Kenneth Grant, Tua Tagovailoa, More
Part 3 of the Week 2 Miami Dolphins On SI mailbag:
From Divingpelican31:
Hey Poup, watching Tyler Warren have a strong debute against the Phins got me thinking back to draft night. I know TE would have been a luxury pick in the 1st, but do you think the Phins will live to regret passing on him to take Grant? Thanks and keep up the good work!
Based on all the reports out of Indy, Warren sure looks like a future star and he did nothing to dispel that idea against the Dolphins. And in retrospect, tight end would not have been a luxury pick considering where the team currently stands at the position. Having said all that, let’s wait a bit until we see what kind of NFL player Grant will become before we reach any conclusions and understand it’s easier for a tight end to stand out than a DT. Having said all that, your reaction after Week 1 is completely normal.
From MD928:
Tua seemed to be at his best when he spent an offseason with Nick Hicks, and worked on his footwork. J.Allen said in a doc in his 5th year, he really worked on his throwing motion with a coach. Through your journalism, do you know of Tua doing anything this offseason to improve?
No, I am not aware of anything specific that Tua worked on during the offseason, which isn’t to say that he didn’t focus on anything specific. I have a hard time believing there wasn’t anything on his agenda.
From FJV:
Hi Alain, what do other coaches around the league think of Mike McDaniel?
What coaches ever would say publicly matches with what everyone in the media has said, that McDaniel is a good guy with a quirky personality, unlike just about any other head coach in the NFL, and is a very smart football mind. The questions from the media as to what kind of leader McDaniel might be are not anything that other head coaches ever would discuss publicly.
From Mark Malbeck:
Why are people making such a big deal on players-only meeting? Seems to me it would be a good thing if they looked each other in the eye and took accountability of their actions. None of the coaches were on the field messing up.
Hey Mark, it’s not the issue of a players-only meeting that raised eyebrows because those happen on a regular basis, it’s the idea of doing after the first game of the regular season. Those meetings generally are viewed as a last-gasp or desperation move, so again doing it after Week 1 is unusual. But also we don’t quite know the specifics of how that meeting came about because it was revealed through Tua saying it came as an offshoot of players coming in on their day off Tuesday and then talking things out. Is that exactly the same as somebody “calling” a players-only meeting? Not sure. Will just leave that here.
From Luis Rodriguez:
Hey Poup. Any chance this is 2008 where we start 0-2 and then go on the road to the AFC East juggernaut and unleash a play that takes the NFL by storm leading to a division title and playoff appearance?
Hey Luis, anything and everything is possible, though I’ll remind you the 2008 team didn’t look nearly as bad as the 2025 version. That team lost against the Jets 20-14 and had a chance to win at the end. This team was done by halftime and looked downright embarrassingly bad. That said, again, anything is possible, but I wouldn’t necessarily count on it, especially since the Week 3 game this year is on the road on a Thursday night, which was not the case in 2008 (road, but on a Sunday).
From Pixel:
Both the players and coaches admitted this week that players were freelancing and missed assignments. Why would well-coached players do that? Pressure, lack of confidence in the plays being called, leadership on the field? It happened on both sides of the ball.
Freelancing is not uncommon around the NFL, and the Dolphins had two stars in the past who were known for that in Junior Seau and Ndamukong Suh. This generally is more about the players than the coaches because short of benching players, what can coaches do about players trying to do more than just their own responsibility? And maybe benching players is the answer, but it becomes an issue if too many guys do it in the name of making things happen.
From Dave Campbell:
Greetings Alain. I know it was1st game of season & I try not to overreact but what I saw Sunday was a John Beck-led offense, a Tom Olivadotti defense, a completely overmatched coaching staff & overall Varsity vs. JV scrimmage. Where did I go wrong there? Only positive was Ollie Gordon II making a 3rd & short. Can they clean this mess up in time to save jobs? Not a good start to season!
Hey Dave, at least you recognize that you’re overreacting a bit. Yes, it was ugly on all levels and you didn’t go wrong in any of your comparisons, but it was one game and, yes, there is time to clean the mess.
