One of the biggest improvements for the Miami Dolphins the last 3 and a half games has been their passing game. Ever since head coach Brian Flores made the switch back to Ryan Fitzpatrick, the passing game has evolved. Maybe it took time for Fitzpatrick and all of the players on offense to get in sync with all of the changes made on the roster the first month of the season. Maybe the Dolphins have found right combination on the offensive line, but things are clicking, and it was a big reason for their first win of the season against the New York Jets.
Fitzpatrick gets a lot of credit for the improvement and he should with his quick reads and accuracy to put the ball in the spots for the receivers to make big plays. I know some people will say because the line is playing better Josh Rosen could have done this, but I don’t believe so. Rosen needed to sit and watch because he’s not doing the enough to improve. He doesn’t read the defenses well and he holds the ball too long. He will get his shot again before the season end, but until that times he can learn a lot from Fitzpatrick. In my opinion, I think Fitzpatrick should come back next year to help whoever the Dolphins take in next year’s draft. It certainly can’t hurt.
The improvement of wide receivers Preston Williams and Devante Parker deserve a lot of credit as well. Williams got off to a slow start probably because the speed of the game was fast which is normal for all rookies. The preseason doesn’t prepare you for how fast the game really is once the regular season starts. Williams had the first of hopefully many more multi touchdown games. Fitzpatrick has been looking for him in the red zone with his 6’5″ size not many DBs can defend that in the red zone. Parker has also stepped the last 4 to 5 games and probably been the best stretch of his career since being drafted in the 1st round of 2015. He has been more consistent and is even blocking well. This coaching staff has really done a great job of working with him. He’s caught a touchdown pass in 4 of the last 5 games. The Dolphins have been using Williams and Parker a lot together and it has been working well. Williams left the game today with an injury and hopefully its nothing serious because his development has been great to see the last month.
Another surprise has been the quiet development of tight end Mike Gesicki. Today he was a big factor in the passing game catching 6 passes for 95 yards both career highs. He’s not a good blocker, but he has really slowly started to turn the corner in the passing game and becoming a factor in the offense which is something we didn’t see last year. He hasn’t scored a touchdown yet this season, but if this continues his time will come.
The Dolphins have been looking for some positives to look at as the season progresses and the passing game is definitely stepping up. It’s a credit to the players stepping up and the coaches putting them in the right position to succeed after a tough first month of the season.
