After the horrifying and nightmare-manifesting, 872-3 loss to the Bills in week 17 (exaggerating the score for obvious reasons), many around the team cited one main trouble area for the 2020 Dolphins:
The wideout room couldn’t get open. And when they did, their YAC was nonexistent.
To combat history from repeating itself, the front office decided to begin an enlightening journey towards ‘speed’ – a concept the Dolphins had all but forgotten about since acquiring Mike Wallace for a billion dollars in 2013 (exaggerating his salary for obvious reasons). And with a little splash of luck (the Texans losing 12-games with Deshaun Watson at QB) and some well-used cap space, the Dolphins looked primed to be fast again.
They looked primed to fly again:
- Will Fuller (1-year, $10 million)
- Jaylen Waddle (2021 NFL Draft Round 1, Pick 6)
- HONORABLE MENTION: Albert Wilson (back from COVID year)
Then, in a drunken stupor, I saw this YouTube video on my homepage:
Of course, I didn’t end up watching it. But I did create a hypothesis from the title alone.
HYPOTHESIS:
With the new additions, the Dolphins have the fastest offense in the NFL.
A prediction I wasn’t sure how to even substantiate. Though, after much debate, here is what I came up with:
THE METHOD:
I came up with two different ways of vindicating my hypothesis: Madden Speed Ratings and 40-Yard-Dash Times. For each of these methods, I researched every NFL team’s starting QB, RB, top-3 WR, and TE. This made OK sense to me, as in an average formation, these are the players that would normally see the field at one time.
(Remember, before you blaze through the results, this took HOURS to compile. You are welcome!)
METHOD #1 – Madden Speed Ratings:
| Team | Team Rank | QB | RB | WR | WR | WR | TE | Madden Speed AVG |
| Ravens | 1 overall | Jackson | Edwards | Brown | Watkins | Bateman | Andrews | |
| Madden Speed | 96 | 88 | 97 | 91 | 92 | 86 | 91.66666667 | |
| Chiefs | 2 overall | Mahomes | CEH | Hill | Hardman | Pringle | Kelce | |
| Madden Speed | 81 | 86 | 99 | 97 | 91 | 86 | 90 | |
| Seahawks | 3 overall | Wilson | Carson | DK | Lockett | Swain | Everett | |
| Madden Speed | 85 | 88 | 95 | 93 | 91 | 85 | 89.5 | |
| Broncos | 4 overall | Bridgewater | Gordon | Sutton | Jeudy | Hamler | Fant | |
| Madden Speed | 82 | 91 | 89 | 91 | 94 | 89 | 89.33333333 | |
| Dolphins | 5 overall | Tua | Gaskin | Fuller | Parker | Waddle | Gesicki | |
| Madden Speed | 82 | 88 | 95 | 89 | 97 | 83 | 89 |
Quick Results: The Dolphins have the 5th fastest offense in the NFL, according to Madden 22.
METHOD #2 – 40 YD:
| Team Rank | QB | RB | WR | WR | WR | TE | Madden Speed AVG |
| 1 overall | Jackson | Edwards | Brown | Watkins | Bateman | Andrews | |
| Ravens | 4.34 | 4.52 | 4.32 | 4.43 | 4.43 | 4.67 | 4.451666667 |
| 2 overall | Wilson | Carson | DK | Lockett | Swain | Everett | |
| Seahawks | 4.55 | 4.58 | 4.33 | 4.4 | 4.46 | 4.62 | 4.49 |
| 3 overall | Carr | Jacobs | Ruggs | Edwards | Renfrow | Waller | |
| Raiders | 4.69 | 4.6 | 4.27 | 4.45 | 4.59 | 4.46 | 4.51 |
| 4 overall | Bridgewater | Gordon | Sutton | Jeudy | Hamler | Fant | |
| Broncos | 4.79 | 4.52 | 4.54 | 4.46 | 4.27 | 4.5 | 4.513333333 |
| 5 overall | Mahomes | CEH | Hill | Hardman | Pringle | Kelce | |
| Chiefs | 4.8 | 4.61 | 4.29 | 4.33 | 4.46 | 4.61 | 4.516666667 |
| 6 overall | Tua | Gaskin | Fuller | Parker | Waddle | Gesicki | |
| Dolphins | 4.9 | 4.58 | 4.32 | 4.4 | 4.37 | 4.54 | 4.518333333 |
Quick Results: According to 40-yard-dash times, the Dolphins have the 6th fastest team in the NFL.
***Caveat: These times were taking during a pro day or draft combine and most likely have changed since then***
CONCLUSION:
FINE. I was wrong! Though, we are easily a top-5 fastest NFL offense. A reality that feels good on the gums – especially after watching last year’s team struggle so consistently to help out Tua. I’m not sure I can surmise a ton from these results – but in an attempt to do so, the top-3 fastest offenses – Ravens, Chiefs, Seahawks were all playoff teams in 2020 (with a combined record of 37-11).
Other than that, the last takeaway is obvious:
Miami is fast again.
SIDENOTE:
Miami seems to be building their roster-comp to match the Kansas City Chiefs. Let’s take a quick look-see:
| 2 overall | Mahomes | CEH | Hill | Hardman | Pringle | Kelce | AVERAGE |
| Madden Speed | 81 | 86 | 99 | 97 | 91 | 86 | 90 |
| 5 overall | Tua | Gaskin | Waddle | Fuller | Parker | Gesicki | AVERAGE |
| Madden Speed | 82 | 88 | 97 | 95 | 89 | 83 | 89 |
- Believe it or not, CEH and Gaskin are very comparable in many ways – mainly, that they like to catch the ball.
- All draft process long, Waddle was championed as the ‘next Tyreek Hill’
- Fuller and Hardman can both smoke a deep shot and keep the safeties honest (so they don’t cheat to Waddle/Hill)
- Gesicki is NO Travis Kelce (at least, not yet..), but their both top-5 pass catchers at the position
