Miami Football: Which Former Hurricane Will Have the Best Rookie NFL Season

After the 2012 Miami Hurricane season ended, I had predicted that six players would get drafted in the NFL draft and maybe an additional five would be picked up in the undrafted free agency market.

I was spot-on regarding the NFL draft, but I was off by five on my free agency prediction, as a total of 10 ex-Hurricanes were picked up this spring.

Out of the 16 ex-Hurricanes, a few of them may go on to have great careers, but I truly believe the best rookie season will belong to Miami Dolphins' Olivier Vernon.

I think Lamar Miller, Sean Spence and Tommy Streeter may have better futures ahead of them, but Vernon is the only player that has a legitimate chance to get a lot of playing time this season.

I honestly don't see much playing time for Miller, as he will most likely only see the field on special teams and other situational plays. 

Spence will most likely be third on the depth chart for the Steelers, competing with several veteran players.

Streeter has a decent chance of getting some playing time with the Ravens, but still needs to develop more at the wide receiver position.

So that is why I believe Vernon will at least have the best chance to help his team win games this season.  Vernon is a speedy defensive end that has good technique at the defensive end position.

Besides Cameron Wake, the Dolphins are lacking depth on the defensive line.  Randy Starks was the other end/linebacker that got a majority of the starts, opposite Wake, but has only produced 64 tackles and 7.5 sacks in the last two years.

The Dolphins defense was ranked 10th in sacks last year, and with the addition of another speed rusher like Vernon, Miami has a chance to improve that ranking.

I believe that we will see Vernon at second string to start the season but get a lot of playing time on third downs.  By the midpoint of the season, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Vernon jumps Starks for the starting defensive end position.