Dolphins’ speed on display in 1st open McDaniel practice
Notes from the Dolphins’ Tuesday OTA session, the first of five Dolphins offseason practices open to reporters in May and June:
The speed we’ve all been hearing about? It’s both real and spectacular.
Tyreek Hill converted three short-to-intermediate throws (one from Tua Tagovailoa, two from
Teddy Bridgewater) into substantial gains in 11on-11 work.
Jaylen Waddle streaked free down the middle of the field for a handful of catches.
And the Dolphins were practicing without two of their speedy new running backs: Chase Edmonds (rest day) and Raheem Mostert (continues working back from his Week 1 knee injury last year).
Linebacker Jerome Baker has seen enough to know this: “They’re fast, the offense in general. Fast, explosive. It’s going to be exciting. It gives defenses more problems. When you give defenses more problems, it’s hard to really [stop everything]. It’s going to be fun.”
Dolphins receiver River Cracraft, who played with Pro Bowl receiver Deebo Samuel in San Francisco, said of Hill: “Tyreek is no doubt the fastest dude I’ve ever seen play. To see somebody who’s at an elite level, who has the same work ethic as an undrafted guy, it shows a lot about who they are.”
Beyond his speed, Hill is “bringing that winning culture, going hard every play,” Baker said.
Coach Mike McDaniel won’t ask Hill and Waddle to race to see who’s the faster of the two, something Hill has mentioned as a possibility. But “I’m not going to tell them not to race,” McDaniel said. “I love competitors. I also am not going to force them to race.”
McDaniel declined to say which of the two has timed faster in OTAs but said multiple Dolphins are running 21 or 22 mph.
Tagovailoa’s arm seems stronger. One pass in particular — a dart to Hill — went for a 50-yard TD in individual drills.
The longest play of the day — an 80-yard TD reception by Preston Williams — came on a ball that traveled about 35 air yards, from Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins, resting some veterans, were without top cornerbacks Xavien Howard and Byron Jones and defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah.
The Dolphins gave a lot of defensive work to backup defensive backs, including safety Keion Crossen, a special teams ace who played just 2 percent of the Giants’ defensive snaps last season. Cornerback Noah Igbinoghene made a nice breakup on a Tagovailoa pass to Waddle and said it’s “a blessing” to learn from coaches Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain.
Receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. remains sidelined with a hamstring injury. “Lynn Bowden does have an interesting skill set,” McDaniel said, adding he likes players with experience at quarterback. As for Mostert, “his expectations are to play Week 1 [but] we are not going to rush it,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel said of the seven teams that he has been a coach with, “this [offensive line] is as athletic and capable of any group.” The Dolphins are still mulling whether Connor
Williams or Michael Deiter will be the starting center.
Liam Eichenberg
would get a chance at left guard if Williams plays center and says he’s comfortable there.
The Dolphins will have joint practices with Tampa Bay and Philadelphia in August.
Cracraft, who appeared in six games for the 49ers last season, said McDaniel is a “super genius. He’s smarter than everyone else. No offense to everybody out there. He’s a player’s coach. He acts like one of us in the sense that you can talk to him. He’s never going to big-time you.”
Fans usually measure pass rushers, running backs and receivers by their statistics. But in the case of new Dolphins edge player Melvin Ingram,
there’s a big disparity between what the stats say and advanced metrics suggest.
The stats say Ingram had two sacks and 25 tackles in 15 games for the Steelers (six) and Chiefs (nine) last season.
But the metrics paint a different story. Per Pro Football Focus, Ingram produced 51 pressures on 460 pass rushing snaps last year, or one every nine snaps. That’s comparable to Ogbah’s 61 pressures in 524 pass rushing snaps, or one every 8.6 snaps.
And in PFF’s win percentage stat for pass rushers — a complicated formula which takes into account pressures and other things — Ingram was tied for 40th among 200 qualifiers.
Baker said Ingram is “a playmaker with a high motor. We are all going to learn from him.”
New Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith was New Orleans’ assistant offensive line coach in 2013, when Pro Bowl left tackle and new Dolphins addition Terron Armstead was a rookie for the Saints. And he has a unique way of describing Armstead.
“The biggest thing that attracted us to Terron as a rookie is he’s a hybrid athlete who’s a freak show,” Smith said. “[In a workout], he outran a running back!” Armstead rested Tuesday — counseling young linemen off the field — while Larnel Coleman got work at left tackle.
CHATTER
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