‘That guy can be special’
Williams makes case to move up the wide receiver depth chart
DAVIE — Josh Rosen read the defense before the snap, noticed that the Miami Dolphins were in a unflattering scheme, and checked himself into a more aggressive play.
The Dolphins’ second-year quarterback looked at Preston Williams and called a hot route, checking the 6-foot-5, 218-pound undrafted receiver into a deep pattern.
“He signaled me to go, so I ran a go-route. He threw it up, trusted me [and I] came down with it,” Williams said, describing the 42-yard reception he pulled in during Saturday’s scrimmage, where he put together a performance that could earn him a promotion up the depth chart.
Williams caught five passes from Rosen, and produced more than 100-yards receiving in Miami’s situational scrimmage. His performance was so impressive it had his teammates projecting a bright future for the former fivestar recruit, who ran into some problems in college, which included an arrest for domestic battery.
Williams’ past, and the fact he only had one season of productivity at Colorado State after transferring over from the University of Tennessee, inspired one of his Dolphins teammates to make a bold prediction about him.
“That guy can be special,” cornerback Xavien Howard said of Williams, who he has sparingly covered in practice. “He’s still learning. He’s just a rookie. [There] is so much room for improvement with him, but he’s going to be a number one receiver one day.”
Williams practiced well during the offseason, but he’s had a quiet start to camp until Saturday, where he teamed up with Rosen to produce the best day of training camp for both.
He has flashed his talent since the offseason program began, which indicates that there’s potentially more there if an investment in developing the former five-star high school recruit is made. Williams needs to stay healthy, continue to learn the offense, and showcase his ability during the preseason to prove that he belongs on Miami’s 53-man regular-season roster.
Miami’s far from being a disciplined team
Coach Brian Flores has consistently talked about making the Dolphins a smart, tough and disciplined team, but Saturday’s scrimmage featured 18
penalties, which is twice the acceptable rate for bad NFL teams.
It’s early, but the Dolphins should to have referees attend practice each week to provide the coaches and players a more accurate look at themselves. The threat of running to the “Takes No Talent” wall for making errors will take this team only so far.
Offensive line needs massive makeover
General manager Chris Grier’s goal this offseason was to fortify the trenches and build a better offensive and defensive line for the Dolphins. But it appears this will be more than a one-year project because no unit has struggled more during training camp than Miami’s offensive line. Not
only did their struggles lead to Pat Flaherty’s dismal as position coach after Week 1 of camp, but their errorprone play was at the root of Miami’s sloppy scrimmage.
The Dolphins have three decent starters in left tackle Laremy Tunsil, center Daniel Kilgore, and Jesse Davis, who can play either right guard or tackle. But Miami needs to find two more decent options to play guard and possibly tackle. Rookie Michael Deiter is the leading candidate for the vacant guard spot, and the hope is that throwing him into the fire right away will get him to develop faster.
Eguavoen is pushing for starting LB role
The Dolphins have attempted to unearth another
former CFL standout to follow in the career arch of Cameron Wake for nearly a decade, but it appears Miami might have finally found its newest Canadian import.
Sam Eguavoen, who tallied 159 tackles and two interceptions for the Saskatchewan Roughriders over the past three seasons, has spent every day of training camp as the team’s starting inside linebacker. He’s ahead of Raekwon McMillan and Kiko Alonso, who are both nursing injuries, on the depth chart and seems to be Miami’s best pass defending linebacker.
Surplus of safeties could create interesting secondary
The Dolphins have a defensive package that features Bobby McCain, Minkah Fitzpatrick, T.J. McDonald and Reshad Jones on the field at the same time, pairing them with two cornerbacks, a few linebackers and defensive linemen.
It’s a confusing scheme because everyone on the field is quite versatile, and can do everything necessary to disrupt an offense. Look for the Dolphins to build on the team’s strengths in Year 1 of this rebuild because it’s clear that Miami’s best talent is in its secondary.
Expect Howard to build on Pro Bowl season
Xavien Howard sets the standard for the entire team on a daily basis. The 2018 Pro Bowler has been the most consistent performer during training camp, routinely producing interceptions and locking down whoever he’s covering that day.
If that translates to game days he’ll at least give the defense a chance to make it a competitive game. Howard will likely shadow the opposition’s best receiver on a game-to-game basis, forcing quarterbacks to rely on their second or third option. How dominant he is this season will likely depend on who plays on the opposite side of him, and how effective Miami’s pass rushing can be on third downs.
Grier’s early draft picks struggling
Charles Harris, McMillan, Mike Gesicki and Kenyan Drake have seen their practice time decrease, if not lost their starting roles during the first two weeks of training camp. That serves as proof that Flores is running a performancebased operation where early draftees don’t get preferential treatment.
Harris needs to do a better job at setting the edge to increase his playing time. McMillan, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury, needs to improve his pass coverage and emerge as a better leader. Gesicki needs to become more physical, and get off the line of scrimmage faster. Drake has to be more reliable to deliver on expectations his productive 2018 season created.
Roles will rule roster usage
Outside of the offensive linemen, Howard and whoever starts at quarterback, just about every player on the Dolphins roster has a role, a package, a scheme, and will be utilized in it as Miami continues to implement The Patriot Way.
That means the days of seeing a linebacker stay on the field for every down, a tailback carry the entire workload, or a receiver play every snap on offense are over. The Dolphins will be a role-driven team that features 47 players serving as specialists on game day, and a ton of substitutions being made.
Tailbacks will share backfield
It appears Miami’s backs will share the workload as the Dolphins intend to utilize Drake and Kalen Ballage to their strengths if both are healthy.
Miami has Ballage pegged as the power runner, the LeGarrette Blounttype talent they hope to utilize in I-formation packages. Drake handles most of the third-down, and passing-game packages, filling the Kevin Faulk-like role in this offense Miami is borrowing from New England.