Dolphins Sunday Mailbag: Tua, Jackson, Tight Ends, and More

What's the best approach to get the most out of Terron Armstead? How much concern should there be about the defensive line? Tackling those and other Miami Dolphins issues

Miami Dolphins guard Austin Jackson (73) at the line of scrimmage against the Kansas City Chiefs in a 2024 AFC wild card game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. / Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Third and final part of the preseason finale weekend Miami Dolphins On Si mailbag:

From Francisco Rivero (@Francisc0River0):

Hello Alain, one of this year’s fan favorites is Storm Duck. I personally think he has one of the greatest names in football. What are your top 5 names in football?

Hey Francisco, I’m just going to go with all-time Dolphins players here and start with Obafemi Ayanbadejo. Being a Showtime Lakers fan, I obviously liked Karim Abdul-Jabbar. And then there was Cory Lekkerkerker (“Pat, I’ll take a K please”). I’ll stop at three, but as a bonus throw in a name from my days as an editor at Basketball Weekly, a player at a Florida university (Florida A&M maybe) by the name of Scientific Mapp.

From Harry (@Pitt123412Macey):

Most important non-skill player on roster and why you think so.... Austin Jackson for me protects blind side

Hey Harry, if we’re talking non-skill position, yeah, it’s tough to argue with your selection. I also might throw in there Zach Sieler because the Dolphins have some question marks on the defensive line and he needs to have a big year if the defense is to not overfeel the effects of Christian Wilkins’ departure.

From John Hunt (@IronmanJohnHunt):

With all of the talk about Tua and Flores this week, I believe it's important to remember the circumstances with Flores being fired. If recollection serves there was a power struggle with Grier and Flores, not to mention the issues documented with Tua. Can you talk about this?

Hey John, yeah, the best way to boil it down is that Flores didn’t necessarily work well with others in the organization, players and coaches. Owner Stephen Ross talked about communication issues in the press release announcing the coaching change and the Tua relationship clearly was part of the issue. There also was a report suggesting that Flores wanted more control over personnel decisions and ultimately Ross decided to make the move. So it was a combination of factors that led to Flores being fired after two back-to-back winning seasons, one of them absolutely being the way he handled Tua.

From Shaun Braley (@shaunbraley):

What do you think, from watching practice, will be the most likely change to our offense…more TE production, more short-yard runs, something else?

Hey Shaun, this looks like a pretty easy to me, and it’s more production from the tight end position. I would expect Jonnu Smith to easily be the third-leading receiver on the team in 2024 behind Hill and Waddle.

From Flipper13 (@Flipper13):

Prediction of the Dolphins 53-man roster. You can leave a couple of spots for new guys from other teams. Just predict the positions.

Hey Flipper, final roster projection is pending, but just predicting positions, my latest projection had 3 QBs, 5 RB/HB, 6 WR, 3 TE, 9 OL, 5 IDL, 5 EDGE, 4 LB, 10 DB, 3 SP. I obviously was wrong on the QB, which is not a good start for me.

THE BEST APPROACH WITH TERRON ARMSTEAD

From Brian Z. (via email):

Would you think it would be wise to sit Terron Armstead when not needed? It seems like a dumb question. However, he has never played a full season.  Perhaps, they start him situationally throughout the year. They put him in games against better teams. They do not start him in games against weaker teams. A weaker team, with a bad pass rush, he sits. A great team, he plays. It keeps him fresh and ready for end of year and playoffs when we really need him. As a fan of the Toronto Raptors, I remember they did this with Kawhi Leonard and they went on to win their only NBA championship. I know it goes against all logic to sit a healthy Pro Bowler, but maybe it helps the team. Thoughts?

Hey Brian, you start thinking you don’t “need” Armstead because of the opponent, that’s when you get in trouble and lose games you shouldn’t lose. This unfortunately isn’t the NBA where you play 82 games and you can’t afford to sit players. No, Armstead should be in the lineup whenever he’s good to go, with the understanding that he comes out once the outcome no longer is in doubt — as should be the case with every front-line player.

From Chris Davis (@KyLouFinFan):

Two questions. 1) who knows more about football your or Omar Kelly and 2) how complex relatively is this offense and how, if at all, does that impact the decision to not bring in QB2 competition at this point? Thx. Kidding (not kidding maybe) about 1).

Hey Chris, regarding 1, is that a trick question? LOL. I’ll let others decide that one actually. Regarding 2, sure, the offense is complex, but this notion that any system is rocket science compared to others is a bit overblown to me. What the offense requires, though, is an awful lot of timing with the receivers, and this is where having spent time in the offense comes into play.

From Pajake Japat (@D1nonlyJP:

Hey Poup…we still look like finesse team. Have you seen anything encouraging that might lead you to think we’ll have a different result in the playoffs against tough cold-weather teams?

Hey Pajake, this looks like a finesse team to me on offense and it will remain that way as long as speed remains the calling card. Having said that, it doesn’t mean the Dolphins won’t be able to match up against tough cold-weather teams and they also have more options to attack opponents with the arrival of Jonnu Smith and also maybe Odell Beckham Jr.

CONCERNS ABOUT THE DEFENSIVE LINE

Alain, my concern with the Dolphins remains the DL where you have a 37-year-old player in Campbell, Zach Sieler and then a bunch of unproven playesr. Do you see Grier doing anything to upgrade the interior DT before the start of the season?

Hey Mason, yes, this is one area where I could see the Dolphins either making a trade for a veteran or perhaps claiming somebody off waivers after each team makes their moves to get down to the 53-player limit. I, like you, am a little uneasy about the depth at that spot.

From Fil (@FillKollin):

Mailbags szn is best. ThnkU!! - Ezukanma, just not the guy? Our first 3 weeks are tough, Jax is a tone-setter game imo, what’s ur way-too-early prediction week 1? Is X unemployed enough to return? OL best-case scenario? Will Tua scramble fr? Any juicy rumor?

First off, thanks. Rapid-fire answers for multiple questions (those are the rules): Ezukanma has a very intriguing skill set and I absolutely would think he can contribute to the offense in 2024. Sorry, I don’t make predictions two weeks before the game, but I always like the Dolphins in a September afternoon home game. I can’t envision any scenario where X returns to the Dolphins. The best-case scenario for the OL is Armstead stays healthy and plays all 17 games. I absolutely would expect more scrambling from Tua in 2024? Sorry, don’t have a juicy rumor at this time.