Kelly: One last round for Grier and McDaniel? Here’s what should be ordered | Opinion

It was an awkward admission of failure, if not guilt.

Chris Grier’s opening words in his end of the 2024 season autopsy came off like an apology.

On a day when one of his 31 peers [former Tennessee Titans executive Ran Carthon] had been fired after just two seasons, it was clear that Grier, who was wrapping up his ninth season as the Miami Dolphins’ general manager, and sixth season as the franchise’s top football executive, felt fortunate he still had a job.

And blessed he would be given one more season to work alongside coach Mike McDaniel to get it right.

“That’s not the standard here,” Grier said, referring to Dolphins’ 8-9 season. “It hasn’t been and it won’t be.

“No one is happy, and we will get this fixed.”

It’s quite clear based on owner Steve Ross’ statement Sunday, announcing he was retaining Grier and McDaniel, that they each get one season to fix the mess they made.

For McDaniel that process seemingly begins with becoming more of a leader of men, holding his players and coaches more accountable for their failures.

And for Grier, that journey starts with reinforcing the trenches, which were clearly ignored, overlooked, if not neglected last offseason.

“I’m surprised it took that long,” Grier said when asked about the offensive line with the 13th question in the 36 minute news conference with local media members.

This season Grier became social media infamous for telling the media and fans they were more concerned about the offensive line than he and McDaniel were, insinuating the people employed to build the roster had confidence that the unit would be good.

However, they were the opposite of good. The offensive line struggled in every aspect of the game in 2024, and Miami’s issues running the ball (ranked 28th in yards per carry), and protecting the quarterback (ranked 18th in sacks per passing attempt), stifled an offense that finished 2024 ranked 18th in yards per game and 22nd in points per game scored.

“I will always support a group of guys that have tirelessly worked with a coach we believe in to improve,” Grier said, referring to Butch Barry, who completed his second season as Miami’s offensive line coach. “That group did nothing but work. It’s the hardest working group in that building.”

Grier’s referring to the offensive line’s willingness to spend 30 minutes extra minutes on the field after practice every day, and the fact that the entire unit comes in to watch film and lift weights on their day off consistently throughout the season.

Barry’s unit did everything asked of them in 2024 except PLAY WELL.

“Are they good enough? We were the No. 1 offense, No. 1 in yards per rush so we ran it back with a lot of those guys while adding [Aaron] Brewer, an addition people weren’t concerned about,” Grier said of Brewer, who was rated by ProFootballFocus.com as the ninth best center out of 43 qualifiers this year.

“Once he went down, it was like a slow bleed out the rest of the year,” Grier said, referring to starting right tackle Austin Jackson, who tore a meniscus in his knee in November and missed the final nine games. “Guys [were] playing through stuff, being nicked, battled and bruised. So yeah, I mean we had games where Jackson Carman was playing tackle.”

No way to debate it, the Dolphins built a team with a faulty foundation in 2024.

Not enough emphasis was placed on the trenches, and that explains why the Dolphins got pushed around on offense and defense most of the season.

Miami’s opponents were able to run on the Dolphins defense most of this season. Nine teams rushed for 100 or more yards. Miami didn’t get pummeled every week, but on enough weeks.

The Dolphins couldn’t consistently run the ball without Jackson. Miami had a three-game stretch where they rushed for 149 or more yards per game, but there was also a six-game stretch where the Dolphins averaged 3.0 yards per carry.

For a third season the Dolphins were the worst team in the NFL at converting short-yardage plays.

And if that wasn’t troublesome enough, the offensive line would have had protection issues if Tagovailoa didn’t have such a quick trigger. Miami’s defense also finished 2024 ranked 27th in the NFL in sacks. The only teams that produced fewer was Jacksonville, Carolina, Tennessee, Atlanta and New England.

Say whatever you want about coaching, and playcalling, but the finger of blame can be pointed at the team’s personnel because those areas of concern got neglected, and that means it’s a problem that Grier created, and now gets the opportunity to fix.

“We’re going to have to invest in the offensive line now….we’re just older [at that unit] now,” Grier said. “This is the time again, like we did back a few years ago with [the selections of] Austin [Jackson]), Rob Hunt and Solomon Kindley and [others[, this is the time for us to again start investing in some offensive linemen.”