Every NFL analyst has hot views, and three stood out on Monday, including the Miami Dolphins.
One was very free, the other not so much, and one somewhere in between.
Let’s break them down.
Tannenbaum High on Dolphins Plaimakers
We will start with the free point, which was brought to us by the former vice president for football operations of Dolphin, Mike Tannenbaum.
Writing about the 33rd team, Tanenbaum divided each team’s offensive weapons into seven levels and set the Dolphins as one of three teams in Tier 1, along with the Cincinnati Bengals and Las Vegas Raiders.
“These are teams that have top talent in all 3 position groups that we discussed in our discussion of ‘weapons’,” Tanenbaum wrote. “They have at least 2 receivers in their team who can be VR1, with great depth in the position of RB and TE. Some players at this level are celebrities in new places (Tireek Hill and (Davante) Adams), also as a play group that helped bring the Bengals to the Super Bowl. “:
For the Dolphins, the two recipients who could be VR1 are obviously Hill and Jalen Wedel, and the depths on the run include Sonny Mitchell, Rahim Mostert, Chase Edmonds and Miles Gaskin, and finally Mike Gesicki, Durham Smith, Adam Shaheen, Cethan. Carter and Hunter Long.
Tannenbaum was much less commendable last week when he ranked the starting quarterback of each team, again in seven levels.
Tua Tagovailoa was one of five quarterbacks to be placed in Tier 6, along with Davis Mills, Jared Goff, Carson Wentz and Jalen Hertz.
“Tier 6 are players you can win with if the situation around them is ideal,” wrote Tanenbaum. “They need time in their pocket, a strong game plan, weapons in the backfield and outside. These players are unlikely to see great flashes, but at best, they will keep their teams in the game. If they are paired with a strong defense, game plan, protection and weapons, victories can happen, but they have to overcome mental mistakes and injuries along the way. “
Orlovski’s KB Categories
Although Tannenbaum has long been skeptical of Tagawailo’s NFL potential - he said in the pre-draft record that Justin Herbert had a better chance - the same does not apply to ESPN analyst Dan Orlovski.
Orlovski, a former NFL quarterback, has often defended Tua and expressed his belief that he can become an elite, but Orlovski clearly understands that Tua is still not there.
That’s why Orlovski had Tua among the 10 quarterbacks in his category “Quarterbacks with whom you win games”, a group that included McJones in the first round of New England 2021.
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And, from this point of view, Orlovski’s assessment is in the right place.
His list of “Quarterbacks that make you win games” contains 11 names, and what’s not good for the Dolphins here is that eight of them play in the AFC, including Josh Allen from Buffalo Bills.
The other seven were Joe Barrow, Lamar Jackson, Deshon Watson, Justin Herbert, Russell Wilson, Derek Carr and Patrick Mahomes.
Orr’s 100 bold predictions
The 100 predictions of the writer SI Conor Ora include two directly related to the Dolphins and two more with an indirect connection.
At number 70, Or predicted that Tyrick Hill would have a low average of yards per admission in his first year with the Dolphins.
“The Dolphins bought Tyrick Hill to make the quick game more successful. Coach Mike McDaniel will get the ball out of Tua Tagovailo’s hands as soon as possible in most falls. That means less beautiful, consecutive Hill throws that result in a touchdown worthy of a climax. “
For the record, Hill’s low career earnings average was 9.7, which was during his 2016 start-up season. That would actually be very disappointing as one of the problems with Jalen Weddle’s great starter season was that he averaged just 9 , 8 yards per reception.
Maybe Or didn’t count on Hill’s starting season, in which case the lowest average in his career was 11.2, which happened last year.
The explanation from Orr makes perfect sense, because the plan with Hill certainly envisages moving the chains more than just removing the bombs.
At number 78, Or predicted that the Dolphins would finish among the top three in the NFL in a hurry.
“The compilation of Mike McDaniel’s defenders this off-season (Sonny Michel, Rahim Mostert, Chase Edmonds) was not a coincidence. Of course, VR Tireek Hill will get its chances, but this is a system designed to push the ball down your throat. Have fun tackling this fantastic football sea. “
This would probably be good news for the Dolphins as teams don’t tend to run that much when they fall behind.
Oro’s two predictions indirectly related to the Dolphins included a return to a prominent back position, and Zack Wilson finished second in the AFC East in touchdown additions.
There are several ways to look at the latter, starting with the idea that predicting that the Dolphins will run a lot with the ball can reduce the chances of throwing a touchdown pass. But Orr follows his comment that Wilson will probably make great progress in 2022 with the suggestion that McJones could be the second best quarterback in the division (apparently behind Josh Allen).
Tagovailoa was left out in the whole conversation, which certainly follows the idea that the Dolphin quarterback still has skeptics who need to win.