The Miami Dolphins made one of the biggest acquisitions this offseason when they brought in defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Fangio is considered one of the greatest defensive minds in the NFL today. In fact, after he was fired from Denver as the head coach, he was sought out by so many different teams. Instead, he decided to take a year off to regroup. He even said he did a little studying of film to enhance his ability as a defensive coordinator during his year off.
The reason why the Dolphins’ hired Fangio is because last year, Miami’s defense did not live up to expectations for any of us. We all felt that the talent was there for this team to have performed better defensively despite the many injuries that they suffered last year. There just seemed to be a disconnect with in-game adjustments. Quite frankly I feel Josh Boyer was just in over his head.
It’s well known that Mike McDaniel’s would have preferred to hire Vic Fangio last season but considering how the Dolphins defense played under Brian Flores and Josh Boyer. It seemed the logical conclusion to allow Josh Boyer to continue to run the defense for Mike McDaniel. But as we’ve seen last year. It just did not work out. Fast forward to this year and now we see that Vic Fangio has been brought aboard to be Miami’s defensive coordinator. Fangio’s history and resume, it speaks for itself.
Through 22 seasons as a defensive coordinator or head coach in the NFL, Fangio’s defenses have ranked in the top 10 in points allowed 10 times. His 2018 Bears team ranked first, and the 2011 and 2012 49ers, 1996 Panthers, and 2021 Broncos each ranked second.
I argue that Vick Fangio has one of the better rosters on defense in the league and probably one of his best since coaching with the young talent as well as veteran players on his defense.
- Christian Wilkins
- Raekwon Davis
- Emmanuel Ogbah
- Jaelan Phillips
- David Long Jr.
- Jerome Baker
- Bradley Chubb
- Xavien Howard
- DeShon Elliott
- Jevon Holland
- Jalen Ramsey
Mike McDaniel on the other hand has his own stacked roster on the offensive side of the ball. Last year they ranked 6th in total offense and at one point was ranked 2nd just behind KC!
Just thinking about year two in his system for his offensive players it will only get better, last year they scored on average 23.8 points per game in 2022 and that was without Tua starting in just 13 games last season. Tua actually only played in 11 games where he finished the game.
If you average out the 11 games that Tua played completely Miami average 27 points per game and that would have had them ranked fourth in scoring in the league.
Everybody is concerned about Tua’s health concerns and thus we don’t know how things will play our even though Tua has spent te off-season working on trying to avoid concussions through some unconventional ways (Taking jiu-jitsu classes)
When healthy Tua played at an elite level last year. Coach McDaniel brought out the best in Tua and unlocked his confidence that was almost destroyed by Brian Flores.
Miami surrounded Tua with weapons that paid off big time last year! Though some minor losses happened Miami’s offensive unit is mostly intact from last season.
- Tua Tagovailoa
- Raheem Mostert
- Tyreek Hill
- Jaylen Waddle
- Cedrick Wilson Jr.
- Durham Smythe
- Alec Ingold
- Terron Armstead
- Liam Eichenberg
- Connor Williams
- Robert Hunt
- Austin Jackson
The Dolphins roster overall is stacked with talent and I will put them up against any team in the NFL and on paper they are just as good if not better than any team! This year expect a rise in the standings of Miami Defense from last year because of Vick Fangio and expect a healthy Tua who proved he can light up the scoreboard and put points up.
The biggest question I have is which unit will rank the highest at seasons end, both should be top 10 units and if not, it will be a major disappointment.
Miami’s coaches are two of the best at what they do, and they have the weapons to take this team deep into the playoffs and barring injury the Dolphins will be in the hunt for a SB Title!
The Dolphin Seer 