Who Is The First To Go In Miami, Tagovailoa or McDaniel?

All that said, Tagovailoa’s line has not protected him well. The Dolphins’ 2020 first-rounder is averaging more than two sacks per game and is on pace for more sacks than in any other season of his career. Add to that, he has lost speedy deep threat Tyreek Hill to a season-ending ACL tear and tight end Darren Waller for at least four weeks with a pectoral strain. Waller leads Miami in receiving touchdowns with four in only four games.

Is McDaniel To Blame?

While the Dolphins’ QB1 has not played well, does the blame all fall on him? The offense as a whole is 25th in points, 29th in total yards, 29th in passing yards, 29th in rushing yards, and 29th in time of possession. Miami’s defense is 29th in points allowed, 26th in total yards allowed, 32nd in rushing yards allowed, 21st in sacks, and 29th in interceptions. There is a lot of blame to go around. When a team is failing in that many facets of the game at once, the lion’s share of the blame usually falls on the coaching staff and the front office.

Under McDaniel, the Dolphins finished second in the division each of his first three years and went to the playoffs twice. Both of those playoff runs resulted in wild-card losses. McDaniel’s coaching style has earned its share of criticism. Former NFL star Asante Samuel, whose son currently plays in the league, had this to say about McDaniel and Miami GM Chris Grier (courtesy of FinsXtra on X):

Samuel is not the only person around the league who feels that way. Sports talk radio talking heads have voiced similar sentiments for some time now. That kind of talk can undermine a team’s credibility in a hurry.

End Of My Miami Dolphins Rant

Tagovailoa has not played well, but I cannot pin this team’s sluggish play all on him. It starts from the top. If a team is soft in the front office and soft on the coaching staff, they will be soft on the field. Tagovailoa made the mistake of throwing his teammates under the bus for missing players-only meetings. That did not help matters any, but it showed the general apathy on the players’ part.

Miami is a mess right now, and benching or trading its starting quarterback won’t change that. If this team is going to be dismantled, ownership needs to start at the top with Grier and McDaniel. Injuries and poor play are one thing, but general apathy in a locker room is a cancer that will kill a team. McDaniel’s predictable play-calling and poor time management have been obvious throughout the poor start, as has his team’s inability to adapt in-game.

This team needs a rebuild. Whether Tagovailoa is the answer at quarterback remains to be seen, but with his contract, it will be difficult to trade or cut him. The Dolphins have no real backup plan either. If Miami thinks that Quinn Ewers or Zach Wilson is going to do better, they are dreaming. Remember, the Jets didn’t think Wilson was good enough to play there. It is time for majority owner Stephen Ross to cut his losses with Grier and McDaniel and start over. If he does it soon, this team could be back to being a mediocre wild-card team again by next season.