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Marcel Louis-Jacques, ESPNNov 11, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
- Marcel Louis-Jacques joined ESPN in 2019 as a beat reporter covering the Buffalo Bills, before switching to the Miami Dolphins in 2021. The former Carolina Panthers beat writer for the Charlotte Observer won the APSE award for breaking news and the South Carolina Press Association award for enterprise writing in 2018.
MIAMI GARDENS — Since joining the Miami Dolphins, wide receiver Tyreek Hill has been vocal about his desire to be the first receiver in NFL history to eclipse 2,000 receiving yards.
In 2022 — his first season with the Dolphins after six years with Kansas City Chiefs — his 1,710 yards were second in the league to Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson, despite starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missing four games due to multiple concussions. Last season, with Tagovailoa healthy, Hill led the NFL, recording a career-high 1,799 yards en route to his second straight All-Pro selection, and fifth of his career, but he fell short of his goal.
Hill had been so outspoken about his goal, in fact, that he was asked about it when the Dolphins opened training camp in July. This time, however, he decided broadcasting individual goals was unbecoming of a two-time team captain.
“That’s very selfish of me,” Hill said. “So here moving forward, the individual goal I’ve been talking about this whole entire offseason with my teammates and with my family is, I would want us to, (A) win a playoff game. I would love that. We’re going to start with that. Then moving forward continuing to build on that, we’re going to move to the Super Bowl.
“If I’m able to help this team do something special as a team goal, I would definitely count that as an individual goal as my own. … That’d be something that I could live with for the rest of my life.”
But with the Dolphins at 2-6, those goals may have to wait. And through nine weeks, Hill’s third season in Miami has been his least productive to date. Heading into Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Rams (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN), his 441 yards on 34 catches has him on pace for 949 yards, which would be his lowest mark since 2019 when he posted 860 receiving yards over 12 games. Tagovailoa’s four-game absence after suffering a concussion in Week 2 has not helped. Neither has Miami opting for a more balanced offense after Tagovailoa admitted efforts to get Hill past the 2,000-yard mark in previous seasons rendered the unit one-dimensional.
Despite his down season statistically, Hill has not panicked. He has emerged as a critical blocker in the Dolphins’ run game. And with Tagovailoa back, he’s begun to show signs of slowly returning to the form that’s made him the league’s leading receiver over the past two years.
But even he’ll admit, 2024 hasn’t been easy.
“This process is hard, bro. Losing sucks,” Hill said. “Everybody wants to think, ‘Oh, it’s time to make plays, it’s time to go outside the scheme.’ Nah man, we just got to stick together as a team and just trust the process.”
HILL’S 2024 SEASON on the field began in familiar fashion: He caught seven passes for 130 yards and a touchdown — an 80-yarder — in the Dolphins’ Week 1 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. But everything changed in Week 2. Tagovailoa suffered a concussion in Miami’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, causing him to spend the next four games on injured reserve as he rested and recovered.
In Tagovailoa’s absence, Miami’s offense was plagued by poor quarterback play. The team ranked last with a 17.7 QBR from Weeks 3 through 7, 31st in yards per dropback (4.52) and 30th in completion percentage over expectation (-5.4%).
When Tagovailoa missed two games early in the 2022 season, Hill joked with a reporter that he could put up numbers “with you” at quarterback.
That wasn’t the case in 2024.
Without Tagovailoa, Hill struggled with 14 catches for 140 yards — his worst four-game stretch since his rookie year — as the Dolphins lost games and fell behind in the AFC playoff race. Hill ranked 68th among qualified receivers with 10 yards per catch, 70th in first downs (6) and 67th in yards after the catch per reception (2.4).
According to ESPN Analytics, Hill’s wide receiver score — which tracks a receiver’s performance in getting open, making a catch and generating yards after the catch — of 46 represents his lowest since 2017, the earliest season the metric tracks. His open score of 65 ranks 27th among qualified receivers this season.
Since 2016, no player heading into Week 10 had more receptions of 20 or more yards than Hill’s 154. This season, he has six, good for 26th in the NFL.
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel says defenses have been extra careful to prevent Hill from hitting big plays this season, which “forced a lot of the offense to get better,” including Hill’s blocking.
Hill, though, has taken his struggles in stride. He says the anticipation of a new daughter has helped him keep things in perspective.
“You’re going to have ups, you’re going to have downs. I’m going on Year 9 now, so I understand how it goes,” Hill said in Week 8. “I’m not finna dwell on it, I’m not finna lose my head over football.
“I’m going to control what I can control, which is running the right route, being in the right spot, being a good teammate for my teammates.”
HILL’S SEASON HIT rock-bottom in the Dolphins’ Week 7 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. His 8 yards on one catch marked the lowest single-game yardage total since the second game of his rookie season.
After the game, when asked how he could get Hill and fellow wideout Jaylen Waddle more involved in the offense, McDaniel didn’t focus on the lack of catches or yards. Instead, he hailed Hill and Waddle’s contributions away from the ball.
“They were phenomenal all game,” McDaniel said. “They’ve really looked at their role in an expansive way. They’ve been trying to do whatever we can to win the football game. When you run the ball 40 times, it does minimize your opportunities and then if you’re trying to take advantage of a defense over playing and doubling them and getting the ball to the tight end, then they have less (opportunities).”
Waddle was blunt when asked how he and his fellow receivers could make their presence felt.
“Block,” Waddle said.
The following week, a Dolphins fan responded to one of Hill’s posts on social media, saying that he liked when Hill made “impact plays on Sundays.”
“Same now I’m a blocker,” Hill responded.
The numbers back up his answer. Among 42 wide receivers with at least 30 receptions this season, Hill’s 14 run block wins are tied for 11th in the NFL. Among 48 receivers with at least 10 run block wins, his 87.5% win rate is tied for 13th.
Since Week 5, the Dolphins have the third-most rushing attempts per game and average 170 rushing yards per game — also third-most in that span. Compared to last season, when they were the league’s sixth-ranked rushing offense, the Dolphins are averaging two fewer rushing yards per game this year on a slightly less-efficient clip (5.1 yards per carry in 2023, to 4.4 yards this season).
Miami averages 30.2 rushing attempts per game in 2024, up from 26.8 last season, in part because its fledgling passing offense without Tagovailoa hasn’t supported a more balanced approach. The Dolphins led the NFL with 265.5 passing yards per game in 2023; that’s down to 191 yards per game in 2024 — 24th in the league.
Tagovailoa said Hill’s and Waddle’s willingness to block prevents opposing defensive coordinators from being able to key on the run or pass based on Miami’s personnel.
“What’s so cool is you turn that film on, you get to watch what him and [Waddle] do with the blocking game,” Tagovailoa said Thursday. “They allow our runners some pretty big holes outside of the O-linemen, but those guys are getting to the second level quick and I really think that it translates to the way that they play in the pass game, as well.”
During his four games out, Tagovailoa said he paid attention to conversations Hill and Waddle had about how to help the team, even if they weren’t able to have their normal impact on the game.
That mentality, he said, provided a critical element to Miami’s offense — which ranks second in the NFL in expected points added in Tagovailoa’s first two games back.
Running back De’Von Achane has been a primary beneficiary of Hill’s and Waddle’s blocking. He emerged as a focal point of the Dolphins’ offense in his second NFL season, compiling 722 total yards on a team-high 130 touches.
Achane has built on an impressive rookie season, accounting for 28% of the Dolphins’ offense in 2024 — up from 15% last year.
Since Week 5, Miami ranks third in the NFL with 170 rushing yards per game; their 194.8 passing yards per game ranks 24th, but it’s a byproduct of the Dolphins’ new-look offense.
“When I came back for the Cardinals game, it just felt different with those guys,” Tagovailoa said. “They were in more, the efficiency went up with the run game. The efficiency went up with the passing game as well and it’s due to everyone, but those guys definitely played a big role in that.”
IN THEIR LOSS to the Bills in Week 9, Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey‘s interception early in the second quarter gave his offense the ball at their own 3-yard line.
Tagovailoa and the Dolphins drove 97 yards on 14 plays; neither Hill nor Waddle touched the ball.
It was Miami’s first game at near-full strength on offense, with offseason signees Odell Beckham Jr. and Jonnu Smith both active. Nine different players touched the ball against the Bills, reflective of the offensive balance Miami wants to implement.
Hill has commanded 29.2% of his team’s total targets since joining the Dolphins in 2022, trailing Davante Adams for the league lead. That number is down to 22.6% in 2024.
Last season, 75% of Miami’s total offensive yards came from four players — Hill, Waddle, Achane and Raheem Mostert. This year, that production is spread out, with six players accounting for 90% of their 2,599 yards through eight games.
“As we’ve grown together as an offensive unit, finding conviction in things that guys do well, then you’re looking at an opponent that loves to double [Hill] and [Waddle],” McDaniel said. “I’ve used the basketball analogy before; you can either try to split the double or you can get an assist. There were a lot of guys involved by intention, and I thought Tua played one of his best games (in Week 9).”
Miami’s opponents are keying on the big play; it’s faced two-high safety coverage on a league-leading 161 snaps this season. While this isn’t new — Miami played the second-most offensive snaps in the league last season against two-high safety looks — It has had an impact on the Dolphins’ ability to generate big plays.
Last season, they ranked third in the league with 124 explosive plays, defined as runs of at least 10 yards and completed passes of at least 20 yards. They rank 24th in that same category this season and are on pace for 106 such plays.
“Ultimately that’s what we’re trying to achieve every week is the balance where you can’t overplay a part of your defense to defend an area,” offensive coordinator Frank Smith said. “And as guys try to overplay an area, that allows us to attack with different guys. I think it’s just basically for us, when a defense tries to overplay an area, we’ve got to be able to attack the matchups that are presented from it, and I think that’s an area that we wanted to focus on for growth.”
HILL’S PRODUCTION HAS seen an uptick since Tagovailoa returned in Week 8, but it hasn’t been restored to his pre-2024 days.
He’s averaged 76 receiving yards per game over the past two weeks, which averages out to 1,292 yards over a 17-game season. But that’s a long way from the 112.4 yards per game he averaged last season.
At this rate, he’ll finish the season with 1,130 yards — his fewest in a Dolphins uniform.
Adding to his uphill climb to 1,000 receiving yards is a wrist injury that flared up after Week 9 and held him out of consecutive practices leading up to Monday’s game against the Rams.
He was listed as questionable to play, with McDaniel telling reporters Saturday that Hill would play “if his body lets him.”
Hill didn’t speak to the media this week; the media is barred from speaking with players if they don’t practice. But he did offer a message in a video posted to Snapchat on Saturday.
“Just boarded our plane on the way to Los Angeles — and it’s about to go down, bruh,” he said.
