Dolphins mailbag: How to fix Miami’s situation, Tua’s return and more

A 23-20 loss to the previously winless Jacksonville Jaguars in London last Sunday left the Dolphins with even more questions and concerns as their losing streak continues, increasing to five games.

Tua Tagovailoa was impressive in his first game since Week 2, but undisciplined play, lack of execution and some questions play-calling late were Miami’s demise in another defeat.

If the loss and eight-hour plane ride back home weren’t bad enough, the Dolphins will have to shake off the jet lag and get back to work with the 2-3 Atlanta Falcons coming to Hard Rock Stadium rejuvenated from a bye. In this week’s mailbag, I take a look at how to fix the Dolphins’ issues, how Tagovailoa looked and more. And a reminder that if you have questions you would like me to answer in future mailbags, you can ask me on Twitter or email me.

Here we go:

How would you fix this Dolphins situation? - @DougDaniells

It’s not an easy fix, that’s for sure, and that might be the most frustrating part about it all. I think a lot of people, me included, misjudged the composition of the roster heading into the season. On paper, this shouldn’t be a team that is 1-5. But questions about the offensive line have proven to be more of an issue than anyone could have thought, and few projected the massive regression of the defense.

I can’t give you a step-by-step guide to turning the team into a contender — and I wouldn’t be working at the Miami Herald if I had the recipe. However, I can walk you through the three aspects of an organization that must be aligned to have long-term success: general manager, head coach and quarterback. The Dolphins have questions at each position.

We’ve detailed at length Chris Grier’s whiffs in the draft in recent years. Is it time for a new GM? It very well might be, and that’s for owner Stephen Ross to decide. At coach, Brian Flores has rightfully been questioned for his ability to assemble a staff, particularly on offense. But we’re not very much removed from talk of him being NFL Coach of the Year last season. He, as well as the entire team, has had a really tough stretch. But I think he deserves at least the rest of the season to see if he can turn things around, even if it doesn’t result in a playoff appearance.

As for Tagovailoa, I understand how polarizing he is, but it just isn’t right to make a decision on someone who hasn’t even started a full season’s worth of games. He played well against Jacksonville and showed he isn’t the root of the team’s issues.

I tend to think the team’s problems are more with overall roster construction, which would lead one to think a new GM should be in order. However, a member of the Dolphins’ media corps made a good point to me: If Ross opts for a new GM, why would the newcomer want to rebuild without their head coach of choice, and maybe their quarterback of choice? It might not be fair, but this seems like an all-or-nothing proposition: Either the group assembled has to get it together or they all get the boot.

What would be the most prominent change Miami needs to make in order to salvage the season over the next 11 games? - @Dan_B_Phin_Phan

I think the most prominent change we saw was last Sunday with Tagovailoa returning to the lineup. He might not “save” the season but let’s say the team goes 6-5 the rest of the way and Tagovailoa shows improvement from his rookie season. I would say that’s a salvaged season and one in which Miami could potentially feel confident going into the offseason and knowing that it just needs to build around its quarterback better instead of search for a new one.

What is your honest opinion of Tua? - @David13David

He’s a divisive figure for South Floridians. But I truly don’t have a firm, stuck-in-my-way, view of him. I didn’t watch him enough in Alabama to make a prediction on his NFL future and I’ve still only seen two full games of importance with him under center. He has a pretty defined skill set you can build around and some shortcomings that could ultimately lead to him not being a successful quarterback. Regardless of how you feel about him, I haven’t seen many situations where a young quarterback with as few starts as him hasn’t been given the grace to just play and go through his lumps. The ascension of Justin Herbert and other young quarterbacks, along with a bit of impatience from the fan base has probably played a big role in that. But there’s nothing wrong with just sitting back and letting things shake out. Every throw he makes doesn’t have to be over-dissected and used as proof of his impending success or failure.

Who on this roster has developed/improved over the past 12 months? - @Mike_Gerv

It’s a very good question and starts to get at one of the Dolphins’ issues this season: They haven’t had enough progression from young players, plus their best players haven’t sustained their level of play from previous seasons for a variety of reasons

To answer your question: how about Christian Wilkins? He’s arguably been the team’s best player this season and provided a big play last Sunday in strip-sacking Trevor Lawrence, even though it was negated the next snap by a bad interception from Tagovailoa. In six games, Wilkins has already set career-high marks for tackles for loss, quarterback hits and sacks. The Dolphins run defense hasn’t been good but Wilkins has been their best run-stuffer and he’s starting to put it together as a pass rusher.