Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Kelly: ’Fins could double win total
Dolphins have the talent to win twice as many games as last season
The Miami Dolphins surprisingly won five games in 2019 despite the organization intentionally sabotaging its own roster.
Week after week the Dolphins would experiment with their roster, which began the season with a purge of several proven veterans. For much of the season, the Dolphins utilized players that were waiver-wire pickups or signed off another team’s practice squad — barely practicing with their new team before playing on Sunday.
As a result, the Dolphins’ struggled mightily in several areas, including the running game, offensive line, pass rush and stopping the run. Yet, somehow, coach Brian Flores and journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick managed to deliver a handful of wins for the rebuilding franchise.
It makes you wonder what Flores, a Bill Belichick protégé, and Fitzpatrick, a 15-year veteran, can do with a vastly improved roster?
The Dolphins’ addition of 11 free agents and 11 draft picks may be one of the best offseason overhauls in recent memory, with Flores and general manager Chris Grier assembling a solid nucleus in the second year of the team’s rebuilding effort.
Miami’s roster, which resembled a slice of Swiss cheese during Miami’s 59-10 season-opening loss to the Baltimore Ravens in September, has been greatly improved with nearly every position being upgraded.
The Dolphins have added muchneeded depth to every unit except tight end, where the only offseason addition was Michael Roberts, a second-year veteran who was claimed off waivers.
Miami added a young quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa, who should inject hope into the veins of the fan base once his surgically repaired hip fully heals, and he is able to compete with Fitzpatrick for the starting spot.
The Dolphins also acquired a pair of veteran running backs in Jordan Howard, who has averaged 1,133 total yards the last four seasons, and Matt Breida, who has averaged 4.9 yards a carry on his 381 attempts. Both have accomplished plenty in their brief careers and still have a lot to prove.
DeVante Parker, who produced his first 1,000-yard receiving season, and tight end Mike Gesicki, coming off a breakout season, will get a second chance to prove they can carry the offense.
And the return of a healthy Preston Williams, Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant should allow the Dolphins to turn
up the volume on the offense. That should benefit Chan Gailey, who came out of retirement to serve as Miami’s offensive coordinator.
But most importantly, the free-agent signings of Ereck Flowers and Ted Karras and the draft selections of Austin Jackson (first round), Robert Hunt (second round) and Solomon Kindley (third round) should bolster the offensive line, which needed a massive overhaul.
By adding five potential starters on the offensive line, the Dolphins — who averaged just 19.1 points per game last season — are hopeful that will be the building block of delivering a respectable offense.
On defense, the only major loss was Pro Bowl safety Reshad Jones, who was released this offseason and remains unsigned.
While it won’t be easy to replicate the playmaking abilities that Jones exhibited over the past decade, the Dolphins added three young safeties — Brandon Jones, Clayton Fejedelem and Kavon Frazier — who will compete with Eric Rowe, Adrian Colbert and Steven Parker to replace Jones as the safety paired with Bobby McCain.
Miami also added one of the top free agents, signing Dallas Cowboys standout Byron Jones to one of the largest deals ever given to a cornerback. If paired with a healthy Xavien Howard, who missed 11 games last year because of a knee injury, the Dolphins could possess the best cornerback duo in the NFL.
The additions of veteran defenders like Shaq Lawson, Emmanuel Ogbah, Kyle Van Noy, Elandon Roberts, Kamu Grugier-Hill, and draftees Noah Igbinoghene, Raekwon Davis, Jason Strowbridge and Curtis Weaver should also help Miami’s defense, which ranked 30th last year in yards (397.8) per game and last (30.9) in points per game.
Pair them with the improvement Miami should get from Christian Wilkins, Davon Godchaux, Jerome Baker, Vince Biegel, Raekwon McMillan, Andrew Van Ginkel, Nik Needman, McCain and Rowe in their second season in Flores’ defense, and the days of the Dolphins defense being pushed around might be over because the roster finally has talent again.
And this isn’t the type of talent that barely hangs onto a roster spot like last year.
So, if Flores managed to win five games with inferior talent in 2019, why can’t he pull off a 10-win season with an overhauled roster this year?