DKphin
Club Member
http://phinphanatic.com/2016/08/26/five-areas-dolphins-need-find-answers/[h=2]
The Miami Dolphins have one more game in the exhibition season and that is not enough time to solve all of their problems. They simply are running out of time.[/h] The good news for the Dolphins is that all is not bad. The offensive line looked much better on Thursday night and the defensive line starters look to be very good. Still some issues remain and need fine tuning if not fixing.
Cornerback
Bobby McCain is not playing bad but is he the answer across from Byron Maxwell? Maybe, maybe not. What did learn from Thursday is that Tony Lippett has a lot of work to do. Frankly the cornerback situation in Miami isn’t good.
The Dolphins believe that Xavien Howard will be able to jump right in when he returns to the field but that is a high expectation for a player who has missed all of training camp. The reality is that the Dolphins lack quality depth at corner and if Maxwell gets hurt or plays like he did last year, the Dolphins are going to have a long season with some really big plays and a lot of penalties.
Running game
Arian Foster looked o.k. in action in Thursday’s week 3 pre-season game and Jay Ajayi looked o.k. too. The problem? They looked just o.k. The biggest issue for the Dolphins and their running game has far more to do with their run blocking which is still a struggle on the offensive line.
When there are holes however the runners are not hitting them as fast as they should. Overall the running backs are not a huge concern but the run blocking has to get better or the Dolphins will be rewarded with an offense that is very one-sided.
It will be interesting however which direction the Dolphins go in when the final cuts are made. Damien Williams hasn’t looked all that bad and brings a more bruiser mentality to the group. Isaiah Pead has performed better than expected. Daniel Thomas is a very big long shot to make the roster and the Dolphins still have injured Kenyan Drake to look at. It’s a crowded back-field that won’t remain crowded in another week and a half.