Part 2 of the latest SI Fan Nation All Dolphins mailbag, focusing on the season opener against the New England Patriots at Hard Rock Stadium:

From Anthony Berardo (@berardo_anthony):

Is Noah 1st man up boundary if Needham goes inside on nickel packages? And should we be concerned?

Hey Anthony, I got this question quite a bit this week and, yes, I do expect Noah Igbinoghene to get the call as the starting outside cornerback opposite Xavien Howard. Concern? Yes, that’s fair given Igbinoghene’s first two seasons in the NFL, but it’s also a great opportunity to see if he can take that step toward becoming a dependable cornerback at this level. And if we’re going to take the position that the starting quarterback wasn’t placed in ideal circumstances and deserves full support heading into his third season, why shouldn’t the same apply to a cornerback who was a first-round pick at 20 years old (awfully young) and whose first game action came when he was asked to cover Stefon Diggs (only one of the best route runners in the league) one-on-one after Byron Jones was injured in that September 2020 game?

Jaelan Phillips had a good season last year. He seems to be poised for a better one this year. However, the Dolphins have brought n a lot of players this year with similar strengths to his in the same position he plays. How does his role and snap count change or do they stay the same?

Hey Dana, that’s an interesting question in light of the acquisitions of Melvin Ingram and Trey Flowers, though I would suspect we might see Flowers getting work on the defensive line as well as at linebacker. Bottom line here is that Phillips’ snap count likely will only increase based on his potential, though he has to get better at stopping the run.

RELATED: PHILLIPS READY TO PULL OUT NEW TRICKS

Hey, Alain. My question this week comes from reading your article titled, “Dolphins Offense Preview: What Is the Ceiling?” I wondering if you’d make two predictions for us: 1) How many points per game will the Dolphins average? 2) Where will this number rank the team? Thanks!

Hey Chris, let me start by saying that as much as I love you, I hate predictions (if I knew things ahead of time, I’d move to Vegas, gamble heavy for a year, then retire). But since you asked, I’m going to go ahead and say the Dolphins average 25.2 points in 2022 and that figure ranks 15th in the NFL. As a point of comparison, the Dolphins averaged 20.1 points in 2021, good for 22nd in the league.

I enjoy your articles every day. I'm a little bit worried about defense because I heard some beat writers said that coach Flo really turned the defense around last season. Which defense do you expect to show up on Sunday, first half or second half of last season? Thanks!

Hey Pepe, yeah, what to expect from the defense in 2022 is a legitimate question because of the Flo angle and also because the Dolphins faced some really bad quarterbacks when they went on their run late last season. As we head into 2022, it helps that every starter is back plus Ingram and Flowers, but it certainly doesn’t help that Byron Jones has to start the season on Reserve/PUP. So I would expect a defense that looks somewhere between the unit that struggled early in the season and the one that dominated late.

What wrinkles do you think Belicheat will throw at Tua? 0 blitz?

Hey Eric, I just finished giving HCMMD the answer to that question (LOL) and it’s pretty simple: Expect the Patriots to throw different things at Tua to try to keep him guessing. Not sure I’d expect a ton of zero blitz because if the Pats don’t get to Tua quickly when they do it, that likely means trouble and a long completion to Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle.

What is the Dolphins’ biggest positional weakness that would cause them to miss the playoffs? O-line, secondary, etc.?

Hmm, that’s a very good question. I would think the obvious answer at this point would be the offensive line because we just don’t know how well it will perform, though the expectations certainly are that it will be better than it was last season. I’m not sure I’d go into the season calling it a weakness, though, but rather more of a question mark.

During 49ers games, I recall the announcers saying a certain number of run plays was a goal communicated by Kyle S. Do you think McDaniel will have a weekly run play goal and, if so, at what level?

The timing of your question is great because McDaniel addressed that very issue Friday, and he said ideally he’d like to have around “mid-20s to 30” runs every game, adding that game circumstances sometimes make that impossible to achieve. As a point of reference, the Dolphins averaged 26 rushing attempts per game in 2021, a figure that ranked 18th in the NFL. Tennessee led the league with 32.4 per game, while McDaniel’s old team (the 49ers) was sixth with 29.4.

Thanks for the great work Alain! We keep hearing McDaniel saying that he is confident Waddle will play on Sunday. However, last year we kept hearing that Will Fuller was “close” to returning and never did. More coach spin?

Hey William, only McDaniel knows that for sure, though the fact that Waddle was listed as a full participant on the Thursday practice report was good news. As a broader point, McDaniel already has shown he’s going to be very tight-lipped when it comes to talking injuries with the media, whereas there are some coaches around the NFL don’t treat that information like a national secret.

Can you please compare Tua to Drew Brees, especially arm strength, 15-yard outs, anticipation, etc.

Hey Steve, it’s a fair question because the NFL comp for Tua often was indeed Brees, but that was always in terms of a ceiling. At this point, it’s not unfair to say that Brees was better in just about every category, some more than others (particular anticipation).

From Fins2Fast4Ya (@phinsup088):

Do you think HCMMD caves on prioritizing Gesicki to be more of a “traditional/old-school” in-line TE this year? It's like trying to get blood from a stone at this point.

Hey there, it’s a very good question and, yes, I do think at some point (if he hasn’t already), McDaniel will realize that Gesicki’s value to the team is as a receiver and that’s how he should be utilized. Having said that, the Dolphins would be wise if they reach that point to throw a wrinkle in there from time to time and have Gesicki run-block so opponents don’t automatically know it’s a pass play every time he’s in the game. Of course, the most ideal scenario would be for Gesicki to develop into a competent blocker who could be used in every situation, but we’re clearly not there yet.