Rudolph returns
After suffering a concussion in a divisional matchup vs the Ravens, Mason Rudolph will be back under the center for this MNF game. His replacement, UDFA Devlin "Duck" Hodges from Samford did great during his absence. He went on the road in his first start of the career and defeated the Chargers on their home field as a 7 point underdog. Still, the offense was very limited when it came to passing the ball. Credit goes to coach Tomlin and his staff that protected their rookie QB and were still able to win the game by dinking and dunking the ball all night long.
Mason Rudolph definitely gives them more chances long-term. He is more developed as an NFL signal-caller and I am not surprised that they plugged him right back into the lineup, even though Hodges is 1-0. It is a boost for their entire offense. Dolphins will not be able to crowd the line of scrimmage, because JuJu Smith-Schuster, Vance McDonald and Dionte Johnson will pose a serious threat down the field.
Injury report doesn't look too bad coming out of a bye week. For most of the part, they recovered and are ready to go. TJ Watt had some issues with his abdominal muscles but will play tonight. Injury od Stephon Tuitt is a concern, considering his importance in that front 7. But I'm guessing they'll be able to patch that hole up vs Miami's bad OL.
Sale
Dolphins are in full rebuild mode. After dealing away their last years first-rounder Minkah Fitzpatrick (to Steelers), they are trying to accumulate some more draft picks before the trade deadline. They made Kenyan Drake available, which is why he is not playing tonight. 3rd round pick from 2016 never really got it going in Miami, so a change of scenery might help him as well.
Dolphins are 0-6 but are coming off two decent efforts. Coming out of the bye, they trailed the Redskins at home 17-0. After Josh Rosen got benched, Ryan Fitzpatrick got them back into the game, but they failed to convert a 2-point conversion for the win. Last week, they entered the 4th quarter with the lead over the Bills in Buffalo, but everything came crashing down in that last period that they lost 22-7. But it's quite obvious that Fitzpatrick gives them the best chance to win at the moment. He has a decent receiving group at his disposal. He is a great scrambled that can negate an OL vs DL mismatch to some extent and find his guys for completions. He threw for 282 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception last week against a very good Buffalo defense.
Steelers vs Dolphins best bet
Looking at the traditional markets, I'm getting a feeling that the market overadjusted for Rudolph/Hodges swap. Rudolph does give the offensive coordinator the freedom to open up the playbook a little bit. But he is still not that great at executing it. That is why I don't think he is a big improvement over Hodges. 36-year old Ryan Fitzpatrick is a straight-up baller. He will keep his team alive in this one with his elusiveness and ability to make plays with his feet. He can make off-script plays which makes him a good fit when you are trying to hide your weak OL as much as possible. With the points spread being as high as 14 points, I believe that the backdoor will never be completely shut in this one.
