The Miami Dolphins have agreed to terms with WR Odell Beckham Jr. on a one year contract with three million dollars in guarantees.
This adds to an already re-booted WR room (specifically from the WR3 spot and down) that just added rookies Malik and Tahj Washington in last week’s draft.
However, what Beckham adds says the most about Miami’s plans for the WR3 position as well as sustainability down the back stretch of the season.
Following the Trends
Since hiring Mike McDaniel, the Miami Dolphins have placed a majority of the receiving workload on the shoulders of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. While each of them have been effective, this has come with mixed results.
See, Mike McDaniel’s offense packages in more-pre snap motion than any other team in the NFL, and thus, have an increased WR workload for their top two targets.
This, combined with injuries, led to Tyreek Hill playing only 63% of Miami’s offensive snaps (and with a lack of depth behind him and Waddle) culminated in Chase Claypool (who had eight total catches in 2023) being targeted on the eventual interception that kept the Dolphins from a division win.
Miami made the most of the philosophy of having two #1 wide receivers. However, when looking at other teams (specifically similar Shanahan-style offenses), it appears that the league is moving in a bit of a different direction.
Take, for instance, the Green Bay Packers, whose receiving room lacks a dominant number one on paper. However, it is their depth (and reliance on said depth for contributions) that made them so hard to stop late in the season.
The Green Bay Packers finished the second half of the season 6-2. In that stretch, they had FIVE different receivers lead the group in yards. This depth and production allowed the Packers to put more on quarterback Jordan Love’s plate, and skyrocketed their stock to the point that they blew out the Cowboys and nearly beat the Super Bowl runner up 49ers.
It is those 49ers who have been practicing a similar philosophy for years. George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk have been the staple of those receiving rooms for years now. However, Kyle Shanahan is ALWAYS looking to add more. It’s why he took the chance on Christian McCaffrey, and just drafted Ricky Pearsall in the first round, despite reports coming out that neither Aiyuk or Samuel are likely to be moved. On top of that, Jauan Jennings was probably their best receiver in the Super Bowl, and aside from their objective physical differences, his ability as a chain mover mimics what Beckham can be in Miami.
The Shanahan passing game philosophy has always been to get someone who can execute the basic scheme at a high level, then progressively getting them more weapons, and trusting them to find answers when needed.
The beginning of this was found with Tua Tagovailoa. When Miami is rolling, they look unstoppable. However, when teams began to put a cap on the explosives or take the running game away, Miami didn’t feel nearly comfortable enough putting the ball in their QBs hands. This was on display in the playoffs, where Tyreek Hill was consistently jammed at the line of scrimmage, throwing off the timing of the offense. This, of course, resulted in Tua having to make due with Miami’s lack of depth and run game by repetitively taking the check down against the Chiefs’ stifling man coverage.
Odell Beckham Jr. gives Miami a level of flexibility and redundancy at the WR spot that they desperately need. Beckham provides inside-outside versatility, and allows Miami to be much more creative in their three wide-receiver sets. Putting Odell Beckham at the X or Z spot allows Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle to operate from the slot, which naturally means more space, and potentially more favorable matchups.
This gives Tua Tagovailoa more answers, specifically vs. press man, and will hopefully lead to the most quarterback-trusting version of this offense that we’ve seen. When teams such as the Texans and aforementioned Packers were able to lean on their quarterbacks to find answers with more receiving options and less protection, they became the versions of themselves that won playoff games in 2023-2024.
Furthermore, if and when Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle go down, Beckham can fill one of their roles with relative ease. Miami didn’t have someone who could operate in similar spots to Waddle or Hill, but by adding a receiver in Beckham (and the potential of Malik Washington), some of the burden may be lifted when they are off the field. This will hopefully produce more sustainable results, especially when Miami’s production has typically dipped come December and January
The Bottom Line
Miami’s offense in 2023 was largely predicated on three players (Tagovailoa, Hill, and Center Connor Williams) and the timing and chemistry between those three. However, Miami has made plenty of changes to potentially eradicate the need for each of them to be in sync to succeed.
First, they replaced Connor Williams with Aaron Brewer, and while there is still potential for Williams to return, it looks like Brewer will be the center.
And now, with this Beckham signing, they are moving closer and closer to a more sustainable offense, less predicated on motion and destroying zone, and more capable of making tough catches over the middle, consistently moving the chains, and beating tight press man coverage.
The play calling, and amount of pre-snap motion (which is so dependent on timing) in 2024 remains to be seen. However, it’s clear that Miami is moving closer and closer to true passing-game reliability down the stretch, and that’s about all you can ask for in the offseason.
Fins Focus 
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