Sunday Dolphins Mailbag: Is the Running Game Here to Stay?

Examining Miami Dolphins topics ranging from Tua Tagovailoa protecting himself, player development, early surprises, and more

Miami Dolphins running back Jaylen Wright (25) runs the ball during the second half against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. / Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

Third and final part of the Miami Dolphins On SI bye weekend mailbag:

From Steve Gagnon (@sportssaga1975):

When we will be able to have a meaning full game, against a contender, for all the marbles... at 1 pm in Miami? Just for one time have a real home field advantage. Feels like ages. Steve from Québec !!!

Salut Steve, yeah, it’s been a long time. I don’t know if this qualifies, but the last time I’ve found was 1991 when the Dolphins faced the Jets and the winner was going to earn the last wild-card spot in the AFC playoffs — and the Dolphins lost 23-20 in overtime.

From Mike (@mikeatkins13):

Who is a defensive and an offensive trade target at the deadline?

Hey Mike, this is a really tough question always because we just don’t know who’s going to be available. So I’ll answer this way, I’d like an upgrade at backup quarterback on offense and a good nose tackle on defense.

From Jeff (via email):

Hello Alain, when it comes to injuries, I am blown away by what happened this week. I watched Receiver on netflix and the highlight of the show, unfortunately, is the injuries for Amon-Ra St. Brown that lingered and led to a more severe injury weeks later. The players misrepresent what is going on with their body in hopes of staying on the field and sometimes the roster. There is no NFL investigation regarding what happened with Josh Allen, but there absolutely needs to be a warning/fine sent to the Bills for not following the procedure. Heck, even the play-by-play commentator on the game joked, "I would hate to be the medical person in the tent right now when Josh hears that they just got the ball back." Secondly, I was trying to look up what happened with Justin Fields because he was injured and evaluated. When I searched for the game highlights I found one from 7 days prior where he ran head first into the end zone and got hit on the chin and went limp. I just don't think teams themselves are doing right by the players and it's something obvious that fans see and logic eludes everyone involved. We had Tua get hit in the ribs and he was clearly hurt, ruled out for weeks, was he practicing as well? We have Skylar with the exact same situation and he was out there practicing days later when he really needed at least (at minimum) 7 days off without making the injury worse. Can you please give us some more insight as to what is going on with some of these injuries on the team and how current players are doing?

Hey Jeff, not exactly sure what you’re looking for here. With Skylar, I can tell that, sure, he was “practicing” after his rib injury, but he was doing nothing that would put him in harm’s way or would create discomfort. With concussions, the issue there is that medical people rely on players telling them how they’re feeling because there often are not clearly visible signs of a concussion. And, sure, it’s the teams’ responsibility to save players from themselves, but the idea of playing with pain goes back a long way and if there’s no undue risk of aggravation or making things worse, then it becomes a pain tolerance issue. Finally, with Josh Allen, his collision with the ground did look bad and he didn’t do himself any favors if he lied during the quick concussion test.

From Shutter HHN (@shutter_hhn):

Can you see the Dolphins sticking to this “power/heavy run” offense when Tua gets back or we going back to throwing the ball all over the field? Hoping for the first one.

From will w. (@Willmvg):

Will McD finally embrace pounding the run game after the Pats game?

Hey fellas, I think in a perfect world that McDaniel would love to run the ball 40 times every game, but that’s also going to depend on the game circumstances and the opponent. It’s easier to focus on the ground game when you’re facing a New England team that you know won’t put up a lot of points and the game is close throughout. McDaniel’s history as head coach shows he’s prone to get pass-happy quickly, so I certainly wouldn’t expect the Dolphins to turn into a run-heavy team once Tua is back.

From Omar Sharif (@estate_omar):

Do you trust Tua to protect himself upon his return?

Hey Omar, I’m not sure how we can answer definitively here because Tua already knew the importance of not putting himself in harm’s way, yet there he was throwing himself into the body of Damar Hamlin in that Buffalo game. That’s something we simply didn’t see last season, and it’s going to be on everybody around Tua to keep pounding it into his head that it’s OK to sacrifice a play to make sure he minimizes the chances of another concussion.

From Rico’s Roughnecks (@TheFin22):

Miami’s betting O/U wins is 7.5. What’s your bet? I’m leaning towards the under (6-7 wins). From a divisional perspective, I think we sweep the Pats, split the Jets, & get swept by the Bills.

Hey Rico, I still think the Dolphins have too much talent throughout the roster to not get to eight wins. As for the division, I’ll buy your scenario.

From NotErnie (@atlbytes):

Does it make sense to promote a bad salesperson to Director of Sales? Chris Grier: 2007 thru 2015 Director of college scouting Dolphins record 61-83. Promoted to GM in 2016.

Interesting analogy, but what made you decide Grier was a bad “salesperson.” Ultimately, he wasn’t the one who made the final decisions on which players were drafted.

From MD928 (@Ginkeliseinhorn):

Do you think the fact that after three years development Skylar had almost zero pressure awareness, poor footwork, poor pocket presence seemed completely unprepared, matched with Ezu, Jackson and Eichenberg is indicative McDaniel and his staff cannot develop high-caliber players?

Well, first off, not every draft pick develops into a high-end player in the NFL, and let’s not forget that Thompson was a seventh-round pick. I’ll also argue that Jackson has become a solid starter and he’s much better now than he was as a rookie in 2020.

From Eric (@kindsir15):

While there has not been much enjoyment of play from these few games, what bright spot or surprise on the roster would you mention?

I don’t know that I’d call it as a surprise, but I’ll go there because the dude is 38 years old, but, man, have I been impressed by Calais Campbell. Very impressive work by him. Emmanuel Ogbah also has been impressive, which is cool because of what happened with him in the offseason getting released and then re-signed. Because Shaq Barrett retired. Those are the two who have stood out.