Time For Ross To Have A Heart To Heart With Chris Grier
The Miami Dolphins are off to a 1-3 start and, frankly, should be 0-4. They haven’t led in any of their games this year except when Jason Sanders kicked the game-winning field goal in the season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Dolphins’ deficiencies are being totally exposed, which falls on General Manager Chris Grier. The Dolphins aren’t taking the steps to become a contender; they are regressing badly. I think it’s time for owner Stephen Ross to step in and have a talk with Grier, especially if the season continues going as is.
One of my biggest issues with Grier is not getting a competent backup quarterback. Tyler Huntley shouldn’t be starting because he just got here a few weeks ago, and he doesn’t know the offense very well. Head coach Mike McDaniel also deserves plenty of blame for not having a proper game plan with his backup quarterbacks. It was very obvious in the preseason the Dolphins didn’t have a good backup quarterback solution.
Skyler Thompson and Mike White didn’t play very well with any consistency, and they were the same guys here last year. Both guys didn’t play well, but the Grier didn’t look for a better solution. Thompson had clearly regressed after a promising rookie season when he got a chance to play, including the wild card playoff game. The Dolphins should have looked for other options like Andy Daulton, Joe Flacco, or someone else. I told my wife during the season, if the Tua Tagovailoa goes down, the Dolphins are f*****. After what I saw, I even wrote an article about the backup quarterback situation. Now, the Dolphins offense is slipping because Grier failed to get a competent backup quarterback.
Grier also failed on the offensive line. He lost offensive lineman Robert Hunt to a huge $100 million contract in the off-season, and he didn’t make any real effort to find a replacement. He stood pat with Liam Eichenberg and Lester Cotton at right guard. His free agent signing of Jack Driscoll was bad, as he didn’t make the team. Another troubling spot is the left guard spot. Last year, Isiah Wynn, starting left guard, played well but got hurt in October. Grier resigned him, but he is still on the PUP list. Grier was on record saying he wasn’t sure if he was going to play this year.
Well, if you don’t know if he will play, why did you resign him? Now, you stood pat with Robert Jones and didn’t even try to draft or sign another player to compete with him. Grier has always been cheap with the offensive line. He did make the right call on not giving Hunt that huge contract, but he has never invested in his offensive line when the issues are clear and obvious. The interior of the offensive line has always been an issue with this team since Grier has had the final say.
Yes, he found Connor Williams, but when he got hurt, there was no experienced center to fill in for him. You can’t be cheap or turn a blind eye to the offensive line because as much as the skills players get the headlines, the offensive line does the dirty work, such as open running lanes and protecting the quarterback. Grier hasn’t found quality players. Terron Armstead is always hurt, and Eichenberg is a liability.
Then comes the defensive line, where the Dolphins lost defensive tackles Christian Wilkins and Raekwon Davis in free agency. Again, I think the Dolphins did the right thing not paying Wilkins as much as I like him as a player, but he’s not an elite player and Davis had been inconsistent throughout his time.
The problem again is Grier didn’t address the position properly. They signed a bunch of castoffs in Benito Jones, Jonathon Harris, Teair Tart to one-year deals thinking the defensive line can hold up against the run. Well, the run defense is leaky to say the least. Harris and Tart didn’t make the final roster. They do have Zach Seiler, but he can’t do it alone and Calais Campbell is 37 years old. The Dolphins again failed to find better options at the defensive tackle position.
The play in the trenches has been awful this year, and when you don’t have a capable backup quarterback to lead the offense down the field consistently, it will show as the game wears on, especially against teams that commit to running the football. Games are won and lost at the line of scrimmage, and this has been a major concern for this team the last few years. As the season wears on, Grier has failed in this area, and it is costing the team big time this season. You can have all of the big play-skill players and defensive backs all you want, but if you don’t have the beef on either line of scrimmage, then you have results like the Dolphins are having now, especially when your quarterback goes down.
Grier has been with the Dolphins for 25 years, and he did a very good job rebuilding this team, but he has failed in the areas that I mentioned, especially backup quarterback and offensive line. He has been very stubborn, saying the team is fine at these positions, when we all can clearly see they aren’t.
This is Grier’s downfall with the team; the ship here is sinking fast. Ross needs to talk with Grier, and it may be time to say, “Chris, you have been here for 25 years and done very well, but it’s time for someone else to come in to get us over the hum.” It’s something he has to consider with the way things have gone so bad on his watch this year, and he can’t get the team over the hump.
Josh Moser of WSVN Talks About Miami’s 1-3 Start
The post Time For Ross To Have A Heart To Heart With Chris Grier appeared first on Miami Dolphins.
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