Finsmob Unleashed

Well folks, this is the aftermath of a losing season in what was supposed to be the roster that both GM Chris Grier and Head Coach Mike McDaniel built to not only win the division title in the AFC East but get into the Superbowl. Surprise, this team fell short, waaaaay short of those lofty expectations. I’ll be honest, I expected a 10-7 season and a WC Playoff berth for this team, but they couldn’t even manage that. GM Chris Grier points fingers at QB Tua Tagovailoa implying if he stayed healthy this team could have gone much further. I sit at my computer and point a finger at Chris Grier (Guess which finger) because he offered Tua a contract, namely a $212.4M contract offer that he couldn’t refuse. I can tell you that there was no other NFL team who would go anywhere near that figure, and as I made clear here I would have played Tua on his 5th year contract. If he refused, well, that’s on him, the NFL is a business, and that’s just smart business. His choices would have been to play, or sit out. Either way, this team win. Especially if you go into the offseason with that plan, because then you can keep either or both of Christian Wilkins and/or Robert Hunt and you definitely make an offer to keep OLB Andrew Van Ginkel. Alas, Grier, and Mike McDaniel swung out of their shoes and missed.

We have a lot of very expensive veteran players on this team who have not played up to their contracts. Tyreek Hill, who will make $28M in ’25, and who BTW gave himself the hook in Game 17 sometime in the 4th QTR and said “Bye, I’m out!” is one of them. He wasn’t close to the impact player he was in 2023. Jalen Ramsey didn’t play poorly this season, and DC Anthony Weaver tried to employ him in as many spots as possible, but the end result was a “meh” season. 2 INT’s in 7 games, 60 tackles (39 solo), 11 passes defensed, 1 sack and 4 QB hits. OLB Bradley Chubb never quite made it back on the field. H was injured late in the season, game 16 (12/24/23) to be specific, so we knew he was going to miss a good amount of time, but that stretched to the entire season. LT Terron Armstead gave his all, and played admirably, but relying on oft injured veteran players always leaves you short, especially when it’s Chris Grier making those decisions. Then there’s the highest paid player, none other than QB Tua Tagovailoa. This one hurts. If I’m running this team, I’d drafting a QB this year that can not only be his legitimate backup, but a player than can compete for the job. Enough getting stung by hoping/expecting him to stay healthy. Yes, in 2023, QB Tua Tagovailoa played 17 games and a then a playoff game, but any of you here with eyes saw the caution he took, ending plays with throwaways, going down willingly before a collision for a sack, and simply not taking any chances running outside the pocket with the football. We all watch games, we see winning QB’s do this routinely, because it’s necessary to win games. If Tua gets back to that kind of caution, once again we’re going nowhere, because every game has a spot or two or three where this is necessary.

As our current DC Anthony Weaver makes the circuit of interviews, it’s possible we lose one of the bright spots. A lot of fans harped on the defense for much of the season, and they weren’t completely wrong, but with the lack of anyone capable at the helm of QB in Tua’s absence, the defense was just asked to do too much, and of course, we lost OLB Jaelan Phillips in the middle of Game 3, after working so damn hard to get back on the field after suffering a torn achilles in game 11 against the NYJ on their shitty field surface at MetLife Stadium. I love that kid, and I truly admire his resolve, but he is unfortunately another talented player that can’t be relied on due to his injury proclivity. Rookie OLB Chop Robinson showed some potential and should be a bigger part of the defense. Bradley Chubb may have played his last game as a Dolphins LB 12/24/23. He may be a post June cut, or more of a longshot, be part of this defense for ’25. I’d recommend the former. DE/OLB Emmanuel Ogbah is no longer on the roster, and props to him for always doing a solid job, never whining, just suits up and does his thing. Rookie OLB Mo Kamara didn’t really get an opportunity to do anything this season, and it’s possible his role is expanded and he’s given more of a chance to be a part of this defense. If Chubb is gone, you’d have to think that would be the case because at least as of now, the only OLB’s on the roster will be Chop Robinson, Jaelan Phillips, and Grayson Murphy. We may have to use another draft pick on a pass rusher, but there are so many holes and not enough fingers or cash to plug them.

Mike McDaniel. Hero in 2023, Stoner HC not respected by his players and looking more and more out of his league in the NFL. His explosive offense in 2023 has turned into a Ryan Tannehill, Joe Philbin offense. Oh, Tua was dinking and dunking like no one’s business, he completed 72.9% of his passes! Maybe we should start counting handoffs in his completion percentage, so we can say Tua completed 99.3% of his handoffs! This offense was a dud. We couldn’t run the ball, and to me at least, it was bizarre how much the offense ran through RB/WR De’Von Achane. 203 carries and 78 receptions totaling 1499 yards and 12 TD’s, 6 rushing, 6 receiving. Rookie RB Jaylen Wright was an absolute afterthought, this after trading into the 4th RD of the ’24 draft by trading away this upcoming draft’s 3rd RD pick. That’s fine if use the kid, but Wright was never given a real opportunity in a game, getting only 68 carries and 3 receptions. Yet another failed trade up for Chris Grier. Back to McDaniel, and all the promise with the “Head Coach That Cares”. He’s turned into a mumbling. bumbling HC who apparently is not respected by his players. You have to be successful to lead a bunch of guys as their friends. You’re not ruling by fear, or by respect, just like hanging out with your boys, and when you’re losing, they don’t really wanna hang out with you. It seems a surety that both HC Mike McDaniel and GM Chris Grier are on the hot seat in2025, but then again, Ross is asleep at the ownership wheel here, and doesn’t seem to care enough about holding anyone responsible for anything with this team, as long as he gets his hot cocoa and his blankie at night.

We enter 2025 at the moment with $9M in cap space. That can improve some with a post June 1st cut of Bradley Chubb, but keep in mind that’s a long time to wait to sign players. Restructures are always possible, but that mortgages the future again, and I’d prefer that once that the 2 knuckleheads are gone that they haven’t ruined the situation to make it more difficult to find a new GM/HC combination. The exact amount of draft picks is in, but where those picks fall have yet to be determined. We know we have RD1/#13, RD 2/#48, no natural 3rd RD pick (traded for RB Jaylen Wright). We should get a compensatory pick after RD 3 for Robert Hunt. The pick for DT Christian Wilkins is muddled right now, because despite the massive contract he signed, he missed the last 12 weeks of the season, so the playing time portion of the formula for compensatory picks put that pick more likely in RD 4 than 3. We have our regular 4th RD pick, RD 4/#112, then RD 5 #142, and then RD 5 #149 (Bradley Chubb trade), RD 7/#200 and RD 7/#207 (Chase Claypool trade). We might get a compensatory pick inn the 7th RD for losing Safety DeShon Elliott, who played in 15 games for the Steelers this season.

We have a decent amount of draft capital, but man do we have a lot of holes to fill. O-line will no doubt be a priority as we have 2 OG positions to fill. That also includes praying that #52 Patrick Paul can actually nail down the LT spot next season and that RT Austin Jackson can stay healthy and play well at RT. My favorite whipping boy in the offseason was OC Aaron Brewer, but as it turned out, i was wrong and Grier hit well on an offensive lineman. He’s not an all pro, but moves very well and blocks well on the move. OG’s Robert Jones and Liam Eichenberg have to be depth guys, and then you have to hope you don’t need your depth guys too often. Whether WR Tyreek Hill has played his last game here is unknown, I’m sure he will be given every opportunity to get back in the good graces of all parties involved, but WR could become a priority of that doesn’t happen. It seems we have one very good receiving TE in Jonnu Smith, but not much else in that room. TE Durham Smythe fell out of the picture this season, and TE Julian Hill seemed to only make mistakes, penalties, missed blocks, dropped passes, you name it, he did them all, a lot. TE has to be somewhat of a priority, not necessarily in the draft, but there some TE’s some of us here love for sure in this ’25 draft.

On defense, the cupboard is really bare. We need defensive linemen, DE, NT, and then we need depth. Zach Sieler is great, but he can’t really do it all alone, he’s the only rostered DL right now. OLB has some priority, because while Chop Robinson showed promise, it’s basically Mo Kamara and Jaelan Phillips, and then possibly Bradley Chubb, if he doesn’t get cut. At inside LB, Jordyn Brooks was a very nice pickup. ILB Tyrell Dodson will be a FA, so the only other inside backer on the roster is mostly ST’s player Channing Tindall, yes, 3rd RD/#102, our very first pick in the 2022 draft. It’s possible we re-sign Dodson and bring in a few UDFA’s, but don’t expect a lot of money or draft capital at this spot. Cornerback is another high priority. Jalen Ramsey who play everywhere will be 31 mid season, so we need to find legit corners. CB Kendall Fuller who came over from the Commanders in FA had an uneven season and made little impact. That leaves unproven UDFA CB Storm Duck, Ethan Bonner, Isaiah Johnson and Jason Maitre. That’s going to ned some attention. We’re hurting at Safety as well, Jevon Holland is a FA and didn’t impress anyone this past season anyway. All we have is 2024 6th RD pick Patrick McMorris right now, and he hasn’t shown he can be a starter in the NFL. There’s lots of work to do as I mentioned, plenty of roster spots up for grabs. With the amount of cap space we have and roster positions that need to be filled, we’re going to have to do a great job hitting UDFA’s this year. Our roster is old now, although that will undoubtedly change after this offseason.

Looking at our division, the Bills are the front runners and it’s not even close. Yes, things change, but I think that’s a surety. Who’s next depends on this offseason, and right now the New England Patriots have a QB, are yet to hire a HC, but they have draft picks and cap space to play with, $133M which is the most in the NFL. The NY Jets have yet to hire a GM or HC, so we’ll see what happens there. The Jets have interviewed so many people for both jobs, but nothing has been done as of this writing. Even “Sexy Rexy” Ryan nailed down an interview. So who is 2nd in this division is unknown, but anyone that foolishly thinks it’s us, is well, foolish. The Patriots fired HC Jerod Mayo after one season and it seemed like all the world that was done to accommodate bringing in former Patriots LB Mike Vrabel, but he’s yet to be hired. Will we actually make the QB position a priority and find someone other than Tua who can run this offense? I thank the Football Gods that QB Tyler Huntley shat the bed against the Jets, because if he played well, surely he would be the backup QB for Tua. We have to identify a veteran who can play, and draft a young QB as well. Not necessarily day 1, but maybe day 2. I don’t care what round, as long as he’s given reps and a chance to play here. I’ve heard Tua wants all the reps, that ends in ’24, because Tua can’t finish a season so he doesn’t get that opportunity any longer. We need every QB on the roster capable of stepping in to a game and competing for a win. If that means less reps for Tua, so be it.

I’m not optimistic about Chris Grier and Mike McDaniel running the show this offseason, draft and beyond. In MLB, I’m a Mets fan, and have seen how wonderful change can be. Mets owner Steve Cohen has deep pockets, but in a short time, his team is already competitive and went deep into the playoffs to the NCLS, losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers, WS winners in’25. The NY Knicks majority owner James Dolan is not my fave, but he finally handed the reins of President to Leon Rose, who has done a masterful job of bringing back winning to MSG, the Greatest Arena in the World. The Knicks are now a top 5 NBA team after 4 years of Leon Rose being named President. Both the NY Mets and NY Knicks were stuck in mediocrity, but one change of ownership (NY Mets and Steve Cohen), and one change of authority (NY Knicks and President Leon Rose) have paid huge dividends. So someday, Ross gives up the ownership or he finally tires of mediocrity and let’s his good friend Chris Grier go and this franchise can start building the right way. Can Grier finally get it right, and can Mike McDaniel get the respect from his team? Don’t bet on it! Sorry guys, that’s just how I feel, but of course, I hope to be proven wrong.

GO DOLPHINS!!!