What Went Right: Defense
While the
statistics might tell you different, you could see a marketed improvement in
the Dolphins defense this year. They improved in the run game and in the red
zone, ranking 13th in rush defense and 7th in scoring
defense. Their secondary, while allowing a lot of yards, tightened up a lot in
the red zone. Cameron Wake had an All-Pro season with 15 sacks while line-mates
Oliver Vernon and Jared Odrick had solid seasons, combining for 10.5 sacks over
the year. Sean Smith came into his own as a cornerback while Reshad Jones made
some noise at the safety position. Karlos Dansby and Kevin Burnett each had
over 100 tackles and young Nolan Carroll got a lot of playing time. They still
need to improve their overall pass defense, but with another year of bringing
in talent and solid coaching, they could become one of the better defenses in
the NFL.
What Went Wrong: Turnovers
There’s no real
way to get around it, the Dolphins just didn’t take care of the ball well this
year. To be fair this is to be expected to a certain degree with a rookie
quarterback. However they couldn’t force enough turnovers to make up for Ryan
Tannenhill’s mistakes. They were -10 in turnover margin and a lot of that came
from fumbles, Tannenhill alone fumbled the ball nine times, losing four of
those. They’ve got to protect the ball better if they want to improve their
win-loss records.
Player of the Year: Cameron Wake
This is really
a no brainer. Wake, after a slow start to the season (0 sacks over the first
three weeks), he exploded with 4.5 sacks in week four and returned to form
after that. He’s explosive off the edge and plays with deceptive power. The
Dolphins have to feel good about the contract extension they
gave him back in May and in spite of his age, he has to be considered a
building lock for the Dolphins defense going forward.
Keeper: Jake Long
Speaking of
building blocks, this is one the Dolphins need to swallow their pride on and
pay. When healthy, Jake Long is one of the best left tackles in football. He’s
suffered triceps injuries the last two years, which is concerning. However, I
think there is just too much risk in letting him go. Long has played through these
injuries and only missed six games over his five year career, so I think it’s
not fair to call him injury prone. Additionally, right now the Dolphins are
coming off of Ryan Tannenhill’s rookie season, which was promising.
Goner: Richard Marshall
I like Richard
Marshall as a cornerback, but he missed a lot of time this year because of an
injury. He’s been traveling around the NFL a bit since he’s contract ran out in
Carolina. He spent last year with the Cardinals and wasn’t great in coverage.
He’s not been great here either. I can see him returning, but with his almost 6
million dollar cap number, I can see the Dolphins cutting him loose and letting
younger players get more reps.
Should Draft: Receiver
I think any
Dolphin fan could tell you that this team needs a big time star receiver to
help their young quarterback take the next step. While Brian Hartline certainly
surpassed expectations and Devone Bess was as solid as ever, neither really
made defenses account for them with double teams or made opponents afraid to
blitz. A big time, down-the-field threat could open up the offense a lot.
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