Given the recent news surrounding Tyreek Hill, it would appear that the pre-season euphoria Fins Fans have been experiencing was, in fact, too good to be true.

Now known details about the incident aren’t good, but they’re not awful either. That said, it’s a bad look for Tyreek Hill, who has had similar issues in his past as it relates to putting his hands on people out of petty anger.

He may face a suspension, but that appears unlikely. If he does, would expect it to be no more than 3 games, which would create a nice window for Jaylen Waddle to remind folks he truly is a number-one wide receiver.

Tua has a speedy arsenal of skill players who open up playbooks and allow for death by one thousand cuts or death by one violently quick one. So certainly, it would be logical to assume Tua will spread the ball around.

However, he’s played with Waddle the longest. Both finally don’t have to learn an entirely new scheme, getting continuity in one custom-tailored to amplify what they do well.

So even without Tyreek drawing double teams and keeping safeties sweating on who’s coming over the top, Waddle is poised for his best season yet. His mentality around his prep this off-season, bulking up to play more physically, brings back memories of the energy Jarvis “Juice” Landry brought.

That energy with Waddle’s speed and fearlessness will be a potent combo.

Recent drama and poor behavior by Tyreek is the first blemish on a near-perfect off-season. However, fortunately, there’s still a lot to be optimistic about beyond just Waddle’s potential for this season.

The offense has a lot of exciting possibilities as it relates to skill groups, but line depth adds a level of concern to the point that the defense is the area Fins Fans should be most eager to see.

Vic Fangio’s hiring as Defensive Coordinator is easily the main reason, but it’s only because he has quite a talented group of players to impart his wisdom on.

While depth in the front seven could be better, depth in the secondary combined with a handful of Defensive Backs that can play from anywhere on the field could easily make up for it.

Expect plenty of coverage sacks this season because the extra milliseconds our secondary will steal from offenses will be the difference between Jaelen Phillips, Bradley Chubb, and Christian Wilkins getting sacks over hurries.

Phillips alone had 53 QB pressures last season but only got seven sacks. He will draw double teams this year, opening up opportunities for Chubb and Wilkins to dominate one-on-one battles.

Even then, opposition offenses will always be vulnerable to Brandon Jones or Jevon Holland coming off the edge, as the Dolphins’ defense has plenty of ways to create pressure.

A possible sleeper candidate for a breakout season is Andrew Van Ginkel, aka AVG, who has flashed at times, especially when he’s given the go to rush the backfield and attack the ball. There will be plenty of chances to use AVG as a human missile, and with all the aforementioned players commanding most of the attention, I see that human missile hitting its target more often than not.

Besides AVG, Malik Reed, his direct competition for playing time, is another possible sleeper candidate, given his output under Fangio when he was in Denver.

Ultimately, it is hard to deny the genuine reasons to be happy about this team, to the point that recent news shouldn’t be a cause for panic or defeatist thinking. After all, only one Dolphins team (so far) has ever been perfect.