Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Playmakers on offense give Shea good feeling
DAVIE — The Miami Dolphins may have settled their quarterback competition, and have a number of players recovered from preseason injuries heading into the 2019 season. But here’s one strategy to solve a big issue the Dolphins face heading into Sunday’s regular-season opener: Get the ball to their playmakers in space. And do it quickly.
That onus will be on 15-year veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, who will start over second-year quarterback Josh Rosen, when the Dolphins host the Baltimore Ravens at Hard Rock Stadium.
It will be on offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea, now tasked with leading a revamped offense without standout left tackle Laremy Tunsil and deepthreat receiver Kenny Stills after the pair were traded to the Houston Texans last weekend.
And it falls on new offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo — who said he was watching the TV show “Big Valley” at his Indi
ana home before coach Brian Flores hired him as a defensive analyst this offseason — to construct an offensive line with some players who just joined the team this week.
For Flores’ offense to move the ball and put points on the board, Fitzpatrick must find players like speedy receivers Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant, streaky receivers like Preston Williams and DeVante Parker, and shifty running backs like Kalen Ballage, Mark Walton and Kenyan Drake to overcome the glaring offensive-line deficiencies.
“I think that one of the things that’s exciting about this offense is we have a lot of guys that we want to get the ball to,” O’Shea said on Tuesday. “I don’t know if a lot of offenses can say that there’s a list of skilled players that we have that we really want to get the ball in their hands.
“So that’s exciting.”
Without Tunsil, Miami’s offensive line has several glaring holes to fill.
Does Jesse Davis, who recently moved from right guard to right tackle, now move to left tackle? Earlier this week, he equated such a move to trying to write with your opposite hand.
Or does a newcomer like tackle Julien Davenport, acquired in the Tunsil/Stills trade for future draft picks, play left tackle or right tackle?
Does rookie Isaiah Prince start at right tackle, becoming the third first-year player on the line, joining left guard Michael Deiter and right guard Shaq Calhoun?
The Dolphins will turn to DeGuglielmo — who went from analyzing opposing teams’ blocking schemes to offensive line coach four days into training camp after Flores fired Pat Flaherty — to identify and coach up the best five players.
“[Tunsil is] a tremendous football player, but there are changes all the time. If he sprained an ankle, it would be the same situation,” DeGuglielmo said. “We’ll just keep on working, and we’ve got a lot of good guys working hard right now to fit into wherever they need to fit in.”
While the offensive line works out its kinks, the Dolphins skilled players must do everything in their power to make incoming defenders miss and move the ball on offense.
Wilson and Grant had a knack of doing just that last season under former coach Adam Gase, while Ballage, Walton and Drake will be utilized in and out of the backfield in O’Shea’s offense.
If the offense has enough time, Fitzpatrick will find Parker and Williams down the sideline to do the same.
“I think good offenses try to make the defense defend the field,” wide receivers coach Karl Dorrell said. “So we’re going to have to do those things offensively for us because we have some guys that, with the ball in their hand quickly, can make people miss and have enough speed to make effective plays downfield.”
In order for the strategy to be effective, however, the Dolphins will need to quickly fine-tune their entire offense without two of their best players, and a considerably new offensive line unit needed to execute efficiently.
“At the end of the day, we have guys that have the opportunity to make plays with the ball in their hands and that’s exciting,” O’Shea said. “Again, it’s our job as a coaching staff to scheme those ways and get [the ball] in their hands — regardless of who’s throwing it and who’s blocking.”