I was impressed with the work Mike McDaniel did in his first year in Miami. With the passing game, anyway. I never would have thought he’d have that kind of success getting the ball downfield for chunk plays.
I understand that the Dolphins added Tyreek Hill. And they’ve got another wide receiver who’s similarly fast, Jaylen Waddle. But Miami doesn’t have a great offensive line, and it has a quarterback who might have the weakest arm of any starter in the league.
Yet, Miami consistently had success getting the ball downfield for long touchdowns. It started with that weird shootout game in Baltimore, with Tua Tagovailoa throwing 6 TDs, and they were able to keep it going all year. Lots of long touchdowns, and they did it with a quarterback who the previous year couldn’t get the ball downfield much at all.
Tagovailoa in 2021 threw 16 touchdowns, and they averaged only 9 yards – the lowest average among quarterbacks with at least 15 TD passes.
AVG DISTANCE OF TD PASSES (2021) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | TD | Avg |
2021 | Joe Burrow, Cin. | 34 | 28.4 |
2021 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 25 | 23.2 |
2021 | Davis Mills, Hou. | 16 | 22.8 |
2021 | Taylor Heinicke, Was. | 20 | 20.5 |
2021 | Kyler Murray, Ari. | 24 | 19.5 |
2021 | Jared Goff, Det. | 19 | 19.2 |
2021 | Baker Mayfield, Cle. | 17 | 18.6 |
2021 | Carson Wentz, Ind. | 27 | 18.3 |
2021 | Derek Carr, L.V. | 23 | 17.3 |
2021 | Matthew Stafford, LAR | 41 | 17.2 |
2021 | Kirk Cousins, Min. | 33 | 17.0 |
2021 | Jimmy Garoppolo, S.F. | 20 | 16.9 |
2021 | Justin Herbert, LAC | 38 | 16.7 |
2021 | Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 16 | 16.3 |
2021 | Tom Brady, T.B. | 43 | 15.1 |
2021 | Mac Jones, N.E. | 22 | 15.1 |
2021 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 37 | 14.9 |
2021 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 22 | 14.1 |
2021 | Jalen Hurts, Phil. | 16 | 13.6 |
2021 | Josh Allen, Buff. | 36 | 13.2 |
2021 | Dak Prescott, Dall. | 37 | 13.0 |
2021 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 37 | 12.7 |
2021 | Teddy Bridgewater, Den. | 18 | 12.2 |
2021 | Matt Ryan, Atl. | 20 | 11.8 |
2021 | Ryan Tannehill, Ten. | 21 | 11.3 |
2021 | Tua Tagovailoa, Mia. | 16 | 9.0 |
Tagovailoa in McDaniel’s first season threw 25 TDs, and they averaged over 26 yards – a worst-to-first turnaround.
The Dolphins are in a division with three good pass defenses – Bills, Patriots, Jets. But I imagine they’ll be hitting on plenty of long touchdowns again in the 2023 season.
AVG DISTANCE OF TD PASSES (2022) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | TD | Avg |
2022 | Tua Tagovailoa, Mia. | 25 | 26.3 |
2022 | Russell Wilson, Den. | 16 | 24.9 |
2022 | Derek Carr, L.V. | 24 | 23.4 |
2022 | Jalen Hurts, Phil. | 22 | 23.2 |
2022 | Andy Dalton, N.O. | 18 | 21.3 |
2022 | Justin Fields, Chi. | 17 | 20.2 |
2022 | Josh Allen, Buff. | 35 | 20.2 |
2022 | Joe Burrow, Cin. | 35 | 19.8 |
2022 | Geno Smith, Sea. | 30 | 19.6 |
2022 | Jimmy Garoppolo, S.F. | 16 | 17.0 |
2022 | Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 17 | 16.8 |
2022 | Marcus Mariota, Atl. | 15 | 16.7 |
2022 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 26 | 15.6 |
2022 | Dak Prescott, Dall. | 23 | 15.3 |
2022 | Daniel Jones, NYG | 15 | 15.1 |
2022 | Justin Herbert, LAC | 25 | 13.4 |
2022 | Kirk Cousins, Min. | 29 | 13.1 |
2022 | Davis Mills, Hou. | 17 | 12.9 |
2022 | Trevor Lawrence, Jac. | 25 | 12.4 |
2022 | Tom Brady, T.B. | 25 | 12.4 |
2022 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 41 | 12.2 |
2022 | Jared Goff, Det. | 29 | 11.7 |
—Ian Allan