There's been some thought that the Dolphins under Joe Philbin are trying to establish a "spread the ball around" offense, similar to what Philbin was associated with in Green Bay, where Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver, James Jones, and Jermichael Finely were the primary recipients of Aaron Rodgers's passes, with each catching a significant number of passes, and none standing out to the degree seen on teams with a dominant, go-to receiver such as Calvin Johnson or Julio Jones.
Prior to this season the Dolphins functioned with Brian Hartline, Davone Bess, and Anthony Fasano, and while it could be argued that no one in that group was as good individually as anyone in the Green Bay group noted above, it was perhaps nonetheless the case that everyone in the group fit with the "spread the ball around" mentality Philbin purportedly espouses, in that each can contribute significantly, though none are a "feed me the ball" dominant, go-to receiver.
Now, enter Mike Wallace in 2013, and with his salary being so much greater than those of the other receivers, one question becomes whether he's going to fit with the "spread the ball around" mentality, or whether he's going to need the ball fed to him like Brandon Marshall did when he was a member of the Dolphins, while whining when it isn't.
Well it didn't take long for Wallace to start whining. We know that. After the first game in Cleveland, Wallace was reportedly dejected if not angered after a game the Dolphins won, citing his lack of sufficient involvement in the offense.
Now that can be taken two ways, one positive and one negative: 1) he unselfishly wants to contribute more and help the team win, which is positive, or 2) he selfishly wants to be an individual star whether the team wins or loses, which is negative.
I don't think we can say with any certainty whether the former or latter is more true. However, what we can do is see whether Mike Wallace's performance to date fits with the "spread the ball around" mentality Philbin and company are supposedly striving for, and thereby get a sense of whether Mike Wallace is unselfishly contributing to the offensive mission if you will.
One way of doing that is by determining Wallace's production as a function of how often the offense targets him in the passing game. Yards per target (YPT) is an effective measure of that IMO.
When we look back over his career prior to joining the Dolphins, we find that Wallace's YPT in 2009, his rookie season, was 10.0, which put him 9th overall in the league in that category. In 2010 his YPT was a staggering 12.7, which placed him first in the league, and in 2011 his YPT was 10.5, which placed him 11th. In 2012 his YPT decreased a great deal to 7.0, which placed him 54th.
So far this season Wallace's YPT with the Dolphins has been 6.4, which is 61st in the league. In other words, Wallace is needing nearly twice the number of targets he had in 2010, to produce the same number of yards. Said differently, for every 100 yards of passes he's caught this year, Wallace has had to be thrown the ball (whether he catches it or not) about twice as many times as he was thrown the ball in 2010.
Now, some have thought that Wallace's presence, while perhaps not resulting in a great number catches for him specifically, might "open things up" for the other receivers on the team. So let's investigate that possibility by looking at the YPT numbers for both Brian Hartline and Brandon Gibson.
Brian Hartline, in 2012, prior to Mike Wallace's arrival, had 8.3 YPT and 14.3 YPC on the season. This year, with Wallace on the opposite side of the field, Hartline's YPT is the same (8.3), while his YPC has decreased to 13.3. Now, granted Hartline's decrease YPC could be because Wallace has assumed the downfield role formerly occupied by Hartline, with Hartline's assuming the possession role formerly occupied by Davone Bess, leaving Hartline with a greater percentage of shorter routes on the tree.
Brandon Gibson's YPT in 2012 was 8.4, and his YPC was 13.5. Granted this was with a different quarterback, in a different role (outside receiver versus slot receiver). This year his YPT is 8.5, a 0.1 yard increase, and his YPC is 11.8, which I think reflects a difference in the routes he's running from the slot.
Now let's see if Mike Wallace is "opening up" the running game. Last year the Dolphins rushed for 4.1 yards a carry, good for 19th in the league overall. This year they're rushing for 4.0 yards a carry, good for 20th.
So, we're left with three possible conclusions here IMO: 1) that Mike Wallace's presence has been predominantly positive, that the play of the offensive line has prevented him from functioning as he does customarily, and that the team would be doing even worse offensively without Wallace on the field, 2) that Wallace's presence has been predominantly negative, that he's "absorbing" offensive play and not offering enough in return, or 3) that we really don't know enough about the inner workings of the team to know for certain.
Prior to this season the Dolphins functioned with Brian Hartline, Davone Bess, and Anthony Fasano, and while it could be argued that no one in that group was as good individually as anyone in the Green Bay group noted above, it was perhaps nonetheless the case that everyone in the group fit with the "spread the ball around" mentality Philbin purportedly espouses, in that each can contribute significantly, though none are a "feed me the ball" dominant, go-to receiver.
Now, enter Mike Wallace in 2013, and with his salary being so much greater than those of the other receivers, one question becomes whether he's going to fit with the "spread the ball around" mentality, or whether he's going to need the ball fed to him like Brandon Marshall did when he was a member of the Dolphins, while whining when it isn't.
Well it didn't take long for Wallace to start whining. We know that. After the first game in Cleveland, Wallace was reportedly dejected if not angered after a game the Dolphins won, citing his lack of sufficient involvement in the offense.
Now that can be taken two ways, one positive and one negative: 1) he unselfishly wants to contribute more and help the team win, which is positive, or 2) he selfishly wants to be an individual star whether the team wins or loses, which is negative.
I don't think we can say with any certainty whether the former or latter is more true. However, what we can do is see whether Mike Wallace's performance to date fits with the "spread the ball around" mentality Philbin and company are supposedly striving for, and thereby get a sense of whether Mike Wallace is unselfishly contributing to the offensive mission if you will.
One way of doing that is by determining Wallace's production as a function of how often the offense targets him in the passing game. Yards per target (YPT) is an effective measure of that IMO.
When we look back over his career prior to joining the Dolphins, we find that Wallace's YPT in 2009, his rookie season, was 10.0, which put him 9th overall in the league in that category. In 2010 his YPT was a staggering 12.7, which placed him first in the league, and in 2011 his YPT was 10.5, which placed him 11th. In 2012 his YPT decreased a great deal to 7.0, which placed him 54th.
So far this season Wallace's YPT with the Dolphins has been 6.4, which is 61st in the league. In other words, Wallace is needing nearly twice the number of targets he had in 2010, to produce the same number of yards. Said differently, for every 100 yards of passes he's caught this year, Wallace has had to be thrown the ball (whether he catches it or not) about twice as many times as he was thrown the ball in 2010.
Now, some have thought that Wallace's presence, while perhaps not resulting in a great number catches for him specifically, might "open things up" for the other receivers on the team. So let's investigate that possibility by looking at the YPT numbers for both Brian Hartline and Brandon Gibson.
Brian Hartline, in 2012, prior to Mike Wallace's arrival, had 8.3 YPT and 14.3 YPC on the season. This year, with Wallace on the opposite side of the field, Hartline's YPT is the same (8.3), while his YPC has decreased to 13.3. Now, granted Hartline's decrease YPC could be because Wallace has assumed the downfield role formerly occupied by Hartline, with Hartline's assuming the possession role formerly occupied by Davone Bess, leaving Hartline with a greater percentage of shorter routes on the tree.
Brandon Gibson's YPT in 2012 was 8.4, and his YPC was 13.5. Granted this was with a different quarterback, in a different role (outside receiver versus slot receiver). This year his YPT is 8.5, a 0.1 yard increase, and his YPC is 11.8, which I think reflects a difference in the routes he's running from the slot.
Now let's see if Mike Wallace is "opening up" the running game. Last year the Dolphins rushed for 4.1 yards a carry, good for 19th in the league overall. This year they're rushing for 4.0 yards a carry, good for 20th.
So, we're left with three possible conclusions here IMO: 1) that Mike Wallace's presence has been predominantly positive, that the play of the offensive line has prevented him from functioning as he does customarily, and that the team would be doing even worse offensively without Wallace on the field, 2) that Wallace's presence has been predominantly negative, that he's "absorbing" offensive play and not offering enough in return, or 3) that we really don't know enough about the inner workings of the team to know for certain.
