Kelly: Darren Waller’s the biggest mystery about the Dolphins’ offense | Opinion
There seems to be a secret sauce to the Miami Dolphins offense that nobody has seen, or tasted yet. Not even the chefs responsible for cooking it.
Darren Waller has been signed for two months, but hasn’t participated in a full practice since coming out of retirement earlier this summer.
The soon-to-be 33-year-old tight end’s first full practice with the Dolphins’ offense since his 2024 retirement will be next week, and if I’m being transparent, I have never seen this organization more patient or arrogant about anything the Dolphins have done in the past two decades.
That’s why anything the franchise is asked about Waller the response is figuratively a waving of the hand, as if to say “no worries.”
“We want him available for 17 games rather than come out here and prove something in preseason and then he pulls [something] or gets hurt and then he’s out for a while,” general manager Chris Grier said this week when pressed about Waller’s lack of involvement during training camp, which he’s skipped all of.
Considering Waller’s replacing Jonnu Smith, who was traded this summer despite setting every single-season franchise record for the tight end position, there’s plenty at stake in Waller’s return to football. But the Dolphins coaches and executives aren’t worried in the slightest.
Waller is supposedly well-versed on the offense, especially since he has history with offensive coordinator Frank Smith, whose relationship with Waller is the main reason his Pro Bowl career took off with the Las Vegas Raiders. Smith’s one of two people Waller said he would come out of retirement to play for, with Jon Gruden being the other.
Waller’s supposedly in good — but not great shape — especially after competing nationally last year in HYROX challenges, which is a fitness run that combines running with functional exercise. But if you listen to Waller, that type of training is far different than football training.
“HYROX is just very constant cardio, no rest, whereas football is a power output for about six seconds. You’ve got a rest before you just go and do it again and do it again, and do it again. So it requires a different level of training, different level of strength training as far as getting yourself cardiovascularly ready,” Waller explained. “There’s a pretty wide gap between the two, but they are both big challenges.”
That’s the reason the Dolphins have intentionally slow-cooked Waller’s return to football. They want to ensure there isn’t too much, mentally and physically, put on his plate too soon.
Waller admitted he has had physical setbacks during his strength training, but nothing that will derail his availability for the Sept. 7 season opener against the Indianapolis Colts.
However, curious minds are wondering how effective Waller will be with one week to work on how he fits into Miami’s offense, and a week to develop chemistry with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa?
Coach Mike McDaniel claims he won’t worry about Tagovailoa and Waller’s chemistry until he notices that the timing of the routes are off, or he witnesses Tagovailoa throwing errant passes to Smith’s replacement.
“I’m comfortable until I’m shown a reason not to feel comfortable,” McDaniel said. “Then with those two guys and how intentional they are, that just takes one meeting of concerted detail before I think that they will be in step, so I’m not too concerned.”
The NFL world knows what Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and De’Von Achane can do with Tagovailoa’s in the kitchen, but that fourth ingredient could be the deciding factor on how tantalizing the Dolphins offense will be in 2025.
Will the Dolphins possess the top-ranked offense, like they had in 2023 for the entire season? Or will the recipe be off like 2024, when Miami produced the NFL’s 18th-ranked offense in yards and 24th in total points, running an offense that featured the tight ends being targeted 151 times — or 25% of the offense’s passing attempts — last season.
That’s a huge percent of the offense to wait till next week to unveil, and put in the hands of a player who walked away from football last season because he lost his love for the game and was battling with some personal issues.
“[We just need] reps, getting time under tension, knowing how he’s getting the ball off when he hits his drop. What that looks like for me,” said Waller, who has averaged 66 receptions and scored 3.6 touchdowns a season in the five seasons since his career took off in 2019. “[When I] whip my head around [how does Tagovailoa’s] ball come in…. It’s just time, just continuing to grind at it and those things start to become second nature.”
Let’s hope the wait is worth it.
