Miami Dolphins rebuild on course at the midway point of the 2020 season | Opinion
They will be midway through their schedule by late Sunday and so far the Miami Dolphins are doing much better than some of us who are merely surviving 2020.
This is Year Two of the rebuild that started in 2019 when coach Brian Flores teamed up with general manager Chris Grier to form a new brain trust atop the Dolphins organization, never mind that Grier has been part of previous brain trusts for 20 years.
And Year Two, amid some success and some failures that are obvious in the standings, is actually playing out pretty well so far. Maybe better than expected.
Because so far the Dolphins have not merely avoided disaster but have actually prospered.
So far, this team is humming along and pretty nicely.
This is not a prediction of grand success to come. The late and great Edwin Pope used to advise me never to make predictions in print because “there’s only one way to be right and a thousand ways to be wrong.”
So this isn’t a prediction of what is about to happen. But it is a recount of what’s been happening.
And that, everything taken into account, has been pretty good.
To get the full picture one has to rewind all the way back to March and April when the Dolphins did a ton of work to build on the foundation of 2019. In those two months the team spent a lot of money (approximately $250 million in contracts that included approximately $150 million in guaranteed cash). And then the team added a lot of talent in the draft with its 11 selections.
So what did that train load of resources produce so far?
The draft produced four players — quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, right tackle Robert Hunt, right guard Solomon Kindley and defensive lineman Raekwon Davis — who will start against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
The same draft also produced left tackle Austin Jackson, who was a starter until he injured a foot weeks ago and will return to the starting lineup soon.
So Miami’s most recent draft produced five starters so far this year.
And while starting doesn’t mean consistently performing at a high level, the fact the Dolphins have high hopes long-term for every rookie who has started suggests the possibilities of them getting those picks right is good.
Miami’s free agency investment, large though it was in the offseason, also has so far netted good dividends.
Free agency brought the team’s sack leader in Emmanuel Ogbah, the starting center in Ted Karras, starting left guard Ereck Flowers, starting cornerback Byron Jones, starting edge player Shaq Lawson, and two starting linebackers in Kyle Van Noy and Elandon Roberts.
So 11 of Miami’s 22 starters on offense and defense were added this offseason via the draft or free agency.
This is not saying the Dolphins signed or drafted a bunch of Pro Bowl players. But it is notable that in trying to find players to fill roles, the Dolphins didn’t seem to step on any landmines.
We’ve all been familiar with those in the past.
Mike Wallace.
Phillip Wheeler.
Justin Smiley.
Several others.
The Dolphins’ biggest offseason misstep so far this year? Running back Jordan Howard, who has been a healthy scratch the last three weeks but might be called on to help a battered running back corps against the Cardinals.
One can also point to the Matt Breida trade as having netted limited value so far. Together with the Howard signing this seems like a major disservice done to the running back room in the offseason.
But the truth is the Dolphins didn’t make a long-term commitment to either Howard or Breida and will definitely be searching to improve its running back talent next offseason.
About next year: If the Dolphins had laid an egg this past offseason, there would and should be little confidence next year’s moves might improve the situation. Because the dark history would suggest a dim future.
It was thus fair to wonder about the drafting of Kindley and the signing of Flowers this year because last year’s drafting of Michael Deiter and signing of multiple linemen no one even recalls did not work as planned.
But the Dolphins this year have changed the narrative.
With this year’s moves helping improve the team (at least so far) there can be a new confidence future moves to address the roster can work. Because the moves we’ve witnessed this year have done so.
You must remember this is not a full history of what happened to the 2020 Dolphins. There’s still half a season to go.
But think of it ...
Amid a pandemic, the Dolphins have so far successfully managed a bottom-up remake of the roster, the transition from a veteran quarterback to his rookie successor, and the growth of a young head coach and a relatively new staff of assistants.
And, yes, there have also been rough spots. The Xavien Howard trade issue two weeks ago was a small crisis. There’s been a COVID-19 case on the defensive coaching staff, the schedule has been rewritten once, and fake news from a national news source needed to be refuted.
But amid those moments of drama and in managing the issues that begged attention, the Dolphins have remained pointed in a good direction.
They didn’t fall off the cliff after two consecutive losses to start the season.
They haven’t gotten presumptuous during a three-game win streak.
They’ve been steady. Solid.
That’s a pretty good place to be at the midway point of the season.
This story was originally published November 8, 2020 at 12:09 AM.
