What went right, wrong for Dolphins
MIAMIGARDENS— Abreakdownofwhatwentright, and whatwent wrong for the Miami Dolphins in Thursday night’s preseason finale against theNewOrleans Saints.
Three things thatwent right
Rookie tight end Dion Sims scored a touchdown in the first quarter, catching a pass out the backfieldandturning itupfield for an 8- yard touchdown. The fourth- round pick showing that there’s a semblance of playmaking for the young tight ends, which will be called on to produce now that Dustin Keller’s knee injury will sideline him for the season. H- back Charles Clay will have an elevated role, but the offense needs to find someone who can be effective as an in- line blocker, and it appears Sims has a leg up on Michael Egnew, a 2012 thirdround pick.
JohnJerrywastheonlyprojected starterwhoplayedagainst the Saints, and the work he got midway through the second quarter was valuable considering he’s only played in two exhibition games, and clearly needs the work. While Jerry might be the missing ingredient to the starting offensive line, let us not pretend he hasn’t consistently battledweight issues, and management has been trying to replace him for two seasons. But with Lance Louis getting released earlier this week Jerry, whohas started 29 games, is the best the Dolphins have to offer at right guard right now.
The Dolphins invested a fifth- round pick on former Gators kicker Caleb Sturgis, and it appears the rookie is more than capable of making South Florida forget about Dan Carpenter, who he unseated for the job. Sturgis kicked a 33 and 40- yard field goal in the first half, andhe’smadeall eight of his field goal attempts in the exhibition season.
Three things thatwent wrong
Nate Garner manned the left tackle spot and allowed a sack in his 20 snaps. He was bull rushed by Jay Richardson, who steam rolled his way to the quarterback. Will Yeatman replaced Garner in the second quarter and held the spot down fairly well. The Dolphins might have to invest another season into Yeatman, a former lacrosse standout at Maryland who began hisNFLcareer as a tight end, because this roster lacks a qualitybackupleft tackle. TheDolphinsneedtobepreparedin case JonathanMartin suffers an injury.
Pat Devlin has had a nice two- year run with the Dolphins, buthistenurewiththeteamcouldbecomingtoanend, despite his 56- yard touchdown pass to Marvin McNutt late in the fourth quarter. Before thetouchdownpass, whichlookedlike a hail mary attempt on fourth down that McNutt ran under, Devlin struggled all night, in all aspects of the game. He completed 22- of- 38 attempts for 259 yards, throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Dolphins are habitually missing tackles on defense. It has been aproblem since the first exhibitiongame, and continues to rear its ugly head. The Saints offense produced a ton of respectable plays because the Dolphins’ defenders couldn’t wrap up properly. Former Heisman Trophy winning tailback MarkIngramshedthreetackles to scorehis8- yardtouchdown run, and his 24- yard run in the third quarter featured him slipping away from, and stiff arming at least four defenders.