Coaching Matters: 2022 Miami Dolphins Coaching Staff Preview

July 13, 2022

Eli Grabanski breaks down the 2022 Miami Dolphins' coaching staff in search of buy-lows, fantasy football sleepers, and risers based on play-calling and historical data.

After every NFL season, NFL teams take the time to evaluate not only the players but also the coaching staff and front office as well. While many teams choose to retain the same head coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator, a few other teams opt to go in a new direction with their coaching staff.

The Miami Dolphins will make some changes to their coaching staff in 2022 as they move on from former head coach Brian Flores and former co-offensive coordinator George Godsey, as well as move former co-offensive coordinator Eric Studesville to an associate head coach/running backs coaching role. The new head coach will be former San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and the new offensive coordinator will be former Los Angeles Chargers offensive line coach Frank Smith. Defensive coordinator Josh Boyer will remain from the previous coaching regime and once again serve as the team's defensive coordinator in 2022.

This article will look at the potential impact this coaching staff will have on the players and try to pinpoint the Dolphins players' fantasy values in it.

The Baseline

To get a better understanding of the value the Dolphins coaches help bring to this team, we can look at the NFL league averages in each of the past two years in a variety of statistical categories and then compare them to the averages achieved by the Dolphins' coaches. Here are 'The Baseline' NFL league averages over the past couple of years:

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

Defense Impact

Previous Coaching Staff

In order to get an understanding of how the Dolphins' fantasy players may be impacted this year, we also need to take a look at some of the previous coaching staff members: former head coach Brian Flores and former co-offensive coordinator George Godsey. By doing this, we will have a better understanding of where the new coaches are starting from and where the primary changes will occur.

Former Head Coach: Brian Flores

The Miami Dolphins decided to fire head coach Brian Flores this offseason after three seasons as the team's head coach. Prior to becoming the Miami Dolphins head coach in 2019, he spent 15 years working in a variety of roles (primarily on the defensive side of the ball) for the New England Patriots. Because of his defensive background, let's take a look at some of the Dolphins' defensive statistics during Brian Flores's three seasons as the head coach.

Former Co-Offensive Coordinator: George Godsey

George Godsey was the co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2021. He was also previously an offensive coordinator for the Houston Texans (2015-2016). Below are some statistics from Godsey's NFL career as an offensive coordinator.

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

Former Co-Offensive Coordinator: Eric Studesville

Eric Studesville will remain on the Miami Dolphins coaching staff in 2022, just in a new role as an associate head coach and running backs coach. Below are statistics from the four games that he served as the Denver Broncos interim head coach back in 2010 as well as from the 17 games he served as the Miami Dolphins co-offensive coordinator.

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

2022 Offense

2022 Head Coach: Mike McDaniel

The Miami Dolphins' new head coach in 2022 is Mike McDaniel. McDaniel has been described as an offensive mastermind in the past and served as the San Francisco 49ers' offensive coordinator (2021) prior to taking on the Dolphins' job. Because of his offensive background, let's take a look at some of his previous team's offensive statistics during his time as an offensive coordinator or head coach.

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

Mike McDaniel Takeaways & Expectations

The Miami Dolphins will move away from the co-offensive coordinator system they had in 2022 and instead have new head coach Mike McDaniel call the plays. McDaniel only has one season in an offensive coordinator or head coaching role under his belt, but we'll examine that season working with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan to see if we can at the very least get baseline expectations for the Dolphins offense in 2022.

In McDaniel's one year as an offensive coordinator, his offense averaged 30.24 passing attempts, 261 passing yards, and 1.53 passing touchdowns per game. This means that if McDaniel takes an approach similar to the one he was a part of in San Francisco, it would mean that the Dolphins would end up averaging fewer passing attempts per game than in 2021 but have better passing efficiency. Clearly, if his offense is similar to Kyle Shanahan's, it is likely that Tua Tagovailoa is utilized as a game manager for the 2022 season.

Besides passing, it's also important to look at the amount of rushing work that a quarterback may receive since it can provide a major boost to their fantasy production.

During the 2021 season with the San Francisco 49ers, McDaniel was a part of a team that saw its quarterback room average 4.47 carries per game. Looking more closely though, it's clear that the team adapted this rushing usage heavily depending on the quarterback that was on the field - Jimmy Garoppolo (2.53 carries per game) or Trey Lance (6.33 carries per game). The Dolphins' starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is somewhere in the middle of these two - more mobile than Jimmy Garoppolo but less mobile than Trey Lance. Because of this, we should expect Tua to once again end up sitting between three to four carries per game. Based on this information, while Tua does have some intriguing weapons on offense, it's more than likely that he's utilized as more of a game manager and finishes as a QB2 in your fantasy leagues.

Moving onto the running back room, it's more of a mixed bag. In the one season that McDaniel has previously worked as an offensive coordinator, his running back room averaged 20.47 carries, 89.59 rushing yards, and 0.53 rushing touchdowns per game.

It's only one season, but this usage was slightly below the league averages from the 2021 season. Considering the Dolphins don't have the most talented running back room, there's a very good chance that these numbers are average or slightly below average for the 2022 season and could put a cap on the fantasy upside of the Dolphins' running backs - Sony Michel, Raheem Mostert, Myles Gaskin, and Chase Edmonds.

But besides the amount of volume (carries) on the ground that McDaniel may provide, we also need to consider how that volume may be distributed by looking at the numbers over the course of his career - will McDaniel most likely want to roll with a bell-cow approach or commit to a running back by committee?

During his time as the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, McDaniel saw his team give 59.5% of the team's season running back carries to its lead back - Elijah Mitchell. Given the Miami Dolphins' crowded running back room, it's likely that McDaniel takes more of a running back by committee approach on the ground with Chase Edmonds, Sony Michel, Raheem Mostert, and Myles Gaskin in 2022.

The final aspect we should look at regarding Mike McDaniel's running backs is how much he has traditionally utilized them as pass-catchers. Over the course of his 17-game career, McDaniel's running back room has averaged 3.59 targets per game - which is below the NFL league average (6.22 in 2021).

While it's only one season, this low-level usage in the passing game is concerning - particularly if you plan on rostering the team's primary pass-catching back. Overall, this backfield will have a hard time producing a back that will be anything more than a FLEX play and there may be some frustration figuring out which one will lead the committee in 2022.

Jumping to the wide receiver position, McDaniel has seen his wide receivers receive 17.18 targets per game over the course of his 17 games as an offensive coordinator.

There are two things to remember when looking at this data. First, the data is just from one season where McDaniel wasn't the primary play-caller on gameday. Second, the 49ers as a whole didn't average a lot of passing attempts so if the number of passing attempts ends up being higher with the Dolphins, it will naturally increase the number of wide receiver targets per game. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are likely to still get decent workloads given their talent but from a fantasy perspective they could end up being a tad overvalued going into draft season.

Last but not least, Mike McDaniel's tight end room. Over the course of his career as an offensive coordinator, McDaniel's tight end room has averaged 6.18 targets per game.

Much like his wide receiver usage, it's more difficult to get a good read on any tendencies that McDaniel may have in utilizing the tight end position due to his short track record. But based on the little we do know about McDaniel as well as what we know about the Miami Dolphins roster, it appears that Mike Gesicki should once again be in the TE1 discussion for the 2022 season.

2022 Offensive Coordinator: Frank Smith

Frank Smith hasn't been an offensive coordinator or head coach at the NFL level prior to this season, but he has spent three seasons as an offensive coordinator at the college level for the Butler Bulldogs (2007-2009). Below are statistics from Smith's time coaching at the college level.

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

Frank Smith Takeaways & Expectations

Two things to remember before we dive too far into Frank Smith's coaching profile. Firstly, the college level and the NFL level are very different in what works and what doesn't work so some of these statistics might not translate. Secondly, Frank Smith is not expected to be the primary play-caller of the team - that would be head coach Mike McDaniel. But despite this, we'll still take a brief look at Smith's college play-calling profile just in case he takes over play-calling duties at any point during the 2022 season.

Much like McDaniel's offense at the NFL level with the San Francisco 49ers, Frank Smith's college offenses with the Butler Bulldogs tended to lean more on the run game while his passers would only throw around 32 times per game (32.91 career average). In addition, Smith's quarterbacks at Butler did run a little bit in 2008 and 2009, so if Tua feels confident in his legs and he takes over play-calling, we could see a slight increase in rushing attempts this year from the Dolphins quarterbacks.

As we alluded to in the earlier section, Frank Smith frequently utilized the running game during his time as Butler's offensive coordinator as his running back room averaged 24.97 carries per game over the course of 33 games.

While the college game is very different from the NFL, this average is encouraging to see if you plan on rostering a Miami Dolphin running back because it means that Smith isn't averse to utilizing them on the ground. Through the air, it's a little bit of a different story. Over the course of Frank Smith's 33-game career as a college offensive coordinator, his running back room was barely utilized in the passing game - averaging just 2.70 receptions, 16.18 receiving yards, and 0.06 receiving touchdowns per game.

Overall, while he's only coached only at the college level thus far, his running back usage seems pretty similar to the usage of Kyle Shanahan's offense that Mike McDaniel has spent so much time working with - a decent amount of carries, but a subpar amount of receiving work.

Moving onto the wide receiver room, Frank Smith's wide receivers at Butler put up solid production - averaging 15.91 receptions, 175.94 receiving yards, and 1.33 receiving touchdowns per game over the course of 33 college games. Hopefully, Smith can collaborate with McDaniel and figure out the best ways to maximize the potential of Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and the rest of the Miami Dolphins wide receiver room.

Lastly, Frank Smith's tight ends didn't do much during his college career, averaging just 1.18 receptions, 10.76 receiving yards, and 0.12 receiving touchdowns per game. At first look, these numbers might be worrisome. But it's important to remember that at the college level, a good chunk of the tight ends do not have the receiving talent to justify frequently featuring them in the passing game and are asked just to block. For that reason, while the numbers may not look great, it doesn't make a lot of sense to put much stock into them right now.

Fantasy Relevant Players: Tua Tagovailoa, Teddy Bridgewater, Chris Streveler, Chase Edmonds, Raheem Mostert, Sony Michel, Myles Gaskin, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Cedrick Wilson, Preston Williams, Trent Sherfield, Lynn Bowden Jr., Erik Ezukanma, Mike Gesicki, Durham Smythe, and Adam Shaheen.

2022 Defense

2021 Defensive Coordinator: Josh Boyer

Josh Boyer became the Miami Dolphins' defensive coordinator in 2020 after Patrick Graham left to become the New York Giants' defensive coordinator, and will get to stick around in the new coaching regime. Included below are the Dolphins' defensive statistics during his two years as the Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator.

Other Notable Assistants

Special Teams Coordinator: Danny Crossman - Danny Crossman has been the Miami Dolphins' special teams coordinator since 2019. He's been coaching since 1993, coaching special teams at the NFL level since 2003, and has previously been a special teams coordinator for the Carolina Panthers (2007-2009), Detroit Lions (2010-2012), and Buffalo Bills (2013-2018).

QB Coach: Darrell Bevell - The Dolphins will have a new quarterbacks coach in 2022 as they let go of Charlie Frye to bring in Darrell Bevell. Bevell has a ton of experience as a coach, working at the NFL level since 2000. He has previously worked as a quarterbacks coach for the Green Bay Packers (2003-2005). He also has served as an offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings (2006-2010), Seattle Seahawks (2011-2017), Detroit Lions (2019-2020), and Jacksonville Jaguars (2021).

RB Coach: Eric Studesville - The Miami Dolphins decided to keep former co-offensive coordinator & running backs coach Eric Studesville, but move him to the title of associate head coach & running backs coach. He's worked as a running backs coach at the NFL level for the Chicago Bears (1997-2000), New York Giants (2001-2003), Buffalo Bills (2004-2009), Denver Broncos (2010-2017), and Miami Dolphins (2018-Present).

WR Coach: Wes Welker - The Miami Dolphins will have a new wide receivers coach in 2022, going from Josh Grizzard to Wes Welker. Wes Welker is well known for being a five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver in the NFL, but he also spent the last three years as the San Francisco 49ers' wide receivers coach (2019-2021). During his NFL playing career, he played for the San Diego Chargers (2004), Miami Dolphins (2004-2006), New England Patriots (2007-2012), Denver Broncos (2013-2014), and the St. Louis Rams (2015).

TE Coach: Jon Embree - The Dolphins will also have a new tight ends coach in 2022 as they let go of former co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach George Godsey for Jon Embree. Embree has been coaching football since 1991 and has spent time in the NFL as a tight ends coach for the Kansas City Chiefs (2006-2008), Washington Redskins (2010), Cleveland Browns (2013), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014-2016), and San Francisco 49ers (2017-2021) prior to joining the Miami Dolphins. He's got a strong track record and is one of the better tight-end coaches in the league.

OL Coach: Matt Applebaum - The Miami Dolphins will have a new offensive line coach in 2022, going from Lemuel Jeanpierre to Matt Applebaum. Applebaum has worked as an offensive line coach for the last two years at Boston College and has worked in the NFL previously for Jacksonville and Washington's organizations.

DL Coach: Austin Clark - 2022 will be Austin Clark's second year as the Miami Dolphins defensive line coach. During the 2020 season, he served as the team's outside linebackers coach.

LB Coach: Anthony Campanile - Anthony Campanile has been the Miami Dolphins linebackers coach since 2020. He's been coaching since 2006 in a variety of roles at the high school and college levels.

OLB Coach: Ty McKenzie - Another adjustment to the Dolphins coaching staff will be at outside linebackers coach as the team goes from Rob Leonard to Ty McKenzie. McKenzie has previously worked as an assistant special teams coach with the Los Angeles Rams (2017), as an inside linebackers coach with the Tennessee Titans (2018-2019), and as a linebackers coach for the Detroit Lions (2020). He also played in the NFL for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2010-2011) and the Minnesota Vikings (2011-2013).

Cornerbacks Coach: Sam Madison - The Miami Dolphins made another coaching change at cornerbacks coach, going from Charles Burks to Sam Madison. Madison previously worked as a secondary/cornerbacks coach for the Kansas City Chiefs (2019-2021). He also played cornerback at the NFL level for the Miami Dolphins (1997-2005) and the New York Giants (2006-2008).

Safeties Coach: Steve Gregory - The Dolphins let go of defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander and decided to instead have Steve Gregory serve as the team's safeties coach. Gregory worked as a defensive assistant on the Dolphins during the 2021 season and has previous experience coaching defensive backs during his time with the Detroit Lions. He also played safety at the NFL level for the San Diego Chargers (2006-2011) and the New England Patriots (2012-2013).

Enjoy this series? Be sure to check out all of the other 'Coaching Matters' team previews!

AFC North: Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals

AFC South: Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts

AFC West: Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders

Follow Eli Grabanski on Twitter: @3li_handles

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