Slim and fast: Dolphins get leaner in attempt to fit into Mike McDaniel's system

MIAMI GARDENS — The approaching season of Dolphins football means it’s a great time to be one of Raekwon Davis’ kids. If they have a cookie in hand, or a bag of chips, it’s theirs. All theirs.

Dad isn’t guilty of encroachment on their snacks anymore.

It’s one example of a concerted effort by some Dolphins, particularly linemen, to slim down. It’s unclear exactly how many are eating better and cutting weight, but it's obvious they've taken to heart the advice of their position coaches and the team nutritionist.

“The idea is to show them a vision of what we want to be,” coach Mike McDaniel said.

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That vision isn’t the photo labeled “BEFORE,” but the one beside it, “AFTER.” Especially offensive linemen who must be agile enough to execute McDaniel’s wide-zone scheme. Being overweight and slow is a good way to land on the bench — or elsewhere.

So you’ll see a little less of offensive lineman Austin Jackson this year. Less of defensive tackle Raekwon Davis. Even less of guard Rob Hunt, and never mind that despite being listed at 327 pounds last year, he was athletic enough to score that stunning touchdown that didn’t count.

Players can be coy about how much they weigh

How much less? That depends on which player you ask and what mood they’re in. Davis, for one, was more coy than a runway model on the subject.

“I can’t give you an answer,” Hunt said.

Davis could. But he didn't.

“I’m at a great weight,” Davis said. “How about that? I’m at a real, real great weight, you know. I ain’t going to say.”

The more tight-lipped he was about his weight, the more curious reporters became.

“I’d say like my sophomore year at Alabama,” Davis said. “I’m going towards that. I’m not going to say I’m fully there, but I’m close.”

We’re not talking a few pounds, then. Davis was listed at 330 last season. When he was a sophomore at Alabama in 2017, the Crimson Tide listed him at 306. Even if Davis is merely approaching 306, it’s enough for him to feel the difference.

“Man, I ain’t going to lie to y’all,” Davis said. “It feels like having — you ever have like, a weight vest? Like running with a weight vest on? It feels like that — like you just took that weight vest off. I feel loose. I feel like I can really move now.”

Davis just isn’t moving in on his kids when the treats come out.

“I never ate bad,” he said. “I was just like a big snacker. I see my kids eating snacks and I feel like, ‘Gimme some!’ ”

Rob Hunt learns to force those greens down

Taking away certain foods works for some. Adding certain foods is Hunt’s approach.

“The greens,” he said. “Which I hate.”

They don’t hate him. Hunt said he’s “a lot slimmer since spring.” He chalks his approach to both the system McDaniel plans to run and his own desire to maximize his potential.

“It’s something I did on my own,” Hunt said. “I wanted to come in and play a little lighter. In the scheme that we have, it’s a lot of running. I wanted to be my best self for the season to try to accomplish anything that I want to accomplish.”

Jackson was one player who wasn’t bashful about citing his weight.

“I reported around this time last year at the upper 320s and I’m now at like a really lean 310,” he said.

After playing guard last year, Jackson could see time outside at tackle, where mobility is key. He estimated his body fat is down about 8 percent over last season.

“I had a really good — really great — offseason,” he said.

It’s not just linemen, either. Cornerback Noah Igbinoghene said he focused on cutting body fat and weight.

That’s not to say the entire team is on SlimFast. Liam Eichenberg, a tackle last year, could see time at guard, so he added 6-7 pounds.

“I just put in the work in the offseason,” he said. “I was lifting harder, lifting more weight, and it came on a little easy. Then I cut body fat and make sure that I’m running.”

Coaches happy with the shape players are in

Coaches seem pleased with the results, including in Davis’ case.

“The way he showed up in camp is the best he’s been in in three years,” defensive line coach Austin Clark said.

McDaniel explained the goal of his coaches.

“On both sides of the ball in both retrospects, it behooves a player to be at the maximum athleticism —their maximum explosion, their maximum speed with flexibility, all of those things,” McDaniel said. “We did, I think, a good job in the offseason kind of really painting that picture for them, and it’s to the player’s credit that they’ve said, ‘You know what? I’m all into this. I’m all in for this. My career does mean something to me, and I don’t want to have regrets after my career, saying what if I was X, Y or Z?’

“So that’s the thing. It wasn’t like a straight mandate: ‘You have to go and be this, that or whatever.’ It was kind of a play on my firm belief that players, just like coaches, just like people, they want to be their best. So if you show them without a shadow of a doubt that X gets them to that spot, if they’re the right type of people that you’d want to have on the team, they will respond and get to that point that best fits their physical prowess.”

Hal Habib covers the Dolphins for The Post. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Where'd they go? Dolphins slim down to fit into Mike McDaniel's system