The Miami Dolphins offense was popping in their preseason debut win against the Atlanta Falcons. Yet, not everything is swimming as swimmingly in South Beach as Mike McDaniel pushes to get more out of his third Dolphins training camp.
A plethora of injuries across Miami's pass-rushers challenges the Dolphins roster. They hope to find starters until Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb can return. With Odell Beckham Jr. sidelined on the PUP list, the Dolphins are scratching their heads trying to find a No. 3 receiver. They're so desperate they signed Willie Snead IV, who's been awful thus far at Dolphins training camp. Miami also recently learned they will be without backup OT Kion Smith. He tore his ACL in the Dolphins preseason win versus the Falcons.
The backup quarterback position should be better prioritized for a team that was so quickly derailed two seasons ago due to mounting injuries to Tua Tagovailoa. A QB battle between Skyler Thompson and Mike White has no clear winner. That's just not the case, though. McDaniel explained his expectations after the first preseason game:
Mike White vs. Skyler Thompson, the quarterback controversy nobody wanted in Dolphins training camp
McDaniel seems content to let the chips fall where they may at backup quarterback. Why not add a safer veteran signal-caller for a team that seems to place so much importance on their offense? White's only claim to fame was that he was briefly good enough to unseat Zach Wilson a few years ago. White was the primary backup and mostly saw mop-up duty. Teams don't need to carry an emergency third quarterback on the 53-man roster to play him. They can start someone off the practice squad.
“I wanted to see how [Mike White] would respond and I thought he did a good job responding, even though we had a rough, rough set of circumstances,” McDaniel told reporters after the preseason opener, per NBC Sports. “We were down in the second half to one tight end and one running back, and we had a receiver that we just got on board two days ago, so it was a tough situation for him to be in, and I thought he maintained his composure, but we still have a ton of work to do.”
Thompson, now in his third season, is still learning the ropes. He was forced into action that year because Tagovailoa suffered so many concussions. Thompson started two contests and played in seven games in 2022, but he only finished with 534 yards on 60-of-105 passing with one TD and three INTs.
It's strange that the Dolphins have not spent any draft capital or signed a veteran quarterback in the last two years.
Thanks to a lower-priced salary, Thompson might have a leg up on White. White holds a $3.5M salary, while Thompson is owed $1.1M, as reported by Alain Poupart of Sports Illustrated.
Aaron Brewer's difficulties snapping the football
Tua Tagovailoa's fumbles (13, second-most) were an issue last year. The issue has been compounding in part because of C Aaron Brewer. He's struggled with the snap exchange multiple times throughout Dolphins training camp. It seems all the centers have the yips. Multiple snaps have flown over every quarterback's head thus far.
The offensive line could be the biggest weakness on the roster. G Robert Hunt is now gone. He was a big free-agency signing for the Carolina Panthers. C Connor Williams was a beast last year, grading 86.5 by PFF, but is now with the Seattle Seahawks. G Isaiah Wynn is on the PUP list as he recovers from last year's season-ending quadriceps injury.
LT Terron Armstead, now 33 years old and Miami's best offensive lineman by a mile, has missed 20 games over the last three seasons. Cohesion can only come with practice and playing time.
It's not just Tagovailoa fumbles, the entire Dolphins team fumbled the bag in 2023
Perhaps they peaked too soon last year. After shellacking the not-as-good-as-we-thought Denver Broncos 70-20 in Week 3, we probably crowned 'em, in the immortal words of Dennis Green. Miami fans surely remember but most likely quickly forgot that the Dolphins were whipped 56-19 on the road against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 17.
The hard truth is that every AFC team will have its fair share of embarrassments over the last half-decade because of Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs. Step one is taking control of the AFC East, and this may just be the year.
The focus must be incremental improvement for this Dolphins training camp and preseason.
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