The Dolphins were forced to make changes for this season after such a horrible year last season. First and foremost, the front office has been completely re-tooled. The Dolphins have brought in the “Big Tuna” Bill Parcells, one of the greatest coaches of all-time. However, he’s not there as a coach. He’s there as the vice president of football operations for the franchise. Parcells quickly made a splash by firing coach Cam Cameron and hiring a new head coach in Tony Sparano. He’s made several roster changes. Gone is former pro-bowl wide receiver Marty Booker, in is veteran Ernest Wilford. Parcells even jumped out of the starting gate of this year’s NFL Draft by signing T Jake Long out of Michigan as the number one overall pick days before the draft even started. Parcells knows what he wants and knows what he needs to turn this franchise around.
The wide recievers for the Dolphins are questionable. Ted Ginn Jr is an outstanding play-maker with blazing speed, but Derek Hagan is somewhat of an under-achiever. Ernest Wilford is a veteran, but I think Marty Booker would have been the better option for this team. The recievers are going to have to work hard to earn their spots and make believers out of basically everyone. I do believe Ted Ginn Jr is going to be a force to be reckoned with in this league.. I just don’t know if thats going to be this year.
RB Ronnie Brown will be looking to make an impact this year. Last year, he was the one bright spot on a very dark franchise. Unfortunatly, Ronnie Brown suffered a season ending injury. Before that, Brown was leading the league in rushing. The Dolphins are going to need this same effort and maybe more from their stud running back. Hopefully, Brown can come back strong after the bad knee injury that ended his season. After Brown, the depth chart doesn’t look great in the backfield. Ricky Williams hasn’t played a meaningful down of football in years. Last year in his return to the game, he was injured for the season his first game back. Its not a great backfield. Ronnie Brown needs to be great.
The position that gets the most coverage is of course the Quarterback position, especially for Miami. They have quite the controversy. Its not a matter of who should play, its more of a matter of who shouldn’t play. For the time being, 3 Quarterbacks are rotating with the first team. Josh McCown, John Beck, & rookie Chad Henne out of Michigan. McCown started for the Oakland Raiders last season and had a tough year. The Raiders aren’t a great team, but McCown barely played. He missed several games due to injuries, which in turn questions his durability for this season. John Beck, the Dolphins second round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, has seen very limited time in the NFL, but in that time hasn’t looked like the Quarterback of the future. This brings us to Chad Henne. The rookie quarterback selected in the second round of this year’s NFL Draft. He’s a talented quarterback out of Michigan who can perhaps make an impact for the Miami Dolphins. The only problem is that he’s a rookie. You can’t rush rookies into playing at the NFL level. Henne is going to need some time to develop into an NFL quarterback. What I think will happen is we will see Josh McCown as the starting quarterback for at least 6 weeks. This will give time for Chris Henne to refine his knowledge of the playbook and prepare himself for his first start, which I believe will be week 7 at home against Baltimore. John Beck will most likely only see time if McCown can’t go. I believe Henne will be the Quarterback of the future for the Miami Dolphins.
The Dolphins have a long way to go before they are relevant again. Its not going to be an easy year for them, but maybe they can find a way to make this year a great starting point. They need wins. As I look at their schedule, I see mostly losses, but there are some games in there that they can win and thats a good sign. The Dolphins are going to have a long year ahead of them, but with Parcells at the helm the future doesn’t look so bleak. I predict the Miami Dolphins will finish the year 5-11. That may be pushing it, but thats my prediction and I’m sticking to it.
Keywords: AFC, Chad Henne, Ernest Wilford, Football, John Beck, Josh McCown, Ladainian Tomlinson, Marty Booker, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, NFL, Oakland Raiders, Ricky Williams, Ronnie Brown, San Diego Chargers, Ted Ginn Jr, Tom Brady
