The Article I Didn't Want To Write

By: Chip Turner

There’s a great line from a great movie that I won’t wax poetic about, because the entire Dolphins fanbase is tired. So, very simply, “The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.” And that’s really the crux of why I didn’t want to write this article. Because this season, a season full of promise and hope, is in a metaphorical death spiral into the depths of the AFC. 

Welcome to Week Six of the 2021 Miami Dolphins season.  

This season has gone wrong in a spectacular variety of ways. This wouldn't be unusual as most Dolphins seasons have gone recently, but this offesason and preseason gave rise to much anticipation, so the Dolphins’ cratering has evoked a particularly vehement response. 

And justifiably so.  

In one day, we’re going to find out if this season is salvageable. Tua Tagovailoa is expected to start against the Jaguars. The Jaguars aren’t good. They’re actually spectacularly bad. Miami SHOULD eviscerate them. 

Now, quick show of hands: Who is genuinely confident that the Dolphins will eviscerate the Jaguars?  

Yeah, me either. 

There are considerable problems on the Miami Dolphins. And, as a huge supporter and believer of Brian Flores and Chris Grier, it pains me to say this, but they need to be addressed. Right now. 

Maybe things turn around tomorrow. And…I hope they do. But I have zero confidence that they will, so we’re gonna get a few things out of the way. ​

NUMBER ONE: 
The Miami Dolphins no longer have a talent issue. 

They don’t. You can argue with me all you want about this, but there simply isn’t a curse over Hard Rock Stadium that magically makes players suck. 

Rookies Jaylen Waddle, Jaelan Phillps, and Jevon Holland have all shown flashes of absolute brilliance. There have been FIVE offensive linemen drafted in the past two years. Will Fuller was brought in. DeVante Parker is tremendously talented. So is Preston Williams. So is Albert Wilson. All of these players SHOULD be producing consistently, but aren’t. Why is that? 

We’ll get back to that shortly. 

NUMBER TWO: 
The Miami Dolphins are tremendously inexperienced at every level. 

The head coach is in his third year. The DC is in his second. The OCs are in their first. The OL coach is in his first. The DB coach is in his second. The cornerbacks coach is in his first. Rather than continue this exercise, I’ll just say that the ONLY coaches on the staff with more than three years of experience (at their current position) on the entire team are Dave Puloka and Jim Arthur.
 
Dave Puloka and Jim Arthur are the Strength and Conditioning coaches. 

As far as the roster, there is a tremendous lack of experience at almost every position. There’s talent, but little veteran leadership. At best, this was going to lead to growing pains. Currently, it’s led to considerable (and increasing) agony. 

So, who’s accountable for this? We’ll get back to that shortly, too. 

NUMBER THREE: 
The Miami Dolphins have a talent evaluation problem. 

This is the one that really irks me, because it’s more than just a drafting problem. It’s not just that Miami doesn’t know how to evaluate talent in the draft, because that isn’t entirely true. It’s partially that, and it’s partially that the extremely inexperienced staff apparently has absolutely no idea how to properly use the talent they have.  

There is no reason that Jaylen Waddle should be running seven-yard comeback routes. There is absolutely no reason that Austin Jackson should have regressed from an ascending rookie last year to a borderline unplayable offensive lineman. There is absolutely no reason that offensive linemen who were cut by the Dolphins during the preseason are performing extremely well on other teams, while the Dolphins can’t assemble an offensive line that can keep a QB healthy for more than a game, using the linemen they kept. 

And there is no reason that the Miami Dolphins have gotten almost zero results out of a plethora of early-round draft picks over the past three years, except for one specific reason. And that is....

NUMBER FOUR: 
​The Miami Dolphins have a coaching problem. 

I think, up to this year, Brian Flores did an admirable job as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. But this year, he deserves every bit of the criticism he’s received. One of the main jobs of a head coach is to put his players and staff in a position to succeed. And the deeper you dig into what’s happened so far in 2021, the more you realize that Flores didn’t do that. If anything, he set the whole team up to fail. 
​
A very young team, a very inexperienced staff, and continual turnover at many key coaching positions has led to one very unfortunate conclusion that a lot of people have danced around. It’s something that a lot of people, myself included, are very reluctant to say. But it needs to be said: 

The Miami Dolphins look like they don’t have any idea what they’re doing this year. 

Not only are there very young and inexperienced players, but also these players are being led by a very young and inexperienced staff. There was definitely a plan in place by Flores early on, but he assembled such an inexperienced staff and team that they’re simply incapable of achieving it. Their offense isn’t working. Their defense isn’t working. Their special teams isn’t working.  And the schemes that are being utilized don't make any sense.

And the guy on the hook for this is Flores…or at least he should be. He’s the chef of this particular stew, and so far it smells rancid. 
​
I truly hope the team turns it around tomorrow morning. Tua is back, and then there are a handful of games coming up against bad teams. Maybe the offense clicks. Maybe the defense stops getting gashed. Maybe, just maybe, this team comes together and rallies to save the season. Maybe the whole organization matures in the heat of battle and works together as a finely-tuned machine. 

But do you really believe that’s going to happen? 

Yeah, me either.