Miami Dolphins
This is a team that is always under valued..Sure they always seeem to finish in the 8-8 area,..I expect big things this year.
2015 Team Total / 8.5
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In 2014 the Miami Dolphins finished with a record of 8-8..Missing the playoffs in 2014 this team has made some big adjustments to this ball club in the offseason. Some for the good, and a some for the bad. Does Miami have what it takes to make a playoff push in 2015 ?
Offense:
Ryan Tannehill, QB
Ryan Tannehill is now going into his 4th season in the NFL...In his first three seasons we noticed a few things about Tannehill. He has played in all 16 games since he took the starting job. He also has increased his passing yards each season. His first season total passing yards total was 3,294. Last year his passing yards in total was 4,045. His touchdowns are also up every year and he finished last year with 27 touchdowns. Last year was also his lowest number of combined turnovers as well. His QBR has gone from a 76.1 in his first year to a 92.8 last year..Tannehill has progressed as the years have gone by. Miami has found themselves a starting quarterback who has improved, and now has a chance to make some noise this year.
Lamar Miller, RB ---- Jay Agayi, RB
Miller like Tannehill is entering his 4th season with the Dolphins..Miller just like Tannehill has also improved every season as a Dolphin as well..Last year Miller rushed for 1,099 yards and had 8 touchdowns. Miller has also been a big part of the passing attack and in his 4th year, and i think we can peg Miller as a good fantasy choice at a minimum. Miami will look to use Miller as much as possible, but i also believe they will look to limit him from being over used as well..Miami went out in the 5th rd of the draft and grabbed Jay Ajayi RB, from Boise St...I really think Ajayi will become this teams #2 back in a short time because of his strength. I feel the Dolphins will have a great rushing attack to compliment the passing attack that will be on display in 2015.
Jarvis Landry . WR ---- Kenny Stills, WR
Landry became the go to guy for Tannehill last year..Landry finished with 758 yards and 5 TD's..Landry will be in the slot and the middle option for the Dolphins this year may be a handful for defenses. On the outside you have Kenny Stills who is coming from the Saints who has a ton of talent as well. Stills had 931 yards last year and 3 TD's..Stills will improve this passing attack on the outside with his speed.
Cameron Jordan, TE --- DeVante Parker, WR
Now you add in a real deep threat with great hands and speed with Parker on the outside and that's why the middle is going to be a handful..Dolphins have two tight ends sets and they will be running TE Jordan and TE Dion Sims. This Miami passing attack has improved and this year if they can put the pieces together they will be a tough out for any defense. Youth may hurt them, but they have a few vets on this team as well to get this unit operating at full force.
Overall Offensive Outlook:
This very well may be one of the more talented groups on offense that the Dolphins have put on the field in recent years. They now have players improving and not declining. The youth can be an issue and injuries can hurt this team. This is a work in progress with the offense , but they have the talent to score points this year. The O-Line is my one concern here for the Dolphins..They have a battle going on for starting jobs. They are not the greatest line in the league and they gave up 46 sacks last year. That needs to improve. If this O-Line unit comes together, and they can avoid injury, the progress in the areas they struggled with this Miami offense will be a top 10 offense in the league.
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Defense:
Ndamukong Suh, DT
Make no mistake about it on defense now for the Dolphins, they will be much better with Suh taking over in the middle of this defense..The Dolphins struggled with stopping the run and this is a huge improvement for them. Suh can disrupt the run and the pass and he brings a type of attitude this Dolphins team defense has been missing.
Cameron Wake, DE --- Oliver Vernon, DE
This should be interesting just how much Suh helps these two guys out..The Dolphins at times found themselves out of position on the defensive side of the ball. Now with Suh taking care of the middle, Wake and Cameron can focus on what they need too. These two combined last year for a total of 19 sacks and had combined tackles of 82. Now the edge should be fine and with pressure from these two and Suh in the middle it will be a tough task for any QB in the league to find time to make this defensive unit pay...The run game defense should improve from 24th last year to maybe a top 15 defensive rushing defense. They have the pieces now can they make them work.
The Dolphins added some much needed depth to this defensive unit as well..WIth a late addition Of CJ Mosley and they also picked up a few nice players in the draft that will look to compete and fill in as well..The Dolphins across the board don't have that pro bowl player besides Suh..They are more or less not househould names but the talent on this Dolphins defense is very good..CB Grimes and Jelani Jenkins are tough to get a beat on and with Reshad Jones and Louis Delmas(pictured above) running free, this Dolphins defense just may be a little more recognized this year.
Overall Defensive Outlook :
The addition of one player can't make a decent defense great. The Dolphins defense will now be good and on the verge of very good with the addition to Suh...He makes this defensive unit so much better this year..He is one of very few players that can impact a defense all around..The Dolphins players can now limit themselves to doing the job they have assigned..The outside for this Dolphins team with Suh in the middle will be tough to deal with..The backend is my concern, but overall with the pressure the Qb will recieve, may in fact help them out as well..I'm not very high on the LB core aside from Jenkins. I think this defense can and will improve, but this unit needs to come together rather quick. They are still one or two guys short of being a top 5 defense, but Suh can make them good enough to compete game in and game out.
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The Schedule :
REGULAR
1 SEP 13 1:00PMEDT * AT REDSKINS
2 SEP 20 4:05PMEDT * AT JAGUARS
3 SEP 27 4:25PMEDT * BILLS
4 OCT 4 09:30AMEDT * JETS
6 OCT 18 1:00PMEDT * AT TITANS
7 OCT 25 1:00PMEDT * TEXANS
8 OCT 29 8:25PMEDT * , AT PATRIOTS
9 NOV 8 1:00PMEST * AT BILLS
10 NOV 15 1:00PMEST * AT EAGLES
11 NOV 22 1:00PMEST ) COWBOYS
12 NOV 29 1:00PMEST * AT JETS
13 DEC 6 1:00PMEST * RAVENS
14 DEC 14 8:30PMEST + GIANTS
15 DEC 20 4:25PMEST * AT CHARGERS
16 DEC 27 1:00PMEST * COLTS
17 JAN 3 1:00PMEST * PATRIOTS
**First look one has to notice the lack of strong teams they play to start the year. This team can go 4-2 at worst case IMO..They also have the benefit of coming out of the bye in week 5 and they go to Tennessee...The tough part of the schedule will be weeks 6 thru 10 with 3 games in a row on the road. They are lucky enough to have some break time playing a Thursday night game Vs. the Patriots before heading to Buffalo in week 9...The real strength comes at the end of the schedule..The Dolphins will play 5 of the last 7 games at home...You can't find a true cold weather game for this club all year..The coldest game this team will play will be Nov 29th @ Jets..They will have 4 of the last 5 games at home and that is huge for this Dolphins team..They will host 3 cold weather teams and an indoor team in Indy. Now granted it's not so bad in Miami late Dec, but the avg temp in Miami is much warmer than what you will get in New York or Foxboro...The lone road game in the last 5 weeks is a long trip to SD..Again not a bad spot weather wise for this bunch....Looking at this schedule of tough games this year i can find maybe 5 at best..Patriots, Philly, Indy, Ravens, Dallas...They will host 3 of them at home and they have 2 games with the Pats...The begining of the schedule is great and the last 7 weeks are great..I see a 4 week trouble spot and that's about it
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Overall Prediction:
10 or 11 wins for the Dolphins....The offense and defense will be even better this year..Miami has had some bad luck in recent years and they haven't won over 8 games in a good number of years..With Suh stepping in on this defense it should provide a big boost in the areas that really lacked. The offense again is young, but the talent they have is bigtime..This Dolphins passing game is going to spread teams out and make them defend every inch of the field..The got the TE's, WR's they need..With Miller in the backfield they will be able to use the entire playbook..Rumors have it this team is very focused in OTA's and the rest of the offseason should be a success..They have talent and it will be seen this year. The schedule is a gift IMO and it really favors the Dolphins in 2015..I think Miami will make the playoffs and they will be the biggest surprise in 2015 if they can stay healthy..I have the Dolphins goin 11-5...This line is at 8.5o(-145)...I find great value in only needing 9 wins to cash this ticket.
Miami Dolphins - OVER 8.5 (-145)