How the Miami Dolphins stack up on offense and who has the edge for roster spots
Now that the Miami Dolphins have pretty much put their team together, here’s part 2 of our 2-part look at where they stand on each side of the ball and some thoughts:
QUARTERBACK
▪ Under contract (four): Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh Rosen, Tua Tagovailoa and Jake Rudock.
▪ What’s ahead: Fitzpatrick is the favorite to begin the season as the starter, but we’re told — as we noted in this Monday piece - that the Dolphins aren’t opposed to playing Tagovailoa at some point this season if he earns it. Fitzpatrick’s play and the team’s performance on offense also would obviously factor into this decision.
So while giving Tagovailoa time to develop on the bench is the likelihood, the Dolphins are not entering the season thinking that he absolutely needs to redshirt.
And even though Josh Rosen was a disappointment last season, a source said the Dolphins are by no means ready to give up on him and believe he’s worth developing. They saw progress in practice over the final two months of the season and don’t want to concede that last year’s trade was a mistake.
There’s also a greater need to keep a third quarterback this season as a cautionary measure in case one of a team’s quarterbacks tests positive for COVID-19 during the season.
The quarterback room has several strengths, and here’s one of them: The Dolphins have two pretty good deep-ball passers.
Last season, Fitzpatrick completed 40 percent of passes thrown at least 20 yards and had a 109.9 passer rating on those throws. Only nine quarterbacks had a higher passer rating on deep throws.
Meanwhile, Tagovailoa’s 2019 passer rating on deep targets was 134.3, which was third-best in college football.
RUNNING BACK
▪ Under contract (seven): Jordan Howard, Matt Breida, Kalen Ballage, Patrick Laird, Myles Gaskin, Malcolm Perry and fullback Chandler Cox.
▪ What’s ahead: Howard and Breida almost assuredly will be 1 and 1A, with preseason and training camp to determine the order. They seem a well-matched pair, with Howard’s physical style complementing Breida’s speed and explosiveness.
Two things to keep in mind:
1) While Breida has improved as a receiver, neither is an elite third down back as a receiver. Breida is adequate, better than Howard in that regard. Perry, the rookie seventh rounder from Navy, could ultimately could emerge as Miami’s best option on third down; NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said that could be his NFL niche initially. And don’t rule out Laird having a role on third down; he impressed as a receiver late last season.
2) The hope is that Howard and Breida avoid the injuries that hampered them late last season. Howard missed six games with a shoulder injury last season after missing only one game in his first three years. Breida missed three games last season and was bothered by an ankle injury late in the year, but 49ers people give him credit for trying to play through it.
If the Dolphins keep four backs - and if Perry continues to be listed as a running back even though he likely will play both running back and receiver - then Laird, Ballage and Gaskin are likely competing for one spot. The Dolphins conceivably could keep five - Jordan, Breida, Perry and two among Laird, Ballage, Gaskin or a waiver wire pickup.
Though seventh rounders aren’t automatic to stick, it’s very difficult to envision Miami not investing in Perry and his tantalizing multi-dimensional talents for at least a year.
Miami can save a roster spot by using linebacker Elandon Roberts at fullback, where he logged snaps for New England. That would leave Cox expendable.
WIDE RECEIVERS
▪ Under contract (11): DeVante Parker, Preston Williams, Albert Wilson, Jakeem Grant, Allen Hurns, Gary Jennings, Ricardo Louis, Isaiah Ford, Mack Hollins and undrafted rookie free agents Kirk Merritt and Matt Cole.
▪ What’s ahead: Williams has said he will be ready for the season coming off ACL surgery, and if that proves to be the case, then the automatics for the 53-man roster are Parker, Williams, Wilson (took a pay cut from $9.5 million to $3 million) and Grant. Wilson is the favorite for the slot receiver job.
That would leave Hurns and Ford (who impressed in December) as slight front-runners for the final two spots, with Jennings, Louis and perhaps Merritt pushing them.
Louis missed all of last season with a knee injury but did start 12 games for Cleveland in 2016 and 17, with 45 career receptions. Jennings, Seattle’s fourth-rounder last season, was injured in his first game as a Dolphin but is worth developing, considering the impressive college production at West Virginia (168 receptions, 2294 yards, 17 touchdowns).
Merritt isn’t the caliber prospect that Williams was last season, but the production the past two seasons at Arkansas State (83-1005 and 70-806 and 19 touchdown catches), combined with the athleticism and instincts give him a chance.
Cole, one of the top prospects in Division 2, cried when Flores called to offer him a job after the draft (per SI.com) and his speed gives him a chance to stick on the practice squad.
TIGHT ENDS
▪ Under contract (five): Mike Gesicki, Durham Smythe, Michael Roberts, Chris Myarick and Bryce Sterk.
▪ What’s ahead: Little intrigue here, beyond whether Roberts or Smythe wins the No. 2 job, and whether Myarick does enough to stick on the 53 after a year on the practice squad.
PFF rated Smythe 60th of 72 tight ends but 24th as a run blocker. Roberts sat out last season with a shoulder injury after failing a physical with the Patriots, following his trade from Detroit, where he started five games in two seasons. Like Smythe, Roberts is considered a solid blocker.
Gesicki, perhaps Miami’s most improved player last season, has the faith of the staff, to the point that Miami never added an established tight end in the draft process.
The only addition at the position, Sterk, was a defensive end at Division II Montana State.
OFFENSIVE LINE
▪ Under contract or team control (15): Ted Karras, Jesse Davis, Ereck Flowers, Julien Davenport, Michael Deiter, Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt, Solomon Kindley, Shaq Calhoun, Danny Isidora, Keaton Sutherland, Adam Pankey and undrafted rookies Donell Stanley (South Carolina), Jonathan Hubbard (Northwestern State), and Nick Kaltmayer (Kansas State).
▪ What’s ahead: The starting lineup likely will featuring Jackson or Davenport at left tackle (Jackson will have every chance to win the job), Flowers at left guard, Karras at center and Hunt and Davis on the right side (with both expected to work at right tackle and one of them ultimately shifting to guard).
So that’s six players who will very likely be on the team. Kindley, the rookie fourth rounder, is the seventh; he figures to begin his rookie season as a backup guard. Deiter will have a chance to compete to start at right guard and is likely to stick as an eighth.
That would leave Calhoun, Isidora and Stanley as the top challengers for a ninth and 10th job. I include Stanley in that group because he’s a natural center, and the roster lacks a young, developmental center, though Deiter and Calhoun could play there if needed and Sutherland - who didn’t stand out in four appearances last season -is listed as a center/guard.
Pankey, a developmental tackle, started one game for the Dolphins last season but has appeared in just four NFL games over three seasons, having spent his first two years in Green Bay. Hubbard and Kaltmayer are long shots as developmental tackles.
And if two among Calhoun, Isidora and Stanley make the team as ninth and 10th linemen, they would stand at risk of being replaced by waiver wire pickups Labor Day weekend. But Miami likes Stanley’s upside, and keep in mind that Isidora started the first three games last season before a season-ending injury, while Calhoun started seven games.
Incidentally, the Dolphins hope Jackson is good enough to win the left tackle job in camp or early in the season. One member of the organization concedes it would be far from ideal if Davenport starts this season; he has allowed 18 sacks in his last 23 NFL games for Houston and Miami, per Pro Football Focus.
Here’s a look at where Miami stands on defense.
Here’s my Wednesday exclusive on UM athletic department employees being furloughed and an update on the status of Hurricanes football season.
Here’s my Wednesday piece on the Marlins’ outfield prospects, part 3 of a 5-part series.
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 5:45 PM.
