Some thoughts on what the Miami Dolphins have with Tua Tagovailoa, what they could do next, and how to position themselves for long term contention in 2021.
This was a remarkable season of growth bookended by a pair of desultory performances. It started with a quarterback throwing 3 interceptions on the road against a divisional opponent and it likewise ended with a quarterback throwing 3 interceptions on the road against a divisional opponent.
In between, the Dolphins flirted with defensive dominance, strong special teams, and had a good look at a playoff appearance. The coaching, particularly on defense and game management with a strong instinct for when to deploy gadget plays, helped to hide a very young roster and a wildly inconsistent offense. It resulted in a 10-win season where the Dolphins demonstrated their ability to control poorly coached opponents, as well as teams with limited QBs and limited rosters.
On the other hand, they were 1-5 against 2020 playoff teams, and 0-4 against MVP caliber QBs (Josh Allen twice, early season Russell Wilson, Patrick Mahomes), which clearly indicates they aren't yet a championship caliber team. There's several questions on the offensive side of the ball, along with some holes on defense and a roster which needs more quality depth after the 1st year of a rebuild.
Luckily, the Dolphins (thanks to the 2019 Laremy Tunsil trade with the Houston Texans), have 2 1st round picks, 2 2nd round picks, and at least $33 million in cap space space with which to address these issues.
Author's Note 1: Before we descend into the rabbit hole, I will note that there is conjecture regarding the status of current Offensive Coordinator Chan Gailey, though he is on the Dolphins staff as of this writing. I will not discuss the offensive system, as it is beyond the scope of this post. That said...
Down the rabbit hole we go!
