Can we trust the Dolphins offense again?

It’s time to revisit a question we’ve been asking all season long: What should we do against the dolphins’ attack?

But this week we look at the question from a more positive perspective. With Tua Tagovailoa out of the game, the entire offense was unusable. When Tagovailoa returned, the only reliable option was De’Von Achane. Now, in Week 12, the entire Dolphins offense finally looked like the fantasy-ready, cohesive and consistent unit we were hoping for heading into the season.

Is it still too late?

Heading into the season, the Dolphins’ postseason schedule was a big concern for me:

• Week 13 @ Green Bay Packers

• Week 14 Vs. New York Jets

• Week 15 @ Houston Texans

• Week 16 Vs. San Francisco 49ers

• Week 17 @ Cleveland Browns

In theory, it was a daunting program. But looking forward, it now looks interesting.

Green Bay had a known problem defending the run, but they held up pretty well, being almost dead center in scoring average against opposing running backs. They were strong against quarterbacks, allowing the seventh-fewest fantasy points to opposing passers and the 10th-fewest fantasy points to receivers. Oddly enough, Green Bay might be the toughest matchup for Tagovailoa.

The Jets’ defense is shaky and vulnerable to all possessions since the firing of Robert Saleh. The Texans can’t seem to pick a lane and decide if they’re good or bad defensively. The 49ers have been hit with a number of injuries. The Browns are in a dead end and their only advantage is playing inside Cleveland

Given this new perspective on the rest of the season schedule and finally seeing a strong overall offensive performance With a dominant win over New EnglandLet’s talk about what we can expect from our key Dolphins’ fantasy assets going forward and who we can trust.

Tua Tagovailoa, QB

Like all NFL offenses, everything starts and ends at the quarterback. Heading into the week, Tagovailoa had his best performance of the season with 23.5 fantasy points and three touchdowns; both season highs. He capitalized on that momentum, going even better with over 300 passing yards, four touchdowns, and 28.48 fantasy points, making him the overall QB3 of the week (before prime time games).

pulse control: Can we really trust that Tua is back on track?

While I have some concerns about the cold weather for Tagovailoa, especially the Thanksgiving night game at Green Bay and Cleveland during championship week, his outlook for the rest of the season remains strong. The Week 17 matchup with Cleveland likely won’t happen due to weather concerns, but the Dolphins are fighting for their playoff lives and remain pumped. Despite some struggles the receiving staff has had throughout the season, Tagovailoa has one of the league’s most productive groups of pass catchers, including running backs and tight ends. There is an uptick in QB1 through week 16.

De’Von Achane, R.B.

Speaking of productive pass catchers, the most consistent and reliable option through the air has been Achane. More often than not, we see strong returns turn into PPR cheat codes via massive buying totals, but that’s not the case with Achane. I don’t have updated Week 12 stats yet, but entering the week Achane ranked third among running backs in red zone targets and first in red zone touchdowns. Achane narrowed the field even further inside the 5-yard line, leading all running backs to targets. These numbers will only increase with Achane catching two red zone touchdowns today.

pulse control: Is Achane’s positive result enough to eliminate the lack of production on the field?

In an ideal world, we’d want the reliability of a back who puts in a strong work on the ground, but there’s really no need to run the 100 yards for Achane to reach his ceiling on a weekly basis. His schedule for the rest of the season is retroactive and his work on the field is adequate, but he will continue to be carried by his work in the air. The red zone statistics mentioned above for Achane also include weeks without Tagovailoa. With Tagovailoa, Achane became a complete machine. A player who is match-resistant and should be in the top 5 on a weekly basis.

Tyreek Hill, WR

For all the brilliance Achane has shown since Tagovailoa’s return, we’ve seen only modest improvement in Hill’s production. Hill averaged just 5.9 fantasy points per game between Weeks 3 and 7 without Tagovailoa. Since Tagovailoa’s return in Week 8, Hill has averaged 10.6 fantasy points. This is an improvement, but it is far from what we expected.

Some volatility is understandable, but we can’t even get that. Hill’s best performance since Tagovailoa’s return came in Week 11 against Las Vegas, when he tallied 15.6 fantasy points in half-PPR and finished as the WR16. Essentially, we’re stuck somewhere in the middle with only hope of WR2 upside.

pulse control: What’s up soil What are we doing with Hill?

Because it’s Tyreek Hill, we can’t stop playing him. His talent is undeniable, and his ongoing hand injury may be affecting his performance. But he’s firmly in WR2 territory right now, and frankly, his ranking there is entirely maintained by name value. The positive side of this exists in theory, but the theory needs to be translated into actual production.

Jaylen Waddle, WR

Waddle was the exact opposite of Hill. While Hill had provided at least some ground, albeit low, Waddle’s ground was a basement, making him completely unstartable. After scoring 11 fantasy points in Week 1, Waddle has failed to surpass five fantasy points in nine consecutive games. It didn’t matter who was at quarterback or what the matchup was; He just couldn’t produce. Just when you were ready to give up, he had a huge breakout game this week with 24.4 fantasy points in half PPR. Waddle caught 8 of 9 targets for 144 yards and a touchdown, his best game of the season. Unfortunately, production has remained on many fantasy benches as it has only started in 48% of leagues.

pulse control: Was Waddle back at the table or was this just a random point in the football universe?

This performance is encouraging, but it’s hard to trust that it’s the new norm for Waddle. We’re cautiously optimistic, but the reality is this: Waddle has shown zero floor coverage all season. We can’t look at matchups to predict whether Waddle will relapse because good matchups haven’t yielded any positive results before this week. I’d like to see a low-level WR2 performance before declaring Waddle rehabilitated next week. Proceed with caution.

Jonnu Smith, TE

I wrote about Smith last week. Do or Finish columnHe emphasized that increased consistency in his targets and goals is the key to double-digit fantasy performances. He had his second-best performance of the year this week, catching nine of 11 targets for 87 yards and a touchdown. Smith has surpassed 19 fantasy points in the last two games and has become one of Tagovailoa’s most reliable targets.

pulse control: With two great performances in a row, can Smith break into the top five on a weekly basis?

Smith’s increased usage is not surprising. The Dolphins had a hard time finding a tight end who fit into Mike McDaniel’s system, and Smith seemed like the perfect fit. It has truly risen to the weapon we were hoping for.

With two solid weeks in a row, my confidence in Smith is growing. The upcoming schedule isn’t exactly favorable for tight ends, as San Francisco, the Jets, and Houston all rank in the top 10 in fewest fantasy points allowed at the position. But given the volume Smith is seeing, he remains a top 10 weekly option.