I like Tony Sparano a lot. I think in him the Dolphins have the best, most focused coach they have had in more than 20 years — since Don Shula still was seen at the top of his game. I also admire that Sparano seems refreshingly honest, detailed, direct and informative in the way he responds to questions.

Usually.
The one instance when he sounds disingenuous is when he addresses the team’s situation at wide receiver. Such as when he recently was asked if he thought Miami needed a game-breaking receiver and he said, “I don’t think that is the case right now. I am happy with the guys we have.”
Cue laugh track on that last statement.
Cue the Pinocchio visual.
I can understand Sparano being tactful in not wishing to publicly undermine his receivers. Let’s assume it is that because if I thought he seriously, actually was happy with the guys he has, well, that stretches credulity beyond the snapping point.
Miami’s biggest problem, as it commences the tall climb from 1-3 to playoff contention with Monday night’s huge test against the rival Jets, is the lack of a vertical element in its passing game. Sparano calls it “chunk yards.” Big plays. Any sort of presence or threat that might cause an opposing cornerback the least bit of dread.
I thought the Dolphins had two worrisome issues (in addition to the tough schedule) entering the season, and those were the secondary and the receivers.
Well, the secondary is for me better than expected and showing steady improvement, with the coalescing play of rookies Sean Smith and top pick Vontae Davis a huge reason. Smith has been a delight, with a game that covers the check for his strutting cockiness. He got the better of Terrell Owens on Sunday, by a lot. Davis has the requisite attitude for that position, as well. In Sunday’s postgame locker room, Davis cradled the interception ball he returned for a touchdown and preened wearing large, white-rim sunglasses, like an Elton John prop circa 1974.
The secondary no longer is a pulsing concern, whereas the receiving corps, if anything, has been worse than expected.
Ted Ginn Jr. ostensibly is the No. 1 receiver, but not really. He does not get open deep despite his speed. His yards-after-catch are abysmal. He shows no consistent inclination to get up and fight for contested catches. If he were merely a third- or fourth-round pick, he would be merely disappointing. As the ninth overall pick of the 2007 draft, he is inching ever closer to flat-out-bust territory.
Davone Bess and Greg Camarillo are OK. Rookies Brian Hartline and Patrick Turner might be OK, too. Bess is the top-producing guy with 157 receiving yards, 66th in the league. His average is 7.9 a catch, right around what backs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams are averaging.
None of Miami’s wideouts worries a defensive coordinator or enters a cornerback’s dreams.
That Miami leads the NFL in rushing partly explains why the passing side of the offense might be lacking — but in some ways, makes it more mystifying, too.
NO GROUND TO AIR
Isn’t a great ground game supposed to open up the pass as defenses gird to stop the run? Shouldn’t the success of the Ronnie and Ricky Show create more space and opportunities downfield for the wideouts?
You would think.
Instead, drib-drab-plip-plop goes the Dolphins’ passing game — the popgun nature and lack of explosiveness seeming all the more extreme to anyone who recalls the high-flying halcyon days of Dan Marino and the Marks Brothers.
NFL teams already this season have completed 59 passes of 40-plus yards, with the Dolphins contributing zero to the total. Miami wide receivers have only two catches for more than 20 yards (both 21), the fewest in the league.
No Dolphins wide receiver is averaging 10 yards a catch.
In 43 previous franchise years, every wide receiver with at least 20 catches in a season has averaged more than 10 yards.
(I don’t count the lone exception Jim Jensen from the late 1980s/early ’90s, because, though listed officially as a receiver, “Crash” played more of a tight end/H-back role.)
The Dolphins averaged only 8.1 yards per completion with Chad Pennington, and it’s 8.6 so far with Chad Henne.
Henne’s stronger arm (evident Sunday against the Bills in his first start) isn’t of much benefit if his receivers are not able to get open deep.
It’s time for Dolphins management to entertain the mind-set that a game-breaking, go-to wide receiver is a big enough need to spend big.
Miami might have acquired Anquan Boldin from Arizona this past spring but would not part with a future first-round draft pick. Denver’s Brandon Marshall is another top receiver who might have been available if Miami was willing to spend.
FREE AGENT OPTIONS
San Diego’s Vincent Jackson, Marshall or Cleveland’s Braylon Edwards are among others who might be available via free agency after this season.
Miami, if it doesn’t spend its next No. 1 pick to acquire a veteran in trade, should spend it on a game-breaking wide receiver such as Oklahoma State’s Dez Bryant next spring.
(The Dolphins haven’t spent a first-round pick on a receiver who panned out since O.J. McDuffie in 1993.)
By draft or trade or free agency, it’s time the Dolphins planned on targeting a legitimate target, a true No. 1 receiver — somebody necessary to help make Henne the great quarterback they hope he will become.
That starts with acknowledging the need.
The coach can say publicly he is “happy with the guys we have.”
As long as he doesn’t really believe it, there is hope.