Wednesday Dolphins Mailbag: Byron Jones, Mike McDaniel, and More

Is the defense underperforming? How concerned should the team be about Jason Sanders? Why is Emmanuel Ogbah not playing to his normal standards? Those and other questions from Miami Dolphins fans

Part 2 of the post-Bears game SI Fan Nation All Dolphins mailbag:

From Elliot Zovighian (@ElliotZovighian):

We have yet to see a 60-min effort from all 3 phases of the team. They say defense win championships. Is winning like this sustainable through the playoffs?

Hey Elliot, let’s be honest, how many teams in 2022 have had 60-minute efforts from all three phases? Not many, I would say. The bottom line is the defense bailed out the offense a couple of times this season and the offense led the way a few times as well. When you say “winning like this,” I’m going to assume you mean the last two games against Detroit and Chicago, and the answer is, why not if the offense continues to produce like it did in those two games? The problem is that it’s unrealistic to expect those kind of performances against the better defenses around the AFC, which is what the Dolphins will see in the playoffs, and that means the defense will have to step up like it did against New England or Pittsburgh, for example.

From FinzZombie (@FinzZombie):

Will Byron Jones be back after the bye?

Hey there, I don’t have a clue, nobody in the media has a clue, and I’m not even sure the Dolphins have a clue. It’s a mystery wrapped around an enigma … or something like that.

From Dave (@angryvet59):

There has to be some concern with Sanders, right? I know there was some wind but Bills/Pats are coming with probably worse weather.

Hey Dave, yeah, that’s a fair suggestion, but the reality is that Jason Sanders still is a good NFL kicker. He’s just not anywhere the level he reached in 2020 when that year he actually was better than even Justin Tucker. There’s little difference among NFL kickers, in my opinion, past the elite guys like Tucker and Daniel Carlson, and Sanders is just as good as anybody in the pack. Unfortunately, again, that’s a step back from where he was two years ago.

From Michael Gura (@MichaelGura4):

How involved is OC Frank Smith in play design/scheme? Pretty sure McDaniel is the primary play-caller, but what role does Smith fill? Is he OC in name only?

Hey Michael, that’s a very good question and I’m not sure I’m totally equipped to answer. What I can tell you is the McDaniel indeed is the play-caller and that Smith absolutely is involved in the scheme, though to what degree I’m not sure.

From Stephen G. Smith (@StephenGSmith13):

Where did Ogbah go after he cashed his check? Are they using him differently...like in coverage more of the time?

Hey Stephen, after “cashed his check” suggests his level of effort has dropped, and I’m not buying that, even though it’s clear he’s not having a good season. I haven’t noticed him drop back in coverage, though I haven’t seen the analytics on that. He did deal with a back issue a few weeks ago, but that doesn’t explain the lack of production. But from what I know of Ogbah after watching him since 2020, he’s not a slacker.

From Erik Viel (via email)::

Alain, how is it that a defense with so much talent can underperform to this level? (The last 2 weeks have been particularly offensive). Do you think there needs to be a coaching change at defensive coordinator?

Hey Erik, yes, the past two weeks were rough, but what about the Pittsburgh game? Or what about the opener against New England? And are we so sure about “so much talent” on defense? Especially with Byron Jones having not played all season? I always thought the Dolphins squeezed out a lot from their defensive personnel the past two years and now injuries have made things worse. And, no, I don’t think there needs to be a change at defensive coordinator.

From Brandon Quinn (vai email):

Byron Jones situation - this has to be a contract thing, right? With the restructure, he already got paid like $14 mil. And I believe the Dolphins could designate him a post June 1 cut in 2023 and only pay him $4 mil. But if he plays and gets injured, 2023 salary becomes guaranteed. So is Jones choosing to sit out the year, are the Phins holding him out a la Matt Ryan, or am I crazy? And fwiw the Van Ginkel “your boy” had zero disrespect behind it! Just saw you had been questioning his lack of snaps prior to the Chubb trade. After his TD last week, he’s officially MY BOY! Keep it up - thanks!!

Hey Brandon, per overthecap.com, the Dolphins would owe a bit more than $14 million in bonus money with a post-June 1 cut designation, but it would be spread out and count a bit more $5 million against the cap next while saving $14 million of cap space. I’m not totally sure of the exact structure of the contract, but I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that his continued absence is contract-related. And all good on the AVG front.

From Earl Gottfried (via email):

Hello Alain, the last 2 weeks the Dolphins squeak out a win against teams that should have been dominated "so called easy part of the schedule).” Why is the defense making other teams look so good? Tua did well through most of the game but his long throws keep coming up short even when he gets a big wind-up. Are they taking too long to develop or are Hill & Waddle just outrunning his arm? Plus he couldn't put the Bears away (Fields looked and played like Lamar Jackson) in the 4th, especially with the feeble throw to Smythe. Is his arm getting tired with all the long throws?

Hey Earl, lot to unpack here, so we’ll go rapid-fire style. There’s no such thing as “should dominate,” really. The Lions have a good offense and the Bears have been coming on lately offensively now that they saw the light and realize that maybe it would be a good idea to use Fields’ running ability. So not buying this idea of the defense making other teams look good. They get paid too. Until the Chicago game, Tua’s deep throws to Waddle had been on the money, but they were short on this day and I’m not sure why. With Hill, Tua has underthrown him all year and I get the feeling he still hasn’t fully grasped just how fast Hill and how early and far he has to throw so that Hill doesn’t outrun it. And with the fourth-down pass to Smythe, that was a matter of not setting his feet properly. There also was an issue with Smythe turning his head away from Tua for a second to check to see what was behind him and Tua saying after the game he thought that Smythe wasn’t looking for the ball at the time he was ready to throw him, which made him short-arm it.

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From Michael McDonald (via email):

Hi Alain. Sorry in advance for the long question. I am a McDaniel fan, but I’m concerned with some game management issues, especially eschewing the field goal when it’s obvious that taking the points is the right call, and also time management at the end of the half. There have been many questionable decisions, but here are a couple: The lackadaisical clock management at the end of the half against the Bears was maddening. The Steelers 4th down call was a blatant mistake and not taking the FG almost cost the Dolphins the game. Against the Bears, there could have been an argument to go for it on 4th down before the Bears’ last drive, but the 3 points would have forced the Bears to score a TD. If Sanders’ earlier miss was the issue there, address it! Occasionally venturing into Brandon Staley land is OK, but I fear McDaniel sometimes wanders into the upside-down universe of Nathaniel Hackett.

Hey Mike, I’m with you on the clock management at the end of the first half at Chicago and with you on the passed-up field goal against Pittsburgh. Had zero issues with going for it on fourth down twice against the Bears given the circumstances at the time. But I haven’t seen anything as egregious as what we’ve seen out of Denver and the overall work has been outstanding, so I’m willing to cut McDaniel some slack here.

From John M (via email):

Thanks for the great reporting. Mike McDaniel was asked to keep the defensive staff intact. However, this D looks more like last year's 7 game losing streak D than the 7 game winning streak D. When will Mike be allowed to get his own guy?

Hey John, yeah, I’m not on board with that. And let’s also remember that the 7-game winning streak coincided with a really soft part of the schedule when other than Lamar Jackson (on a short week), the opposing QBs the Dolphins faced were Tyrod Taylor in his first game back after missing several weeks, Joe Flacco, Cam Newton, Mike Glennon, Zach Wilson and Ian Book. I think everybody is overreacting to the Detroit and Chicago games because I didn’t hear much complaining after the Pittsburgh game. There also have been key injuries in the secondary, starting with Byron Jones not playing all year. Those are factors. As to the basic premise of your question, I’m not privy to what was agreed upon between McDaniel and the Dolphins when it comes to choosing his own defensive staff.

From Robert Meyer (via email):

Hi Alain, first, let me thank you for the job you do covering the Dolphins. I am a long-term FinFan, having grown up in Miami during the ’70s. I read a lot of Dolphins news and opinions, and honestly, most of them have very little value (you know what they say about opinions....) to me because they don't seem to have the right combination of actual football knowledge and perspective. You do. You happen to be 1 of only maybe 3 writers who I feel give well-balanced and insightful opinions regarding Dolphins football, and I make it a point to look for your articles to read (pretty much every day :). So thank you! I am currently seeing SO many opinions about Chubb — what he will bring; how will it impact the D; etc. So I wanted to ask you to check my thinking on this: Byron Jones being out has had a cascading effect on the entire defense this season. Blitzing aside, having two lock-down corners creates more time for the pass rush to get to the opposing QB, by forcing him to go farther through his reads. Maybe only another second or two that he has to hold the ball, but that might be enough for guys like Phillips or Ogbah to get pressure. The other side of the equation is also true — if you have a fearsome pass rush without blitzing, it makes the secondary look better. Adding Chubb seems like a great move in that it *should* elevate the play of not just Phillips, but also guys like Xavien Howard and Jevon Holland. It's not just about Chubb's sack totals. My hope is that Byron Jones comes back from IR before the last 3-4 games of the season. If that happens, I think it's reasonable to think the Fins could have a championship-caliber defense for the playoffs. Thoughts?

Hey Robert, first off, thank you very much for the kind words. They are much appreciated. I agree with pretty much everything you said, though I would make these two points: In addition to giving Phillips and Chubb maybe that little extra time to get to the quarterback, having a healthy Byron Jones would allow Josh Boyer the luxury of deploying another DB near the line of scrimmage and calling more zero blitzes, which were so successful for the Dolphins the past two seasons. The other point is that I’m not sure I’d go as far as making the defense a “championship-caliber” defense with a healthy Jones. But, if the offense produces the way it did at Detroit and Chicago, it doesn’t necessarily have to be “championship-caliber” for the Dolphins to make a deep run in the playoffs.

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