At the start of this season, Dolphins receiver Mike Wallace was upset that he wasn’t getting more passes thrown his way. Now Wallace is concerned that the Dolphins are passing too much.
Wallace told reporters this week that the Dolphins, who have 301 pass attempts and 95 rush attempts so far this season, need to be more balanced on offense.
“We have to be able to run the football to win games,” Wallace said. “We’re not going to win being one-dimensional, throwing the ball all day. You have to be able to run the football. Everybody knows we have to run the ball, so I know from my standpoint I’m going to block me a safety or two, try to block a cornerback or two, maybe even get a [weakside] linebacker every now and then.”
Wallace may be right that the Dolphins need to run more, but the Dolphins also need Wallace to make more plays, as he hasn’t had the kind of impact the Dolphins expected when they signed him to a five-year, $60 million contract in March. Although the Dolphins are paying him to be a No. 1 receiver, Wallace is fourth on the team in catches (22) and yards (281), and is averaging a career-low 12.8 yards a catch. The speedy Wallace is supposed to be a threat to stretch the field and beat opposing secondaries deep, but he has just one touchdown catch and just two catches of more than 20 yards.
If Wallace can make other teams respect the Dolphins’ deep passing game, Miami’s offense will have a lot more room to run.