Dolphins still doing due diligence on QBs. Who they brought in and who’s available.
A six-pack of Miami Dolphins notes on a Thursday:
▪ The Dolphins are content with the quarterbacks they have — Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tua Tagovailoa on the 53-man roster and Jake Rudock on the practice squad.
But they’re still doing due diligence on QBs who are or become available. They summoned at least one of them, rookie Reid Sinnett, to team headquarters this week for a workout.
In his only season as a college starter for the San Diego Toreros last year, the 6-4 Sinnett completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 3,528 yards, 32 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while rushing for 174 yards and six touchdowns. He was named first team All-PFL and a finalist for the Walter Payton Award and completed 9 of 16 passes for 93 yards in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl game.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave him $150,000 guaranteed after he went undrafted but released him from the roster Labor Day weekend, then cut him from the practice squad Tuesday, two days after signing former Dolphins quarterback Josh Rosen to their practice squad.
If there’s an injury to Fitzpatrick or Tagovailoa, the Dolphins likely will add another quarterback.
And in that circumstance, they would decide whether to go with Rudock as the No. 2 or whether to consider veteran available options such as Blake Bortles, Drew Stanton, Cody Kessler, Paxton Lynch and Alex Tanney. And Colin Kaepernick also remains available, of course.
But they had enough faith in Tagovailoa’s ability and health to believe a third QB on the 53 simply isn’t needed.
▪ There was competition everywhere on this roster in August except one area: the team’s specialists.
So why did the Dolphins decide not to bring in competition for kicker Jason Sanders, punter Matt Haack and sixth-round rookie long snapper Blake Ferguson?
“It’s a combination really and I think it goes back to an understanding of the lay of the land with not being able to conduct on-field offseason work,” Dolphins special teams coach Danny Crossman said. “There are a lot of reps where you maybe would’ve had some other legs, and then with the numbers going from 90 to 80. So there are a lot of things that goes into it.
“But it’s a production business. Guys have to perform. We like where those guys are at. It’s a constant conversation.”
The Dolphins did a Zoom session with Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship (now with the Colts) and studied him closely but decided to stick with Sanders, who was just 25th in field goal percentage last season at 76.7 (23 for 30). But 69 percent of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks in 2019, which was 11th best in the league for kickers with a minimum of 50 kickoffs.
“Reflecting back, as low as my percentage was last year, I liked the things I did,” Sanders said. “I had a lot of big kicks. It was a slow start, but I had a lot of big kicks and a couple of big plays.”
Haack was 21st in average at 45.0 and 18th in net average at 41.1.
There was never any doubt that Ferguson would be the long snapper, considering Miami invested a sixth-round pick in him.
▪ Some young-player feedback from the three Dolphins veterans made available to reporters on Thursday:
Asked what can be expected from second-round defensive tackle Raekwon Davis, Davon Godchaux said: “You got to wait on Sunday to see him. Like coach [Nick] Saban said, great physical ability, 6-7, 338. He’s a big guy. You guys got to stay tuned on Sunday and see for yourself.”...
Safety Bobby McCain said rookie cornerback Noah Igbinoghene is intelligent and “probably won’t make the same mistake twice” and that second-year corner Nik Needham should take a jump in year two: “The game is slower to him. He’s understanding technique better. Those two guys will be real good this year.”
▪ Quick stuff part 1: McCain feels a greater comfort level in his second year at safety, as far as “understanding the defense, my role and where I fit in the defense, knowing I can make plays on the ball at free safety.” This, on paper, should be one of the better pass-defending secondaries in the league…
Matt Breida is considered a better pass-catching option than Jordan Howard, who’s first on the depth chart at running back. Asked about perceptions of his limitations as a receiver out of the backfield, Howard bemoaned that it’s “hard to shake it when someone forms an opinion on that.”
Howard has the third-most rushing yards and seventh-most touchdowns since 2016. Though Howard has caught 82 passes for 637 yards in his career, Pro Football Focus said his “receiving ability is widely known for being poor. In his four seasons, Howard owns a whopping 16 percent drop rate and has generated only 0.79 yards per route run.”
▪ Quick stuff part 2: As is the case with the Heat and Marlins and Panthers, the Dolphins won’t have their radio announcers travel, at least initially. So while the Dolphins are playing in New England on Sunday, Jimmy Cefalo, Joe Rose and new co-analyst Jason Taylor will call the game from Hard Rock Stadium.
WQAM-560 and WKIS-FM 99.9 headline the Dolphins’ radio network….
The Dolphins caution against the narrative that the Patriots are greatly diminished without Tom Brady. “Last time I checked, [new starter Cam Newton] can make every throw, can outrun people,” Godchaux said.
▪ In the Tua Tagovailoa documentary that is airing on Fox on 3:30 p.m. or shortly thereafter on Saturday (it was originally set to air last Sunday), he mentioned that his deceased grandfather told him to be a lion and not a gazelle.
“I think that saying really relates to life in general for me,” Tagovailoa said in a recent interview with South Florida media. “You’ve got the lion and the gazelle. They both wake up in the morning and they’ve both got to run.
“One is running to something and one is running away from something, and which one are you? For me, you take on the mindset of trying to wake up and become a lion every day. You always want to go and chase your goals for the day, get better, do something good for the community, and I really think it’s just something that I can take in life in general and not just training camp. I’m chasing to be the best Tua that I can be both on and off the field, and really that’s it.”
Here’s what Brian Flores said on Thursday morning, including comments about Byron Jones’ injury, why Miami signed Antonio Callaway and more.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 1:20 PM.
