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Who would have thought that when the Miami Dolphins finished 1-15 in 2007 that it would translate into an 11-5 AFC East Division Title in 2008?

After the debacle, Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano came into Miami and started to build the foundation for what they want to be a championship team. Parcells and company said it would be a three year rebuilding process. Well, it looks to be a lot faster than three years after watching what the team did in year one of their tenure. As the team approaches year two, there is a lot of optimism within the walls of the Miami Dolphins locker room, the coaches and the city of Miami.

OFFENSE

Quarterbacks: Before the start of the 2009 season the Dolphins were contemplating the quarterback position between John Beck and Josh McCown. The month of June came along and Chad Pennington fell into their laps. Once the Dolphins were able to land one of the best game managers in the league the rest fell into place. The quarterback position is among the strongest on this years squad. Chad Pennington is now in year two of the offense. Even though his arm strength is a question, he still finished as one of the highest rated quarterbacks in the NFL. Pennington and his receivers have been working together the entire off-season, so there should be even more continuity on the field. Last year’s second round pick Chad Henne is waiting in the wings. Although Pennington goes into this year as clear-cut starter, a slow start could mean the Henne Era starts sooner rather than later. Henne has impressed the Miami Dolphins organization and clearly has the skill set to be a starter in the National Football League. A four-year starter at Michigan, Henne knows what it takes to be a winner. He is getting the luxury of learning the mental aspect of the game from Chad Pennington and 2010 could be the year where Henne steps in. The team also drafted Pat White in the second round of this year’s draft. Pat White will be the Wildcat quarterback or should we say the WhiteCat. Lets make no mistake about it; Chad Pennington is the Dolphins quarterback and Chad Henne is the backup and the future. Pat White will bring playmaking ability to the team as far as running the football or even throwing the ball from the Wildcat. This is something that Ronnie Brown was unable to do. The Dolphins have leadership, depth and strength at the quarterback position and the future at the position seems very bright.

Running Backs: Very quietly the Dolphins have established a very talented group of running backs. Ronnie Brown is coming off a pro bowl season in which he had the ball in his hands with the innovation of the Wildcat offense. Brown last year was also coming off an ACL tear that sidelined him the second half of the 2007 season. He finished with 916 yards on the ground, averaging over four yards per carry. Let's not forget, this is fresh off a knee injury. Most people expected the dead leg syndrome for a running back coming off an ACL tear but that didn't happen with Brown. He is now one year fully removed from the injury and it is expected that Brown will have the breakout All Pro season that many expect. With his combination of size and speed, he could be among the elite running backs in the National Football League this year. The teams number two running back is none other than Ricky Williams. Although Ricky is into his 30's, he is showing no signs of decline. He averaged over four yards a carry and finished with 659 yards for his 2008 campaign. He played in all 16 games and you will more than likely see him play a bigger role in ’09, which could also include an extended version of what we saw in 2008. This extended version will be Ricky and Ronnie playing in the backfield at the same time. Adding to the depth of this squad is Patrick Cobbs. He is a young, aggressive player that is quick and elusive. Cobbs contributed a lot to this Miami Dolphins offense as he was utilized in screen plays and the Wildcat offense. He averaged over seven yards per carry when given the opportunity to run the ball. Look for him to spell the R&R combination of Ricky and Ronnie at times and portray the same role he did a year ago.

Wide Receivers: Many people are questioning that the problems with the Miami Dolphins wide receiver core is that they don't have a legitimate number one. Ted Ginn Jr. is now going into year three of his professional tenure. Third-year wide outs are usually labeled as the year a receiver is supposed to put it together if they haven't already done so. The Dolphins are hoping Ginn makes those strides. He has progressed, putting up better numbers in year two but its time for him to step up and go to another level. A pleasant surprise was the play of Greg Camarillo and Davone Bess. Although Camarillo finished the season on injured reserve, he was the ‘Fins leading receiver up to that point. He finished with 613 receiving yards through 10 games and seemed to catch everything thrown in his direction. Bess was an undrafted rookie from Hawaii and clearly showed his great hands and ability as a route runner. He played in all 16 games tallying 54 catches for 554 yards. The team is banking on the continued development of those three receivers. In this past draft they added two more receivers. They took the big, physical Patrick Turner out of Southern Cal who will be a red zone target and Brian Hartline out of Ohio State who will be another slot receiver for this team but with a little size. The Dolphins will also continue to develop Brandon London, who they picked up off the Giants practice squad in the 2007 season. It doesn't look sexy on paper but with Ginn, Camarillo, Bess, Turner, Hartline and London, the team has a group of receivers that they love and all of them are age 27 or younger.

Tight Ends: The tight end position is an important part of the Miami Dolphins offense. When you have a starting quarterback that lacks the arm strength to get the ball downfield, you need a tight end that can work the middle of the field and catch all of the intermediate passes. Miami doesn’t have the elite tight end that everybody knows. They went with a tight end by committee in 2008 with the likes of Anthony Fasano, David Martin and Joey Haynos. Fasano was the starter and he was drafted by the Bill Parcells regime when they were in Dallas. Fasano is more of a blocking tight end with pass-catching skills. He did finish fourth on the team in receiving and led the team in receiving touchdowns with seven. Fasano is a solid and serviceable tight end but nothing more. The other tight end to get extensive playing time was David Martin. Martin finished the season with 31 catches for 450 yards and three touchdowns. If you add up the tight end numbers between Fasano and Martin, you get 65 catches for 904 yards and 10 touchdowns which are excellent numbers however a lot of that has to be attributed to the genius of offensive coordinator Dan Henning. They love to use the tight end. Fasano and Martin are both going into the last years of their contracts so keep an eye on that. Remember Bill Parcellls did draft an elite tight end in Dallas named Jason Witten. He also drafted a guy in New England named Ben Coates and did have a guy in New York with the Giants named Mark Bavaro. They love tight ends and eventually the position will be upgraded. Fasano and Martin are nice players. Their third tight end Joey Haynos is a project. They drafted John Nalbone in the fifth round and have other young players at the position, which creates for a lot of competition in camp. They even moved a former receiver in Ernest Wilford to tight end, which won't last very long. Look for another season of Fasano and Martin as the front-runners splitting the snaps but neither is a long-term solution to a position that this coaching staff covets as an integral part of their offensive philosophy.

Offensive Line: You win football games by winning on the line of scrimmage. This is all you need to know. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins is a former offensive line coach so you know how important lineman are to him. He expects a lot. As a matter of fact, Sparano spends a lot of time with the unit and pays very close attention to what goes on. The Dolphins offensive line over the years had been horrendous. The first pick of this regime was used on Jake Long, an offensive tackle out of Michigan. Long not only started all 16 games as a rookie but he protected the blind side of Chad Pennington and did an incredible job. He allowed one and a half sacks all season as a rookie. The Dolphins then addressed the unit in free agency with the addition of Justin Smiley. Smiley is coming off an injury to his leg and finished last years campaign on injured reserve, however he is healthy and ready to go this year. Long at left tackle and Smiley at left guard proved that they were a force to be reckoned with when playing together. Once again they will solidify the left side of their line, not only this year but for years to come. The team was not happy with the play of center Samson Satele. Satele clearly had problems blocking bigger defensive tackles and because of it, the team was unable to generate any push up the middle. They addressed the center position this off-season by trading Samson Satele to Oakland and replacing him with former Raiders center Jake Grove. Grove is known for being a mean and tenacious player. The Dolphins expect that from him as he was given a five-year free agent contract. He is the kind of player this team thrives for. Grove is not much bigger than Satele but he plays with incredible leverage and as said before, pushes people around. He will be an important part with Smiley to his left in helping the Dolphins generate a running game up the middle more often. The right guard position was a problem when rookie sixth round draft pick Donald Thomas went down during week one of 2008. He was such a pleasant surprise and a foot injury put him on IR. To his credit, Thomas played the entire game with the injury and wanted to play through it. It shows the kind of player this young man is. He sustained a pectoral injury in mini camps but insists that he will be ready for training camp. As of right now, look for him to reclaim the right guard spot that he had when he got injured. Shawn Murphy, Brandon Frye, Andy Alleman, Nate Garner and Ikechuku Ndukwe are all young players that are still developing but they will not cut it at right guard as of this moment. The team did sign Joe Berger from Dallas as a free agent and he has the ability to play both center and guard. If Thomas is unable to go at first then don't expect the ‘Fins to use Berger at right guard. They are more concerned with using Berger at center as a good insurance policy to Jake Grove. Lastly, Vernon Carey was drafted by the Dolphins in 2004 and has been the one mainstay in their offensive line. He started at right tackle all 16 games last year. He is very durable and versatile. In the off-season Carey was awarded with a new five-year extension. With Long and Carey, the Dolphins form one of the best tackle tandems in the NFL. If all goes according to plan then the Dolphins will field one of the best lines on paper with Long at left tackle, Smiley at left guard, Grove at center, Thomas at right guard and Carey at right tackle. Lastly, Carey is 27, Thomas is 23, Grove is 29, Smiley is 28 and Long is 23. Looks to be a pretty young and aggressive offensive line for a long time to come.

DEPTH CHART

DEFENSE

Defensive Line: This goes back to the saying that you have to win on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Miami Dolphins do everything in their power and in their eyes can never have enough bodies on the line. The team is going to go another year with old reliable, Jason Ferguson, platooning the middle in their 3-4 defense. Ferguson has had a great NFL career and he still gets the job done. He is a "Parcells guy" and he serves as a great mentor to the younger players. When Fergie isn't in there then the front seven clearly struggles as was evident from a regular season game against Baltimore last year. It is unknown as to who would play the position if Ferguson goes down to injury for some reason. In 2007 the team drafted Paul Soliai in the fourth round. He is going into year three and hasn't panned out at this point. He was actually suspended by the team a couple games last year and is known for being lazy. This is a big year for him to prove he can get his act together, otherwise the Dolphins could be exploring options to find a long term replacement for Jason Ferguson. They have a couple young players they like at the position in Joe Cohen and Louis Ellis that will get serious looks in the preseason.

Defensive End seems to be a position that is very strong with the Dolphins this upcoming season. The position is so strong that the team told Vonnie Holliday that we don't need you anymore. Last year they drafted Phillip Merling in the second round from Clemson and Kendall Langford in the third round from Hampton. Langford started all 16 games. He contributed 31 tackles and 2 sacks. Merling played behind Holliday but showed that he is ready to man the right side full time this year. Last year Merling had a big interception return for a touchdown in the teams final regular season game against the New York Jets and also contributed 26 tackles and a sack. Behind the incumbent starters will be Tony McDaniel, whom the Dolphins acquired from Jacksonville via trade. McDaniel is a big 6'7, 305-pound player that the Dolphins feel his best football is in front of him. They also have Randy Starks, who contributed 29 tackles, three sacks and an interception during the ‘08 campaign. Starks was brought in last year as a free agent from the Tennessee Titans. Lastly, the Dolphins have second-year player Lional Dotson. Dotson was drafted in the seventh round the same year they took Merling and Langford. The team loves his upside. He spent the entire 2008 season on the practice squad, but the team is optimistic that he will be a part of the 53-man roster and contribute this year. This unit is young and aggressive. These five guys will rotate along the defensive end spots unless there are some other surprises during camp. Every year there are surprising players that come out of nowhere. Keep this in mind that Langford, Merling, Dotson, McDaniel and Starks are all 25 years of age or younger!

Linebackers: We can stop all the rumors that Bill Parcells and Jason Taylor don't get along. After being traded to the Washington Redskins for a second and sixth round pick, JT is now back. After the first injury-riddled season of his career, the Redskins released Taylor. Lets not forget to mention that Taylor still has something left in the tank. It helps when you maximize a player’s talent by putting him in the right position, but enough about the Redskins. The Dolphins signed Jason Taylor to a one-year deal and even though he will be 35 in September, the team feels that he can clearly help their pass rush. There is no word if Taylor will start but he will be in the mix and this former Defensive MVP will be playing with a chip on his shoulder. Once again the Dolphins will team Taylor up with Joey Porter, who is coming off a Pro Bowl season in which he accumulated 17.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. When you think about Taylor and Porter will be rushing from opposite sides then as an opposing team you get a little nervous. However, both players aren't spring chickens anymore. Porter will be 32 but the Dolphins feel with their system that they can still get a lot of production between the two of them. The team will have other options at the outside linebacker position but there are question marks. If these question marks don't pan out then the Miami could be rebuilding their outside pass rush very soon. Fifth-year player Matt Roth, a defensive end, was moved to outside linebacker when the Parcells regime came in. He had five sacks and two forced fumbles in his first full season as a 3-4 outside linebacker. He is going into the last year of his contract so all eyes will be on him to see how much progress he makes at year two at the position. The verdict is still out to see if Roth can be the guy the team needs on the outside on a full time basis. The Dolphins also brought in CFL standout Cameron Wake. The ‘Fins were one of 11 teams interested in the services of Wake. He was given a four-year contract based on his production where he had 39 sacks in two seasons and won back-to-back Defensive MVP's in the CFL. It will be interesting to see how his play translates to the NFL. The Dolphins outside pass rushing will consist of Joey Porter, Jason Taylor, Matt Roth and Cameron Wake. Lets not forget about Charlie Anderson. Anderson contributed two and a half sacks and two forced fumbles as an outside rusher. He came to Miami last year as a free agent from the Houston Texans. At this point when your best pass rushers on the outside are well into their 30's there is cause for concern. Don't tell that to Joey and Jason...they will make it a priority to prove everybody wrong.

Inside linebacker is a position that improvement is clearly needed during the course of this season. Both starters are back from a year ago. Akin Ayodele is another "Bill Parcells" player. Parcells traded for him when he took over the reins in Miami. The other starter is Channing Crowder. Crowder was second on the team in tackles with 114. He was also rewarded with a three-year contract extension this off-season. Akin was third in the team in tackles with 74 and did have two interceptions. Both guys are tackling machines but did lack the kind of big plays that are needed from the inside linebacker position. Both players didn't record a single sack and only Crowder forced a single fumble. This is something to keep an eye on. Can Crowder and Ayodele turn into the consistent playmakers that the team is looking for? The verdict is still out. Both are very solid players and you can count on them to suit up every Sunday but more contributions are clearly needed if the team is going to take another step. Behind the starters are Reggie Torbor, a former New York Giants linebacker on their Super Bowl team, who was brought in as a free agent in 2008 to provide depth and help on special teams. The team also brought in Eric Walden off the Kansas City Chiefs squad in midseason and proved to be a young player that they like as a linebacker and special teams player. Outside of these four, the team will be taking a serious look at some other young players such as William Kershaw and J.D Folsom.

Secondary: In 2008 this unit was clearly the weakest on the team. Going into the 2009 campaign the unit clearly on paper looks among the strongest. Last year’s starter Will Allen had a very good season and because of it earned a two-year extension. He will man the starting corner spot on one side. He finished with 50 tackles and three interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. Even though the team lost Andre Goodman and Renaldo Hill to the Denver Broncos, the team clearly upgraded this season. They signed Eric Green away from the Arizona Cardinals to a two-year contract. Green started for the NFC champions until he lost his starting spot to Dominique-Rodgers Cromartie in week 12. The Dolphins also drafted, what people are calling, the two best cover corners in the draft in Vontae Davis out of Illinois and Sean Smith out of Utah. Nate Jones was their nickel back from last year and he contributed 15 tackles, three sacks and an interception. Will Allen will start on one end and look for Eric Green, Vontae Davis and Sean Smith to battle for the starting spot opposite Will Allen. Again, there will be a lot of competition when camp starts but look for Allen, Green, Davis, Smith and Jones to make the active roster. Jason Allen and Joey Thomas will compete along with others.

The longest tenured Miami Dolphins player is strong safety Yeremiah Bell. He has turned into a great player that arguably should have been in the pro bowl last year. He was drafted by Dave Wannstedt as a sixth round pick out of Eastern Kentucky. He has survived Wannstadt, Saban and Cam Cameron and is a favorite of the Dolphins current coaching staff. Last year Bell led the team in tackles with 120. He also added a sack, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Bell is a tenacious hitter. He will team up with free agent addition Gibril Wilson, another aggressive ball hawking safety that was given a five-year contract after being released by the Oakland Raiders. Wilson was on the New York Giants team that won the Super Bowl two years ago. He will be able to move back to his natural free safety position. The Dolphins will have adequate depth behind the starters of Bell and Wilson. They drafted Chris Clemons out of Clemson in the fifth round. He will have every opportunity to play and compete to play in dime packages and special teams. The team also resigned safety Tyrone Culver, a special teams contributor, to an extension. Culver played in dime packages last year. Only Yeremiah Bell and Will Allen are over the age of 30. Both players will be 31 at the start of the season. All the others are 27 years of age or younger! A lot of optimism for the present and future of the Fins secondary.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Dolphins went the entire 2008 campaign with a rookie undrafted free agent kicker from Montana. Most people would think disaster but Dan Carpenter didn't disappoint. He finished 21 out of 25 on field goal attempts. The team will also go with 3rd year player Brandon Fields for the punting duties. Fields was drafted by the team out of Michigan State in the 7th round 2 years ago. He is a big kid with a strong leg. He put 24 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. The Dolphins clearly had problems with their special teams unit the first half of last year. Special teams coach John Bonnamego should be given a lot of credit as the Dolphins special teams unit clearly played much stronger the second half of the year. The Dolphins are expected to field a very strong special teams core and continue the momentum they built towards the end of last season.

MIAMI DOLPHINS OFF-SEASON TRACKER

Acquired
OG Joe Berger: UFA Cowboys; $2.175M/3 yrs, guarantees unknown
OC Jake Grove: UFA Raiders; $29M/5 yrs, $14.5M guaranteed
DT Tony McDaniel (trade Jaguars)
LB Jason Taylor: FA Redskins; $1.1M/1 yr, $400,000 SB
LB Cameron Wake: FA CFL; $4.9M/4 yrs, $1M SB
CB Eric Green: UFA Cardinals; $6M/3 yrs, $3M guaranteed
FS Gibril Wilson: FA Raiders; $27,5M/5 yrs, $8M guaranteed
Re-signed
OT Vernon Carey: Potential UFA; $42M/6 yrs, $12M SB/$2M RB; 2009 cap: $5.2M
OG Ike Ndukwe: ERFA; terms unknown
LB Channing Crowder: Potential UFA; $6.1M/3 yrs, guarantees unknown
LB Quentin Moses: ERFA; $460,000/1 yr
SS Yeremiah Bell: Potential UFA; $20M/4 yrs, $10M guaranteed
Drafted
QB Pat White, West Virginia
WR Patrick Turner, USC
WR Brian Hartline, Ohio State
TE John Nalbone, Monmouth
OT Andrew Gardner, Georgia Tech
LB JD Folsom
CB Sean Smith, Utah
CB Vontae Davis, Illinois
FS Chris Clemons, Clemson
Undrafted Free Agents
RB Anthony Kimble, Stanford
WR Brennan Marion, Tulsa
WR Chris Williams, New Mexico State
TE Jared Bronson, Central Washington
OT Sir Vincent Rogers, Houston
OG Mark Lewis, Oregon
DE Orion Martin, Virginia Tech
DE Ryan Baker, Purdue
DT Louis Ellis, Shaw
Departures
QB John Beck (released)
OC Al Johnson: UFA Patriots; $950,000/1 yr
OC Samson Satele (traded Raiders)
OG Matt McChesney (released)
DE Vonnie Holliday (released)
LB Kelvin Smith (released/failed physical)
CB Andre' Goodman: UFA Broncos; $25M/5 yrs, $10M guaranteed
SS Renaldo Hill: UFA Broncos; $10M/4 yrs, $3M guaranteed
Unsigned
TE Aaron Halterman (not tendered as ERFA)
WR Tab Perry (not tendered as UFA June 1)
LB Derek Smith (not tendered as UFA June 1)

PROJECTION

The Dolphins had the best one season turnaround in NFL history going from 1-15 in 2007 to 11-5 in 2008 so there is a lot of optimism. This season the Miami Dolphins have the toughest schedule in the NFL based on the winning percentages from teams last year. As last years AFC East winner they have to play the division winners of the AFC West (San Diego Chargers), AFC South (Tennessee Titans), two games against Tom Brady and the Patriots, two against T.O and the Bills, two against the New York Jets, a match up with the Indianapolis Colts, The NFC South Division (Tampa Bay, Carolina, Atlanta, New Orleans) and lets not forget the defending Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. The Dolphins will clearly be even more talented than last year’s team. It would not surprise if they are better than most people think. They are young and will be competitive against the tough competition. However, our projection for the Miami Dolphins is to finish 9-7 for the 2009 campaign.