Stock up

Albert Wilson

Wilson had a very good game against the Jets this past Sunday. He is finally is starting to look like the play-maker that we were looking for when we signed him. Gase is using him in a similar fashion that he used Jarvis Landry for the last couple of years, lining him up all over the field and using the multifaceted receiver in a variety of ways throughout the game. The goal is to take advantage of Wilson’s primary assets, his speed and ability to make people miss, to create strategic advantages with matchups to generate chunk yards and points. He ended the game with three catches for 37 yards and a touchdown and had two carries for 8 yards. While those stats may not blow you away, if you were watching the game, you could tell that he is developing into a real difference maker on offense.

 

Kiko Alonso

Kiko had a monster game against the Jets. He racked up career highs in both total tackles, 13, and forced fumbles, 2, and was all over the field on Sunday. It’s common knowledge that at this point in his career, which is still relatively early, he is more of a run stuffing linebacker than one who will excel dropping into coverage. But he also didn’t have a bad game in the coverage department, allowing just 3 of 6 targets to be completed and not allowing any significant chunk plays. Overall, our linebackers absolutely need to get better in coverage, but if Kiko can keep having productive days stopping the run, then maybe we won’t be as bad at stopping opponents rushing attack as we all assumed going into the season.

 

Matt Haack

Yes, I’m well aware that I just placed a punter in the stock up column. In this instance, it is well deserved. As I’m sure most of you watched the game, Haack was a huge factor in determining where the Jets started their drives. Haack punted a total of six times, five of those punts had the Jets starting their drive inside their own 20, and three of those inside their own 10. The average Jets starting field position after all six of Haack’s punts was their own 10-yard line. Add that to the fact that had a long of 63 and averaged just under 50 yards per punt. This is probably the most you’ll ever see me gush over a punter in a game, unless he does this in a playoff game, but he was absolutely a factor in the Dolphins coming out on top in this game.

 

 

Stock Down

Dolphins Interior Offensive Line

The combination of Ted Larsen, Daniel Kilgore and Jesse Davis was not effective on Sunday. According to PFF, all three graded out no better than 54th overall at their position this week. I know it’s just the guard position, but Josh Sitton’s absence will really be felt for the rest of the season. Statistically, Tannehill was sacked four times, but I won’t pin that awful fumble Tannehill had on the Dolphins opening drive of the second half on the offensive line. That was just an ugly play from the quarterback. Even without that play, the Dolphins still allowed three sacks losing 30 yards in the process. Fortunately, the Dolphins used a heavy dose of the RPO to allow for a respectable day on the ground. I am shocked that over the course of Tannehill’s career, this hasn’t been used more. Regardless, it was used well on Sunday and allowed for the Dolphins to average 4.4 yards per carry on the ground despite the interior lineman struggling throughout the game. Hopefully, Gase will be able to utilize the RPO in a variety of ways throughout the season so other teams won’ t be able to game-plan against it.

 

Ryan Tannehill’s Pocket Presence

Now this is a tad specific, as I actually think he had a good game overall, but I’ve been vague with other stocks, and life is about balance. This is something that he has struggled with over the course of his career. He had his moments, such as the 3rd and 19 conversion to Frank Gore, where he actually stepped up in the pocket and made the correct throw (even if it was too low). But overall, it is painful to watch him drop back and sort of panic once he gets passed his second read. There are very few things I liked about Jay Cutler last season, but one thing was his ability to drop back, go through his progression while climbing the pocket and make a decision on where to place the ball. Now obviously, our offense was horrible last year, so maybe it’s not the best example. But, if Tannehill can add that to his game, I think he, and the entire offense, will benefit from it. This may not be all on him, he has been conditioned to react like this due to being sacked more than any other quarterback during his first three years on the team, but it is something that he must improve on if he is going to take that next step to be a great quarterback.

 

Second Half Adjustments

Again, this may be nitpicking here, but what happened at halftime on Sunday? The Dolphins pitched a shutout in the first half, only to be shutout themselves in the second half. Do not take your foot off the gas, it will cost us the game against better teams. We scored three touchdowns in the first half, only to have our second half drives go as such: Fumble, Punt, Fumble, Punt, End of Game. Fortunately, that last drive that iced the game was a good one, going 12 plays and using up the final 5:56 remaining in the game. The drive was highlighted by the Dolphins, uncharacteristically, converting a third and 19 with over three minutes left in the game. Gase is being touted as an offense genius, but if he is going to make it in this league as a head coach, he is going to have to make the proper adjustments and not allow teams like the Jets to climb back into games like this.

BE SURE TO FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK  CLICK HERE