The Miami Dolphins made some noise in this past year’s free agency when trading for former Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill. After spending six seasons with the Chiefs, Hill won Super Bowl LIV over the San Francisco 49ers in Hard Rock Stadium. This past week Hill did say in a tweet that he is ready for the Hard Rock Stadium atmosphere, which should have Dolphins fans excited.
Tua Tagovailoa also has Jaylen Waddle as a weapon, but adding Tyreek Hill to the equation feels different coming into the 2022 season.
2022 feels like it is officially Tua’s team, but the Dolphins still have questions in the running game. In this past year’s draft, I thought the Dolphins would draft James Cook out of The University of Georgia, but AFC East rival the Buffalo Bills beat the Dolphins to it. The Dolphins have depth at the running back position, but they do not have that big-name running back like they do at the wide receiver position. Edmonds and Mostert are expected to be in a time-share and Myles Gaskin has shown many positives since he has been in Miami, but he is not that big-name running back.
The Dolphins organization has made it clear there is no quarterback competition with Teddy Bridgwater. The Dolphins signed the Miami native Teddy Bridgewater, who has battled injuries his entire NFL career. The Minnesota Vikings drafted Bridgewater with the 32nd pick in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft, and he has played for the Vikings, Jets, Saints, Panthers, and Broncos before coming home to South Florida. Should Tua miss time to injury, Bridgewater is more than capable of stepping in but make no mistake about it, this is Tua’s team in 2022.
[pickup_prop id=”23999″]
I think the Miami Dolphins are the sleeper team in the AFC East because of their move of adding Tyreek Hill along with Terron Armstead at left tackle. It is the first season for new head coach Mike McDaniel who worked under Kyle Shannahan in San Francisco. I think McDaniel was a good hire for developing Tua and has worked with excellent talents in the past, such as Jimmy Garoppolo and Deebo Samuel. You can never count out the New England Patriots as they are always a dangerous team because they have the best head coach in the sport. And the Buffalo Bills as well are the favorite to win the AFC East and the AFC coming into the 2022 season.
The Dolphins have potential on the offensive side of the ball, and they are capable of returning to the playoffs. I think they need consistent quarterback play from Tua, and his weapons such as Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle have to show up as well, but I don’t think that will be an issue. Coaching is also crucial with quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevell who has experience coaching big-name quarterbacks such as Russell Wilson in Seattle.
I am very anxious to see how far the offense has come during training camp and see what they can do by week one. The schedule comes out Thursday, May 12th, and we will find out who the Dolphins will open up with. I hope that the Dolphins will have some primetime games in 2022, and there is a good chance of that happening by having a Super Bowl Champion on your roster. With the Dolphins adding talent on the offensive side of the ball for Tua, I have them being the sleeper team in not just the AFC East but one of the sleeper teams in the National Football League.
The Dolphins are talented on the defensive side of the ball as well. After the Dolphins drafted former Georgia linebacker Channing Tindall in the third round with the 102 pick overall, it showed that the Dolphins have the potential to be dangerous. The Dolphins already have Jerome Baker, a significant factor at the linebacker position, and Andrew Van Ginkel. Then they drafted another linebacker out of California in the seventh round with the 224 pick overall Cameron Goode. The Fins are also very talented on the defensive line, with defensive tackle Christian Wilkins entering his fifth year with the Dolphins and newly re-signed Emmanual Ogbah. The Dolphins are flooded with good players in the secondary, with Xavien Howard as the leader, who has been the heart of the secondary for the Dolphins.
The Dolphins have not been to the playoffs since the 2016 season, and that was a game that I would like to forget against the Steelers. First-year head coach Mike McDaniel is very capable of getting the Dolphins to where they want to be, and they have the potential to be a great football team in 2022.
