The Miami Dolphins need to make some changes. The changes at the top are the ones everyone is talking about, but if Mike McDaniel is still the team’s head coach next week against the Atlanta Falcons, the lineup might have some changes.
“Everything is on the table,” McDaniel said following Miami’s embarrassing 31-6 los to the Cleveland Browns that dropped the Dolphins to 1-6 on the season.
“There are a lot of guys who will have an important work week,” McDaniel added. “If you are negatively affecting the football team routinely, I don’t have a choice but to assess a different player, and I have to coach better. We’re going to find out who and what we’re made of.”
Call-outs from the head coach don’t get much more direct than that. Although it’s fair to point out that this is too little too late, it’s not an empty threat from McDaniel, either.
The team benched veteran edge rusher Matthew Judon against the Browns in place of Quinton Bell, although Bell didn’t appear on defense (if he did, it was for very few snaps).
Miami also switched its QB2 Sunday, promoting Quinn Ewers to the active roster. Zach Wilson was the emergency third quarterback despite Miami paying him $6 million guaranteed this season.
Ewers entered the game after Tua Tagovailoa’s third interception, and didn’t exactly look impressive, so it’s hard to imagine one of the changes being at quarterback.
McDaniel might not be afraid to make some changes at this point in the season, but what changes could he actually make? Honestly, it’s hard to think of too many that would have any impact.
The offensive line hasn’t played well this season, but it’s already sporting two backups. Miami could bench rookie Jonah Savaiinaea, but anyone who could take his place (Kion Smith, Daniel Brunskill) already was benched for Cole Strange.
At receiver and running back, Jaylen Waddle and De’Von Achane have been two of the team’s limited bright spots. Tight end Darren Waller left the game against Cleveland with a pectoral injury, but he wasn’t playing the majority of snaps in that room anyway.
On the defensive line, the Dolphins made one change already with Judon. And the rest of the group is already rotating in. Perhaps the team could give more snaps to Chop Robinson and fewer to Bradley Chubb?
At linebacker, K.J. Britt played pretty well in place of Tyrel Dodson in Week 6, but they gave Dodson his job right back against Cleveland. And Willie Gay isn’t someone they think overly highly of, given his usage. We’d like to see what Gay could do, but Miami’s run defense wasn’t even that bad against Cleveland.
In the secondary, the team could certainly bench Ashtyn Davis. He was active against the Browns but hasn’t played well overall this season. However, the Dolphins’ secondary has a lot of injuries. Fellow safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ifeatu Melifonwu are already getting snaps.
Are you benching Davis or Melifonwu for special teams ace Elijah Campbell, who didn’t even play Sunday because of an injury?
If the team wants to usher in a youth movement, plugging in someone like JuJu Brents for Rasul Douglas would make sense, but Douglas is one of the team’s top performers, so that wouldn’t line up with McDaniel’s comments.
Honestly, it’s a bit hard to stomach McDaniel’s last comment. And his general message of accountability falls a little flat.
“We’re going to find out who and what we’re made of.”
Everyone has already seen what you’re made of — not much. The Dolphins are 1-6 and just got their doors blown off by another team that was 1-5 coming into the game.
Should the Dolphins look under every possible rock to find improvements? Yes. However, acting like making a few lineup changes will make a big difference is disingenuous.
It’s too little too late for Miami. The Dolphins don’t even have many options to make real changes anyway.
More Miami Dolphins Coverage
Source link
