Full Miami Dolphins Awards at the Quarter Mark of the 2014 NFL Season
The Miami Dolphins are four games through their 2014 season and have been the definition of inconsistent thus far.
They boast a pair of dominating victories over the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders but have also suffered a pair of equally disappointing losses to the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.
As they enter their bye week, it is the perfect time to hand out awards for the first quarter of the season.
Obviously there is still plenty of football left to be played, so these awards may change hands numerous times throughout the rest of the year.
But for now, let's look back and honor some of the Dolphins' best, and worst, players so far this season.
Best Newcomer
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We can start right away with an obvious one.
Yes, Earl Mitchell has been just as good as advertised while Cortland Finnegan is enjoying a nice bounce-back campaign, and Ja'Wuan James has done a very solid job to start his rookie year.
However, Branden Albert was Miami's biggest acquisition this offseason and has done plenty to live up to his five-year, $47 million contract so far.
Albert has anchored the left side of a Dolphins offensive line that has allowed nine sacks—a number that puts them on pace to reduce their sack total by 22 from last year—while also putting together the sixth-ranked rushing offense in the NFL, running for 142.3 yards per game.
Individually, Albert has allowed just one sack and two other quarterback hurries all season, grading out as the second-best tackle in the league so far with a plus-9.6 grade, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
There's no question that Albert has been everything Dennis Hickey hoped for when the team signed him, and as long as he can stay healthy, the offensive line should continue to get better once Mike Pouncey comes back.
The Pick: Branden Albert
Worst Newcomer
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For this award I was torn between two players.
On one hand there is Shelley Smith, who was signed to a two-year, $5.5 million deal to start at guard this season, but he has missed the last two games with a knee strain and didn't do much to impress in his first two contests either.
However, I don't want to knock a guy too much for getting injured, so instead the award goes to rookie second-round pick Jarvis Landry.
Like many people, I was extremely high on Landry coming into the season and expected big things from the former LSU Tiger.
While he has been decent as a receiver, catching 12 passes for 111 yards—tied for fourth and third on the team, respectively—he has had plenty of trouble as a return man.
In each passing game Landry seems to make at least one major mistake, whether it be fielding the ball too deep in his own territory or fumbling it away altogether.
While he has had a few nice kick returns, he still is graded as the third-worst return man in the league, according to Pro Football Focus.
He has also dropped a pair of Ryan Tannehill passes, already eclipsing his total from last year when he dropped just one of the 78 catchable passes thrown his way at LSU, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
Landry hasn't been horrible, but he hasn't quite lived up to that second-round draft pick just yet.
The Pick: Jarvis Landry
Biggest Disappointment
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If we are talking about on-field performance alone, then this award would likely be handed out to Charles Clay, who has been nowhere near the player that he was last season.
But I'm the one handing out the awards, and when it comes to disappointment, no Dolphins player can even come close to what Dion Jordan has done.
Jordan was one of the most hyped players during training camp after adding 17 pounds of muscle and many people—myself included—were expecting a monster season from the second-year player.
The problem is that he hasn't touched the field yet because he has been suspended—twice.
Prior to the start of the season, Jordan was hit with a four-game suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. But after two weeks, that suspension was lifted under the new agreement between the NFL and NFL Players Association.
However, Jordan was then immediately hit with another four-game suspension for violating the same policy a second time, via ESPN's James Walker.
The former No. 3 overall pick can still certainly make his mark over the final 10 games of the season and make us all forget about these early-season troubles. But for now there's no doubting that Jordan has been a major disappointment to everyone so far in his career.
The Pick: Dion Jordan
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Best Offensive Player
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Much like the rest of the team, the Miami offense has had its share of ups and downs so far this season.
However, there are three players—Albert, Mike Wallace and Lamar Miller—that have been consistently great, and those were the finalists for this award.
Because I already gave Albert the Best Newcomer award—and also because I am admittedly a sucker for fantasy football—I immediately eliminated the big left tackle, leaving the choice between Wallace and Miller.
While Wallace didn't have a bad season in 2013—catching 73 passes for 930 yards and five touchdowns—he certainly didn't live up to his lofty expectations.
However, this season has seen Wallace being featured much more in the offense and he has in turn produced like the top receiver that he is, leading the team in receptions (20), yards (246) and receiving touchdowns (3).
While those numbers are certainly good, they are about what you would expect from your top receiver and also aren't too far off from the pace he had last year in terms of receptions and yardage totals.
But I'm not sure anybody expected this type of production from Miller.
Since Knowshon Moreno went down in Week 2, Miller has taken over as the bell cow in the Miami rushing attack and has certainly produced like a No. 1 back should.
On the season, he has 49 carries for 277 yards—averaging a whopping 5.7 yards per attempt—with a pair of rushing touchdowns. He has also done some work in the passing game, catching 12 passes for 53 yards and another score.
The main problem with Miller is that he simply hasn't gotten enough touches to truly dominate like he should, but the fact is that nearly every time he is getting the ball he is producing.
The Pick: Lamar Miller
MVP
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You may have noticed that I skipped the Best Defensive Player award, but for all intents and purposes you can include that one in here as well.
Because not only is Cameron Wake the best player the Dolphins have, he is without question one of the top players in the entire league.
A case could be made for Albert as team MVP, but I will let someone else make that case, because for me, Wake is running away with it.
By any statistical measure, Wake has been a force to be reckoned with this season as he is at or near the top of the league in sacks (2), quarterback hits (5) and hurries (11) while generating pressure on the opposing QB once every six snaps.
He has also been given the highest grade of all 4-3 defensive ends with an astounding plus-14.4 rating, according to Pro Football Focus.
Even when including 3-4 defensive ends, only J.J. Watt has a higher grade than Wake, and the next closest player to him is nearly five points lower.
However, it's not just the stats that make Wake the MVP of the team, because his mere presence on the field does so much for the rest of the Dolphins defense.
With all the offensive attention focused on stopping Wake, it has allowed other players like Olivier Vernon and Derrick Shelby to thrive, helping the team get into the top five in the league in sacks.
As long as he can stay healthy, Wake should continue to steamroll his way to another monster season, giving opposing quarterbacks nightmares each and every week as he anchors the Miami defense.
The Pick: Cameron Wake
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