Despite the three-game skid that they suffered earlier this season, the Miami Dolphins are widely considered to be one of the best and most exciting teams in the league. Of course, Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel are all seen as huge reasons why.
Those three team leaders as well as general manager Chris Grier all received major props from NFL executives who voted on unofficial midseason awards in a poll conducted by Sports Illustrated.Â
Hill came in as the big winner in regards to Offensive Player of the Year votes, snagging 24. The player with the second-most votes was Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen, who received four votes. Tagovailoa was also listed with one vote.
“Hill’s on pace for 144 catches for 2,085 yards and six touchdowns,” Albert Breer wrote of Hill. “And, really, when you consider how long he’s been doing this, and how defenses prioritize containing him on a week-to-week basis (his touchdown total being lower this year as an indication of that don’t-let-him-get-behind-you approach), it’s very easy to make the argument that he’s the most unstoppable player in football.”
As for McDaniel, he received one vote for the Coach of the Year award, though New York Giants first-year coach Brian Daboll earned the most praise with 14 total votes.
Grier also gained two votes for Executive of the Year, with Philadelphia Eagles general manager Howie Roseman coming in at the top spot.
All in all, the fact that so many key individuals within the Dolphins organization received any votes at all in this midseason poll is a great sign that the team is headed in the right direction. However, it certainly does not take this poll for Dolphins fans to know that.
Halfway through the season, the Dolphins are 6-3 and in control of their own destiny when it comes to getting into the playoffs. At the moment, they are sitting at the No. 6 seed in the AFC. That is perhaps even more impressive than it sounds considering the fact that the Dolphins are arguably in the best division in all of football this year.
Both the Buffalo Bills (No. 1 seed) and New York Jets (No. 5 seed) are also currently projected to advance to the playoffs. The lone AFC East team not currently in the playoff standings is the New England Patriots, and they are right on the bubble with the No. 8 seed.
From here on out, all the Dolphins have to do is keep winning. Considering the fact that the team is 6-0 in games that Tagovailoa starts and finishes this season, that should be well within the realm of possibility.
