The Dolphins as expected got destroyed by the Steelers in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs. With a backup QB many knew the Dolphins would struggle to score points and their defense is hilariously bad (yet their DC is the frontrunner for the Broncos HC job). Now they get to focus on the offseason and the real fun can start.
Maybe Try To Fix the Defense
The defense since midway 2014 season has been hilariously bad. They can’t stop the run and their secondary can’t stop the pass. The only bright spot is the defensive line which has a solid defensive end duo in Wake and Branch and Suh who is good the 2 plays a game he tries. Now they can address the linebackers and corners as Byron Maxwell should never be out there ever. The Legend of Kiko has been a surprise as he has been very fun to watch when healthy. He should be a definite must re-sign as the very least you can trade him for LeSean McCoy. However the biggest need is Corner which the good news is this draft has a decent amount of solid corners. With their 1st pick they can look to get one of the Gator brothers in Teez Tabor or Quincy Wilson, they both will probably be terrible because they went to UF but Miami only likes drafting players from the terrible teams in Florida so they make sense.
Figure Out What To Do At RB
Jay Ajayi was really up and down at RB. He ran for over 200 yards against the Bills twice and another 200+ yard game against Steelers. Other than that he has not done much. He doesn’t have great vision and his knees don’t give him a lot of longevity in the NFL. Gase has been employing the Cutler Fix in Miami which means lots of running and that has paid off as Tanny has been playing at his 2014 level this year once the offense started to gel. But they need to figure out the running back position. Their offensive line is pretty much set and there are not any great prospects at that position. What they really need is a gamechanger at RB, someone who is used to having a terrible offensive line and has been the best running back the past two years. That player is Dalvin Cook. Dalvin Cook has been flying under the radar as more people have been focused on Leonard Fournette (who will crash and burn) and Christian McCaffrey (Danny Woodhead) because they skipped bowl games and NFL scouts like College Football voters, are dumb. Cook would make a meh offense into a great offense however the Dolphins probably won’t draft him as they hate FSU players.
Don’t Change the QBs
A very controversial player the past few years for the Dolphins has been Ryan Tannehill. Some fans have never liked him since the start and some just look at box scores to decide the QB. After a rough start to this year, Tannehill finally found his groove as the offense and himself started to click at the same time. Gase has been doing a good job with the offensive design as he has given Tannehill a lot of high-lo reads and has helped a lot in identifying coverage pre-snap. This has let Tannehill be a lot more decisive throwing the ball as he had his highest completion % and YPA season since joining the NFL. With Gase, Tannehill is at worse a mediocre QB who could potentially creep into the top 10. With the Dolphins at the crisp of being a contender and how vital having a top notch QB is, Miami would be foolish to get rid of him. And for those saying Moore is better, if you rewatch the coaches film, you can very clearly notice the difference and realize how great Gase is. With Moore at QB, the offense was defined reads and the occasional deep shot and against a smart defense, he got exposed. Moore is a great backup and for that price tag he is a must have as a backup but Tannehill is the guy going forward and the Dolphins are legit threat for a deep run in the playoffs with Gase and him at the wheel.
In conclusion this offseason will be all about fixing the defense. The defense needs to go from horrible to at least mediocre so it can at least carry its own weight. The offense needs to be more consistent at running the ball and find the runningback that can that dynamic threat that won’t go 200 one game and 50 the next. If they address those two needs, the team won’t rely so much on luck like this year and could be a legit 10-6/11-5 team and not someone who gets lucky to make the playoffs.
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