Reflecting on this past year, one major question this franchise has had for years has finally been answered. That is the question of who will take over this franchise after Marino. This season we found that in Chad Henne. Yes he did make some mistakes especially in the all important 4th quarter, but his growth and progression game after game was promising. His strong arm and smarts (thanks to Chad Pennington) has me sold. The New England game when he went 29-52 for 335 yards 2 tds and a pick to me was his break out performance and officially sold me. If you simply look at the box score you will not get the true picture of his leadership capabilities and potential. Pair all this with a not all that impressive receiving core and it makes him look even better.
Which brings me to the main point of this article. This off-season for the Miami Dolphins is extremely vital and one of the most important for some time. With the Jets surging and New England being New England (even though they played awful yesterday and seem like they need work), we need to keep up with the Jones' to match with the beasts of the AFC East. Let's be real, this team up and down has a lack of talent and very few play makers. The defense simply put needs work. They were #22 in total defense, #24 in passing defense, and #18 in rushing defense. When your leading tacklers are your safeties, then you know you have a problem.
If you look up and down this defense, the D line has 3 great players: Jason Ferguson, Randy Starks, and Cameron Wake. The line backing core is quite frankly thin and weak with Charlie Anderson and Reggie Torbor being ok, but not good enough. Crowder is solid but he needs help and Porter is done. Perhaps FA Elvis Dumerville from Denver would be a great acquisition. Look into the secondary and Bell is a solid player who plays his heart out, Gibril Wilson is horrible and will get released, and the two rookies (mainly Davis) have potential. Vontae gets burned often, but usually makes up for that with great plays. Being a rookie you expect that, hopefully his 2nd year he will fix those issues.
On the offensive side of the ball, there isn't nearly that much of a need. We have a great running game, great O-Line, solid QB, but average Wr's. We need a number 1 receiver plan and simple. Whether it be Antonio Bryant in Free Agency or Dez Bryant in the draft, we need somebody. Bill Parcells doesn't like people with egos, so basically no Brandon Marshall (who is a Free Agent) or any other head case receiver. Vincent Jackson would be great, but you have to imagine that San Diego will tag him right away. Anquan Boldin still is appealing, but Arizona would want too much.
So all in all, this off-season we need to focus on Inside Line Backers, Safties, Nose Tackle, and Wide Receiver. An ideal off season would be to acquire Dumerville from Denver in Free Agency and Antonio Bryant from Tampa Bay. As for the draft, in true Parcells fashion, draft defense because defense wins championships. So basically as you can see this off-season is very important for this team to move forward. For the development of Chad Henne to have a number 1 receiver, to have good line backers so the secondary doesn't get hung out to dry, all the way to the developing corners with a little help from the Lb's and Safties can really pay dividends. This off season will either push the Dolphins up with the surging Jets and make the AFC East a fun 3-team race for this new decade, or fall in mediocrity like this past decade and make the 2010s another re-run of the forgettable 2000s.
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