The Dolphins had about a bad of a night as a team could have Thursday in Week 2. They were beaten at home. On national television. By 21. To their division rivals. In a game they were supposed to win. And they lost their franchise QB to a concussion for the third time in three years ahead of their Week 3 loss to Seattle. These demoralizing and emotionless losses really leave a lot of questions for the Dolphins, as they now go from potential Super Bowl candidates for being in contention for a top-10 pick.
What’s Next for the Dolphins?
The Quarterback Situation
The Dolphins are in dire need of a stable quarterback situation. They had it last year. QB Tua Tagovailoa played all 18 games last season, just for him not to last through the first two weeks of the season this year. The Dolphins signed Snoop Huntley who was a serviceable backup for Baltimore, but who knows how he’ll succeed. Skylar Thompson has largely struggled as a starting QB, and he can’t be a long-term solution. Miami had Tim Boyle activated on the active roster in Week 3, and who knows, maybe he’ll spark life into the offense in the future.
The WR3 Issue
You’d expect having the best receiver in the league and another top 10-15 receiver would negate the need for a solid WR3. You’d be wrong. Miami tried multiple options at WR3 over the past year. Braxton Berrios has significantly fallen off. Robbie Chosen is better on the practice squad. Grant Dubose caused the first interception of the game. Miami signed the potential WR3 replacement, but OBJ is on PUP and won’t be able to play until Week 5 against the Patriots at the earliest. Miami cannot sustain drives if Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are off the field at the same time, as they are the driving factors in the offense. Something has to give.
Coaching
Coaching is something I did not think I’d have to talk about this season. With Mike McDaniel going into year 3 in his regime with established OC Frank Smith, you’d expect the offense to run like a well-oiled machine. Instead, the defense was running more fluidly than the offense. The Dolphins are still struggling with year one issues, such as time management or constant and avoidable penalties that set back drives. Miami needs to be able to sustain long drives not off the basis of big plays, and with simple coaching errors, it makes it largely impossible.
Chris Grier, GM
I’ve been largely neutral towards Chris Grier in his time as the Dolphins GM. That’s changed. The man needs to go. Yes, he’s had splash picks like Waddle, Jevon Holland, Jaelan Phillips, etc. On the other hand, he’s put this team into the whole. He continually fails to address the glaring need at offensive line. Any Dolphins fan knew it would not hold up. Tua, despite his healthy season last year, needs to be properly protected. Instead of taking an experienced OL like Graham Barton from Duke in the draft, we took Chop Robinson, another edge rusher to add to the Dolphins flurry of them already. They have Chubb, who would be back soon from PUP, and Phillips, who looks to already be back to prior form. Instead of addressing a need that’ll continually become more and more important, they chose to draft someone whose biggest contribution is an offsides penalty. He’s reached his time, and Miami needs a more experienced GM, one capable of building a roster which is balanced and can play more than half the year.
Conclusion
The Dolphins are now the definition of a problem. They’re struggling, just grasping the surface for air. Until Tua comes back, who knows how much they’ll be able to do and accomplish, relative to that of their sky-high preseason expectations.
Main Image: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
