This 2024 NFL Season was supposed to be a Super Bowl run for our Miami Dolphins, at least that was the hype. Here at FMU, we looked at weaknesses on this team, more specifically, the trenches. We were very skeptical of the offensive line, and why shouldn’t we have been? We didn’t upgrade, we lost 2 of our best linemen in OC Connor Williams and RG Robert Hunt. Our starting LG is last year’s backup who wasn’t even on the roster to start to the 2023 season. Our starting OC, Aaron Brewer was jettisoned by the Titans, and although our previous OC Connor Williams had some snapping issues, his pass and run blocking were both excellent. Our starting RG was last year’s backup OC, Liam Eichenberg. RT Austin Jackson is basically a constant. Our starting LT, now fighting off a shoulder injury has been playing for 13 years in the NFL and has never completed a full season. Don’t expect 2024 to be the first. He’s already come out of the game with injuries, and although he’s our best, he’s also fragile. While we’re speaking of fragile, did I mention our starting QB has another concussion?
If you hate to read it, scroll on by, because I’m going to remind all of you how very much I was against the Miami Dolphins handing our QB Tua Tagovailoa a huge contract. Mostly, the reason was his injury history, but a fair percentage of that was his inability to show up in big games. Well, both were on display last week in our first matchup with the Buffalo Bills. Tua did his best to prove me right on both counts, completing 25 passes for 239 yards, 1 TD and 3 INT’s. WR Grant Dubose should have got his head around, WR Robbie Chosen ran the wrong route. Please STOP! We have WR’s Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, TE Jonnu Smith, RB’s De’Von Achane and Jaylen Wright, the ball didn’t have to go to either of those guys, #1 makes that decision, he throws the ball. I don’t need to tell you that relying on 2 guys who have been here no more than 2 weeks is absurd. So now we’re left with our backup QB Skylar Thompson for a minimum of 4 games as QB Tua Tagovailoa goes on IR.
There’s starting to be a little more scrutiny of Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel. Sure, he’s a likable guy, he’s funny, amusing, and supposedly an offensive genius. The problem is, when teams have figured out what type of defense to play against our offense to shut it down, Mike McDaniel has yet to find the solution to keep scoring like we scored on all the other teams. The tape is out there, teams know to have 2 safeties high and take away the long ball, keep everything in front of them, and as long as it’s executed well enough, they take both WR’s Tyreek Hll and Jaylen Waddle out of their game. I honestly have no idea if Skylar Thompson will be running the same offense Tua Tagovailoa was running, but I don’t think Skylar can have the same timing and anticipation that Tua had. We’ll see how much the offense is more tailored to Skylar, and I guess we’ll get somewhat of an idea if our season is lost or not.
I mentioned the trenches earlier, and now I’m going to touch on the defensive side. The defense was a strength for this team, at least until the injuries started coming and never stopped. The defensive line of Zach Sieler, Raekwon Davis and Christian Wilkins was a strength. Sieler is still there, but now he’s next to NT Benito Jones, and then next to him is DE Calais Campbell. Campbell is still a great player, but at 38, he can’t be expected to play high snap counts anymore, but the rotation was supposed to be the hallmark of the D-line. Tsunamis, waves of players, but that turned out to be false advertising, as we only have 6 DL, Sieler, Jones and Campbell, Emmanuel Ogbah, Brandon Pili and Da’Shawn Hand. That’s no tsunami. Now sometimes we’ll play a 4 man front, and we’ll employ speed packages with OLB’s Jaelan Phillips, Chop Robinson, Quinton Bell and probably Mo Kamara at some point, but in 2 games, I don’t think NFL teams are fearing our defensive line. Buffalo RB James Cook averaged 7 yards per carry (11-78) and managed 3 TD’s, 2 rushing, 1 receiving.
The Seattle Seahawks are 2-0, and they are always a tough get at home. We’ll be facing 2 former Dolphins players on Sunday, OC Connor Williams, and the always under appreciated ILB Jerome Baker (#55). There will be no hype from me about what I expect from this team right now. I have no idea and little expectation of what QB Skylar Thompson can do with this offense. We picked up QB Tyler Huntley from the Baltimore Ravens PS, and even though Sonny loves him, I’m not any more optimistic about Huntley leading us to victories in Tua’s absence. Our mighty WR corps is anything but, once you get past Hill and Waddle. Grant Dubose, Malik Washington (who is banged up) and Braxton Berrios, who has yet to record a reception. I hope our defense with all its tsunamis carries the day, because that offense could be downright ugly!
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
On a brighter note, 10 of 16 AFC teams are 1-2 or worse.
@AdamHBeasley
This is to give context, but not absolve McDaniel of mistakes. He MUST learn to call a game for QBs other than Tua.
Thompson and Boyle are not good.
Looks like the storm that is predicted to form in the gulf is going to hit the big bend area. Second one there this year. I hate it for the nice lady we rent from on our scalloping trips.
Tampa not out of the woods
Shush…Tampa hasn’t had a direct hit in over 100 years. We’re not starting now.
@flasportsbuzz
After leading the league (with 2 other teams) in yards per carry at 5.0 last year, Dolphins now 27th at 3.7. They can’t ride a power running game to survive Tua’s loss because they didn’t do enough to augment their offensive line (or d-line). Need to build roster with dominant lines but seem unable. Sigh.
@flasportsbuzz
Dolphins starting ILBs allowed 11 catches in 11 targets for 104 yards yesterday, per PFF. Too many open seams underneath all day yesterday (though offense was the bigger problem obviously)…. Dolphins QBs now 3 for 14 when targeting all WRs other than Tyreek and Waddle.
@PatMcAfeeShow
“Tua was supposed to meet with neurologists last week and the schedules got mixed up..
He feels fine right now and he’ll be meeting with them this week” ~
@AdamSchefter
#PMSLive
Good grief, they can’t even schedule appointments. How the hell can they run a team?
The defense gave the offense many opportunities to get back in the game down 17-3 for what seemed like forever. It wasn’t the OL, there were some good rushes, and there was time to throw. The QB play was abysmal.
Oh and the STs had multiple clusterfuck moments.
I’ve never seen McDaniel so irate.
Well MM is the one who kept numb nuts Crossman, so he shouldn’t be irate with anyone but MM.
That was the worst I’ve seen in one game. It was ridiculous. I’m sure MM will bring it up in team meetings and I wouldn’t be surprised if Crossman gets fired.
oh…and anyone planning to vote Democrat at this point is a low info voter by virtue of the Dem ticket’s only answers to policy questions are “I was a middle class kid…” and “I was a career prosecutor…”
Just gonna leave that here…
Kamala is bad news. Great… we get a giggling president who doesn’t answer questions or provide any solutions. She talks in gobbledygook terms.
What has Trump answered? I watched the debate. Neither answer any direct questions on any policy or plans. I watched Trump not answer a direct yes or no several times. Deflect and go back to your 1 big soundbite. They both suck! How can anybody take either seriously? We’re screwed and have been for a long time
It has nothing to do with Trump. Stay focused on Kamala. Nobody voted for her to be in this position. It’s a party conformity thing. That’s dangerous.
2024 Miami Dolphins O-Line PASS-BLOCKING rankings (PFF stats) through 3 games this season (must have enough snaps to qualify)
Kendall Lamm: #4 of 93 Tackles: 0 sacks, 1 hit, 1 hurry
Terron Armstead: #36 of 93 Tackles: 0 sacks, 0 hits, 4 hurries
Austin Jackson: #73 of 93 Tackles: 2 sacks, 0 hits, 6 hurries
Liam Eichenberg: #53 of 86 Guards: 1 sack, 1 hit, 1 hurry
Lester Cotton: #80 of 86 Guards: 0 sacks, 2 hits, 0 hurries
vs
Robert Hunt: #3 of 86 Guards: 0 sacks, 0 hits, 1 hurry
Aaron Brewer: #17 of 37 Centers: 0 sacks, 0 hits, 3 hurries
vs
Connor Williams: #28 of 37 Centers: 1 sack, 2 hits, 2 hurries
Robert Jones: #56 of 86 Guards: 2 sacks, 1 hit, 0 hurries
but we are fine there from what I hear
Yup, us fans were more concerned than Grier and McD.
2024 Miami Dolphins O-Line RUN-BLOCKING rankings (PFF stats) through 3 games this season (must have enough snaps to qualify)
Terron Armstead: #2 of 96 Tackles
Austin Jackson: #39 of 96 Tackles
Kendall Lamm: #43 of 96 Tackles
Liam Eichenberg: #10 of 89 Guards
Lester Cotton: #32 of 89 Guards
vs
Robert Hunt: #28 of 89 Guards
Aaron Brewer: #10 of 45 Centers
vs
Connor Williams: #13 of 45 Centers
Robert Jones: #66 of 89 Guards
Letting Hunt go was the dumbest move of this offseason…and Grier made plenty of them.
It came down to excessive $$$ as it pertains to Hunt. I get it, but like you, I REALLY wish we could have brought him back.
Armstead averages about 20 mill a year to sit injured half the season. They had the money. They didn’t have to extend Tua, Waddle, or Tyreek before next year for starters.
As always, take this PFF data for what it’s worth. Don’t know how they’re scoring sacks this year when I saw Eich give up 2 sacks with my own eyes last week.
And yes, I double-checked… these are the ratings/stats over 3 games, not just yesterday’s game alone. Yet you’d swear these were the ratings/stats of just yesterday’s game alone.
right
I overlooked Robert Jones. Just added his rankings/stats above. Not good.
I really think the reason they can’t get a play called is because of the way MM speaks. Uh, uh, mmm, uh….
It pains me to say it because I initially liked the quirkiness.
^
yeah- I said it last year or the year before: his personality is fun , if you’re winning.
Thompson and Boyle take forever to get rid of the ball and even when Tua was playing the receivers have been disappointing. The OL is a scapegoat but that’s not what I’ve seen.
The offense has been out of sync for most of the season thus far
Agreed because they don’t use the preseason to get ready. The NFL games I’ve watched are awful. Maybe the preseason is finally over.
M
They had the money. The choice was made where to spend it. Grier has been in this organization for over 20 years and we wonder why we suck? He cant scout talent why would we think he could build anything? He goes hand in hand with the franchise of the longest active playoff win drought
OH! Just read this, my guy! I think my comment below goes hand-in-hand with what you speak of.
And YES, I concur.
honestly, if Grier isn’t fired after we fail to make the playoffs this year, then I may just say fuck it and not watch anymore.
I believe it’s going to become painfully evident over the next several weeks that we can’t win without Tua… or without a QB who can deliver the deep ball — or any ball — with such accuracy, quick release, and foresight.
What does that mean? It means our Offense is skillfully oriented to such a QB like Tua. And another concussion for Tua (which I feel is inevitable) may force him to retire… whether that be this season, next season, or even over the rest of his career.
It’s clear now: we MUST draft a QB in the 1st round in the ’25 Draft to protect what’s been built and invested here… and he MUST be a QB similar to Tua’s skillset (good luck with that, as a QB like Tua is RARE).
This is the beginning of the end for Grier and McDaniel, for they put all of their eggs in the same basket to the tune of the 3rd highest paid QB in the NFL. I probably would have done the same, but under these conditions…
I can’t believe we are going into game staring at the probability of Tim Boyle being our starting QB. That’s almost incomprehensible to me.
Yessir! Same here. What a total FAILURE on the FO’s part.
This concept of getting the ball out fast (or ASAP) began with Tom Brady, late in his Patsie* career… I’ve spoken about this many times here in the past.
The idea is to make your O-Line a mere speed bump, knowing that your QB is going to deliver, regardless. Well, not everybody is Tom Brady with all of his Super Bowl rings… and Tua has concussive issues.
Why the FUCK did we allow Tua to become a scrambler (by merit of dropping 15-20 pounds in weight) this season? Tom Brady was never a scrambler under these same Offensive concepts. Total recipe for disaster… which of course, occurred.
I think the scrambling idea was a necessity, what wasn’t was a glass jawed QB, that thinks he’s Josh Allen
We just built the team wrong and that’s 100% on Grier and maybe by extension McD. You just aren’t going to win with weak speedsters in a physical game. You aren’t going to win by paying them and an oft injured LT big money. Our team is soft like melted butter.
I’m also officially off the McD train. Dude can create some interesting plays but that’s not what a HC is supposed to do. He just doesn’t have the skillset or the personality to be a HC. He has serious issues with accountability and is either unwilling or unable to hold anyone accountable including himself. I don’t give a shit what he says to reporters. It’s what you do, not what you say. He’d be a solid OC and Grier/Ross fucked up another HC hire. I can pretty much promise he’ll follow 5 out of our last 6 hired HCs with never getting another NFL HC job. He just doesn’t have that skillset.
Unless we can somehow correct our current trajectory ASAP, I’m with you 100%, New Age. I think this is the beginning of the end for Grier and McD.
That’s not true he 100% holds rookies accountable, if they didn’t master the playbook before camp, they won’t see more than a few snaps all season🤪
@PFF_RyanSmith
Vikings Andrew Van Ginkel is a top-20 edge defender through 3 weeks. His 91.1 overall grade last season ranked 7th out of 112 qualifying edge defenders A big mistake by the Dolphins letting him walk without more of a fight
HUGE mistake by Grier! SMH
I can deal with letting hunt and Wilkins walk just simply because the money was outrageous, but they really needed to find a way to sign AVG. he was a playmaker and always gave 100%. You need guys like that on your team.
Huntley should obviously be starting this week, and I don’t care, if he knows the O we’ll enough
Put in some plays he’s good at and take it from there
Wonder what BS excuse MM gives this week on why he’s not starting
MM- We must progress forward by being unburdened by what has been and what is. What will be will be and will be by be. I am middle class!!! Thank you, thank you!
lol
that unburdened line comes from the communist manifesto, it means she wants to remove our history and start over, she’s a Marxist
then on Oprah she tells us how much she loves this country
one lie after another, who is the real threat to our democracy
Yep, just an extension of removing the 4 Olds. Just like China, we are trying to disparage and remove all aspects of our earlier history. Washington, Jefferson, the Civil War, states’ rights, everything that reminds us of the wonderful country built by our forebears.
agreed Steve. Dial down the offense and let’s see what he’s got. Boyle will be a disaster.
Huntley is by no means a great QB, but he may be great compared to tweedle dee dee and tweedle dee dumb (not talking about grier and mm😜)
Ok, I did it early, couldn’t wait. Based on their base salary they are all tradable but we take the brunt of the cap hit in 2025. It did end up clearing about 1.5 mil in 2025 cap after trading them. Trading Ramsey was the biggest hit causing and extra 8.5 mil cap hit in 2025 but cleared 10 mil on the others. It did clear a shit ton of cap in 2026 for room to resign Holland then Phillips.
I did so many trades, I don’t remember who was traded for what. lol I even traded down twice for more picks and a TE. Players traded were Tyreek, Ramsey, Chubb, TE’s Smith and Smythe. Yes, Hill and Ramsey because this is a
BLOW IT UP MOCK DRAFT (dedicated to Rockphin Trady Pants)
PICK: 6 RND: 1 Will Johnson CB Michigan
PICK: 12 RND: 1 Malaki Starks SS/FS Georgia
PICK: 33 RND: 2 Jaxson Dart QB Ole Miss
PICK: 38 RND: 2 Tyler Booker IOL Alabama
PICK: 74 RND: 3 Tyler Warren TE Penn State
PICK: 98 RND: 4 Dylan Fairchild IOL Georgia
PICK: 99 RND: 4 Jay Higgins ILB Iowa
PICK: 104 RND: 4 Drew Allar QB Penn State
PICK: 106 RND: 4 Kyren Lacy WR LSU
PICK: 109 RND: 4 Cobee Bryant CB/NB Kansas
PICK: 118 RND: 4 Fernando Carmona RT Arkansas
PICK: 129 RND: 5 Mason Taylor TE LSU
PICK: 131 RND: 5 Jamaree Caldwell DT/NT Oregon
PICK: 136 RND: 5 Woody Marks RB USC
PICK: 150 RND: 5 Deontae Lawson ILB Alabama
PICK: 161 RND: 6 DeMonte Capehart DT Clemson
PICK: 200 RND: 7 Francisco Mauigoa ILB Miami
PICK: 212 RND: 7 Paris Shand DE-EDGE LSU
PICK: 214 RND: 7 Squirrel White WR Tennessee
PICK: 224 RND: 7 Thor Griffith DT Louisville
TE Tip Reiman in trade from Arizona
I live Jackson dart @33. I don’t think Allar comes out this year
give me Warren all day
Yeah, I think Allar stays another year. I wanted to double down on QB and he was there.
Tim,
I get the whole preseason theory, but we came out firing on all cylinders last season, so maybe it’s a personnel issue. Maybe coaches have caught up to MM and he can adjust. That’s actually my biggest fear- he’s just an average HC. He’s pretty much gotten schooled by all of the better coaches in the NFL. It’s not a good sign that he hasn’t been able to beat the large majority of good teams he’s faced, and his record down the stretch is pretty poor. That tells me other coaches game plan better than him, and he can’t adjust.
There are good QBs and not so good QBs. That’s what I saw.
That Jacksonville win looking real good right now.
A Jags loss will weaken our SOS and give us a higher draft slot so…
Lol. Love it!
Actually, if I had taken the time I wanted to, I wouldn’t of had that many picks. I wanted to package some and trade up. Got tired of trading. lol
so glad the Bills are done after they lost all those players…
Well coached. You don’t need much when you have Josh Allen at QB. I’ll take that inaccuracy every day over what we have.
Is it well coached or Josh Allen?
I have no idea how the FO is supposed to have a 3rd string qb who’s ready to start in the nfl. Who else has a 3rd stringer ready to go? I was at the game and I am telling you that the noncall is the only reason that game didn’t go to the end. Surrounded by Seahawk fans who couldn’t believe there was no PI called.
It’s dark days for sure but guess what. No nfl team can withstand losing it’s top 2 qbs in the 1st 3 weeks, especially not one who just signed it’s starter to that kind of money.
I have my opinions about whether we should have done the deal w Tua, but they’re irrelevant now. We need to find an NFL level qb because we are spending big money on elite offe some talent.
NEW BLOG UP!!!!
I want Tannehill btw lol..and I’m open to criticism.
But he’s the only FA qb who has won games in the NFL.