Scouting Report: Miami Dolphins - Q&A and Analysis with Dolphins fans

Talking about Brian Flores, Ryan Fitzmagic, Tua Tagovailoa, and our old friend Matt Breida ahead of tomorrow.

Episode 5 of our Q&A series for all of the 49ers opponents - this time, it is fanbase of the Miami Dolphins that we get feedback from. Hearing other fans perspectives is humbling and also the most accurate way to get a perspective on the team we face tomorrow. Our questions are answered from the r/miamidolphins subreddit. Special thanks to everyone who participated, not just the people cited in responses below! Loved seeing all the interaction. Check out the original post here.

Who’s one player flying under the radar that’s posed for a breakout season? Similarly, who is the most overrated player?

u/IndexCardLife

Our rookie O-Linemen have been shining, which is a shame that Jackson just went down. Kindley is doing great and we wouldn't consider him flying under the radar because we were are all super jazzed up about it. However, he is a rookie G so he is probably flying under the radar to casual fans.

I don’t know about overrated, I would go with Byron Jones even though we are from neighboring cities. I don't think he's overrated, but he hasn't been on the field and, well, we paid him to step up for us.

u/terrildactyl

I would say Myles Gaskin has really been an under-the-radar star. He straight-up killed the Jags for a whole half, before they brought 8 men into the box to keep a leash on him. He reminds me a little of Damien Williams—not a high draft pick, and not expected to start, but somehow he keeps finding his way onto the field and producing.

Another player getting a lot of buzz is rookie RG Solomon Kindley. He’s huge, apparently a real bull and has held his own against some quality D-lines. That said, I can’t tell the difference between adequate line play and elite line play, because I am not a coach, and I often don’t know the minutiae of what is happening. So grain of salt there.

One last player to note is defensive lineman Zach Seiler, whose measurables compare favorably to JJ Watt. He showed a little last season, and he’s improved his game this year. Not a star, but definitely someone you can’t sleep on.

Solomon Kindley has been a breakout star - in his rookie season. Great OL, stout, physical, he is going to be good for a long time. Gaskin as well. I have not heard about Seiler, but keep an eye on him - he could affect the game with how bad our OL seems to be playing so far.

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The Dolphins are a very young team with a lot of young talent. In particular, what are your thoughts on your past 3 high picks, in Mike Gesicki, Austin Jackson, Christian Wilkins, and of course, Tua Tagovailoa?

u/sockcornnoodles

Mike Gesicki - as a Penn State fan, loved when we drafted him. Was poorly used his first season but Flores knows he’s not a blocker and uses his strengths.

Austin Jackson - He’s done well. Solid start to his career so far. Still early to say but is being outshined by fellow rookie Kindley. I expect Pro Bowls for Jackson, but at least a starter for years to come.

Christian Wilkins - Love his energy and personality. He plays well too, but a lot people don’t appreciate IDL unless they’re a generational talent like Aaron Donald.

Tua Tagovailoa - Super excited. I’m more than okay with him sitting behind Fitzpatrick. No need to rush. Most top QB’s (except Wilson) sat most if not all of their first year.

u/IndexCardLife

Happy with, happy with (sad face), meh, and excited about (but I will admit I really don't know).

Anyways, we are super young with our second oldest player being 29 and I am pretty sure Fitz plays like he's 19. I think all 4 of the players that you mentioned will be staples of our team. Whether they become more than consistent role players is yet to be seen. I am most interested in the development of Jackson, Kindley, and Hunt since I have seen enough QBs die behind our line in my lifetime.

u/I_like_dirty_pillows

We feel pretty good about Jackson, Gesicki and Wilkins. Jackson was playing well before the foot injury and has a feel good backstory with the bone marrow transplant thing. Gesicki has become a very effective offensive weapon, but he's still a pretty weak blocker. Great contested catch and has started to get open by 2 or 3 steps this year. He's open more than Fitz targets him. Wilkins seems to be a real emotional leader already, he's always sprinting down the field to celebrate with the offense after we score. Last year I think he was a little disappointing but he was a rookie still learning. I think he's playing better this year and he's still getting better. The big thing I'm looking for is more QB pressure. I don't care if he gets the sack, leave that the D ends. I just want disruption to force bad throws and let our secondary do their thing.

Tua starting is pretty decisive in the Miami fandom. Here on the sub most folks are ok with seeing him sit and learn, but on FB and Twitter more ppl are angry we're not starting the 5th overall pick while watching Burrow and Herbert play well. I don't get that argument because Herbert is only starting because of a punctured lung and Burrow is getting beat up pretty bad every game. I don't want either scenario on my team.

[Also not mentioned: Noah “Iggy”, Preston Williams and Jerome Baker]

Williams transferred from Tennessee to Colorado St in college and then balled out for one single year I believe. Went undrafted and we picked him up. He was immediately a starter for us. Year cut short due to ACL in week 9 I want to say. He was our leading receiver when he went down. His biggest weakness is probably route running but his size is just overwhelming. He has a bad tendency to drop easy passes sometimes, but he's been better this year. When you consider his contract and upside he’s a really critical player for the team.

Baker has been thrust into the leader of this defense and it hasn't been very impressive. Would not be surprised to see Van Noy take over the defensive captain spot as the year goes on. Baker is just to raw still. People forget how young he is because he's one of the few players whose been here thru the rebuild.

Now to Iggy. Let's just look at some facts about Iggy. He's a 1st round draft pick. He has been burnt toast since he had to take over for Byron Jones. We drafted him higher than he was projected. He's played Defense for 2 years in college after switching from WR. He is the youngest player in the NFL.

He has played poorly, but I'm not calling him a bust yet. He needs time and I hope his confidence isn't the biggest impact of the Jones injury.

One thing is for sure - Miami has a very very bright future, and they likely will have not one but two very high draft choices. This team could get very good, very fast.

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What weakness on your defense concerns you most when playing the Niners? The Phins secondary has been pretty bad.

u/terrildactyl

If there is any justice in this universe, then we will hammer Jamar Taylor into the ground until his feet get burnt by magma. We drafted Taylor in 2013, passing up on Travis Kelce, Tyrann Mathieu and Keenan Allen. I still wake up screaming thinking about that pick.

As for our defensive weaknesses, LB has been a real sore spot. Can’t stop the run, can’t stop the pass, and can’t rush the QB. In professional football terms, they’re just occupying space. My guess is that Jerome Baker and Andrew Van Ginkel return next year, but it’s otherwise a clean house.

u/IndexCardLife

Our secondary has been bad? Have you seen our run D? Our scoring D? Our D D? The defense is bad lol!

u/I_like_dirty_pillows

We'll you're in luck. Whoever plays LT this week will be a significant downgrade from Jackson. It's probably Davenport and he sucked last year. They could move Jesse Davis for RT to LT and stick the rookie Robert Hunt at RT, or just stick in Hunt at LT. The only way our LT doesn't suck this week is if Hunt comes in and surprises.

Our secondary should be fine whenever Byron Jones and Xavien Howard are both healthy.

Miami has suffered big time from Byron Jones being out - but that no longer is the case. And with that, their secondary is healthy and ready to rumble. So the 49ers should look to attack either their rookie corner, Noah Igbinoghene, or someone like Jerome Baker in the passing game with Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle. Expect a lot of motion.

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If you could pick one player from the 49ers to “steal”, who would it be and why? Factor in team needs.

u/MyKillYourDeath (NorCal Fan!)

If I could take a player from the 9ers it would be Nick Bosa hands down.

The Dolphins have two lock down corners and while Ogbah and Lawson haven’t been terrible having Bosa on his rookie contract with his ability to rush the passer would really go far for the team.

As it sits right now the Dolphins need an heir apparent to Wake and Nick Bosa would be perfect. The team’s run defense is non existent as it sits and having a pass rusher like Bosa would allow the team to focus on addressing our run stopping going forward rather than both edge and run stopping.

u/Swordswoman

I'd probably snag Deebo Samuel, not gonna lie. Could use a nice YAC receiver to add to our arsenal of oft-injured “tallbois” and oft-injured “shortbois”. And the one thing the 49ers can spare is a YAC receiver, seeing as they have 30 of them...

Bosa was the most popular option: obviously. Trent Williams and George Kittle got some mentions, although they don’t come at positions of need unlike Bosa, and Deebo Samuel gets his first mention in this series. A good pick.

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Brian Flores is in his 2nd year as an HC - do you like the direction of this team and how it is being built? What has been lacking?

u/terrildactyl

Definitely. After the clown car of villains (Nick Saban), goofballs (Cam Cameron), nerds (Dave Wannstedt, Joe Philbin) and narcissists (Adam Gase) that have followed since Jimmy Johnson realized he hated coaching and that he loved beer and fishing, Flores is a breath of fresh air. He cares about the small things the way that Shula did. Our team went from a sloppy Adam Gase-led spectacle of ineptitude, into a well-disciplined young team on the upswing.

As for what he lacks...I wish he had the communication skills to help Minkah Fitzpatrick understand the vision and keep him in-house, but as far as I understand, Quitzpatrick and Momma had already decided to bail, and they weren’t really interested in helping to build a dynasty from the ground up. I feel like a coach like Andy Reid, Bill Belichick, or Don Shula would have been able to keep Minkah on the team, but with Flores being such a young coach and without the sort of resume that those other three coaches he didn’t have the leadership capital to say “Trust me, stay here.”

u/IndexCardLife

I like him. I like the direction. Close wins have been lacking, but I don't think I can blame him too much for that.

u/ClomidSucks

It’s really tough to tell about Flores. I love what we do know about him. His players seem to enjoy playing for him, his teams are generally disciplined, and he refused to quit despite the dumpster fire that was last year.

That said, because of dumpster fire, hard to know what losses to pin on him as opposed to the tank. Hard to tell what his offensive philosophy is (besides having your QB leading your team in rushing) and his defensive coach reputation hasn’t really planned out as our defenses haven’t been special. Finally, Belicheat’s coaching tree is rotten and nothing we’ve seen suggests that Flo will buck the trend.

While it sounds like Flores is a big step up from someone like Matt Patricia, another Belichick disciple, he still has a lot to prove. But so far, Flores has done a good job of building this Dolphins team: at every position, there is a piece to build upon, and with two great rookie OL drafted to protect Tua, they have their priorities straight as well. The Tunsil trade was a stroke of genius - but the real work begins after this season when Tua presumably takes over as the starter.

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How has the running game looked? Which backs have looked the best so far between Gaskin, Breida and Howard?

u/I_like_dirty_pillows

Bad. Gaskin has looked best. Not saying much. I like him and would love for him to be a reliable staple of our team, but he isn't the bell cow answer of the future.

u/gabab

Gaskin is our RB1 right now and justifiably so. Breida RB2.

I definitely want to see Breida get more reps going forward.

Our run game is getting better game-by-game, but still a little ropey. Some strange in game decisions being made at times to reduce reps to the Hot Hand too...

Howard has been a let down so far. He hasn’t had many reps and is mostly used near the goal line, or 3rd/4th & short.

Fitz still gets too many rushing yards for my liking as QB. From watching tape not all of his rushes are the only/best option when he runs.

u/terrildactyl

Breida and Howard are both tells. If you bring in Howard expect a dive. If you bring in Breida, you can expect a bubble screen or some other attempt to get him in space. Gaskin can do a bit of both, so he presents more of a disguise, and has gotten the lion’s share of the work.

Also, if you see Patrick Laird on the field, it’s 100% a pass. Dude’s pretty productive as a receiver, less so as a traditional RB.

Jordan Howard seems to lost most of his traditional effectiveness outside of the goalline - and Breida, while not getting many carries, seems to be playing well. Our old friend is unbelievably fast, and against our weakened DL - maybe he has a revenge TD? But the defacto RB1 is the undrafted free agent out of Washington, Myles Gaskin. A great all-around RB.

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Strongest and weakest position group on the team?

u/IndexCardLife

I'm going to answer this in an odd way, but I think it is the QB room. Fitz has brought life, optimism, joy, happiness, fire and leadership to this franchise. I hope Tua is taking notes.

It should be our corners, though. With Howard/Jones/Iggy, that's a pretty legit 1/2/3 if they can all get on the field at the same time.

u/sockcornnoodles

It’s tough to say strongest. If they were healthy, it would be the CB’s. A lot of positions I feel are able of being dominate, but need some time. I guess strongest room right now is the specialist’s room. Sanders hasn’t missed yet and Haack has pinned offenses deep.

Weakest has to be the HB’s. Gaskin has done well, but the fact Breida and Howard are failing to earn their money is disappointing.

Corners are a favorite on this team, and it makes sense - both Byron Jones and Xavien Howard are Pro Bowl-level players, and Igbinoghene is a rookie - but in the slot, he will feel much more at home. The running back room seems to be an issue - even with so much talent there.

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What should people expect from the Dolphins on Sunday, and for the rest of the season?

u/IndexCardLife

I'd be shocked if we go 7-9 or better. I think the way this season has started and just counting games I expect to win, I'd say 6-10.

Hopefully the Texans do even worse so our picks are higher value than expected when the Tunsil trade was made.

[For] Sunday, I think we'll hang in and lose in a close fashion. A sort of 28-24 type thing where we lose it at the end and can't overcome the deficit with 5 minutes to go. Oh, like last week.

u/terrildactyl

Depends on whether we get Fitzmagic or Fitztragic. In either case, the team will be scrappy, well-disciplined and sometimes prone to young team mistakes.

Look for DeVante to challenge on tons of 50/50 balls, and Xavien Howard will probably get a pick because he’s due (he averages just under one interception every other game).

Since Fitz is such a variable, this game could be 35-17 Dolphins or 9-6 Niners. I’ve stopped trying to predict him.

As for the season. I have a feeling we repeat 5-11. The difference being that last season the team overperformed in the second half of the season, and this year they are playing to their level of talent.

u/Swordswoman

Hard-fought defensive game, probably. No high-flying scorefest. Maybe mid-20s for both teams, if even that. If either team loses (which theoretically should happen, but we all know ties exist), it'll be a slow grind to that loss.

Dolphins fans expect a close game. They are not wrong - this team lost by just one score to Seattle, and just by 3 points to Buffalo - two teams that are undefeated going into Sunday. The Dolphins are the first team the 49ers play all season that has a win - another challenge. While they might not have a QB like Kyler Murray or Carson Wentz (on a good day) - Fitzpatrick can make magic happen, and the Dolphins certainly have the weapons on offense to do it. The key player will be Byron Jones - can he handle Deebo Samuel, or Brandon Aiyuk, or maybe even George Kittle? We will see.