THE EXTRA YARD: Scrimmage Report, Raekwon McMillan Traded

Due to the restrictive nature of the NFL reporting rules this year, I cannot offer detailed analysis, but I can give you an overview of what occurred at today’s scrimmage.

At first, Ryan Fitzpatrick ran out with the QB’s to do his warm up, but was then looking visibly distraught as he walked off the field with Brian Flores, arm in arm. His mother had passed away. It’s an awful thing to tell any athlete about a deep personal loss right before you expect them to compete. Fitzpatrick would not compete today. Tua Tagovailoa and Josh Rosen are all of a sudden thrust into different roles right before the scrimmage kicked off.

Brian Flores says Ryan Fitzpatrick's mom passed away this morning.

— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) August 29, 2020

As for those Quarterbacks, they had a rough go of it for the most part as coverage was tight throughout. Tua Tagovailoa was suddenly thrust into Fitzpatrick’s role, and had some moments, some bad drops, but in the end, finished (rough estimate) 13-22 for 138 yards, 0 TD’s and 1 INT., as “Team Tua” lost to “Team Rosen” 10 to 6. As for Rosen, he was not much better against lessor competition, going 12-23 for 141 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. The catalyst in the late TD drive for Team Rosen came when Rosen found rookie Malcolm Perry streaking down the right sideline for a 56 yard gain. Later on in that drive he found Ricardo Louis for 15 yards on a deep corner route to cap the TD drive.

As for the rest of the offense, the 1-2 punch of Jordan Howard and Matt Breida seems to be working splendidly so far. The two compliment each other perfectly, and both got plenty of work on this scrimmage day. On the other hand, too many drops. Tua Tagovailoa had about 40-60 additional yards owed to him on dropped passes, and the communication issues with Tight Ends continue. Tua tends to zig, when his tight ends zag. They gotta figure that out quickly, as it’s getting deep into camp.

So how about that defense? No sacks, but forced two Turnovers with an interception from each QB (Rowe, and Fejedelem). They also forced a fumble on a slant completion, that was recovered by the offense. The Xavien Howard and Byron Jones tandem was everything it was billed to be. It was also nice to see Xavien Howard get his hands on a couple throws early (or was that Igboghene?), as he broke up two passes in the first series. Davon Godchaux had a nice flash play dumping Howard for a 3 yard loss. Elandon Roberts continued his physical play, with the hit of the day on Myles Gaskin.

RAEKWON MCMILLAN TRADED

Compensation update: Raiders are trading a 2021 fourth-round pick to Miami for Dolphins’ linebacker Raekwon McMillan and a 2021 fifth-round pick, per source. Good value for Raiders, but McMillan is in the last year of his deal. https://t.co/kkWF5UHccR

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 29, 2020

The 2017 2nd round draft pick is now a Las Vegas Raider. You could see it coming. From the very start of camp, Raekwon was relegated to backup status as Elandon Roberts took his snaps. Now, on the face of it, it’s not an important loss. The Dolphins figure to play in Nickel most of the time, with Kyle Van Noy and Jerome Baker being the Linebackers. That is obvious to everybody, and this coaching staff has shown a penchant for using 6 and even 7 defensive backs from time to time. So that only leaves a rare base defense Mike designation for a run plugging specialist. Elandon Roberts will be fine, in that role.

Alfredo Arteaga (@Alf_Arteaga) is one-third of the trio that does the Three Yards Per Carry (@3YardsPerCarry) podcast.