Kenyan Drake, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Vincent Taylor impress during Saturday’s loss against Ravens.
The Miami Dolphins have one more shot at leaving a favorable impression before their Sept. 9 regular-season opener against the Tennessee Titans.
The Dolphins have lost all three preseason games heading into Thursday night’s road game against the Atlanta Falcons, which will likely feature most of the starters for both teams sitting out of the action while backups and long shots try to earn a spot on the 53-man regular-season roster and 10-man practice squad.
What’s troubling is how little Miami’s first-team offense has scored, and how many big plays Miami’s defense has allowed.
Coach Adam Gase and defensive coordinator Matt Burke have two more weeks to try and clean things up before the games count.
Stock Up
Tailback Kenyan Drake — The Dolphins projected starter has a knack for delivering big plays in the run and pass game, and that has been consistent throughout the preseason. Against the Ravens, Drake gained 32 yards on one of his four runs, and he caught a 36-yard reception when lined up out wide as Miami executed the hurry-up offense. Drake’s preseason performance indicates that he can possibly lead the NFL in all-purpose yards if he can manage to stay healthy for a full season and gets enough touches.
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick — The best complement a defensive back can get is to go unnoticed. For the second week in a row Fitzpatrick blended in with the Dolphins defense as the starting nickel cornerback, and he was at his best in the few snaps Miami called on him to play free safety. It would be wise for Miami to have Fitzpatrick start at free safety with T.J. McDonald, who also played well Saturday, at strong safety in Thursday night’s preseason finale because Fitzpatrick needs the work at his future position.
Defensive tackle Vincent Taylor — Taylor contributed two tackles, half a sack, deflected one pass and blocked a field-goal attempt against the Ravens, continuing to impress during the preseason. Miami’s 2017 sixth-round pick hasn’t just secured his spot on the 53-man roster, at this point he’s pushing for playing time in the defensive tackle rotation.
Stock down
Coach Adam Gase — The Dolphins offense produced 221 net yards against a Ravens defense that rested most of their starters. Miami converted 2-of-12 third downs against Baltimore, continuing its troublesome stretch of struggling on that critical down. Gase can say Miami’s holding some of its best plays back because this is the exhibition season, but the Dolphins offense seemingly can’t get out of second gear. There’s only so much a team can do on a steady diet of three-stepdrop plays.
Quarterback David Fales — Fales continues to leave the door open for Brock Osweiler in the battle to determine who will be Ryan Tannehill’s backup. Fales has been the better of the two in practice, but his game performance (5-of-10 passes completed for 63 yards and one interception vs. Ravens) wasn’t impressive. Neither was Osweiler (5-of-7 passes completed for 23 yards), who was sacked three times and also threw an interception. This battle will come down to the final preseason game.
Observations
The Dolphins rank 31st in points allowed (26.7), and last in yards allowed (410) during the preseason with one game left to play. Miami’s opponents are converting 46 percent of third downs against the Dolphins defense, which is the fourth-highest conversion rate in the preseason . ...
Miami’s opponents are averaging 5.8 yards per play in the preseason. Only the Dallas Cowboys (6.0) and Kansas City Chiefs (6.0) have been worse . ...
The Dolphins offense ranks 14th in yards per game (316) during the preseason, and 18th in points per game (18). But Miami has the worst third-down conversion rate in the NFL, converting just 6-of-36 attempts . ...
Miami has the highest yardsper-carry average (5.2) in the preseason despite having the fewest rushing attempts per game (18.3). ...
Tannehill’s 99.0 passer rating is the second highest preseason rating he’s had in his seven-year career, trailing only his performance in the 2015 preseason, where he posted a 121.8 passer rating. That season, Tannehill had an 88.7 passer rating . ...
Rookie right end Mike Gesicki has spent most of the preseason working on his blocking, which was a major weakness in his game. Gesicki has shown drastic improvement in that area the past two games, and caught his first pass against the Ravens when lined up out wide as a receiver . ...
Chase Allen took a handful of snaps with the first-team defense, replacing rookie Jerome Baker. Allen finished the game with four tackles. Baker contributed five. Expect this battle to continue for the next couple of weeks as Miami’s coaches determine if they want the more knowledgeable player, or the more athletic one on the field in its base defensive package . ...
Injury report
Receiver Jakeem Grant suffered a concussion in Saturday night’s game and won’t be cleared to play until he passes all four stages of the NFL’s concussion protocol program. That means Miami needs to get Danny Amendola prepared to handle punts and Albert Wilson and Senorise Perry prepared to handle kickoffs until Grant returns . ...
Defensive tackle Jordan Phillips returned from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for a week and put together a phenomenal performance, contributing two tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss, and being disruptive on half a dozen more plays.
Receiver Leonte Carroo (groin) and quarterback Bryce Petty (oblique) are both nursing injuries that could prevent them from playing in the final preseason game, and might force the Dolphins to waive them with an injury settlement if they aren’t willing to carry either on injured reserve.
Tailback Kalen Ballage missed his second preseason game because of a concussion he suffered two weeks ago. Ballage might practice this week, but needs to be cleared to play by an independent doctor.