Upon taking over the Miami Dolphins, Jeff Hafley promoted Bobby Slowik from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator. The Kyle Shanahan acolyte would essentially keep a similar offense to Mike McDaniel in place, just under a new head coach.
Then, the Dolphins went out and inked Malik Willis to a three-year contract, giving the dual-threat QB his first real shot at a starting gig after flashing in a backup role in Green Bay. Slowik said Tuesday that while Willis' running ability adds an extra dimension, the offense continues to have the same fundamentals.
"It's always a balance. Again, that's at every position," he said. "We have some core beliefs and fundamentals that we really want to make sure we do. I'm sure coach Hafley has talked about it. I believe in keeping the defense off balance, I believe in running the football, skewing as close to fifty-fifty on first, second down as you can. So there's core tenets that are always going to be there, and then everything beyond that, you really are working within your scheme to fit the guys you have."
At the end of his stint in Houston, Slowik got skewered by fans and the media for, at times, leaning heavily on the run game, particularly on first downs -- even when it became predictable to defenses.
Willis adds a dimension to the offense that Slowik didn't have in Houston with C.J. Stroud. The OC, however, noted that the 26-year-old quarterback is more than just a scrambler.
"[He] can spin the ball all over the field, can throw the ball everywhere, can run, obviously, can use his legs," Slowik said. "He's tough, but honestly, what I've enjoyed the most so far is getting to know him. The person is really fun to be around. He's really energetic. He infuses everybody with a lot of energy."
Willis' ability to use his legs will keep defenses off balance. It's an element that Slowik sounds ready to utilize, but won't lean on too heavily. The OC noted that most of the top rushing QBs do their best work when the plays break down.
"I'd say anytime you have a quarterback who has the ability to run, it's not something that you are going to do down-in, down-out in the NFL, but the threat of it makes it 11 versus 11, as opposed to 11 on 10," he said. "I think that's what can get tough sometimes when you get a guy that maybe isn't as mobile at quarterback is, they have 11 guys and aside from throwing the ball, you're really playing with 10. So it just lets you equalize some advantageous situations.
"Outside of that, really the mobility these days shows up more in off-schedule situations than it does anything. So it's definitely a weapon and it's a threat and it's something you want a defense to think about, but I think no one in the NFL is coming out and just living in that world."
The Dolphins are in rebuild mode under the new staff. That should give Slowik some leeway to experiment, particularly early in the season, with the best ways to utilize Willis' skills. But we still expect it to look like a Shanahan-tree offense, with a few more QB runs sprinkled in.
