There are many reasons to get excited and feel hopeful about this Dolphins team entering the upcoming season. However, many questions remain after the Draft and Free Agency. We all know the media and fans’ main question is, Will Tua stay healthy? As much as I believe in Tua, that is a fair question. Other questions are just as important to me, and that will determine the success of the season. How will the Offensive line play? That question is heavily dependent on the health of Terron Armstead. The chances of Armstead remaining healthy and playing the full season are slim based on his history. If and when Armstead is hurt, who will replace him? How will the other starters play? If the offensive line can play like a top-20 unit, then the Offense should be fine. The signing of Isaiah Wynn is a nice piece for depth purposes, and could serve as the backup Left Tackle.
Another question is how will the Secondary hold up throughout the season? Last season, the defense was ravaged by injuries, with most coming in the secondary. The secondary will enter mostly healthy this coming season, with a few guys still recovering. Watching Fangio come up with defensive schemes against some of the best offenses in the league will be fun to watch. This season, we play the Chiefs, the Eagles, the Bills twice, the Jets twice, the Cowboys, the Chargers, and the Ravens. All boasting top 10 Quarterbacks, and the pressure will be on Ramsey, Howard, and the rest of that defense. With Ramsey and Holland, Fangio has two chess pieces that he can move all over the field to give those Offenses different looks. Also, more Zone should benefit Howard’s health and his ball skills. Having to shadow the best receiver on an island can be taxing on the body, especially as the player ages.
The last question I have is how will the Wide Receiver unit improve. Tyreek Hill and Jaylan Waddle were awesome last year. In most games, they seemed unguardable, but some games had a key drop or a key fumble. There was also a game where they could not get off press coverage. Those areas will need to improve to continue to elevate the offense. Braxton Berrios is an excellent signing because he can be really good in the slot, and more importantly, he can help the return game. Cedrick Wilson should receive more opportunities to show his value (assuming he is on the team), and Chosen Anderson can be another big-play receiver that the Dolphins missed last year.
The Dolphins get a chance immediately to show that they corrected some of those issues when they face the Chargers on the road in week 1. After all, the Chargers’ defense did a great job of slowing down the offense. Of course, there are other questions on the team, but if those three questions are answered, we will have a winning season.
