It is like the Groundhog Day movie being a Dolphins fan my entire life as this team cannot seem to get anything right. They have gone through both coaches and GMs like disposable diapers! They have whiffed on the QB position ever since Marino retired 23 years ago!
They finally decided to do a total rebuild in 2019 and plucked for the third time in a row a “First Time Head Coach” and every time they had issues…. Joe Philbin was too wimpy, Adam “Crazy Eyes” Gase was too immature and threw everybody under the bus, and Brian “The Alpha Male” Flores was a control freak who wanted to shop for the groceries.
The one constant in these last three hires have been GM Chris “Let’s all be friends” Grier who some say will not force a player on a head coach but likes to have a committee approach to player acquisition. (I happen to think that is the right way to do it)
The one big question I am starting to ask is what role has Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross played in some of the decisions? He likes everybody to think he is hands off and will just write the check for players the team wants or drafts.
I am starting to think the reason Mr. Ross has held onto GM Chris Grier is because Grier follows his Becking call, none other than drafting Tua Tagovailoa over Justin Herbert a move that looks so far like a huge miss!
So where are we after 3 years of the rebuild? Still no playoff berth and getting blown out twice in late games to determine a playoff berth the last two seasons! The Rebuild is working!!!
The Good:
Miami has an incredibly young roster of talented players but still has some holes to fill. Comparing the current roster to the 2018 roster we can see that there has made progress in drafting young talent.
Owner Stephen Ross was correct in his assessment of the team and why he held on to GM Chris Grier when he said:
Q: From a performance standpoint, how would you assess what Chris Grier has done in order for you to say that his job is satisfactory?
“Oh, if you look at our roster, we have a very fine, I think, an excellent roster of young players. This was all done in the last three years. We had an old aging roster before that was leading us nowhere but to mediocrity. And I think that if you look at our roster today, you see our salary cap, players we have I think we’re well suited for the future.”
Young Foundation to Build From
- Tua Tagovailoa (23 years old)
- Jaylen Waddle (23 years old)
- Mike Gesicki (26 years old)
- Liam Eichenberg (23 years old)
- Austin Jackson (22 years old)
- Michael Deiter (25 years old)
- Robert Hunt (25 years old)
- Raekwon Davis (24 years old)
- Christian Wilkins (26 years old)
- Andrew Van Ginkel (26 years old)
- Jerome Baker (25 years old)
- Jaelan Phillips (22 years old)
- Jevon Holland (21 years old)
- Brandon Jones (23 years old)
- Solomon Kindley (24 years old)
- Robert Jones (22 years old)
- Duke Riley (27 years old)
- Nik Needham (25 years old)
- Sheldrick Redwine (25 years old)
- Noah Igbinoghene (22 years old)
- Lynn Bowden Jr. (24 years old)
- Greg Little (24 years old)
- Robert Jones (22 years old)
- Larnel Coleman (23 years old)
- Kion Smith (23 years old)
That is 25 players that are currently on this roster that Miami’s next coach can mold into his way of coaching and supplement with more draft picks as well as veteran free agents.
The Bad
Miami has not kept a head coach for more than 4 years since Stephen Ross has taken over ownership of the team. It’s been a coaching Carousel! This team needs to make a commitment and stick with it, I still think other ways should have been considered other than firing the only HC to accomplish what Brian Flores accomplished. I do understand why I am just sick of the continued dysfunction t the management level of this team. We had a good HC who just needed to mature, unlike having bad head coaches that did not command the locker room like Flores did. Hopefully the next head coach can at leat grow a beard if he wants to and still be employed!
So, my question was, is Miami back at mediocrity?
The answer is a resounding NO! They just missed the playoffs with one half of this team playing playoff caliber football and if they get the right head coach that can build from what we have and fix the offensive issues the Dolphin will be a playoff contender and an upgrade a QB or major development with Tua can make this team a Superbowl contender.
This time they are correct in thinking they are really close!
The Dolphin Seer 