Miami Dolphins say they don’t need 11 stars. Fair, but time to add some stars has arrived | Opinion
Brian Flores is right. No NFL teams needs 11 stars on either side of the ball.
“You always want the most talent you can get, the most playmakers offensively, defensively and in the kicking game,” Flores said during his latest press conference. “But at the end of the day, you don’t need 11 stars. You need 11 guys, 11 teammates who will work together and have one goal in mind, and that’s really what we are looking for.”
Flores goes on to explain the mindset of the players he wants is important, maybe as important as whether they orbit in the constellation of great NFL stars at their positions.
That, Flores believes, is what makes a fine team.
“Yeah, we want talented players but we want a good, cohesive unit and guys who fit well together,” Flores said. “That’s not always 11 stars. It’s almost never that way.”
And so as the Dolphins begin their annual offseason talent search, they will be seeking not only good players, but the right kind of good players who fit the team’s culture.
Great.
And now allow me to interject: The Dolphins don’t need 11 stars, that’s true. But the Dolphins definitely need more stars.
Because they simply have too few playing offense or defense.
And for our purposes, too few is defined as one.
The Dolphins have one star.
One.
Cornerback Xavien Howard.
He was the NFL’s best and most productive player at his position in 2020. And no other Dolphins player on offense or defense came even remotely close to that.
Howard is a star but don’t trust me on this. Trust the opinion of the entire Earth: Howard was the only Miami player selected to the Pro Bowl in 2020. He was also the only offensive or defensive player selected as an All Pro.
This column, by the way, is not about Howard. it’s about all the other guys the Dolphins have on their roster — the ones who aren’t stars.
Some of them were productive last year: Jerome Baker, Emmanuel Ogbah, Mike Gesicki.
Some of them are young and delivered well given their roles and playing time limitations: Andrew Van Ginkel, Jakeem Grant as a return man, Zach Sieler.
But stars? None of them.
So the truth is the Dolphins shouldn’t really concern themselves with not wanting 11 stars, as Flores says. Their actual problem is they need two or three more stars.
And that’s what this offseason needs to be about. Solving that problem has to be the more important assignment for Flores and general manager Chris Grier.
They need difference makers.
The Dolphins, going into this offseason, don’t have enough of those. They don’t have even one wide receiver other teams fear will turn a short slant into a 70-yard touchdown. They don’t have a running back who’s delivered a 50-yard run.
The Dolphins also don’t have an edge rusher that opposing offenses fear — something they had years ago, even in lean times, with Jason Taylor and Cameron Wake.
They have Howard, and quarterbacks throw to his side at their peril.
But that’s not enough.
We can all agree on that, right?
And one would suppose the Dolphins would also agree but I don’t get the vibe they’re all that concerned about this. Indeed, there’s evidence this isn’t how the Dolphins think now.
A couple of years ago, after he took over the reins of the entire football side of the organization, Grier said his approach to free agency would more likely be to sign two or three good players than maybe one great one.
The logic there is one great player costs a ton and three good ones address more needs while costing about as much together.
Flores, meanwhile, is definitely focused on his team’s makeup. Yes, he wants talent, but it must be accompanied by a mindset he values perhaps as much.
“So we’ve scoured free agency, the draft and I think we have a pretty good feel for the types of guys we are looking for from a skill set standpoint, but also from a locker room standpoint as people as well,” Flores said.
“I think that’s important. That’s an important factor that can’t be overlooked. All of those things play a role, but we want to improve really in as many areas as possible, on all three sides of the ball. I think that now is the time for that — free agency and the draft.”
Let me interject again because, after all, I pay the Miami Herald handsomely to rent this space:
Finding two or three solid players in free agency is not going to move the needle for the Dolphins. It’s not going to make up the 30-point difference between the Dolphins and Buffalo Bills.
And, no, the Dolphins aren’t one player away from winning a championship. But they might be one star playmaker from making the postseason for the first time in the Flores-Grier era.
I suggest the Dolphins focus this offseason — all of it — on guys who score touchdowns or wreck the opposing offense’s plans for scoring.
Last year the Dolphins used three of their five picks in the draft’s first two rounds on linemen. They added three more linemen in free agency and, you’ll recall the first two picks of the 2019 draft were also used on linemen.
And, yes, those guys are the team’s foundation and it was good to lay that foundation first. But the Dolphins need to be past the foundation building stage this offseason.
The time for star receivers and star running backs and more star receivers and more star running backs — all of them with big-play potential — has arrived.
