I think if we have a good GM there’s no such thing as a 2,3 year window.

Right now I really like our roster

Sign Cam Fleming and I’ll love it.

 

I'm very excited about the talent on both sides of the ball and think we can accomplish great things this season. I think a year into McDaniel's system with most of the same players is going to result in a much better offense. I expect to have a top-10 offense as a floor and a top-5 offensive ceiling. I also think that a healthy X and a deeper secondary is going to make our defense a monster. The only question is whether Chubb can recover the magic and push the edge opposite Phillips. I believe Fangio will find a way to put the pieces together to give the offense more possessions.

 

I like the contrast of great speed and playmaking ability with a hyper accurate Qb distributing the ball on time and accurately alongside a bad *** defense

Get your lead and force the team to throw into your strengths which will be rushing the passer and coverage

 

NY Post has the Dolphins at #20 in their post draft power rankings, behind the Pats who they have at #14.

 

Its an odd situation, because the team needs a lot more growth and development, but they keep backing themselves into a corner, acting like they're a SB contender already, and so we lack any meaningful cap space or draft picks to build on what's here.

I think that Tua and Waddle both could have very bright futures, but Waddle hasn't truly arrived yet, and if everything goes well with Tua, 2025 is probably his year to really step up as a high end starting QB in the NFL. But the OL still has some really big holes, the running game still has no one who I really believe in as a solution, and most of them are only signed for 2023 anyways, and we still have no real answer at TE. I need to see a much better plan and play calling from McDaniels on gamedays too, taking what the other team is giving and not going pass wacky and too aggressive.

The defense very well could be much better this season under Fangio and with better health, and we'll need it to be. If things go well, I think that they're probably an 11-12 win team, depending on how the schedule works itself out. A WC win is possible, depending on the opponent and the location. But they need another year of development and another offseason to add important parts before they're really a contender.

 

That's trolling pretty hard.

 

That's their objective opinion. I can't imagine any reason why they'd purposefully rank us low. :turned:

 

This line is really going to be a big problem.

 

My feelings.

Coaching: I’m pretty excited about the offensive and defensive schemes. I think McDaniels will be better at clock management, game planning and being a HC.

QB: Health is my only concern. Tua is the real deal as ling as he’s upright.

WR/TE: WR room is excellent, TEs could do with some more work.

RBs. We don’t have a stud bellcow RB. We do have good depth and solid contributors. I don’t think any one RB on our roster is special, but we have a productive group.

OL: Biggest area of concern. With another year in the scheme and continued coaching up we might be adequate.

Interior DL. Solid to good.

Edge: Between Chubb and other returnees and Vic Fangio’s scheme I think there is a chance for something truly special to happen. Usual caveats about health and changing schemes apply.

LB: Not a weakness, not a strength. Should be good enough providing you’re not asking them to carry the team.

DB: Lots of talent that got decimated by injuries last year. New scheme, return to health and new faces mean this could be a real strength.

Special teams: Can’t be worse than last year. Needs to improve.

To win in the modern NFL you need to pass and stop the pass. We’ve got a lot of really good pieces that give us hope we can be very good at both. The 2 most critical things to having a good season are Tua’s health and Fangio being able to unlock the potential on defense.

 

As it always has been. Grier couldnt build a goodt oline if his life depended on it.

 

I suppose the fact that we didn’t have a first-round pick doesn’t help our ranking.

 

My feelings are fairly similar.

IMO, last year's Miami Dolphins were a very unlucky team in terms of injuries and also shot themselves in the foot too many times. Too many unforced errors. Hopefully this year with another year under his belt McDaniel will get in the plays quicker, Williams will have another year of snapping, and each will be more on the same page with the offense.

Also, hopefully, the Dolphins won't be in a situation where the two starting cornerbacks are the ones they signed to play special teams.

Though I am very excited. Minus the HUGE GLARING HOLES of Liam and AJ, I don't see any other weakness from this team. The offense is magic when it is working and with another year in it with most players, I am going to assume that it will be more magical.

The defense last year couldn't get off the field on 3rd downs and maybe, just maybe, having a better defensive coordinator who doesn't call a zero blitz with all the defensive back 16 yards down the field on a 3rd and 14 will help the defense.

 

I think everything with this team will hinge on the offensive line. The play of the line will determine Tua's health, and the Miami Dolphins 2023 results will hinge on Tua's health. They didn't do much to address the line, so I guess that's the biggest concern I see.

 

This is probally the most talented team I have seen in over 20 years.I fully expect them to sign line help soon.
If Tua stays healthy and that is a big if and I might sound crazy but I can see this team winning 13 games and winning the division.I think people underestimate the value of Vic Fangio.I think our D moves into top 5 or 10 territory and the speed on this offence is ridiculous
And remember this isn't coming from a rosey colored glasses fan.I have been one of the most pessimistic fans on this site for years with good reason.

 

I agree our D should be much improved. That will give more offensive chances to score.

 

Defensively, I was already happy with the talent we already had. The Dolphins defensive implosion last season wasn’t due to a lack of talent, it was due to a lack of effective defensive schemes. Fangio’s track record has made me confident defense won’t be out Achilles heel this season.

Offensively however…

I was truly hopeful we would have addressed the offensive line in the draft, be it TE (which I was truly hopeful for Washington) or OT in Torrence. If this team could ever put together a dominant offensive line, everything else is going to fall into place like falling dominos.

I’m cautiously optimistic…we have a lot of talent on this team. I feel the upgrade on defense with Fangio is going to be THE deciding factor for the offense’s success.

 

Not sure I'd agree that the team needs a lot more growth and development. I think the 2-3 year window starts this year with the hope that we are better by end of this season with 2nd year under MMD and defensive players adjusted into Fangio's system. No team, outside of maybe Philly, doesn't have a significant hole(s) somewhere on our roster. KC has multiple holes, but having the greatest QB and TE in NFL compensates mightily.

Our RBs are fine IMO. This is not a running offense and it never will be with Hill and Waddle. I do agree that the Oline is our crutch right now. We still have a decent shot to sign a competent RT so as to not rely on A Jackson. The big question is then on left side. Will any of these rookies provide competition to Liam? And Just as important, can we find a competent backup at LT? When T Armstead was out last season, LT was a bigger dumpster fire than anything we suffered through at RT. I'm really hoping this kid from Michigan can become a good backup LT for us.

 

The team is clearly among the very best in the league at creating big plays through the passing game, and barring massive injuries in that area of the roster, they'll almost certainly continue to do that this year too. But I often felt that last year, they were a one-trick pony who often scored points and won games in spite of being poor to mediocre at most other things on offense, and many on defense. Tua would launch the big pass to Hill or Waddle, they'd barely make the clutch catch, and we'd survive. But to me the luck with that is bound to even out and unless we improve a lot in the ability to scheme and just take what's there with shorter runs and passes each week, its going to come back to bite us in the rear end, and hard.

And so I came into this offseason believing that we needed to bring in not one, but two new offensive linemen who were at least capable of strongly contending for a starting job, and we brought in none. I believed that we needed to bring in a RB who wasn't a slim, speed guy, but who could truck through the middle of the line and overpower the other team for important yards, and we didn't seem to even try. And I believed that we needed to get a big upgrade at TE who could be a security blanket in the middle of the field and the Red Zone for Tua, and we whiffed on that as well.

So I'm just as anxious about the offense this season as I was last year, and then you add in the aspects of Tua's health on top of that. I just don't have any reasons beyond development and maturation that we're going to be much different this time around. Fingers crossed I guess, but I'm expecting McDaniel and Grier to learn some hard lessons and then hope that fix it in 2024.

 

I do not understand the offense thing. Last season was the first time since like 1996 that Miami had a top 10 offense in yards. The only lost Gesicki who wasn't a good fit for the offense and Trent, who I don't care to look up how to spell his last name correctly because he is mid at best.

Yes, I would love to have 5 really good offensive linemen like the rest of us, but, I still think the offense is going to be really good. Especially since it is the second year a lot of these players have been in it.

 

They put up those numbers statistically, but I always felt it was by the skin of their teeth. I need it to be a lot more sustainable, steady, controllable, machine-like. Getting 4-5 yards per rush over and over and over. Hitting wide open 7-8 yard passes for the first down and not relying on YAC to succeed, etc.

Then let those big plays be the icing on top, not the foundation.

 

I have no idea why you felt that. The wide receivers were mostly open and didn't have to make a good play on the ball. It was magic and looked very sustainable. The only thing that was wrong with the offense was the fact that they started almost all of their drives from the 20 yards line because the defense was crap.

They were sustainable, steady, controllable, and getting to machine-like. They didn't rely on YAC, they relied on players ability to get open due to the scheme and for the most part it worked with the starting quarterback.

They were mid plays, not big plays

 

We'll have to agree to disagree, I suppose. What I saw over and over last year was the Miami offense stubbornly trying to force their will on the opposition, no matter whether it was there to be taken or not. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it failed.

I personally want to see a lot more games like we had vs Cleveland last season, where it was much more balanced, and when we threw the ball it was spread around to a lot more players for easier catches. That's my blueprint, given our personell.

 

That is what good offenses do. They force their will on the competition. It was there more often than it was not. It was the best offense in the last 15 years for the Miami Dolphins. Most of the passes were easy. I have no idea what you are watching.

Cleveland game wasn't like that at all. The only difference in the Cleveland game was they had a lot of good success running the ball. They still had a lot of 10 to 15 yard throws that is the bread and butter of the Dolphins offense.

 

Gut shot reaction- this is an 12-14 win team with Tua healthy all year. For every game he's hurt, subtract .75 per game since we'll only win about 1 in 4 without him on the field. Maybe I'm wrong though, maybe this backup QB from the Jets with a great personality could actually be a competent QB2. We'll see.

I think offense will be slightly better, the D will be A LOT better (as in, top 5 overall), and the special teams will have their moments too. We'll lose a few to other dominant teams, but at this point I think we're the dominant force in the AFC East and the AFC in general.

Side note- am I the only one rooting for the Jets to be decent this year? I'm so tired of them stinking that I don't even hate them anymore. This should be a super competitive division and it's really anyone's game. I do have a feeling we win the East this season though (with a healthy Tua).

 

Yes

 

Man, have you all seen the schedule next year and the QBs they are going to face? Going to be a crazy battle.
Bring it on, biotches?

 

Sorry, Key - I can’t bring myself to root for any AFC East team, especially the Jets.

 

LMAO, I want them to be decent so when we beat them, it actually means something like in years past. Maybe I am the only one that thinks that way though, LOL.

 

Why would we want any of our rivals to be good? When was the last time that the Fins had a good team and there wasn't at least one other really good team within the division? You probably have to go all the way back to 1984.

I dream of a year where we have one of those seasons where we just coast to the divisional title with a few weeks left in the regular season. It seems almost every franchise gets one, but we're pretty overdue.

 

Based on the three games with the Bills last year, I'd say we're neck and neck with them for the division crown if Tua is on the field. The Pats have been a decent team but we've clearly outclassed them for the past several years. Then there's the Jets, who can't buy a win if their franchise depended on it.

I'm happy with a two-horse race and some competition from NE, but I miss getting excited for Jets week and one of those all-out battles against a hated rival. LOL, I just can't hate a 3-win team that can't compete...it's no fun anymore. Jets week has been like a bye-week for far too long, even though they beat us last year with Tua out.

 

Well you know what they say about opinions. Honestly I can't see how you can rank NE above us, let alone that much above us.

 

I don't think there was anything wrong with our scheme as this was the first time in a long time that we saw WRs getting open on a consistent basis. However, I do agree that we need a counterpunch for when teams take away the fast strike or when its advantageous to just grind out some time on the clock.

 

There were just so many times that we were in 3rd and short or 3rd and manageable, and either McDaniel would call something that went way further downfield than was necessary, or took far longer to develop, and it blew up and we had to punt, or worse go for it on 4th down. How much of that was the coaches and how much was Tua, we can't know, but its on all of them to step it up and do a far better job from here on out.

 

I'm not sure I'd put that on Tua's shoulders. I think it had more to due with the lack of a consistent short yardage rushing attack and reliable outlet receiver. I think that's why everyone was hoping we'd pick a well rounded TE who could help with both of those aspects.

 

I agree. It doesn't need to be a Pro Bowl guy, but a consistent weapon to get those 7 or 8 yards in the middle of the field would be so huge. Everyone we have on offense is so tiny, I just don't know who's going to be able to get tough yardage. Last year, the answer was no one.

 

I’m the passing game, you bet. We had one of if not the best explosive offenses in the league. The problem though is the ground game. Our OL is weak at run blocking hence the Dolphins being rated near the bottom of the league in rushing. There are going to be times we’re going to have to be able to hand the ball off on a 3rd and 4 for a first down and KNOW we’re going to be able to get it.

Until our offense is dominant in the trenches when it counts, all of those passing stats are mox nix.

 

I do agree that's what we needed - more balance when defense has Waddle/Hill covered. But, I disagree we haven't significantly improved (on paper).
- TE's - addition by subtraction. Gesicki was one of the worst short yardage TEs we've had in a long time. Hunter Long was a complete nothing.
- WRs - Berrios is an instant upgrade for running short routes when defense is pulled by our two star WRs. Not saying he's a great WR. But he's a good WR that's being put into a very favorable situation.
- R Mostert is still our starting RB, Wilson is good change of pace, stronger back. same as last year. But Achane is a big upgrade over Ahmed and Gaskin and will compete for carries with first two. He's also a big upgrade at kick returns and potentially at receiving back. We do not need a bellcow back. you are trying to force your 90's/2000's version of offense into MMD's system. square peg, round hole. We have a very good RBBC.
- OLine is arguably the same as last season, which stinks. But signing Shell or kid from Denver can stabilize mediocre RT for another year. Like I said before, if we can develop one of these UDFA to backup T. Armstead so we don't have to rely on G Little like last season, we can reach sub-average levels (above average when Armstead is playing)

 

Regarding your side-note question-
No, there are a few posters here that would love nothing more than for the Jets to be highly competitive.

 

You can't? Really?! It's the New York Post. Here's a small hint why they have us as the fourth place team in their preseason projections: