Chris Perkins: Dolphins headed for mediocrity in 2025 before 2026 rebuild

[hoops]

As much as I think tua is a good QB, Herbert was the correct choice or at least a trade down for love....

If tua wasn't injury prone this wouldn't sting as much but id rather have Herbert regardless

Herbert would at least suit up every week and have top shelf physical tools in the elements down the stretch run.

Theres not a throw he can’t make regardless of the elements etc.

 

[daryl]

To that point, Miami chased New England for years. The Patriots had an elite quarterback in Tom Brady. Now, the Dolphins are chasing Buffalo, which has an elite quarterback in Josh Allen.

It's not solely about the quarterback position, but it definitely matters.

You don't have that, you better have an elite pass rush.

They at least gave New England and Brady fits every once in a while. They got plenty of ultimately hollow victories against the Pats (except the one in 2019 that pretty much ended the Brady era there). The Dolphins were Brady’s least favorite divisional opponent to play against. The Dolphins aren’t even a speed bump for Josh Allen, the Jets and Pats give him more problems.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

They at least gave New England and Brady fits every once in a while. They got plenty of ultimately hollow victories against the Pats (except the one in 2019 that pretty much ended the Brady era there). The Dolphins were Brady’s least favorite divisional opponent to play against. The Dolphins aren’t even a speed bump for Josh Allen, the Jets and Pats give him more problems.

True. Bellichick's defense gave Allen fits. The Patriots essentially made Allen beat them from the pocket.

As great as he is, I still think Allen is at his best when he's allowed to be multidimensional.

 

[Rick Cartman]

You’re missing a whole lot of context by cherry picking.

Gruden, his first year in Tampa, won the SB. He then spent 6 more seasons there and never won another playoff game losing twice in the WC round. He took Dungy’s team to the SB.

Bruce Arians did nothing in his first year, got Tom Brady for his next two, and was then promptly fired because he sucked.

Mike Tomlin won the SB in his second season and two years later lost the SB with a Bill Cowher team. Tomlin took over 2 years after the same team had won the SB already. Over the next 14 years the Steelers have won a total of 4 playoff games, losing 6 times in the WC round and missing the playoffs in 6 of those 14 years.

And never mind missing the context that McD had his 7th round rookie QB playing in Buffalo in the postseason and the Dolphins losing by 3 points in that game. And sure, McD lost with Tua in -20F weather in KC (that affected the play of Mahomes, maybe the GOAT, so much that he had his 3rd worst playoff showing ever out of 21 games.) The other two that were worse came very early in his career. And that same KC team went on to beat the Bills, in Buffalo, then the Ravens, in Baltimore, before ending the season with a SB win against the 49ers.

Lets get something out of the way first, I like McDaniel and I don't think he's the reason the team has failed to meet expectations.
I think it's the guy that somehow wields a vast amount of influence and power and yet seems to be responsible for none of the short comings of the team since he's been General Manager and President of Football operations.
You can find nuance in all those situations, but again it's not an unreasonable expectation to expect some kind of playoff success in the first three seasons.
I'd much rather be in those situations you stated because at least they won a title on the front end.

 

[Mello Yello]

Do most coaches go backwards in play every year ?

Or should I say in year three shoukd the team be going in reverse?

Dano you can move goal posts all you want m, he needs to win this year or he can gtfoh

Are you seriously saying you wanna give this guy a fifth year even if he doesn’t make the playoffs and win?

I remember someone in the Private section of ThePhins doing this assessment and actually yeah, it's pretty common when surveying the first 3 years of "proven" HCs to seen a 2+1 thing....2 good years & 1 bad.

There's virtually always a miracle year where the HC/team makes an immediate surge (often winning a Playoff game) as well as 1 of those initial 3 years where the team regressed.

We've seen the Rams, Eagles, 49ers and Bengals all go through this. It's super normal for a "good team" to have a down year. It's crazy when teams like the Chiefs are still dominant in a bad year...it speaks to the limitations of their competition IMHO. The Chiefs should not have gone on the road and beaten Buffalo & Baltimore last year. That's a huge mark against Buffalo & Baltimore.

Not enough people are looking at the whooping Philly put on the Chiefs and asking what that means for how beatable all the AFC teams are who are essentially just relying on their "elite" QBs.

I agree with @Rick Cartman that what you're looking for is the flash...the signal of great upside. The presence of a down year is hardly a concern.

 

[Mello Yello]

To that point, Miami chased New England for years. The Patriots had an elite quarterback in Tom Brady. Now, the Dolphins are chasing Buffalo, which has an elite quarterback in Josh Allen.

It's not solely about the quarterback position, but it definitely matters.

You don't have that, you better have an elite pass rush.

From a "big picture" perspective of team-building, the whole point of chasing a Franchise QB is that it's supposed to open a window of 10+ years where you have a consistent advantage.

With Tua constantly being in/out of the lineup...he's hardly been "consistent" in what he brings.

IMHO, he's only here so long as there's guaranteed money. As soon as the Dolphins can move on, I have to assume they will. That decision was basically made for us back in wk2 of last year against Buffalo.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

From a "big picture" perspective of team-building, the whole point of chasing a Franchise QB is that it's supposed to open a window of 10+ years where you have a consistent advantage.

With Tua constantly being in/out of the lineup...he's hardly been "consistent" in what he brings.

IMHO, he's only here so long as there's guaranteed money. As soon as the Dolphins can move on, I have to assume they will. That decision was basically made for us back in wk2 of last year against Buffalo.

I agree. I think it's a reason Miami signed a high upside guy like Wilson, rather than a career backup at quarterback.

Maybe see if they can get the light to go on for him. It may not, but if it does Wilson has some great traits to work with.

 

[Gulfstream]

You’re missing a whole lot of context by cherry picking.

Gruden, his first year in Tampa, won the SB. He then spent 6 more seasons there and never won another playoff game losing twice in the WC round. He took Dungy’s team to the SB.

Bruce Arians did nothing in his first year, got Tom Brady for his next two, and was then promptly fired because he sucked.

Mike Tomlin won the SB in his second season and two years later lost the SB with a Bill Cowher team. Tomlin took over 2 years after the same team had won the SB already. Over the next 14 years the Steelers have won a total of 4 playoff games, losing 6 times in the WC round and missing the playoffs in 6 of those 14 years.

And never mind missing the context that McD had his 7th round rookie QB playing in Buffalo in the postseason and the Dolphins losing by 3 points in that game. And sure, McD lost with Tua in -20F weather in KC (that affected the play of Mahomes, maybe the GOAT, so much that he had his 3rd worst playoff showing ever out of 21 games.) The other two that were worse came very early in his career. And that same KC team went on to beat the Bills, in Buffalo, then the Ravens, in Baltimore, before ending the season with a SB win against the 49ers.

Gruden was a bit handicapped by Tampa giving up two first and two second rd picks to get him.

 

[danmarino7051]

Gruden was a bit handicapped by Tampa giving up two first and two second rd picks to get him.

So is McD handicapped because Ross lost him a 1st and 3rd round pick?

 

[Gulfstream]

So is McD handicapped because Ross lost him a 1st and 3rd round pick?

To a degree sure, we would have been better off with them.

 

[Dolph N.Fan]

Absolutely no reason the current regime should be in place for it post 2025.

Zero nada zilch.

they're not going anywhere. All the moves they made (or lack thereof) are not moves people on the hot seat would make

 

[CANDolphan]

Grier not being fired is the ultimate head scratcher move and it’s impossible to expect anything out of this team as long as he’s around.

 

[joenhre]

they're not going anywhere. All the moves they made (or lack thereof) are not moves people on the hot seat would make

So if the team goes 5-12, Ross is just going to say no problem let's run it all back in 2026? At what point does the team actually have to show real success on the field?

 

[Ray R]

So is McD handicapped because Ross lost him a 1st and 3rd round pick?

Oh, he missed that. - LOL

 

[daryl]

So if the team goes 5-12, Ross is just going to say no problem let's run it all back in 2026? At what point does the team actually have to show real success on the field?

Yes. He’ll run it back because he’s too old to care. It’s a pastime for him. Somewhere to entertain his buddies on Sunday instead of the yacht or the race track. And his net worth is higher than the GDP of most developing countries.