I’ve looked at all 32 teams and ranked each position group based on their current situation. I thought it would be interesting to see how the Fins stack up against the rest of the league and what the overall team rank would be. I’ll show the top 2, and bottom 2, for each group as well as where the Fins fit in. The rankings are: 1 = best, 32 = worst.
Quarterback
For QB, I have ranked the Fins at 13 given the uncertainty around Tua as a rookie and with his injury history. The Chiefs have to be #1 despite having Chad Henne as the back-up. The Pats are last which gives me no pleasure at all.
1. Chiefs (Mahomes/Henne)
2. Ravens (Jackson/Griffin III)
13. Dolphins (Fitzpatrick/Tagovailoa)
31. Jaguars (Minshew/Dobbs)
32. Patriots (Stidham/Hoyer)
Running Back
Only 2 months ago, the Fins would have probably been ranked #32 in this group. The acquisition of Jordan Howard and Matt Breida gives the Fins a nice pairing in the backfield, but I couldn’t have us any higher than just above midway.
1. Ravens (Ingram/Dobbins)
2. Browns (Chubb/Hunt)
15. Dolphins (Howard/Breida)
31. Falcons (Gurley/Ito Smith)
32. Buccaneers (Jones/Vaughn)
Listen to @PatMcAfeeShow talk about the @MiamiDolphins draft and their rebuild with @richeisen on @RichEisenShow https://t.co/6qDHuEmxJC
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) May 1, 2020
Wide Receiver
I went into this feeling the Fins could rank higher at WR, but there is a lot of good receiving corps in the NFL. There’s some uncertainty about all three of our starters, so I couldn’t slot them in higher than 20th.
1. Cardinals (Hopkins/Fitzgerald/Kirk)
2. Cowboys (Cooper/Gallup/Lamb)
20. Dolphins (Parker/Williams/Wilson)
31. Jets (Enunwa/Perriman/Crowder)
32. Redskins (McLaurin/Quinn/Harmon)
Tight End
Despite Gesicki’s improvement in 2019, this group was always going to rank below halfway. It was tough to choose between the Eagles and Buccaneers for #1, but I went with the Eagles as both TE are returning, productive players.
1. Eagles (Ertz/Goedert)
2. Buccaneers (Gronkowski/Howard)
20. Dolphins (Gesicki/Smythe)
31. Cardinals (Arnold/Maxx Williams)
32. Panthers (Thomas/Manhertz)
Offensive Line
No surprise that Miami ranks low here, but there’s a lot of hope that this group could rise well up the rankings by the end of 2020. The good news is, there are 4 groups worse than ours (including the New York Jets.)
1. Saints (Armstead/Peat/McCoy/Ruiz/Ramczyk)
2. Colts (Castonzo/Nelson/Kelly/Glowinski/Braden Smith)
28. Dolphins (Jackson/Flowers/Karras/Hunt/Davis)
31. Jets (Becton/Lewis/McGovern/Winters/Edoga)
32. Seahawks (Brown/Iupati/Finney/Lewis/Shell)
— DolphinsTalk.com (@DolphinsTalk) May 1, 2020
Defensive Line
An above-average rank here. I chose the 4 players for each team based on the best linemen on the roster. The rank is good for Miami and the depth, with players like Raekwon Davis, looks promising. We have a long way to go to match the 49ers though.
1. 49ers (Ford/Armstead/Kinlaw/Bosa)
2. Eagles (Barnett/Hargrove/Cox/Graham)
13. Dolphins (Ogbah/Godchaux/Wilkins/Lawson)
31. Cardinals (Allen/Phillips/Peters/Bullard)
32. Jaguars (Woods/Jones/Bryan/Smoot)
Linebackers
Another reasonably disappointing, middling rank, but this is an improved group this year. There are a lot of teams lacking good LB talent which shows that the position is diminishing in importance in today’s NFL.
1. Cardinals (Jones/Campbell/Hicks/Simmons)
2. Bears (Mack/Trevathan/Smith/Quinn)
15. Dolphins (Van Noy/Baker/McMillan/Biegel)
31. Rams (Floyd/Ebukam/Kiser/Lewis)
32. Giants (Fackrell/Mayo/Martinez/Carter)
Cornerback
I had to put the Fins at #1 here. After all, we do have the highest-paid corners in the league. It was close with the Ravens and Chargers, but Iggy in the slot could tip us over the edge. Nice to see the Jets ranked poorly again – they do seem to have a completely deficient roster.
1. Dolphins (Byron Jones/Howard/Igbinoghene)
2. Ravens (Lattimore/Peters/Young)
3. Chargers (Heyward/King/Harris)
31. Jets (Desir/Hall/Poole)
32. Chiefs (Ward/Breeland/Fenton)
Safety
I like McCain and Rowe, but I couldn’t rank them any higher than #22 at Safety given that they are both technically playing out of position. Brandon Jones may take one of the starting spots through the season which could give this group a lift up the rankings.
1. Vikings (Harris/Harrison Smith)
2. Chiefs (Thornhill/Mathieu)
22. Dolphins (McCain/Rowe)
31. Jaguars (Wilson/Harrison)
32. Colts (Hooker/Willis)
Overall
Although we’re determined to avoid long-term mediocrity, ranking just above midway shows incredible progress at this point in the rebuild. Let’s be honest, if I did this exercise last year at the same time, we would have ranked #32. It seems I may have been harsh on the Jets, I don’t know what came over me.
1. Saints
2. Ravens
16. Dolphins
31. Redskins
32. Jets
