The Miami Dolphins went 9-8 and 11-6 during their first two seasons under Mike McDaniel. While a pair of Wild Card losses didn't exactly scream Super Bowl contender, the "Greatest Show on Surf" ranked second in scoring in 2023 and seemed like a safe bet to again work as one of the league's more productive units.

Or not. Another early-season concussion to Tua Tagovailoa turned the offense into one of the single-worst units in the league for the better part of the first two months of the season. Kudos to McDaniel and company for winning six of their final nine games; too bad the team's 2-6 start left them just out of playoff reach.

Today we'll recap some of the good and bad of 2024 before getting into potential offseason injuries to monitor as well as team needs ahead of the 2025 offseason.

As always: It's a great day to be great.

MIAMI DOLPHINS 2024 RECAP

  • Record: 8-9 (7.5 preseason win total)
  • Points per game: 20.3 (22nd)
  • EPA per dropback: +0.089 (15th)
  • EPA per rush: -0.246 (31st)
  • Points per game allowed: 21.4 (10th)
  • Leading passer: Tua Tagovailoa (2,867 pass yards, 19 TD, 7 INT)
  • Leading rusher: De'Von Achane (203 carries, 907 yards, 6 TD)
  • Leading receiver: Tyreek Hill (81 receptions, 959 yards, 6 TD)

Biggest surprise: TE Jonnu Smith

Smith's YAC-friendly speed and physicality were expected to fit well inside Mike McDaniel's ever-well-schemed passing attack, but even his biggest truthers couldn't have seen the 29-year-old veteran putting up these sorts of numbers.

Smith among 31 TEs with 50-plus targets:

  • Receptions: 88 (No. 4)
  • Receiving yards: 884 (No. 4)
  • Receiving TD: 8 (tied for No. 2)
  • Yards per route run: 1.96 (No. 5)
  • Targets per route run: 24.6% (No. 6)
  • Passer rating when targeted: 123.9 (No. 6)

It would have made sense if Smith managed to turn his limited opportunities into some big plays here and there, but leading the offense in receptions (88) over the likes of Tyreek Hill (81) and Jaylen Waddle (58)? Absolute madness–credit to Smith for the eighth-year breakout, and apologies to Mr. Arthur Smith for ever doubting his 2023 usage!

Biggest disappointment: WRs Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle

On the one hand, Smith's breakout was awesome.

On the other, it came in large part because Hill and Waddle failed to live up to their billing as the NFL's best WR duo. The WR30 and WR51 in PPR points per game, the speedsters simply never managed to consistently replicate the sort of fireworks that were commonplace during their first two seasons together.

The absence of Tua during the early parts of the season obviously didn't help, but still: Dolphins WRs went from ranking sixth in receiving yards after the catch in both 2022 and 2023 to 25th in 2024. Targeting either simply wasn't anywhere close to as efficient as it used to be.

Hill and Waddle passer rating when targeted by year:

  • 2024: Hill (97.1), Waddle (90.6)
  • 2023: Hill (119.8), Waddle (101.2)
  • 2022: Hill (103.1), Waddle (122.6)

Hill has the excuse of age (31 in March) and a lingering wrist injury, while it's a bit tougher to figure out exactly why things went so south for Waddle. Here's to hoping the once formidable duo turns things around in 2025 and beyond.

Key Injuries

The Dolphins are tentatively believed to not be dealing with any major fantasy-relevant injuries ahead of next season. Hell yeah!

What Are The Biggest Needs of the Dolphins Ahead Of 2025?

Team Need No. 1: Interior offensive line

Starting guards Liam Eichenberg and Robert Jones are both free agents, and honestly, the team's ability to threaten defenses up the middle wasn't good enough to begin with.

 

Overall, the Dolphins o-line ranked 26th in rush yards before contact per carry and gave up the single-quickest average time to pressure. There's only so much Tua and Miami's skill-position playmakers can do when winning the line of scrimmage is never guaranteed.

Team Need No. 2: Interior defensive line

The Dolphins are one of just six defenses with fewer than $14 million devoted to their interior defensive line ahead of 2025. Starting nose tackle Benito Jones is hitting free agency, as are 3-4 defensive ends Calais Campbell, Matt Dickerson, and Da'Shawn Hand.

Adding resources through the draft would make some sense here. Consider: The Dolphins have used just three top-100 picks on their front seven during the last five drafts combined–tied for the fifth-lowest mark in the league.

Team Need No. 3: Safety

Only the Jets and Panthers have fewer 2025 dollars presently devoted to their safety rooms. Starters Jordan Poyer and Jevon Holland are both hitting free agency, as is backup Elijah Campbell.

Returning all parties involved from the league's reigning ninth-ranked defense in EPA per dropback is certainly doable, especially with the team's safeties deserving a lot of credit for posting top-10 marks in EPA per dropback and explosive pass play rate on targets to the TE position in particular.