Saturday Dolphins Mailbag: Armstead, Needham, Fangio, and More

Could Jaylen Waddle be traded this offseason? Why did the season end in disappointment? Tackling those and other Miami Dolphins questions

Part 2 of the post-playoff game All Dolphins mailbag:

From CeeDoubleB (@CeeDoubleB954):

Was this the best version of this core roster we will see?

I think the roster the Dolphins had for the Black Friday game against the Jets was as good as it might get. They had practically everybody available for that game.

From Earl Gottfried (via email):

Hello Alain, I guess it looks like Flores knew best after the performances over the weekend. Jordan Love elevated his game and team to beat the Cowboys (handily) and Tua stayed on the bottom with his. Where do the Dolphins go from here? Ride out the option year with Tua and hope he figures it out (or has "it" in him), sign him to an extension figuring he will get things figured out, or start looking around for an alternative (draft or free agent)? Deshaun Watson is looking like a bust in Cleveland (or at least not worth the $$$), so it is good Ross didn't want to meet his demands. Do they blame it on the O-line and injuries, beef it up and hope that is enough? Pull (suggest) the play calling from McDaniel? Or is it all of the above?

Hey Earl, my best guess is the Dolphins will wind up signing him to an extension this offseason. Watson has been an absolute bust so far for Cleveland, though he was starting to look good before he was sidelined for the season with a shoulder injury. The play-calling will not be pulled from McDaniel.

From Michael LaVigne (@EH_MicLaV):

Why didn’t Needham get on the field more? Did he practice poorly?

Hey Michael, that’s an excellent question. Vic Fangio talked on more than one occasion about how Needham took some time to catch up after being coming from a torn Achilles, so it may have been a case of Fangio never feeling comfortable with him.

From Joe Blow (@JoeBlow82467852):

Is Justin Fields a real option?

Hey Joe, no, I wouldn’t expect anything of the sort to happen.

From Thomas Hudson (via email):

Hi Alain, thank you for another season's worth of coverage. Your stuff is always informative. I don't know what the schedule may be for mailbags in the offseason because you definitely deserve a vacation. Anyway if you get the chance to answer these somewhere, that would be cool, if not I understand. Have you heard anything about Ezukanma? The little bit I saw left me wondering if he would be able to play football again. Does Tua need to do a better job stepping up and lighting a fire under the offense when they are feeling down? It does not really seem to be his personality, but sometimes a leader has to go things they are not comfortable with for the good of the team. And last, and I hope this is overreaction at the bitterness of the end of the season, but is Mike McDaniel giving off some Adam Gase vibes? I am a little concerned about how often he says they just need to execute better. I know he also says there are play calls he wishes he could have back, but I am starting to get the feeling that he thinks his scheme should be good enough to beat any defense without taking the defense's strengths and weaknesses into account.

Hey Thomas, thanks, we will be here all offseason with weekend mailbags while still finding some time to squeeze in a vacation or two. For your questions, rapid fire, saw Ezukanma in the locker room Monday and he didn’t like a guy who wasn’t coming back in 2024. Tua is not a screamer, if that’s what you’re asking. There are similarities between McDaniel and Gase, but I think MMcD is more of a player’s coach than Gase, who never was quite as quick to publicly put the blame on himself.

From Steven MacDuaig (@SMacCuaig):

Is Armstead worth keeping at his salary if he can only play half the games a year?

Hey Steven, it’s not like the Dolphins have much of a choice unless Armstead decides he wants to retire because of his cap situation. Besides, Armstead is usually very good when he’s in the lineup.

From Jason Kirkland (@1bigdad424):

What's up, Alain? As always, love all your work. If you were GM, what 3 players would you re-sign/extend and what 3 players would you let walk?

Hey Jason, I’d re-sign Wilkins, Hunt and Lamm and I would let walk Bruce Irvin, Justin Houston and Calvin Munson given their age and/or how late they joined the team.

From Jason Mitchell (@JasonMitch11722):

Hi Alain, what do you put the season fizzling out down too? Injuries, coaching, somewhat predictable play calling or just not good enough against the top-tier teams? And have we missed our window for success given our cap situation? Keep up the good work.

Hey Jason, thanks. The answer to your question is all of the above, though I would add the best players not being the best players at crunch time. And I think the Dolphins might have another year in the window but it’s going to close soon.

From Mark Khouri (@Markkhouri7Mark):

Hey Alain, why is everyone in Miami brainwashed by Tua? Every media outlet and 99% of the fan base continue to defend his awful play in big games. Omar keeps bringing up his stats but doesn’t he realize that’s he a product of Tyreek? Stats were below average before Hill got there.

Hey Mark, not sure I get the “brainwashed by Tua” thing. Your percentages also are way off because there are media members, myself included, who will point out when he doesn’t play well and there is a wide variety of opinion about him from fans. How much of Tua’s production the past two years should be attributed to Hill certainly can be debated.

From Pat McCollum (@PatMcCollum):

People are trashing Chris Grier. Even though he assembled a winning roster, it’s not good enough. Shouldn’t he be credited for what he didn’t do? He didn’t give away the farm for Watson. He didn’t bite on D. Cook. Granted, the season didn’t end the way we all wanted it to. But, all in all, we had a great year. What’s it going to take to convince people to let the process play out? Rome wasn’t built in a day. I have no issue with Grier’s decisions.

Hey Pat, couple of things: The Watson trade, by all accounts, fell apart because owner Stephen Ross backed out because Watson didn’t settle all the civil lawsuits, so it wasn’t a Grier decision there. As for Rome not being built in a day, the Dolphins began a rebuilding project in 2019, we’re in 2024, and they have zero playoff wins to show for it at this point. So there’s absolutely room for criticism.

From Mike Hernandez (@MadmanMikeDD):

Last 3-4 games… I’ve seen Vic Fangio’s defense burned by shallow drags across the field. Defenders recognize and attempt to transfer responsibility, but receivers are crossing zone faster than the communication travels, offenses have feasted on this… any way to fix it?

Hey Mike, it’s a very good point because I don’t how many replays we’ve seen on Dolphins defenders unsuccessfully passing off receivers. It’s kind of basic zone defense to pass off receivers and kind of an indictment that the Dolphins messed it up so often. That’s just bad communication and can only be fixed through repetition.

From Ohio Jon (@thejonrambo80):

When a coach like Campanile is on the verge of being plucked for a DC job, how big of a role does Fangio have in the interview process for his replacement?

Hey Jon, two things: Don’t assume that because Campanile gets an interview, that means he’s gone. Second, if there is an assistant who leaves, Fangio absolutely will be involved because that assistant will be working directly under him.

From Mr.MiamiAF (@nrojas006):

Was Brian Flores right about Tua? If he was, should Grier be the next one to get fired? I mean, he’s wasting Stephen Ross’ money and even has an army of talent evaluators reporting to him. But yet, he wasted multiple top picks on on Eichentblock, Tindall and Cam Smith..

Was Flores right? There is no definitive answer to this because Tua absolutely has had a good deal of success the past two seasons while at the same time coming up short against big-time opponents. So maybe he was right in a sense but not completely. And Grier’s future very well might be tied to how Tua eventually pans out.

From Mason (@Orli88704562):

Alain, with the Dolphins having so many players in free agency, realistically speaking who are the players you will bring back if you are the GM?

Hey Mason, this always will depend on financial considerations, but from a pure football standpoint, I think Connor Williams, Robert Hunt and Christian Wilkins are the three players I’d want back, with Andrew Van Ginkel closely behind.

From Roger Dodger (@RogerDolfan):

Excuse number #1111 I'm guessing and I'm probably way off but I'm thinking 10% of all snaps last season were problems (low, high, on the ground, over the head, and reaching left or right). With an offense built on timing that's bound to mess with your QB, correct? … Bold prediction for next season: McDaniel and Tua still struggle to beat NFL teams with playoff or winning records. McDaniel will be replaced by Vic Fangio as new Fins HC next season? Fangio will immediately replace Tua with newly drafted rookie QB or Russell Wilson?

Hey Roger, no doubt that snaps off the mark will have a negative effect on a timing-based offense. Not sure I’d agree with your 10 percent figure, though. As for your predictions, don’t buy it, but it is a fact the Dolphins struggled the past two seasons against playoff teams.

From Bob Curvelo (@curvelo13):

Hi Alain, great work as usual. I read something about Miami trading Waddle in the offseason; what have you heard about this and what's your thoughts about this possible trade?

Hey Bob, no, I have not heard a thing about this, other than a Pro Football Network story presented stats suggesting the Dolphins are more effective when only one of Waddle or Hill is on the field as opposed to both. As for the idea of trading Waddle, that always depends on what’s being offered. But I certainly wouldn’t be shopping him.

From #justjared (@Jaredtheauthor):

Why did the team (in my eyes) gas at the end of the season? Was it injuries/weather/fatigue? That's acceptable to a degree. My hope is that it's not something deeper.

Hey Jared, there two main factors at play, in my estimation. The first indeed was injuries, particularly on defense. The second was the reality that the Dolphins simply couldn’t rise to the occasion against playoff opponents, which is what the Dolphins faced down the stretch.

Friday Dolphins Mailbag: Tua, Wilkins, Allen, and More