Note that the only thing on earth at this time is Water!
The previous verse, "But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground". has the earth covered with water.

formed man of the dust of the ground Where did the dust come from?

And what nonsense - when you have no idea how man came to be, having a God create him from dust is as good an explanation as any other I guess.

Also, in this writer's version, Man is the second thing created, unlike Genesis 1 where Man is the LAST thing created.