NFL Power Rankings 2020 preseason: Where do LA Rams fall?

Team 24 – Miami Dolphins (5-11)

The Miami Dolphins tanked last season, so by not tanking this year, they will improve dramatically. Even as the team tried to lose, they couldn’t even get that right. And so, they are a team once more caught in limbo.  They benefited from a huge draft class influx in 2020, but as their luck would have it, that class arrives in the worst year for adding rookies to a team roster.

2019 summary

Here is a team that discovered when there was no pressure to win, they won. And when they had pressure to win, they lost. The Dolphins held the 27th-ranked offense in 2019 and the 30th-ranked defense. With that in mind, how did they win five games?

Players lost

The good thing about being a bad team? Few teams want to sign your players. Of the 19 players lost to free agency, only four have signed with other teams. They are: C Evan Boehm, DE Taco Charlton, C Evan Brown, and WR Trevor Davis.

Players added

The Dolphins spent vast sums in the 2020 NFL Free Agency market, adding 12 NFL veterans, some of whom include: CB Byron Jones, ILB Kyle Van Noy, DE Shaq Lawson, G Ereck Flowers, DE Emmanuel Ogbah, RB Jordan Howard, S Clayton Fejedelem, C Ted Karas, OLB Kamu Grugier-Hill, and they will be joined by rookies QB  Tua Tagovailoa, OT Austin Jackson, CB Noah Igbinoghene, OT Robert Hunt, DT Raekwon Davis, and S Brandon Jones.

2020 outlook

I guessed that the Dolphins would go QB and OT with their first two NFL Draft picks, but was floored that the team did not add any offensive skill players. The defense was saturated with veterans in free agency. The team’s rushing attack was abysmal, and only added RB Jordan Howard?  The passing game relies almost entirely upon DeVante Parker. The Dolphins offensive line will open some holes, but for who?  Who can say? For now, a six-win season awaits.