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Measuring Up – A Look at Miami’s Offense
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Here we are, on the other side of the draft, with new, exciting roster pieces for our Miami Dolphins coaching staff to work with on offense, including the big post-draft free-agent addition of Odell Beckham Jr.

The next stage of the Mike McDaniel Miami Dolphins is well underway, and whilst several pieces of the puzzle have moved on, we have a lot of cause for optimism heading towards the summer months.

I started to wonder how our current situation compares to last season, so I’ve broken down some thoughts below on some key parts of the offense and if that position group has improved or taken a step back compared to last year.

QB – Equal

This is simple: our quarterback room is currently the same as it was 12 months ago, so it feels simple to say we’re equal in that regard. There are speculative arguments to be made, Tua is slimming down and working on his mobility and with the addition of OBJ and Jonnu Smith, there are arguments we could see another step forward in his progression. But to counter that, Tua was already league-leading in many quarterback statistics; we have also lost key pieces of our offensive line, suggesting his protection may be weaker, and his true progression needs to be in those big-time, pressure-cooker games.

So in my thoughts, there are enough speculative positives to offset the speculative negatives surrounding our QB room, to leave us as equal to last season.

RB – BETTER

Jaylen Wright. That is the whole point here.

Raheem Mostert was a revelation last year, having a career year at the age when a lot of top-end RBs are stepping out of the game. He’s older than Todd Gurley and the same age as LeVeon Bell, yet he has put up career numbers. It may be unrealistic to ask that of him again.

That said, we have second-year Devon Achane, too; hopefully, we will be more acclimatized to the rigors of NFL football and can stay healthy for longer periods. With the two alone, we can feel good about our RB situation.

Then we drafted Jaylen Wright—my own RB2—in the entire draft. GM Chris Grier perfectly predicted the run on running backs in that fourth round and stepped up to take another speed demon. Wright gives us another electric option, the ability to catch and run and to keep that high-end speed should Achane or Mostert get hurt. Just adding him alone gives us more depth without losing speed. And that’s an improvement.

WR – BETTER

Immeasurably better. The key pieces of the room are still there. Hill, Waddle, Berrios, and blocking expert Cracraft. They all bring important things to the room, some more obvious than others. Just losing the expendable, replaceable players like Cedrick Wilson and Chase Claypool. The replacements are fantastic. OBJ is the obvious one. We get a WR3 who has a Super Bowl ring and an extensive amount of top-end NFL experience.

He has played in winning cultures, he has high standards, and he chose Miami over money because of how he fits into this offense. We are not getting Prime NYG OBJ; we know that. But we are getting a guy who will likely line up against 3rd-choice cornerbacks often and who can run beautiful routes with safe hands. As a WR3, it’s hard to imagine better.

And then we add Malik Washington, too. Now, there will be a reason all GMs passed on him until the 6th round. That reason will be there, but if we can unlock his undoubted potential, we add a true slot receiver to an already electric WR room. This is crazy exciting to think about.

TE – BETTER

Tight End wasn’t a major note in the offense last year. They were rarely targeted and primarily used as extra linemen. That will no doubt be the case again. Durham Smythe was the most used target in this position group, but that paled compared to tight ends across the league.

After losing Mike Gesicki, Smythe became the top guy but still played and produced like a TE2 despite us not having a TE1. Now I like Durham Smythe. He has good chemistry with Tua, he plays like a Dolphin, and he rarely lets us down. He isn’t a needle mover in this position.

So enter Jonnu Smith. He hasn’t lived up to the promise of some of his days at the Titans. He got his big deal in New England and didn’t live up to that there. But when you think about TEs and a fit for an offense, you can see why Coach McDaniel would have been alive when Smith became available. Leading all TEs in Yards After Catch by some margin, Smith allows us to keep our TE room intact whilst adding a TE1 in addition to Smythe and gives Tua a new big body weapon and Coach Mike ANOTHER YAC option.

OFFENSIVE LINE – WORSE

Unsurprising with the lack of attention Miami made to this position group. And I don’t think there will be anyone out there disagreeing. You can’t lose a top-end Center and a $100m guard and not be affected. Aside from our two Tackles, we have players who would be depth options on most other rosters, filling our interior offensive line.

Brewer came in at center, and his production to date has been far from dominant, seeming to grade in the lower half of most offensive line categories. There are some intriguing scheme fits where he is concerned, and his mobility could be a great asset to Mike McDaniel. But his addition alone doesn’t calm my nerves.

I, for one, was really happy with the Patrick Paul selection. He has some great pass protection statistics from college, works hard, is humble and ready to be coached, and really wants to be coached by our coaching staff. There is a lot to like, in my opinion. But he won’t start above Terron Armstead, and there are concerns about his ability to start at guard in the meantime, so it’s hard to say he helps us be better yet.

That said, we have cap space opening up around the corner. The money freed up by cutting Xavien Howard is on the horizon, and extending Tua will also help our situation in the short term. Now that those extension talks are underway, it gives confidence that we will have space for some more acquisitions. Chris Grier already made it known that they spoke to some guards ahead of the draft about the possibility of signing for Miami if the position wasn’t addressed through that process. He also made it known that they are closely monitoring the situation with Connor Williams. So I completely believe this room is not yet complete… but for now… it is in worse shape, in my opinion.

So there we have it. It is hard to look at last year’s offense and not see them as electric. There are questions about them in big games and in cold conditions, and they have to live with those questions until they provide the answers for them.

But in my opinion, all but one of our position groups are in equal or better shape than they were last season, which makes for an extremely exciting time being a fan of the Dolphins, with big play potential on almost every snap of the football.

This article first appeared on Dolphins Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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