WR Brian Hartline, Miami Dolphins

HT: 6-2, WT: 195, Born: 11-22-1986, College: Ohio State, Drafted: Round 4

2013 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of May 6th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: B Powell (129), Brian Hartline (130), A Jeffery (131), J Dwyer (132)
Position: T Austin (126-WR47), E Sanders (127-WR48), Brian Hartline (130 - WR49), A Jeffery (131-WR50), V Brown (139-WR51)
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PPR Average draft position

Current as of May 6th. [Full PPR ADP list]

Overall: M Goodson (140), Brian Hartline (142), V Brown (143), J Franklin (144)
Position: C Givens (130-WR48), A Jeffery (131-WR49), Brian Hartline (142 - WR50), V Brown (143-WR51), C Patterson (149-WR52)
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2013 Schedule

2012 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Hartline was targeted often by rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Hartline ran a lot of quick slants and curls as the Dolphins worked to get some quick completions for their new signal-caller. His best reception came on a pass to the right sideline that gained 34 yards and represented the Dolphins' longest gain of the day. On the play, Hartline was able to quickly get off the line of scrimmage before cutting outside and finding a seam in the defense as he caught the ball. Hartline is hardly a flashy receiver but his route-running is much better than the other receivers on the Dolphins and he appears to already have developed a rapport with Tannehill. He is likely to be targeted often as the season wears on.

Week 2 - In the never ending quest for Wes Welker 2.0, we find ourselves looking at an impressive single game performance by Brian Hartline, a guy no one started this week. Hartline was Mr. first down in this game, getting open again and again on the sidelines, and Tannehill continued to roll out and extend drives with his legs, and Hartline’s hands. That being said, there wasn’t a concerted effort to get Hartline the ball all over the field, as he’s just not that much of a weapon. He’s not overly quick, and rarely made anything happen once he touched the ball. But against the Raiders, he did a great job of getting to a spot, and catching the passes that came his way for first down.

Week 3 - Hartline’s stat line was plagued by Revis’ defense and some poor throws by Tannehill. The Jets made a conscious effort to stop Hartline after last week’s big performance. However, Hartline made his sole reception count. In overtime, Hartline hauled in a 41-yard pass from Tannehill that set-up the game winning field goal attempt.

Week 4 - Hartline broke a franchise record for receiving he was so good today. It didn't matter if it was Greg Toler, Patrick Peterson or William Gay, nobody could cover Hartline in Arizona. His first pass was underneath for seven yards. He beat Patrick Peterson on a comeback down the right sideline. He ran another comeback soon after against off coverage. Hartline followed those comebacks with a fake against William Gay in the second quarter after Gay had been beat on the other side of the field by Davone Bess on a comeback. Gay shifted his weight forward which allowed Hartline to sweep past him. Hartline drew the flag for illegal contact and still made the reception for 30+ yards. He caught a 25 yard curl route against prevent coverage late in the second quarter that led to a touchdown for Lane. That was followed by a quick out on the next drive. Then an excellent reception deep down the field as he was running towards the sideline, with a defender following him. He caught the ball while falling out of bounds but showed good awareness to keep his feet in bounds. The Cardinals were sick of Hartline quickly and Greg Toler was penalized for pass interference again. He then ran a crossing route underneath, before catching the ball and turning upfield for 11 yards. His exploits were earning him off coverage and forcing the Cardinals into more zone coverage. He then punished those defenses with a quick slant and a massive 80 yard touchdown reception on a crossing route. Hartline caught the ball wide open down the left sideline, and was able to sprint past the pursuing Adrian Wilson to dive into the endzone. If Brian Hartline had been Jerry Rice today he wouldn't have done much more.

Week 5 - Tannehill’s favorite target the past three weeks, Hartline was 2nd on the team with five targets officially (with one being wiped out by a Terrance Newman pass interference penalty late in the game). However, Hartline led the team in catches with four, with a long of 30 yards. Working a come back route, Tannehill’s extension of the play via the scramble allowed Hartline to redirect his route back up field for the longest play of the day for Miami. Most important on the play, however, was that continued cerebral connection between Hartline and Tannehill. Because of the symbiosis, Hartline was at liberty to abort the route without any fear of backlash. The score, however, didn’t call for much from the passing game and Hartline’s bottom line certainly reflected that. However, just like the 30-yard completion, there is an obvious and continued connection between QB and WR.

Week 6 - This was a tough matchup for Hartline and his stat line mirrors the struggles he was having during the game. Cortland Finnegan took him out of the game for large spans and Tannehill rarely looked in Hartline’s direction after his pre-snap read. He was without a target for the entire first half. Hartline did contribute by drawing a defensive pass interference penalty. His lone target with a chance at a reception sailed right through Hartline’s hands late in the third quarter. A game like this reminds fantasy owners that Hartline is a risk as a weekly starter because he will likely draw the opposition’s best cornerback and can be shutout at any given time.

Week 8 - After squaring off against Darrelle Revis in Week 3, Harline had a much easier time getting open. During his team’s first drive, Hartline ran a curl route and hauled in Tannehill’s pass for a 12-yard gain. During his team’s fourth drive, Matt Moore found Harline on a slant route for a 15-yard gain. Hartline showed impressive body control and the willingness to go over the middle make the play. This reception set-up Daniel Thomas’s three-yard touchdown run. During his team’s next drive, Hartline hauled in his last two receptions on out-routes for gains of nine and five yards, respectively. Given the lopsided nature of this game, Hartline made all of his catches before halftime. Should Tannehill miss time, Moore looked extremely comfortable throwing the ball to Hartline.

Week 9 - Easily the Dolphins’ WR1, Hartline stuffed the stat sheet against the Colts, catching eight balls on twelve targets for one hundred and seven receiving yards. Hartline’s thirty-five yard haul on a go-route pass from Tannehill was an absolutely fantastic grab by the fourth-year man. Racing down the right side of the field with the Indianapolis secondary on him, Hartline exhibited tremendous focus in grabbing a perfect pass from Tannehill. There seems to be little room for argument that Hartline is Tannehill’s favorite receiver in the passing game, as the rookie looks Hartline’s way in many situations. Hartline’s route tree is also the most diverse of Miami’s receivers. While Davone Bess, Anthony Fasano, and others are relegated to short and underneath routes, the Dolphins send Hartline along a full spectrum of pass routes. Hartline did fail to reach the end zone – he has only hit paydirt once this year – but as the lead dog in a somewhat limited Miami passing attack, more standout performances are on the horizon, and the touchdowns will come.

Week 10 - Hartline worked on Jason McCourty almost exclusively in this game, and ended up catching eight of his ten targets against him. As I mentioned earlier, if not for a great defensive play by McCourty in the fourth quarter when the game was already well out of hand, Hartline would have reeled in a 19-yard touchdown, finishing with a 10-98-1 game. Although Hartline’s numbers have been greatly inflated due to the franchise record performance against Arizona, in the last two weeks, Hartline has shown consistency in both getting open, as well as putting up consistent catches and yards. Against Indianapolis, Tannehill was able to find him deep on a consistent basis. While the deep ball wasn’t open against the Titans, Hartline was still able to get open underneath, and net some decent yards after the catch, hauling in passes before the first down mark and fighting for the first down on multiple occasions. Without another outside receiver to make plays, Tannehill will continue to rely on Hartline to get the ball down the field.

Week 11 - Hartline was second on the team in targets with seven, but only managed to catch four of his targets. Hartline had one of his tougher games of the season, turning the ball over in the first half and then picking up a late offensive pass interference penalty on Miami’s final drive. Hartline’s 2nd catch went for 17 yards over the middle, but after turning the ball up field, had the ball ripped from his hands by rookie Stephon Gilmore. The Bills recovered the fumble and turned it in to three points. Later, on the Dolphin’s final drive, after two consecutive completions and with the Bills’ defense reeling, Hartline ran a nice comeback route. However, as he turned to come back, he (ever so slightly) extended his arm and pushed off the coverage. Hartline made a nice catch on the sideline, but all for naught as the flag was thrown. Like Bess, Hartline doesn’t have the top end speed to stretch the defense and the Bills were comfortable suffocating the shorter routes, giving Hartline little room to operate.

Week 12 - Targeted five times, Hartline only mustered two catches for seventeen yards. The Seahawks put cover corner Richard Sherman on Hartline, and the latter’s coverage all but neutralized the Dolphins’ receiver.

Week 13 - Hartline’s game against New England was about missed opportunities for big plays. While the short receptions were routine for Tannehill and Hartline to connect, the bigger impact plays eluded the pair. Hartline got behind the coverage for a likely long touchdown, but Tannehill overthrew him by a few yards. Early in the fourth quarter, Hartline dropped an easy reception In the red zone, his best chance to score. He fully-extended in the back of the end zone to make a great catch, but was unable to get both feet in bounds for the highlight reel score. Despite the missed chances at a huge fantasy day, he saw enough volume as the de facto no.1 target to have a good performance in PPR formats.

Week 14 - Hartline’s one long catch came by way of busted coverage, as Carlos Rogers let Hartline run right past him. Tannehill made a good throw right in to Hartline’s hands, and had Dashon Goldson not made a diving tackle Hartline would have been in a foot race to the end zone. That was the extent of Hartline’s day, as the receiver was only able to add a catch on a quick slant. Hartline was unable to separate whatsoever at any level of the field. Without the speed to get behind coverage or the power to muscle his way in to position, Hartline was left running covered routes. Even when Tannehill threw a perfect deep ball in to the end zone, Chris Culliver was able to elevate and make a diving play to knock away a pass that would have landed in Hartline’s hands. His largest contribution of the 4th quarter was the drawing of a pass interference call when Culliver dragged Hartline to the ground.

Week 15 - After catching just 2-of-8 targets for 34 yards last week, Hartline had another gloomy outlook in the first half against the Jaguars. In the first half, Hartline had zero targets. Miami involved Hartline immediately in the second half as he got loose in the secondary for a 37-yard gain on the first play in the third quarter. He was back to being the biggest weapon in the Miami pass game after that, making things happen regularly over the final 30 minutes. He found open areas behind cornerbacks and in front of safeties on two occasions. His lone missed opportunity came on a slant at the goal line, his best chance to score in the game. It was a tight window, but a catchable pass that Hartline failed to haul in. While Hartline surpassed 1,000 yards on the season in this game, he has just one touchdown on 67 receptions, one of the lowest touchdown rates in the league. Buffalo and New England in the final two weeks gives Hartline decent matchups to add to his career-best season.

Week 16 - Hartline led the team in targets with seven, but could only manage two catches for 12 yards. Covered all day by top CB Stephon Gilmore, Hartline struggled to get open outside of one ten-yard out on the Dolphins’ first drive. Hartline did receive one target deep down the field, but the throw was long and behind the direction of Hartline’s route.

Week 17 - Hartline closes a very promising season with a strong game against New England. While touchdowns eluded him, Hartline had nine games of 50 or more receiving yards and broke 1,000 yards on the season. In this game, Hartline was able to shake free of coverage on deep comebacks and quick out routes. He one missed opportunity for a big reception, which likely would have got him close to 100 yards on the day, was a go route against single coverage. Hartline got a step on the third-and-long play, but Tannehill’s throw was just out of reach. In a game that featured few chances for Miami to make a big play, that was one that got away. Hartline has been the de facto no.1 receiver all season, but he has not had a 100-yard game since back in Week 9. On a team lacking playmakers on offense, expect Miami to be active in addressing the deficiency this offseason.