and left tackle Armstead.
Running back Achane (in late stages of concussion protocol), cornerback Cam Smith (hamstring/has seven days to be activated) and quarterback Skylar Thompson (ribs) were full participants.
But Thompson said his injured ribs are still causing him discomfort on deep throws. ”I just can’t move the ball downfield like I can,” he said. Thompson could end up being the emergency third quarterback again, with Tim Boyle backing up Tyler Huntley on Sunday at Indianapolis (1 p.m., Fox).
For the Colts, running back Jonathan Taylor (ankle) headlined nine players who didn’t practice.
▪ Tyreek Hill, who led the league in receiving yards last season but is 38th this season while playing mostly without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, was asked if he’s playing up to past levels.
“Cheetah is going to be Cheetah,” he said. “I’m not going to make any excuses. But I will say: ‘I’m Cheetah, baby.’ I will deal with any circumstance I’ve got. If I’m open, I’m not going to go to the sideline and point it [out]. We are just going to fix it whenever we watch film together as an offense the next day.”
Why doesn’t he say something to the quarterback on the sideline about being open?
“I know a lot of people try to compare me to AB [Antonio Brown],” he said. “But I never run off the field and ruin my paycheck like that. I got kids to take care of. I’m never going to do that.
“If you put it on tape, my dad always told me the eye in the sky won’t lie. If you’re open, they’ll see. Keep doing it over and over. The quarterback is almost like a kicker. If you say something then you’re almost in his head.”
This story was originally published October 16, 2024 at 4:30 PM.
