Quarterback Ryan Tannehill last played for Miami in 2016. (AP Photo/Brad Penner)
1. Tannehill is worth at least two or three wins over the 2017 version of Cutler. He just is.
Kenyan Drake is one of the NFL’s emerging backs. (Allen Eyestone / The Palm Beach Post)
The Dolphins need a star as Miami is a star-driven town, and there aren’t too many obvious ones on the roster at the moment. But I present
2. running back Kenyan Drake. What if I told you no running back in the NFL had more yards than Drake over the last five weeks of the season? None. What if I told you Drake had three rushing plays for 40-plus yards, which tied for the second-most in the NFL, despite starting just five games?
Miami dumped Pro Bowlers, especially Ajayi, Landry and Suh, in part, because they felt their leadership style wasn’t conducive to a winning atmosphere. Miami wanted to reconfigure its nucleus with players they feel bring a more team-oriented approach. Enter
3. Josh Sitton, Frank Gore and Danny Amendola.
All three players have won in the league. Sitton is still playing at a very high level, filling a long-suffering need at guard. Amendola is going to have a hard time justifying his salary, but he is a quality addition to the locker room. And Gore, a true professional, can help mentor Drake.You’re going to claim blasphemy for raising
4. DeVante Parker at this moment. But Parker has turned a bit of a corner in his preparation, knowing this is truly a make-or-break season in his career, say those who know him best. We’ll see. But Parker has the ability. It’s never been about ability. And having Tannehill back will help him.
For years, Miami has been embarrassed by tight ends and has trotted out embarrassing performances by tight ends. Thus, Miami drafted
5. Mike Gesicki and Durham Smythe to catch and block and
6. Minkah Fitzpatrick and Jerome Baker to blanket Rob Gronkowski and friends.
Those were very role-specific selections. And you may not agree with all of them. But they should help in this area.
In fact, for years, there have been outcries for a guard, a tight end and a linebacker or safety who can cover the tight end. If there are outcries about that this season, it won’t be because Miami didn’t try to address the concerns.
Robert Quinn can change the course of a game. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
We’re losing a bit of steam but we come to
7. Robert Quinn, the pass-rusher slyly acquired by Tannenbaum for a fourth-rounder. It can be argued that Quinn, if healthy, will generate more game-changing plays this season than Suh would have, if mostly by nature of his position.
No two players in recent NFL history have created more strip-sacks than Quinn and Cam Wake and the notion that they may be charging rookies like Josh Allen (Buffalo) and Sam Darnold (New York Jets) should foster some enthusiasm.
Remember that time Wake and Suh crunched former Jets quarterback Bryce Petty? Oh, sorry, forgot for a moment the Dolphins have signed Petty. We won’t bring up the backup quarterback situation here. Story for another day.
Tannehill has been quite effective throughout his career when protected, and so the decision to exercise
8. Ja’Wuan James’ fifth-year option, along with the expected development of left tackle Laremy Tunsil, gives Miami capable bookends. From a pure upside perspective, in fact, these former first-rounders have the ability to dominate at times. What if they do, far more often?You might say we’re reaching when we talk about Miami’s
9. re-configured coaching staff, but Gase trusts offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains explicitly. And there are new voices for the receivers, running backs, offensive line, defensive line and defensive backs. And it should very much help defensive coordinator Matt Burke that this is his second season calling plays. It also helps that the club has loaded up on young defensive talent in the first three rounds of recent drafts.This exercise nearly complete, I bring up reason
10. why I don’t think the Miami Dolphins fail to win at least six games this season. I say, for sure, at least seven games, all the way up to nine or 10.
The AFC isn’t very good. And Miami’s schedule isn’t as good as it was last season.
There are five or six hard games on the Dolphins schedule, but even if they were to lose all five, there are five or six games they should be favored, in my opinion, to win.
