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Preseason Opener Overreactions

Friday's win over the Falcons opened the floodgates for speculation.

Dante Collinelli

Aug 9, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins running back Jaylen Wright (25) runs down the sideline against the Atlanta Falcons in the third quarter during preseason at Hard Rock Stadium.
Aug 9, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Dolphins running back Jaylen Wright (25) runs down the sideline against the Atlanta Falcons in the third quarter during preseason at Hard Rock Stadium. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
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The Miami Dolphins won their preseason opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Friday night — and, of course, everyone acted rationally.

As expected, excitement was in the air as "real" football returned for the first time since the Dolphins playoff loss in Kansas City. There is plenty to be excited about regarding Miami's expectations this season.

Still, the preseason is one of our least reliable evaluation tools. From what regular season football looks like, the preseason is much more removed than most realize, especially when all of Miami's expected starters didn't play.

With that in mind, let's look at some overreactions to Friday's action, both positive and negative.

Overreactions to Dolphins Preseason Week 1

Dolphins Should Bring Back Ryan Tannehill

Okay, even we fell victim to this one at the moment. But the whole point of this exercise is to ensure that cooler heads prevail.

Skylar Thompson and Mike White are battling it out for the team's QB2 position, and neither looked overly impressive against Atlanta. Thompson started the game and finished 8-of-19 for 95 yards with one touchdown and interception.

Thompson's interception was particularly ugly, but he did bounce back with a touchdown pass to Jeff Wilson.

White was even worse, completing just 4-of-14 passes for 26 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. So why shouldn't the Dolphins bring back Tannehill?

Well, neither quarterback got help from their receivers on Friday. Both dealt with multiple drops on easy catches. The more important point is that there needs to be more time to give up on either player.

Every team has had multiple opportunities to sign Tannehill, and they haven't. He's likely not going anywhere. If White and Thompson continue to look as bad as they did on Friday night, bringing in a veteran like Tannehill might be reasonable.

However, basing an entire evaluation on one bad preseason game when the team didn't play any of its starters seems like an overreaction. Let's see what White and Thompson have at least one more time before doing something drastic.

Jaylen Wright Is The Second Coming

Jaylen Wright played incredibly well against the Falcons. He recorded 55 yards on ten carries and punched in a touchdown in the low red zone after a Falcons' turnover.

Wright showed off the speed, contact balance, vision, and power that made the Dolphins trade up for him in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. However, we should be moderate with Wright's projection for this season.

He's still behind Raheem Mostert, De'Von Achane, and Jeff Wilson Jr., who started against the Falcons. It can be hard to remember that preseason practices tend to have more weight than the actual games.

Wright is still behind Wilson Jr. in the coaching staff's eyes, likely due to their camp performance. In an ideal world, Wright can use Friday's performance to vault himself over Wilson.

Wilson only had five carries for seven yards, adding three catches for 18 yards and a touchdown. All of that came while running behind the same offensive line Wright did. Let's see if Wright overtakes Wilson during practices this week or jumps him in the pecking order for next week's preseason game against the Commanders.

It's reasonable to be excited about Wright's future — he's got all the traits of a standout back.

However, setting his expectations too high for the 2024 season from one preseason performance could be better.

The Dolphins Fixed Patrick Paul

Patrick Paul's performance falls into the same spot as Wright's. Paul was impressive against the Falcons, especially in the running game.

He used his massive size, length, and physical nature to bully the Falcons' defensive line. Once Wright entered the game, Paul opened up some impressive holes, allowing the Dolphins' running game to get going.

Paul's pass protection was more up and down. Despite facing some players who will get snaps in the regular season, he wasn't tested much. Upon film review, there were many plays when Paul's defender fell off into coverage, leaving him without anyone to block.

He also lost a few reps early, but the ball was already out of the quarterback's hands, making it a moot point. That is the model Miami adopted with its offensive line, and Friday indicated that it will work with Paul.

We don't want to sound overly negative. Paul played well on Friday, and he deserves props. His physical nature can be a game-changer for a Dolphins' offensive line that has lacked that for a long time.

Still, his tape showed a player who still needs to improve. Friday was a step in the right direction, but asserting he's solved Miami's long-term left tackle problem after one preseason game is an overreaction.

The Dolphins Have A WR Problem

Miami's depth receivers could have had a stronger showing against the Falcons.

Tight end Tanner Conner led the team in receiving, recording three catches for 70 yards.

Players like Braylon Sanders and Willie Snead struggled with drops, and rookie Malik Washington caught just one of his five targets.

So, why shouldn't we panic? As mentioned above, the quarterbacks deserve some of the blame. Washington, specifically, had to deal with a few inaccurate passes.

The more significant point is most of the receivers who saw action last night won't even make Miami's final roster. The team sat Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Odell Beckham Jr., Braxton Berrios, and Anthony Schwartz. The latter two's spots aren't guaranteed but add to Miami's depth.

That doesn't even account for the tight ends Miami sat on Friday. Jonnu Smith and Durham Smythe didn't play, and they figure to be more involved in the offense than Snead, Sanders, and Je'Quan Burton.

Washington is the only receiver (maybe River Cracraft, too) who played last night who could factor into the Dolphins' offense early. Although his numbers weren't impressive, he showed plenty of juice on a well-designed reverse and during some of his return opportunities.

Washington even contributed several nice blocks in the game.

There's no reason to panic about the Dolphins' receiving depth. The team's passing game was out of sync against Atlanta, and none of those players will be focal points of the offense anyway.

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Dante Collinelli
DANTE COLLINELLI

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