Every preseason I usually write an NFL prediction article. But since we are talking Dolphins on DolphinsTalk, I’m going to focus solely on the Miami Dolphins 2023 predictions. If you’ve read my prediction articles in previous seasons, you know that many of those predictions have been accurate. So, concentrating on one team, the Dolphins should be even more tuned than my previous predictions. Here are my 2023 bold Miami Dolphins predictions.
Miami Dolphins Will Win The Super Bowl:Â At one time, earlier in the year, this would’ve been a bold take. However, more and more sports analysts are mentioning the possibility of the Miami Dolphins winning the Super Bowl. Just this past week, both Joy Taylor and Emmanuel Acho have talked about the possibility of the Dolphins winning the Super Bowl. It was a bolder prediction when I tweeted about Miami attending the Super Bowl in March. I even wrote an article entitled, Can Miami’s Speedsters Zoom Their Way To the Super Bowl back in May? On any account, the expectation for second-year head coach Mike McDaniel to lead the Miami Dolphins to a Super Bowl win this season has always been there for me.
Tua Tagovailoa Will Win The MVP:Â By now, everyone realizes the lazy narratives about Tua are only because of fans piggybacking other social media posts. Those narratives aren’t factual or accurate. And most come from fans of other NFL teams that don’t watch the Dolphins play. The “if healthy” narrative is already monotonous and ignores that the phrase applies to every player in the NFL. So, a narrative that applied to a previous season has nothing to do with what hasn’t even happened in a season that hasn’t started yet.
Despite being injured, Tagovailoa has improved statistically every season he’s been in the NFL from the previous season. Now, with more muscle bulk, Jujitsu training, and additional off-season training, expect a better year. Even if Tua doesn’t have Tyreek Hill or the Dolphins don’t acquire Dalvin Cook, there are enough offensive weapons on the Dolphins for him to have a career year. Not only do I expect Tua to have a career year, but he could very well break NFL records this season with his accuracy alone. If he leads his team to the Super Bowl with a record-breaking season, expect him to be named MVP.
Tyreek Hill Will Have A Great Year, But Jaylen Waddle’s Will Be Better: Fans may get the pitchforks out for this one, but I truly believe this. Tyreek Hill is outstanding, and he’s already aiming for a career year. But last season, Jaylen Waddle was targeted 23 fewer times with 29 fewer receptions than in 2021 but had 341 more receiving yards and led the NFL in yards per catch. However, one of the main differences is that his catch rate dropped by ten percent. If Waddle can get his catch percentage back up to where he was in his rookie season, then expect him to be one of the best receivers in the NFL for 2023. My bold take is that Waddle will have a better season than Hill.
Devon Achane Will Have To Wait Another Year For A Breakout Season: Achane may have a breakout season at some point in his career. But I don’t expect that to happen in his rookie year. Even if the Dolphins are unable to acquire Dalvin Cook, Achane will not jump to be the first running back on the depth chart over Raheem Mostert. If the Dolphins acquire Cook, expect him to be at least no higher than the third running back on the depth chart. And that still means he has to compete with Jeff Wilson, Salvon Ahmed, Myles Gaskin, and Chris Brooks to see where he fits in on the depth chart. I expect Achane to get playing time this season, but not a significant amount of playing time.
Elijah Higgins Will Be A Surprise Tight End Second Half Of The Season: I don’t expect wide receiver converted tight end Elijah Higgins to beat out Durham Smythe as the top tight end on the Dolphins. However, I do expect Higgins to get some playing time this season. The transition from college to the NFL, plus going from a receiver to a tight end, will be a challenge. And he may struggle early on. But with his teachable attitude and willingness to learn from tight ends coach Jon Embree, I believe the NFL game will slow down for him faster than sooner.
Even though Smythe has admitted it took him years to adjust to some things in the NFL from college, Higgins is one of those players I feel will make the transition much faster. Because many will believe he won’t have an impact during his rookie season, I believe he will be a surprise to the NFL in the second half of the season.
Jaelan Phillips Will Become One Of NFL’s Best Linebackers:Â Jaelan Phillips will only continue to get better. We already know his stats should have at least one more sack than they show. The NFL reviewed his roughing the passer sack on Justin Herbert, stating that it was not a roughing the passer despite it being after the fact.
Last year, Phillips was tied for the fifth most times he brought on the blitz to a quarterback, with Bradley Chubb leading the NFL. Don’t expect Phillips to slow down. I expect this to be a breakout year for the linebacker, and his sacks will cross the double-digit threshold. He’s going to become one of the better linebackers in the NFL this season.
Jevon Holland Will Be In The Best NFL Safety Discussion After 2023: Holland had a good season as a safety in the NFL. However, some of his performance was a step back from his 2021 rookie season. But the playcalling was very suspect under Josh Boyer last season, so I have to take that with a grain of salt. This year, the Dolphins’ new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio should turn the entire defense around for the betterment of the team.
Because Holland didn’t even rank in the top 25 on some analytical sites as being among the best safeties, it’s a bold prediction for me to say that after 2023, people will be talking about Holland being the NFL’s best safety. That’s a humungous jump and a bold take, but I believe that and stand by my prediction.
There Will Be A Key Injury In 2023, But It Won’t Be Tua: Each year, every NFL team has a key player to go down in at least some part of the season, if not all of the season. The Miami Dolphins are no exception. Injuries are inevitable. I’m not predicting who the key player is that will get injured this year. I’m just saying it is going to happen. It happens to every NFL team each year 100% of the time. And it is going to happen to the Dolphins this season again. But the key injury will not be Tua Tagovailoa this year.
Tua Will Not Miss Games Because Of Injury But Will Sit After Playoffs: This is going to be a hot topic for debate. Tua Tagovailoa is a baller who wants to play with his teammates every game. So, even I was skeptical about making this prediction. Out of all predictions in this article, this is the one I’m the most uncertain about. No, I’m not uncertain that he won’t miss games because of an injury. My prediction is that won’t happen this year. He’ll stay healthy because I believe the unhealthy days are behind him. I’m uncertain whether or not Mike McDaniel wants to opt for him to sit out of the remaining games on the schedule after clinching a playoff berth to avoid the risk of injury before the playoffs.
Last season, the Dolphins were without Tagovailoa because of his injury. The last thing the Dolphins needs is an injury to their star quarterback before the playoffs begin. If Tua is convincing enough because he wants to play, he may persuade McDaniel to let him play anyway. He was able to convince Nick Saban to let him play another snap for Alabama when he wasn’t needed, and it cost him the rest of his college career because of the hip injury. This can go either way. I’m not sure what will happen. But even if Tua never had the injury history, I still think it would be wise to sit a star quarterback out a game or two before the playoffs. It’s my prediction McDaniel will sit him, but it’s not my call.
Miami Will Beat Buffalo Twice This Season: Yes, a Josh Allen-led Buffalo Bills team always plays Miami hard. And I know every Bills fan and a lot of Dolphins fans will want my head on a stick for this prediction. But I believe the 2023 Buffalo Bills team is not the same team it was last year or two seasons ago. We started to see the wheels fall off at the end of the season last year for the Bills. Josh Allen can give interviews about everything is OK, but there has still been trouble brewing in the waters on the Bills team. I predicted last season the Bills wouldn’t make the playoffs because of division in the team. Now, more than ever, there have been public reports of division.
Fans can deny any division among the Bills, but there is still some truth in the reports. Whether it’s small or big, there is a division in the Bills camp. The Bills still have a good defense. But the players are starting to wane in their latter years. That was evident when they were almost beaten by the Dolphins’ third-string quarterback in the playoffs. I truly expect the Bills to lose their power, lose twice to the Dolphins, and become the least dominant team in the AFC East in 2023. I believe their window of opportunity closed last season. Call it what it is, but that is my prediction. And fans will probably disagree with me the most on this one.
Dalvin Cook Will Play For The Dolphins:Â This is more of an expectation than a prediction. Everyone has already said Cook will become a Dolphins teammate this season. Many fans have been wondering what the hold-up is. I believe it has more to do with getting his contract right. The Dolphins want him on the team, and Cook wants to play on the team. If Cook wanted a one-year deal, he would already be signed.
But Cook wants to retire in his backyard, at home. And I believe the contract is being more so worked out for a multi-year deal than just a big-time salary this year. Yes, he wants to be paid, but he wants to be paid by the last team he plays for before he retires. And he wants that to be over some years. So, yes, expect Cook to be getting the rock when the Dolphins play their first game against the Chargers this season.
