Saturday Dolphins Mailbag: Tua, Brooks, Bland, and More
Part 2 of the pre-Cowboys game All Dolphins mailbag:
From Crash Jensen (@Sngly):
Not the greatest question here, mainly because your thorough coverage has answered all my questions: Do you think McDaniel will exploit DaRon Bland’s propensity for pick-6s, somehow use his inclination to jump routes against him? Fake some short out routes, then throw deep?
Hey Crash, that should be the case with every overly aggressive cornerback, and if you think back to the Tua touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle against the Jets, that’s exactly what the Dolphins exploited. Waddle made a sudden quick move toward the inside, D.J. Reed made one tiny wrong step, and it was over. I absolutely expect one or two deep shots on similar routes against the Cowboys.
From Simon Burnett (@SiBurnett):
How important will the 3 inside linemen be to the final result against the Cowboys? If we can run the ball for >100 yards, I can’t see us not winning. But with missing Hunt it could be huge with his ability to maul players. Love the podcast, and the stats.
Thanks Simon, I don’t think rushing for more than 100 yards is imperative in pulling out a win. The Dolphins have failed to reach that mark five times so far this season and they’re 4-1 in those games — wins against the Chargers, Patriots, Raiders and Jets, and the loss at Philadelphia. If the running game falters, but the pass protection holds up and Tua, Tyreek and Waddle have a big outing, the offense still should be productive and then the defense can do the rest.
From Phil Whittall (@simplepastor):
Would you be interested in Joseph-Day who the Chargers just cut?
Hey Phil, given how bad the Chargers defense has been all season, I would not be interested in any player from that unit other than Khalil Mack and Derwin James and maybe Asante Samuel Jr. If the Dolphins are going to add a defensive tackle for depth purposes, I’d just as soon as they sign Ndamukong Suh.
From Orlando Aloisi (@OrlandoAloisi):
Brooks was a blocking beast before he got hurt. For short yardage they go with a 2-fullback set and and run RM; what do you think?
Hey Orlando, I don’t hate your idea, and we have seen times with two tight ends and a fullback, which almost is the same thing. I don’t necessarily think that it’s a McDaniel favorite, but we could see it. Because I’ve seen it many times, I’d caution against expecting seeing Brooks all that often on offense immediately upon his return to the lineup.
From S M D (@asnf6193):
Other than the OL, what other positions are a concern to you?
That’s a simple one and that’s safety as long as Jevon Holland is dealing with his knee issues. Brandon Jones has done a solid job in his absence, but Holland is among the best in the NFL at his position.
From Jonathan Kalman (author) (@jkalman2012):
If you had to guess, what is the Fins’ opening-day O-line next year?
Oh man, that’s a tough one because of the pending free agents on the line. Certainly don’t hold me to this, but I’ll go Armstead, Eichenberg, Williams, Hunt and Jackson. Yes, I think the Dolphins will find a way to keep both Williams and Hunt.
From Jouvanie (@LiefAintThatBad):
Is Dak one of those QBs you think would have the same success as Tua in this offense? The more I watch him operate this offense it seems like it’s really catered to what he does best. He played with speed at Bama, so this perception anybody could handle the speed seems off.
Hey there, here’s what I would say here: I don’t know where fans get this idea that anybody ever said that “anybody” could do it, but on the flip side the idea that “nobody” could do it is ridiculous. And, yes, I’m going to bring this up again — and do so because Teddy Bridgewater took so much criticism last year and because of the narrative that the Dolphins fell apart without Tua. Let’s start with the team going 1-3 in the regular season in the games Tua missed and point out that there was a mid-game injury-related QB change in three of them — the losses against the Jets, Vikings and Pats (and if you don't think that's disruptive, check out Mike White's answer to the hardest thing in football in our First-and-Ten with him on the AllDolphins Podcast). The one game with no in-game QB change was the second Jets game, which the Dolphins won with a rookie seventh-round pick at quarterback. Let’s also add that the Dolphins defense recorded exactly ZERO takeaways in those four games. And let’s finally add that the Dolphins played all four of those games without Terron Armstead, who easily was their best offensive lineman last season. And then let’s just look at Bridgewater’s stats — and before you say it’s ridiculous because it’s such a small sample size, well, the size of the sample hasn’t stopped many fans and even media folks from dumping on him. So check this out: Bridgewater played 128 minutes, 40 seconds of game time (the equivalent of a little bit more than two games) for the Dolphins last season and passed for 683 yards. Tyreek Hill had 18 catches for 309 yards from Bridgewater. Project that over a full 17-game schedule, and that equates to Bridgewater passing for 5,414 yards and Hill having 142 catches for 2,443 yards. In conclusion, I’m not saying Bridgewater is/was as good as Tua because that’s just not so, but this idea that the offense collapsed with him is absurd … unless you want to focus strictly on scoring and wins and losses without factoring in any extenuating circumstances. And, yes, Prescott would have success in this offense. And that's not taking anything away from Tua, whose skill set is perfectly suited to the scheme (and vice versa).
From Uncle Sirloin – Ask me anything (@Uncle_Sirloin):
I'm a "power queen" when it comes to December running backs. Can you see Chris Brooks getting more reps?
Ha! I see what you did there. Cute. I’m not sure what to expect from Brooks, so I go by what we saw before he got injured and what we’ve seen in recent weeks, which means a heavy concentration of Mostert and Achane in the running game. I’m not convinced that’s going to change dramatically down the stretch.
