Dolphins assistants dish on new players, including revamped running back and receiver room
Oh, to be a fly on the wall: Four months from the season opener, new Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel and his offensive assistants - blessed to have perhaps the league’s fastest wide receiver tandem (Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle) - have been brainstorming, jotting down creative plays and ways to get defenses on their heels.
As wide receivers coach Wes Welker said Wednesday, the coaches have been sitting together “coming up with different things we can do utilizing the speed that we have. It’s an ongoing process thinking about plays, routes, different schemes that take advantage of their skill sets.”
Welker’s reaction when McDaniel told him the Dolphins were getting six-time Pro Bowl receiver Hill from Kansas City?
“I was super excited,” Welker said. “Anytime you add a player of that caliber, it definitely will make you a better coach. [We’ll] see how far we can take it.”
Welker’s early impression of Hill: “The way he practices is a key to his success because he only knows one speed. He goes hard and he’s fun to be around.”
In their first session with reporters since free agency and the draft, Dolphins assistant coaches sized up some of their new players on Wednesday:
▪ We learned that the Dolphins’ interest in fourth round receiver Erik Ezukanma further intensified after a private workout with Welker in Lubbock, Texas, shortly before the draft.
“There were certain things watching on film you saw glimpses but you didn’t know,” Welker said. “Being able to see it first hand was key in the evaluation process. This kid is way more talented than what we initially thought.
“His hands are really, really good. They didn’t have a huge route tree at Texas Tech. It was key to get in there and get a workout with him. The workout showed everything we thought was possible with him. A guy that size [6-2] who can come out of breaks, it’s a unique skill set, of being able to run as fast as you can and break down at that size and have the hands and body strength to make contested catches.”
Welker spoke to McDaniel after the workout. “We filmed the whole thing [and Chris Grier and McDaniel and the scouts] got to see it themselves. We’re fired up to have him.”
▪ Welker said former Cowboys receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. is “very smooth route runner” and raved about former 49ers receiver Trent Sherfield, whom he coached in San Francisco.
I emerged believing Sherfield has a very good chance to stick:
“There is so much to like about [Trent]. As a coach, he’s almost a security blanket having a guy like that because you know he will do it exactly the way we talked about.
“Trent is a worker. Not only a great player but a culture guy. He will bring it every single day. First in the building, last to leave. his toughness, his size, his speed, his physicality, his hands….
“He’s been great for our room and showing all the guys who haven’t been in the offense how we do things. It’s been key having him here.”
▪ Defensive coordinator Josh Boyer and linebackers coach Anthony Campanile both cited the same quality - speed - when asked the quality that jumped out about linebacker Channing Tindall, Miami’s first draft pick at 102 overall.
“He’s definitely a guy that can really, really run,” Campanile said. “He’s a guy we would define as a run and hit guy. We’re always looking for guys that have versatility. He definitely has shown that in his career at Georgia.
“Really good special teams player, has played on the ball, off the ball. You get a good feel for what he’s like in coverage. Fitting the run game. Even as a pass rusher, did some really, really good things at Georgia. Those are the guys we covet. It has to fit from a personality standpoint. He’s a guy’s guy. Really liked him as a kid.”
Boyer said: “He was able to pursue and get to the ball very well. It even showed up in special teams with him. On kickoff he was the first guy down the field. His ability to chase down sideline to sideline. There are a lot of things to work on. We’re going to ask him to do multiple things.”
▪ Running backs coach Eric Studesville, on his three new veteran backs, Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert and Sony Michel:
“Chase and Raheem; that’s a lot of speed that’s been added. Chase brings speed, he brings experience, he brings a toughness and competitive back… What we have with Raheem is we have a really, really smart guy who’s been in this system before. He’s had production in this system. His skillset is he can run and he makes good decisions with the ball in his hands…
“[Michel] wanted to be back down here in this area. But I think the main thing is he’s a really, really good football player. He’s demonstrated that and played and contributed on very successful teams [the Patriots and the 2021 Super Bowl champion Rams] and I’d like to see that continue here.”
As for Myles Gaskin, who began last season as the starter, his future seems murky. (My words, not Studesville’s.)
“I just think that Myles isn’t going to oversell what he can do and he’s going to try to out-perform what he thinks he can do,” Studesville said.
Studesville, retained from last year’s staff, said McDaniel is “ very committed” to the run:
“He sees it as an integral part of offensive success and we all do and we’ve all bought into that… Our job is to make sure that what he wants, we can get as close to giving it to him as possible.”
One thing that’s clear: “We’ve got guys that can run,” Studesville said. “Myles is fast and Salvon [Ahmed] is fast. These [new] guys may be faster. Our game is fast all over the place and so if you have fast guys, that’s an advantage.”
The new quarterbacks coach (Darrell Bevell), offensive line coach (Matt Applebaum) and cornerbacks coach (Sam Madison) didn’t speak to reporters on Wednesday but plan to this weekend during the team’s rookie minicamp that begins on Friday.
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 5:57 PM.
