While the team added some talent on the offensive line in the form of rookie tackle/guard Laremy Tunsil and tackle Jermon Bushrod, this is still an offensive line which
was rated the second worst in the NFL by
Pro Football Focus. Even if Branden Albert is 100 percent, Mike Pouncey returns to form and Tunsil is impeccable in his first year, getting back to average is a big hill to climb.
So that means Tannehill and Landry will have to be in sync early on in the season, which is when offensive lines are usually still gelling and will struggle. Tannehill has to know Landry will be in position and make the catches because there is a good chance he’ll be under pressure early.
Another place that the Dolphins saw some change was in the backfield. The team let free agent Lamar Miller walk, and are pinning their hopes on Jay Ajayi, Damien Williams and rookie Kenyon Drake. Williams has been in the league several years and never shown enough to crack the lineup regularly, and while Ajayi has game-breaking speed and explosion, he also has long-term concerns about his knees and has very little experience at the pro level.
Drake also brings tremendous speed to the table but while he can do a little bit of everything, though he never carried the full load in college. So like Ajayi, he has very little history to look at and on top of that, needs to improve as a blocker in pass protection to be on the field.
There’s upside here, but unlike Miller, we don’t know if they will reach it. That makes it hard to depend on.
It also means if the ball is going to move, Tannehill and Landry will have to be the ones doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Of course the run game will be a factor, but the Dolphins are going to have to put the ball in the most trusted hands on offense.
Until someone proves otherwise, that is Tannehill and Landry.
(Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire)
There’s even a chance that the ground game won’t have the opportunity to get going to begin with.
Miami’s defense is not a unit which got a ton better this offseason. Ranked by
Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric
as the No. 25 defense in the NFL last season, they lost several pieces on defense, most notably Olivier Vernon. They can hope Mario Williams replaces him and finds his way back to the form he once showed, but while he swears he’s going to give them his “
best effort,” there’s no way to know what that means.
So while the Dolphins have some talent on the front seven, they’ve lost some as well.
On top of that, the secondary was not good last season and struggled to contain receivers. Brent Grimes had a poor year, but he was the best of the bunch from a talent standpoint, but he’s gone. His replacement is second rounder Xavien Howard, a guy who has the raw skills to be a starter but whose collegiate career was a lot of hit and miss, feast or famine.
They made no other significant changes, so they have to be hoping scheme does the trick, but there’s an awfully good chance teams are going to move the ball on the Dolphins next season.
Which means the offense is likely playing from behind, which means more passing and more Tannehill and Landry.
Now, you may be thinking to yourself, “Tannehill has a lot of receivers to throw to. Why is it all about Landry?”
While it’s true that there are a lot of options to go to, Landry has the most talent and is the most consistent.
While we like Kenny Stills, but he was lost in the wash last year and there’s a good chance that happens again as his limited overall skill set will be outshined by what Landry and Parker bring to the table. As for Parker, he is the guy we think will break out because there’s a good chance he will move to the X spot, which is a high-volume position in Gase’s offense. That said, Parker has yet to show he can handle the workload and be consistent.
As for the rest, rookie Leonte Caroo is really the only real intriguing option and rookie receivers aren’t known for their ability to impact the NFL season in their first year. For every Odell Beckham Jr., there are many more players who need a few years to catch up to speed.
Landry and Tannehill have worked together for two straight years, 32 games worth of time to get on the same page. Of Tannehill’s 587 pass attempts, 167 went to Landry and no other player was targeted in triple digits. Landry caught 66.5 percent of his targets, putting him in the top 10 best catch percentages for receivers with more than 100 targets.
Tannehill can trust him because we’ve seen it for two years.
The Dolphins aren’t quite ready to rebuild, but they still have a lot of holes on their roster. They have a shot to make the playoffs — everyone does this time of year — but they need help. Top-flight performances from Tannehill and Landry are their best hope for making the playoffs this season.
