The Dolphins are on a BYE week, which falls in the middle of the season. So this is a good time to reflect on the first half of the season with nine games played and give the Dolphins a midseason report card, and pass out some grades.
Disagree with my grades? Leave your feedback in the comments below.
QUARTERBACK: A-
Tua has been fantastic through nine games thus far and is in the MVP talk for a reason. Nineteen touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a 69.5% completion percentage. The only thing preventing him from getting an A+ is, yes, the elephant in the room: his play in the three big games (Buffalo, Philly, and KC). For example, his play in the first half vs. KC, wasn’t good; the dropped snap to end that game, plus the late INT vs. Philly has to be factored into this grade. But overall, he is an A- and if the second half is as good as the first he will end the year with an A or A+ grade.
RUNNING BACKS: A+
How can it not be an A+? Raheem Mostert has 11 rushing touchdowns and two receiving, and he is averaging 5.6 YPC. De’Von Achane has five rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns, averaging over 12.1 YPC rushing. Wilson has missed most of the first half, and Salvon Ahmed has been okay. But Mostert is going to the Pro Bowl this season, and Achane will be in the Top 3 of Rookie of the Year award voting, and these two have been better than good.
WIDE RECEIVERS: A
The logic is, “Tyreek Hill has done so much we can’t give Miami’s WRs less than an A.” But everyone else is preventing this group from getting an A+ grade. Hill has 1076 yards and eight touchdowns, which is impressive. But Waddle has been ok and kinda of underwhelming. Braxton Berrios has been OK. Cedric Wilson has been OK. Robbie Chosen/Chosen Anderson… eh. River Cracraft has been hurt. Tyreek has been so good he lifts this grade to an A. In the second half of the season, the other WRs are going to have to step up.
TIGHT END: D
Durham Smythe has 17 receptions for 169 yards, and Julian Hill has one reception for 4 yards. That’s it. That’s the Dolphins tight end stats. I know he isn’t called on much or asked to do much. So I feel BAD I have to give the group a D. But, I have to call it as I see it: Miami gets nothing from their tight ends. The blocking, which has helped with the running game, does matter and is the only reason I am not giving the Tight Ends an F.
OFFENSIVE LINE: B
If not for the injuries, this may be an A grade. But Armstead has played very little. Connor Williams has been in and out of the lineup. Robert Hunt missed the last game. Isaiah Wynn is now out for the season. Robert Jones started off on IR. Overall, even with all of the injuries, this group has held up well. Kendall Lamm was fantastic filling in for Armstead and really held the group together early on. Liam Eichenberg….well, he tried. And Lester Cotton has settled in at LG since Wynn went down. This is a well-deserved B, and that B surpassed everyone’s expectations, and the potential is there to get an A by the end of the year.
FRONT SEVEN: B
I am merging the defensive line and linebackers with this grade. Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips have been outstanding in the first half of the season. Christian Wilkins, with 4.5 sacks, has already tied his career high for a season and should blow past that number. Zach Sieler has played very well. Oh yeah, Andrew Van Ginkel stepped up and played well when Phillips missed some time. David Long keeps improving week after week. It was a rough September for this group, no doubt, but from the middle of October until now, at the bye week, this group has really turned it around and played at a high level.
SECONDARY: INC
That’s right, I’m giving an incomplete grade here, and it’s only fair. Jalen Ramsey has only played in two games; Xavien Howard was injured and missed time. Nik Needham is just coming back and being phased in slowly. Jevon Holland missed a game with a concussion. Brandon Jones missed games early on. Cam Smith hasn’t even seen the field. I can’t give a true and fair grade to this unit, as the first nine games has had so many moving parts of guys coming in and out of the lineup.
SPECIAL TEAMS: C+
Ok, well…this is another tough one. We rarely punt, so how can you fairly grade Jake Bailey? Well, on the few punts he had (outside of the KC game), he hasn’t been great. Jason Sanders really has only kicked extra points and has had no pressure field goals. We gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown. I don’t know; the unit isn’t awful enough to get a D or an F, but not good enough to get a B or an A. So, C+ seems fair.
COACHING: B-
I know this is the grade people will probably flip out about or want to argue with me about. Here is the deal: Vic Fangio has been fantastic. It took about 4-6 weeks, as expected, for him to get everyone on the same page on that side of the ball, but he has, and it’s a beautiful thing to witness. Danny Crossman and the special teams, again…eh. I’m not impressed. Butch Barry and the offensive line, A+ job from him thus far. And Mike McDaniel. The team is 6-3, so he is doing something right, but it would be naive not to talk about the elephant in the room. In “BIG” games this year, he is 0-3. Go back to last year and he is 0-7 from December 1st on. He still gets away from the running game too much and bails on it way too soon. He almost never wins a challenge. And oh yeah, whatever is an approach to get the team ready for when they play Buffalo, Philly, or KC….it isn’t working. The team always comes out flat, and they eventually lose. Nobody is calling for McDaniel to get fired. Nobody is saying he can’t improve. But as of today, November 8th gotta call it like I see it, he and his staff get a B-.
Coaching is more than wins and losses. When you grade McDaniels, I want you to think about the past 10 years of Miami football. McDaniels has a swag the dolphins havnt had in a long time. He also consistently cranks out beautiful plays that makes defensive coordinators tremble. His players love him which is huge in today’s NFL. For the first time since Marino, we can be down 21 points and I will still believe we have a chance. Dolphin fans have had to watch our team struggle to get a first down for years and now we always feel there is a chance no matter the distance. I agree McDaniels has some things to learn, but please keep in mind he is very young and this is his first head coaching job in the NFL. I love what he has done for us and he is only going to get better. Remember what Tua’s stats were when Brian Flores was coaching him? Now he is in the MVP race and he credits his confidence to McDaniels. That’s everything you can hope for from your coach. I enjoy reading your stories and thanks for working hard to put out Dolphins content for us!!
Thanks for reading and the support, I will push back a little, in that I’m grading the first nine games of this year not the last 10 years. Two things can be true at the same time. McDaniel is our best coach in decades. (TRUE). Through 9 games he has been just ok and needs to improve for this team to make a jump to the next level. (TRUE)
The TE’s actually do their job pretty well. They’re called on to block mostly and don’t even run a lot of routes. At worst they should have a C because they do what they’re supposed to and Smythe is good for a couple first downs per game receiving
Pretty honest report card. No place for rose colored glasses in here. We are finally fielding a great team to watch again and I can’t be happier. My god, we’re scary now and when get the entire team on the field at once we will be a huge load for the rest of the league to deal with.