The Phinsider
The 2024 Miami Dolphins offense has been broken. Mike McDaniel needs to get back to what works.
Dear Mike McDaniel,
I know this season is not going the way you expected. It is clearly not going the way anyone expected. But, I know it has to be hitting you especially hard as your two years of amazing offensive schemes have suddenly disappeared into a team that has the lowest point total in the league and has not led during regulation in any game this season.
I know I am not saying anything you do not already know. But, I wanted to ask you one simple favor as a live-and-breathe Dolphins fan and as a representative of a decent portion of the fanbase.
Please stop trying so hard.
Maybe this is just my opinion, but to me, it seems like the 2024 season has been about evolving your offensive scheme and proving that you are able to continue to adjust your system. But, it has not been working.
I know you are missing quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and I know he is the ideal point-man for your system. But, even when he was playing, something felt off.
Where are the crossing routes and slants that got the ball into the hands of wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Hill is the number one player in the NFL, according to the players vote for the NFL Top 100 this year. He was threatening the league’s receiving yardage record last year. Right now, he is 31st in the league with just 217 yards receiving, 272 yards behind Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins. Hill has made the Pro Bowl in every season of his career, and he is looking like a journeyman receiver who is an afterthought in the offensive gameplan.
And Waddle is just another player at this point.
I know, there have been drops and it is hard to fault you for those. But the Dolphins’ offense does not work without getting the ball to Hill and Waddle - and right now, they are not getting the ball.
Last year, you mentioned that the next evolution of the offense is to get the tight end position involved. Fans envisioned your experience with San Francisco 49ers’ tight end George Kittle - and the signing of Jonnu Smith made the future look blindingly bright.
Nine catches for 78 yards.
Just for comparison, former Dolphins tight end and cast-off Mike Gesicki has 15 receptions for 147 yards for the Cincinnati Bengals.
I know Raheem Moster’s chest injury took him out of the lineup and likely forced De’Von Achane into a more conventional running back role than was desired. All the pre-season talk of Achane being lined up out wide looked like it was coming to fruition early in the season, but then vanished. With Mostert looking like he is ready to come back, will we see Achane begin to play a myriad of roles all over the offense?
And, if I may make a...
