Phin Phanatic
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3 keys to a successful Miami Dolphins 2022 under Mike McDaniel

By Brian Miller

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - FEBRUARY 10: (L - R) President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Garfinkel, Head coach Mike McDaniel, Chairman of the Board/Managing General Partner Stephen M. Ross, and General Manager Chris Grier of the Miami Dolphins pose during the introduction of Mike McDaniel to the media on February 10, 2022 at the Miami Dolphins Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - FEBRUARY 10: (L - R) President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Garfinkel, Head coach Mike McDaniel, Chairman of the Board/Managing General Partner Stephen M. Ross, and General Manager Chris Grier of the Miami Dolphins pose during the introduction of Mike McDaniel to the media on February 10, 2022 at the Miami Dolphins Baptist Health Training Complex in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /
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Feb 10, 2022; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel speaks to reporters during a press conference at Baptist Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 10, 2022; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel speaks to reporters during a press conference at Baptist Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports /

Mike McDaniel falls in line with the last several coaches that Stephen Ross has hired. A top assistant who falls generally in the “genius” category.

McDaniel is not a genius anymore than Adam Gase was touted. He is a coach with a good resume but he is tasked with making a franchise relevant again and he will need to do that with an offense that needs to be revamped, completely.

The good news for McDaniel is that he has the support of the executives to overhaul this mess. He will keep Tua Tagovailoa, at least for another year, but after that, he isn’t bound to keep anyone. His biggest challenge will be to fix the running game and that is going to require him to fix the offensive line. That is going be his biggest problem.

All but one of the Dolphins offensive lineman are under contract for the 2022 season. We looked at the mess the line is on Sunday. You can read that here.

If McDaniel can’t fix the offensive line, he can hang up having success in 2022. The offensive line is 100% the biggest concern for the Dolphins or should be. Miami can’t fix it all in free agency and they will need to work with several players that quite honestly shouldn’t be starting.

Miami can move Jesse Davis but they can’t financially remove him and Austin Jackson and Liam Eichenberg and Michael Dieter. The last two at least have shown potential. Without fixing the offensive line, McDaniel’s vision of a running game won’t materialize no matter how good the scheme is. They Dolphins offense will not score points and the defense will get exposed.

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