Miami Dolphins Jarvis Landry Could Erupt In 2015
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins have heard second year receiver Jarvis Landry, now they are listening. Landry said he wants to be more involved with the offense and not just a slot receiver. The Dolphins are mixing it up in OTA’s and giving Landry plenty of work on the outside.
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Landry is explosive as a slot receiver but his YAC is only around nine yards per catch. He wants to improve on that and the Dolphins do too. The question is can they with all the talent on the teams offensive unit. Currently the outside is comprised of DeVante Parker and Kenny Stills and there is the addition of Jordan Cameron at tight-end who can also play the split tight-end/slot role rather well.
In OTA’s this week the Dolphins have been moving Landry outside lining up just inside Parker for a two stacked set. Landry, who also wants to return kicks and punts could be in for a very big year in 2015. Already a leader on the team both on the field and in the locker room, Landry is going to get every opportunity to increase his role and give opposing defenses fits.
The best way to use the group of receivers is to use as much motion as the team can. Motion leads to coverage mismatches that the Dolphins can the exploit. With six position on offense taken by the center, two guards, two tackles, and quarterback, the Dolphins have five skill positions to play with in multiple formations.
Five wide sets could be common with Stills out wide on the left or right, Landry and Parker out wide on the other side, and Greg Jennings lining up in the slot where he will draw one on one linebacker coverage or safety coverage. Add to that formation a sixth receiver in Cameron and the Dolphins can use a variety of five and six receiver sets that will force opposition defensive coordinator a lot of prep time ahead of those games.
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In four wide sets the Dolphins can pull coverage down the field and open the running game by using Cameron across the middle to draw linebacker coverage. The Dolphins need to perfect the delayed hand-off and utilize the talent at wide-receiver and tight end to give Lamar Miller more downfield room. The Dolphins can also use a two tight end set with the continued improvement of Dion Sims.
The beneficiary here is Landry who could see his best change to lead the team in receptions and yards after catch. While not a speedy receiver, Landry is very akin to Anquan Boldin who entered the league as a slot receiver and became a very valuable number two who could line up outside and in. The Dolphins need to find a way to make that work with Landry.
While most of the focus this year is on the coaching of Joe Philbin, the Dolphins are in a great position to open up the offense with 2nd year OC Bill Lazor. This will be Ryan Tannehill’s second season under Lazor and he improved quickly after a slow start in 2014. Tannehill and Landry already have a good working relationship that should continue for years to come. Another reason Landry could find 2015 to be a big year is that Tannehill no longer needs to feed the ball to Mike Wallace just to keep him happy.
It’s very safe to assume that at times there simply won’t be enough balls to go around. Not with the additions of Stills, Parker, Cameron, and Jennings, but the Dolphins are far better knowing that they have options around the field that Tannehill can pick and choose from.
Stills is likely a year or two away from being a major part of the Dolphins offense but he should still provide the deep route threat that Wallace did regardless of Tannehill’s inability to hit him and Parker will more than assume the role of a number one receiver. That leaves Landry to work the short to mid range routes behind linebacker coverage and in front of safety coverage. Landry has all the tools to be a versatile weapon within this system and there is no reason to believe that Miami won’t look to exploit the defenses using him. This is the job of Bill Lazor and it could lead to a very exciting 2015 season.