How the Miami Dolphins’ spring and summer of 2021 so far has failed them
When the Dolphins were drubbed by 30 points in Week 17 against Buffalo on Jan. 3, the message was painfully clear to anyone paying attention: Miami needed to upgrade its personnel to become a playoff team.
Acquiring a few veteran, productive starters in their prime certainly could have helped.
Instead, the Dolphins ended up subtracting more of those types of players than adding them. By relying on mostly bargain additions (aside from Will Fuller) and high draft picks, the Dolphins generally haven’t added players who have exceeded - or in some cases, even matched - the contributions of the players sent packing.
The issue isn’t necessarily jettisoning clear-cut starters Bobby McCain, Kyle Van Noy, Ereck Flowers and Ted Karras — and parting with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Shaq Lawson. Fitzpatrick wasn’t going to return as a backup, and none of the four other players were going to be the difference between being a very good team and a mediocre one.
The bigger issue is that none of their replacements have been clearly better — if as good.
And this, too, has been a problem: The Dolphins’ new additions haven’t done enough so far to make a significant difference.
The expectation is that receiver Will Fuller will be the exception. He caught three passes for just 20 yards in his Dolphins debut Sunday but secured the game-tying two point conversion and drew what should have been a pass interference call in the end zone in overtime. So based on his career body of work, Fuller has a good chance to justify his one-year, $10.6 million contract.
As for Jacoby Brissett, credit is due for the game-tying drive late in regulation Sunday and the overtime drive for a field goal. But his 67.8 passer rating — and mere 374 yards passing in more than eight quarters — are both subpar. And he has not been nearly as good as Fitzpatrick was for the Dolphins last season, when he had 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions and a 95.6 passer rating.
Meanwhile, the other veterans added have made modest contributions.
Cethan Carter, the Dolphins’ first free agent signing, is essentially the fourth or fifth tight end.
Career backup Malcolm Brown, the Dolphins’ answer to their shortcoming at running back, scored on a 24-yard TD run Sunday but failed to score on two Wildcat plays on the goal line late in the game, couldn’t convert on another third and short and committed a costly penalty.
Brown’s career short yardage numbers for the Rams were mediocre (27 conversions in 50 attempts), so it’s puzzling that the Dolphins fashioned him as the panacea for their big-back deficiencies.
Linebacker Benardrick McKinney, the most accomplished front seven player added, didn’t make the team and is out of the league. Matt Skura, Jermaine Eluemunor and D.J. Fluker — the three veteran offensive linemen added — were all released, and Eluemunor resurfaced with the Raiders, where he made a key block on a Las Vegas run that set up the game-winning overtime field goal.
Defensive lineman Adam Butler, the most prominent veteran front seven player acquired aside from McKinney, doesn’t have a sack in three games.
Then there’s slot cornerback Justin Coleman, who has taken playing time away from Nik Needham but hasn’t been as good as Needham was a year ago.
Coleman was targeted four times on Sunday and allowed four receptions for 94 yards. For the season, he has a 118.6 passer rating in his coverage area. Needham was very good playing a lot in Week 1; barely played in Week 2; and allowed three of five targets to be caught for 52 yards on Sunday.
Jason McCourty, at safety, has been adequate but not as good as McCain, who was cut after finishing second among all safeties in passer rating against last season.
So while Fuller presumably will be a major asset, there’s not a single other difference maker in the free agent class, not the aforementioned veterans or John Jenkins or new linebackers Brennan Scarlett and Duke Riley.
The new offensive coordinators - George Godsey and Eric Studesville - have presided over an offense that ranks 30th in points and 31st in yards, a unit that has sputtered along with largely pedestrian play-calling. (Godsey is calling the plays, according to opposing coaches Bill Belichick and Jon Gruden.)
As for the rookies who were high picks, Jaylen Waddle managed just 58 yards on 12 receptions on Sunday (4.8 average). Per ESPN, he’s the first NFL player with 12 plus receptions for fewer than 60 yards in receptions since Brian Westbrook in 2006. Per Stathead, Waddle’s 58 yards were the fewest for any non-running back on 12 or more catches in a single game since statistics started being kept in 1950.
While Waddle has one NFL touchdown, Bengals rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase — selected fifth after Miami traded down from No. 3 — has four TDs in three games. Offensive tackle Penei Sewell, bypassed by the Dolphins, has relinquished no sacks for Detroit.
Miami’s pick at No. 18, linebacker Jaelan Phillips, received his most extensive playing time on Sunday (49 snaps) but produced just two pressures in 30 snaps as a pass rusher. In 58 pass rushing chances this season, he has four pressures and no sacks.
Safety Jevon Holland, selected 36th, forced a fumble in the opener and hasn’t been a big factor the past two weeks; Pro Football Focus said he was third worst among 21 Dolphins who played defensive snaps on Sunday; Holland played 42.
Rookie right tackle Liam Eichenberg on Sunday permitted his second sack in two NFL starts and four quarterback pressures. PFF says he was the worst among 18 players who appeared on offense for the Dolphins.
Third-round pick Hunter Long is buried on the depth chart at the Dolphins’ deepest position — tight end — and has played sparingly since the opener.
So the newcomers haven’t yet paid big dividends. And the young veterans? Several of them - notably Austin Jackson - are seemingly no better, though that’s a story for another day.
