The Next Level Dolphins?

With the NFL draft just days away and all the potential excitement of the draft is now gone due to the excitement Dolphins management has brought us Dol-Fans this off-season with the acquisitions they have added to this roster on offense and keeping the defense intact, do you feel the Dolphins have made significant improvement to get them in the playoffs?

Can they also compete for the AFC East title still favored by the Bills who have won their last 7 games vs Miami? Will Miami at least unseat the Patriots as the 2nd place team in the AFC East? There are a lot of questions surrounding this team and it starts and ends with the QB position.

I have made it no secret there is too much unwarranted criticism of our starting QB Tua Tagovailoa by both the local and National media, there are too many people still siding with former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores when as great a job he did with the Dolphins defense his inability to stabilize the offense was the opposite. That alone should have gotten him fired but I have already written why Brian Flores DESERVED To Be Fired!!!

Let’s look at what Miami has done since the firing of Brian Flores

Taking Care of Home

The first and the best thing they did this off-season was to take care of the current players on the roster and it all revolved around the players on the list below, the ones in BOLD print are the key players we all were concerned if they would return.

Miami focused on the defense and made sure not to lose their two top defensive players and not let TE Mike Gesicki get away either.

Signing CB Xavien Howard to a Contract Extension
Re-signing DE Emmanuel Ogbah
Re-signing TE Mike Gesicki
Re-signing LB Elandon Roberts
Brought Back CB Nik Needham (Signed Tender)
Re-signing TE Durham Smythe
Re-signing WR Preston Williams
Re-signing LB Duke Riley
Re-signing LB Sam Eguavoen
Re-signing LB Brennan Scarlett
Re-signing DT John Jenkins

Improving the Talent on offense

With about 100% of our Defense intact Miami focused on improving the talent on offense and boy did they! The top LT on the market Terron Armstead was there and Miami went out and got him. Some say with Tua being a lefty that the LT position was not that critical. I disagree because as bad as this offensive line played last year any top player at their position is welcomed in fact the entire left side of the line is not solidified with the other Offensive-lineman signed G Connor Williams who from all indications will be at the LG position.

For most of us, the Dolphins had done an excellent job bringing in help on the offensive line but then out of nowhere we all were completely surprised to see Miami make a trade for one of the top WR’s in the league when they made a blockbuster trade for KC WR Tyreek Hill.

The Dolphins new HC also sent a message that this team is serious about running the ball by bringing in two very solid FA RB’s (Raheem Mostert & Chase Edmonds) as well as a true Full Back (Alec Ingold)

Trading for WR Tyreek Hill
Signing T Terron Armstead
Signing G Connor Williams
Signing WR Cedrick Wilson Jr.
Signing RB Raheem Mostert
Signing RB Chase Edmonds
Signing QB Teddy Bridgewater
Signing FB Alec Ingold
Signing P Thomas Morstead
Signing CB Keion Crossen

Now after the dust has cleared the one thing that stands out about this new look offense is that SPEED is the name of this team’s offense as our top 2 WR’s run sub 4.4 forties as well as RB Raheem Mostert.

This team that was knocked out of the playoffs late these past two seasons, have kept a very good/great defense intact and has supported and surrounded our Young QB with the tools he needs to have success. Now all they need is to get acclimated to this new offense and “Gel” with what is known to be one of the most accurate QB’s in the league

While some folks are standing off to the side throwing rocks and criticizing most Dol-Fans I talk to are genuinely happy with the results of the offseason and are looking forward to seeing how things play out in 2022.