Finsmob Unleashed

So much has happened in the last week, my head is spinning. The day I wrote the last article the Dolphins traded for DB Jalen Ramsey. The moves kept coming in a flurry of activity. We all knew we had a lot of players to re-sign, and the Dolphins seemed to feel like they wanted to continue forward with many of the same players. Let me start with the RB depth, which we brought back intact, the entire RB roster. Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, Salvon Ahmed and then recently, Myles Gaskin. I saw an interesting tweet the other day, basically stating that the SF 49ers discarded two of their main backs, Wilson and Mostert and decided to draft Elijah Mitchell and later acquire CMC in a big trade. So the essence of the tweet was basically the Dolphins backfield is led by two castoffs from the 49ers. Well, as we’ve all learned, one mans trash is another mans treasure. Mostert and Wilson both succeeded and played well here, and Ahmed and Gaskin are decent depth players. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to draft a RB, but now it will most likely be a later RD pick, because it seems like they made it a priority to bring the entire RB room back. Some young blood is a necessity, but this can also be accomplished as UDFA’s, like half of our depth was acquired, Salvon Ahmed. We drafted Gaskin in RD 7 in ’19.

So, let’s tally up who we brought in . . .

DB Jalen Ramsey (LA Rams)

RB Jeff Wilson (MIA)

RB Raheem Mostert (MIA)

RB Salvon Ahmed (MIA)

RB Myles Gaskin (MIA)

LB David Long (TEN)

LB Duke Riley (MIA)

DB Nik Needham (MIA)

TE Eric Saubert (DEN)

QB Mike White (NYJ)

WR Braxton Berrios (NYJ)

OG Dan Feeney (NYJ)

OT Geron Christian (MIA)

S Deshon Elliot (DET)

Some notable losses are LB Elandon Roberts (PIT), one of my favorites, and one of my former favorites, TE Mike Gesicki (NE). I’m very interested to see how both of these players fare on their new teams. I think Roberts fits the Steelers defense perfectly, he’s an inside thumper, coming off his best season. Gesicki is an enigma, we know he has receiving talent, but somehow we never managed to get as much as I thought we could get from him. Gesicki’s most productive season was in ’21, where he caught 73 passes for 780 yards and just 2 TD’s. I expected him to be a high volume pass catcher with a high YPR, but that never panned out. He’s definitely a red zone threat, and the Patriots would be wise to employ him often there.

With most of free agency moves in the books, the team still has a pocket full of draft picks left for 2023. Our fist pick is #51 in RD2, followed by a 3rd RD pick acquired from NE for DeVante Parker (#84). We have #197 in RD 6 from the Bears, and then finally #238 in RD 7. Remember there is also free agency after the draft, and I suppose there may be a few veteran castoffs that might fit here. We’re definitely pushing to go deep this year, and as we all know, the health of #1, QB Tua Tagovailoa is paramount to that success. Yes, we signed Mike White, who is a nice story being from FLA and a fan of our Dolphins, but Tua is the linchpin to the season. We have to keep him upright and healthy, but most of all he has to play smart and keep himself out of harms way. If throwing the ball away saves getting hit, so be it. He can play aggressively, but he can’t allow himself to be in a position where he will absorb punishment.

Vic Fangio has put his stamp on this free agency. First, the trade to bring Jalen Ramsey here. Ramsey is truly a multi faceted DB who can range anywhere from a cover corner on the perimeter, to an in the box LB on obvious passing downs. He’s an excellent piece that Fangio will love to employ. LB David Long, who wasn’t a full time starter last season in Tennessee, is also a versatile player. He’s an excellent tackler, but can also cover very well. I think the latter is the biggest reason why we chose him over Elandon Roberts, we need a LB that can not only make most the tackles expected, but cover as well, and that unfortunately, was not Roberts strong suit. I’m thrilled that we brought back Nik Needham, he’s been a favorite of my mine because he’s such a gamer, and always stepped up when needed. Hopefully he’s fully recovered and ready to go by the time the season begins. Fangio now has a very strong defense, with two very good cover corners (I believe the acquisition of Ramsey will invigorate Howard this season), a strong defensive line with Ogbah, Wilkins and Sieler, excellent pass rush ability and run defense from two very strong OLB’s (Phillips and Chubb), and then the addition of David Long to help out the extremely underrated and underappreciated #55, Jerome Baker. He played every game the last 2 seasons, and always gets the job done, and do multiple things, run and tackle from sideline to sideline, cover, and always end up with 100 or more tackles. Seems like every year we want to upgrade, and I get it, but I like Baker, and think we should all like him more than we do.

Sorry to be redundant, but with #1 on the field healthy, we will methodically use two of the best wideouts in the NFL, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. We brought the entire RB squad back, in 8 games Jeff Wilson averaged 4.7 YPC for 392 yards. Mostert averaged 4.9 YPC in 16 games for the Dolphins for 891 yards. One element of concern is that this is clearly a RB by committee approach, and none of our backs can truly shoulder a big load, and haven’t done so in their NFL careers. We have two obvious needs on offense right now, TE, and a young RB. You can argue against the latter, but I think we need to have a guy that carry the ball 20-30 times in a game and not be on the injured list the next week. I don’t care if it’s an UDFA as I mentioned earlier, but I wouldn’t mind if we spent a pick on one either. Eric Saubert is a blocking TE, and for the most part, so is Durham Smythe. To be fair, we don’t have a real receiving TE on the roster, so we may look to draft one early on, there are a few that should be available to us at either #54, or #84.

The Jets and Green Bay Packers are still working on a deal that would bring QB Aaron Rodgers to NY. Apparently, Green Bay’s compensation for Rodgers services is the holdup. I would say it’s safe to assume that both sides will eventually get it done, but Rodgers is a loose screw that can nullify the trade at any time, but if he wants to play this season, I just can’t see him playing again in GB. If the Jets do indeed get Rodgers, then the AFC landscape changes significantly. It will be a very tough 3 way race between the defending AFC East champion Buffalo Bills, NY Jets, and our Miami Dolphins. You can make an argument for any of the 3 as to why they can win, or why they will fail. Injuries are the devil, and we know all too well that if our QB played all 17 regular season games, we had a legitimate chance to be either the #2 or #3 seed. I think our roster is better now. The Bills sustained a substantial loss in LB Tremaine Edmunds, but managed to retain S Jordan Poyer, as well as pick up OG Connor McGovern from the Cowboys. The Jets signed WR Allen Lazard, purportedly because potential QB Aaron Rodgers requested them to do so. The Jets lost a pair of DT’s though, Sheldon Rankins (HOU) and Nathan Shepherd (NO). The Jets also re-signed K Greg (The Leg) Zuerlein, one of the best in the league. If Rodgers comes to the AFC East, it will be an absolute dogfight and potentially all 3 teams could secure playoff berths. Hopefully, 2023 is the one where the Miami Dolphins are on top!

GO DOLPHINS!!!!