MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Tyler “Snoop” Huntley will be the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback for at least one more start — a week from Sunday in Indianapolis.
Between now and then, we humbly suggest that Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel take a hatchet to his complex playbook. He should use the bye to shelve most of his shotgun plays and replace them with old-school, under-center sets.
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The Dolphins won a throwback ground-and-pound game against the Patriots in Week 5, and replicating that approach is their best (and perhaps only) approach against the Colts in Week 6.
Certainly, McDaniel should return to a more Tua Tagovailoa-centric system when QB1 returns from concussion No. 4. But having Huntley play Tua’s game in the meantime is a mistake.
That means a major shift in philosophy for a Dolphins team that has been under center on just one out of every six offensive plays this year.
“This [Mike Shanahan] offense, if you go back to the roots, is more so under center,” said Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert, whose career has flourished in the Shanahan scheme, both here in and in San Francisco.
“Eighty percent of the offense is supposed to be 18, 19 (outside zone runs), 14, 15 (off-tackle runs) from the running standpoint, and everything else plays off of that. Once we get back to that, who knows? Especially with a different quarterback.
“You’ve got Snoop out there, he can do a lot of things. Utilize his legs and stuff like that as well as Tua and some of the other guys. But we’re just trying to get back to the basics and the understanding of the offense, and I think this past game definitely showed that.”
In that past game, a 15-10 victory over the New England Patriots, the Dolphins ran the ball for 101 yards on 20 carries (5.0 yards per) under center. They were less efficient running out of shotgun (4.4 ypa).
That follows a season-long trend. The Dolphins this year have had a 10.5% higher yards-per-carry efficiency when running from under center than after a shotgun snap.
Alec Ingold lining up the safety and taking him for a ride pic.twitter.com/G3Bb70XBQF
— . (@BrandonThornNFL) October 9, 2024
When you combine that with the Dolphins’ jaw-dropping 2024 splits with and without play-action — 8.5 yards and 89.5 passer rating when they do, 6.4 and 66.5 when they do not — even a dumb sportswriter can put together a successful offensive formula (at least until Tagovailoa returns).
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Have Huntley go under center, throw when he can off play-action, and sprinkle in an occasional bootleg that utilizes his mobility.
Dolphins backup quarterback Tim Boyle said that McDaniel has put those boots (a big Shanahan staple) in his weekly install, but the Dolphins haven’t yet had the looks to really use them.
As for the broader advantage from going under center?
“I think you get defenses to step up a little bit,” Boyle said. “It’s a little harder to [defend] play-actions under center. Linebackers kind of lose the ball a little bit. So I think it opens up some intermediate pass game after play action.
“Obviously, we got the skill guys to open it up down the field, but it’s definitely something we’ve been working in here. You know, I know we’re a huge gun pistol team, but I think every once in a while it’s a good thing to kind of mix it up and stay under center.”
