Dolphins Friday Mailbag: Achane, Chop, Lamm, and More

Who are the leading team MVP candidates on offense and defense? Was the top of the 2021 draft mismanaged? Tackling those and other Miami Dolphins issues

New York Jets safety Jalen Mills (35) attempts to tackle Miami Dolphins running back De'Von Achane (28) during overtime at Hard Rock Stadium. / Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

Part 1 of the pre-Texans game Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag:

From Dolphins Dum Dum:

We are a little more than 3/4 of the way through the season. At this moment who would be your offensive and defensive MVPs for the Miami Dolphins?

Howdy, I think the choice on offense is pretty clear, and that would QB Tua Tagovailoa. He’s the one who has been most consistent (when he’s been in the lineup obviously). On defense, I think I’d be inclined to go with DT Zach Sieler, and I also think that’s a pretty easy choice, with all due respect to Jalen Ramsey (because of all the different things he does).

From Leon Fresco:

Do you think this team has managed its IR slots well? Also, does success of Marcus Maye, David Long, Chris Brooks, Teair Tart, Jack Driscoll (vs. the players here instead, such as Tindall, Meyer, Farrell, Dodson, Carman, Poyer) tell you anything about this front office?

Hey Leon, the Dolphins have one IR spot left (and remember that Chubb and Goode don’t affect it) with four games left, so there’s no reason to have any issue with anything they’ve done with their IR slots. As for the departed players, I think you’re overstating what some have done with their new team. I mean, Marcus Maye had an INT for the Chargers but not much else. I wasn’t on board with releasing either Tart or Brooks, so can’t argue with you there. But Driscoll is a backup and so is Long, so again let’s not overstate things and suggest the Dolphins messed up by letting them go.

From Bag of Donuts:

Why hasn’t any team signed X Howard ?

That’s a good question. Howard did have two workouts, with Cincinnati and Dallas, without signing and my understanding is that financial considerations might have been the problem, as in Howard is looking for more than those teams were willing to give him. I have to say I’m a bit surprised nobody has signed him because I think he’s still a good player when healthy, though he’s not been healthy that much in recent years.

From Jayco:

Achane y/p/c has dropped from 7.8 last year to 3.9 this year. What is your explanation for the steep decline in efficiency?

Hey Jayco, well, first off, there’s no way he was going to put up a 7.8 again because that’s just crazy. I am surprised the average has done that far down, though. Part of the reason is we haven’t seen nearly as many good-sized runs, particularly lately. The Dolphins also are using him a lot more in short-yardage situations, which is bound to have an effect on the average.

From Shaun Braley:

Who ends the year as RB2? Does it feel like Chop is having a similar start to his career as Jaelan Phillips?

Hey Shaun, RB2 clearly is Raheem Mostert if he’s healthy, but that’s obviously a key question because he’s battled chest and hip injuries this season. If not, I suspect it would be Jaylen Wright, though I still don’t understand why it wouldn’t be Jeff Wilson Jr. As for Robinson/Phillips, yeah, I can see similarities, though I think Phillips contributed in more different ways as a rookie than Chop has, though Chop has been maybe more impactful as a pass rusher (sacks aside).

From Ben Gayda:

Who starts at RT if Lamm can't go? Would it be Wynn, after a year away from the field? Desperate times.

Hey Ben, my best guess is that if Lamm can’t play against the Texans on Sunday, your starting right tackle would be Jackson Carman, recently signed to the 53 off the practice squad. Wynn would be an option, but he’s better suited to playing guard.

From Jorge boyd:

Hi Alain, if the Dolphins have Sieler and Campbell, why are they not as good against the run this year?

Hey Jorge, it’s not as simple as having two good players on the defensive line. First, Campbell can only play so many snaps because of his age, so he’s not on the field a lot of times. They also can’t single-handedly stop the run, and sometimes they get blocked, sometimes they don’t but the play is away from them and either the edge defenders or linebackers aren’t there to clean things up. Sometimes somebody dives too hard inside and get sealed off and it opens up a big hole outside. Sometimes the defender is there, but there’s a missed tackle. There are a lot of factors involved.

From Brandon Quinn:

For all of the talk about Tua over Herbert, it kills me that Chris Grier’s biggest sin never gets talked about - Waddle and Chubb over the 2nd most talented receiver of all time behind Moss, Ja’Marr Chase. The Trey Lance deal has been widely lauded. But in essence, we got Waddle and Chubb. With the 2022 1st rounder we dealt to get back up for Waddle (which was a higher pick than the 2022 we traded for Hill) could have landed us any 1 of these guys: Garrett Wilson, Olave, Jameson Williams, Kyle Hamilton, Zion Johnson, Trent McDuffie, Tyler Smith and Lindbaum, Cole Strange, Karlaftis, Pickens, Kenneth Walker or breece Hall. In reality, Chris Grier chose an aging and twice-extended Hill, a busted and extended Chubb, and Jaylen Waddle, over Ja’Marr Chase and one of those guys. Does watching Bengals games hurt you as much as it hurts me?

Hey Brandon, that is a fascinating question you bring up. I’ve been on record as saying I loved the move down from 3 to 12 to pick two extra first-round picks and personally would have left it at that, and the Dolphins could have had Micah Parsons or Rashawn Slater at 12. Then after moving to 6, I’m not 100 percent I wouldn’t have jumped all over Penei Sewell. But, sure, maybe staying put at 3 and taking Chase would have been the right move, but I didn’t mind the original trade. It was the 15th pick overall in 2022 the Dolphins wound up trading to the Eagles to get back to 6 in 2021, and they could have gotten Trent McDuffie with that pick (not Wilson or Olave or Williams or Kyle Hamilton, who all went before that).