Miami Dolphins: Grading the Strength of Every Position Unit Before Camps Begin
Over the course of the next month, the Miami Dolphins' hard work these past seven months will come to a head.
They have made some difficult decisions at a few positions and some easy decisions at others. In some cases, they made a few tweaks to an already loaded group. In some other cases, they completely overhauled the depth chart at a particular position. The dramatic changes may not always be as big as the small ones, but all have an impact on the Dolphins roster.
Of course, some of those changes will not fully take shape until the end of training camp. We don't yet know exactly how the starring lineup will look, or even how the 53-man roster will look, though we can already get a general idea of the composition of those two groups. The remaining answers will be revealed next month in training camp.
How exactly did the Dolphins do in assembling their starting lineup and depth chart?
Quarterback
1 of 11
In the starting lineup, quarterback Ryan Tannehill who has made progress every year he's been in the NFL. On the bench, Matt Moore knows the system and has proved he can run it and start meaningful games in the NFL.
Still, there are still questions as to whether Tannehill can lead the Dolphins over the hump and into the playoffs.
He has yet to do so in his three-year career, leading the Dolphins to a 23-25 record in that time (a 7-9 record as a rookie and two 8-8 records in the seasons that followed). One thing he has done, however, is improved his numbers each year thus far: His touchdown-to-interception ratio, completion percentage and passer rating have all gotten better in each of his three seasons in the league.
Moore has played a total of five games since Tannehill hit the scene, and if the present and future finds the Dolphins playing at a high level, his participation numbers should not increase this year. But the Dolphins should sleep easy knowing that if Tannehill is unable to play, they can turn to a reliable backup.
Grade: A-
Running Back
2 of 11
Most NFL teams are employing some variant on a backfield-by-committee. The numbers and balance of that backfield vary from team to team. The Dolphins have gone with a "one-two punch" version in which they have two backs who are capable of playing every down.
Lamar Miller and Jay Ajayi will be the Dolphins' top two running backs this season, regardless of the situation.
Both men can run the ball out of traditional one-back formations and catch the ball as receivers split out wide or out of the backfield, and both can get out in the open field and break long gains and run hard between the tackles. Both men have the burst and agility to be considered a perfect fit for the one-cut zone-running system that the Dolphins run.
Miller is entering a contract year and may be on his way out of Miami following the 2015 season. Ajayi is dealing with bone-on-bone in his right knee, according to NFL.com's Mike Mayock, but there are no concerns about his short-term health. It appears that Miller is the top option for now, and Ajayi is the top option for the future.
With Damien Williams and LaMichael James on the bench, ready to provide support in passing situations and on special teams, the Dolphins have a starting unit that is well-rounded and a depth chart that can answer the bell in specific situations.
Grade: A-
Wide Receiver
3 of 11
On talent alone, this year's depth chart at wide receiver is leaps and bounds ahead of last year's.
Anyone would be fooling himself to believe that Mike Wallace and Brian Hartline are better options for the future than DeVante Parker and Kenny Stills. Toss Jarvis Landry into the mix, and the Dolphins may have the most talented group of wide receivers ever under Joe Philbin.
Parker has the capacity to stretch the defense with long speed and a 6'3", 209-pound frame that can win one-on-one matchups on the outside. He hauled in 138 receptions for 2,484 yards and 27 touchdowns in his final three years at Louisville, showing off the ability to be both a deep threat and a red-zone threat, which is what the Dolphins have needed for years.
Stills isn't a prototype deep threat but has the skill set to run routes at all levels of the field: short, intermediate and deep. He has become a savvy route-runner thanks to his experience catching passes from New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Catching 95 passes for 1,572 yards and eight touchdowns in two years with the Saints, he has shown he has the ceiling to be a reliable No. 2 receiver.
Landry already showed Dolphins fans what he is capable of. As a rookie, Landry led the Dolphins in receptions with 84. He didn't do a lot of damage when he caught the ball (nine yards per reception), but his reliability is hard to replace. Another year with Tannehill in the Dolphins offense could lead to big things.
Back those three up with veteran Greg Jennings and a young receiver like Rishard Matthews, and the Dolphins have more than enough weaponry to keep their offense moving in 2015.
Grade: A
.jpg?w=256 "Eagles Sirianni Football")
.jpg?w=256 "Titans Football")
Tight End
4 of 11
The Dolphins went from one athletic pass-catching tight end to another. With the departure of Charles Clay and the arrival of Jordan Cameron, the Dolphins offense shouldn't miss a beat at the tight end position.
Clay was an effective, versatile pass-catcher for the Dolphins from 2013-2014, but the Buffalo Bills drove his price tag way up, and the Dolphins were already on to their next man in Cameron, a much less expensive (though markedly riskier) option.
His history of concussions meant he had a hard time landing a long-term deal, but if he can reach his ceiling once again (he had 80 receptions for 917 yards and seven touchdowns in 2013), he could be a very important piece of the Dolphins offense.
The Dolphins' depth at tight end isn't particularly daunting, though. No. 2 tight end Dion Sims has the ability to be a versatile tight end, blocking at times and catching passes at others. His 24 receptions for 284 yards and two touchdowns are good enough for the No. 2 spot, especially when his primary role will be to block.
The Dolphins have their top two guys, the athletic pass-catcher and the versatile backup. Anything else is just gravy.
Grade: B+
Offensive Line
5 of 11
We're talking about each position on the Dolphins roster in terms of grades. Grades are based on a percentage scale.
When you consider that the Dolphins already have a left tackle (Branden Albert), a right tackle (Ja'Wuan James) and a center (Mike Pouncey), the Dolphins are at least 60 percent of the way to a finished product on the offensive line.
It's the other 40 percent that's a little unsettled—and unsettling.
The battle for the two guard spots will be between veteran tackle-to-guard projects Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner and rookie guard Jamil Douglas. At some point, Douglas is going to be the starter at one of those two spots, but will that point come this season? Or will Thomas and Turner be given a chance to show how far they have come at their new positions—if they have come far at all?
Thomas has a bad rap, but there's reason for optimism about his success at guard; he allowed seven sacks in his six games at tackle in 2014 but no sacks in seven games at guard, according to Pro Football Focus. As for Turner, there's much less tape of the second-year guard at his new position.
It's a slippery slope when we begin grading unknowns, but if the Dolphins can find two serviceable guards out of the three on their depth chart, they'll end up with a passing grade on the offensive line.
Grade: B-/C+
Defensive End
6 of 11
There's certainly no question about the top of the depth chart at defensive end, with Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon etched in stone as the starting defensive ends. Both men were among the top 20 pass-rushing 4-3 defensive ends in the NFL last year, according to Pro Football Focus.
The questions start as you look at the backups.
Derrick Shelby and Terrence Fede were the backups last year, with Chris McCain filling in some snaps at defensive end and other snaps at outside linebacker. McCain appears headed for a competition at linebacker (more on that later), so there may be an opening in the lineup, albeit a backup role.
Shelby and Fede accounted for 502 snaps in 2014, according to PFF, and while the two of them should be considered the front-runners for backup duties, they will have some stiff competition: undrafted rookies Ray Drew and Kendall Montgomery, as well as second-year defensive end Emmanuel Dieke.
The Dolphins have plenty of defensive ends to choose from, and the battle will sort itself out.
Grade: B+
Defensive Tackle
7 of 11
The Dolphins have invested plenty of resources into the defensive tackle position to account for what's been a complete overhaul at the position.
With Jared Odrick and Randy Starks both gone this year after the departure of Paul Soliai last year, the Dolphins have now turned to Jordan Phillips, C.J. Mosley, Earl Mitchell and of course Ndamukong Suh to be the future of the position.
Pound for pound, it appears the Dolphins have set themselves up for a brighter long-term future at the position than they had previously. That being said, it's fair to wonder whether the pieces will all jell and reach their full potential right away.
There is very little doubt that Suh will provide a huge boost to the Dolphins front seven as both a pass-rusher and run-stuffer. He notched 20 tackles for loss in 2014, the most of any defensive tackle in the NFL, according to Advanced Football Analytics. He also earned Pro Football Focus' second-highest run-defense grade of any defensive tackle in the NFL last year.
The doubts creep in when one begins to wonder whether Mitchell has the capacity to play a full-time role in the Dolphins defense. He's never had to play a full-time role before, maxing out at 553 snaps in 2013.
Phillips will probably not be a snap-leader as a rookie but could eventually assume that mantle if Earl Mitchell underperforms or when the Dolphins opt to move in a new direction. Mosley will probably also be a backup, as he has been behind Suh for the past three seasons with the Detroit Lions.
If there's another position on the depth chart that is nearly as stacked as wide receiver, it's defensive tackle.
Grade: A+
Linebacker
8 of 11
The Dolphins have turned over two-thirds of their starting group of linebackers. The only one who remains from Week 1 of the 2014 season is Koa Misi, who is playing middle linebacker for the second straight year after playing nearly every other linebacker position in his first four years in the league.
With Dannell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler out the door, though, the Dolphins now have to fill two gaps in their starting lineup. Those gaps will most likely be filled boy Jelani Jenkins and Chris McCain.
Jenkins is an easy choice. The third-year veteran filled in on the weak side when Ellerbe went down with a season-ending injury. McCain was a linebacker at times and a defensive end at others, but according to James Walker of ESPN, McCain is "the favorite" to start on the strong side of the Dolphins defense.
The depth chart is a little trickier to decipher, but it will probably come down to a battle between Neville Hewitt, Jeff Luc, Jordan Tripp, Kelvin Sheppard and Mike Hull.
Tripp can use the experience he gained from 2014 as he fights for a roster spot this year, and although it's only one year, it's more than any of the other backup linebackers. Sheppard has a niche as the backup middle linebacker, but Hull could threaten that spot, especially with his superior special teams ability.
Grade: B
Cornerback
9 of 11
With Brent Grimes filling out one starting spot, the Dolphins don't have to worry about at least one-third of their starting lineup at cornerback. It's the other spot or two that will cause some concern.
Opposite Grimes, the starter is likely to be third-year cornerback Jamar Taylor. He has the inside track to the starting job, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. He's never had a clear shot to start in the past, and has been shaky in backup duty over the past two seasons, with 37 completions on 53 passes his direction, two touchdowns, no passes intercepted or defensed, according to Pro Football Focus.
That being said, Taylor has plenty of physical talent to develop into a quality starting cornerback. He ran a 4.39-second 40-yard dash, put up 22 reps of a 225-pound bench press and posted a 4.06-second 20-yard shuttle, all of which ranked in the top five among cornerbacks at the 2013 combine.
The mix of youth (Davis and Bobby McCain) and experience (Brice McCain and Bowman) gives the Dolphins plenty of other talented cornerbacks who will push for playing time or simply to make the cut.
There are still questions as to how that unit will look, but the talent is there—from top to bottom—for the Dolphins to field a competent trio of starting cornerbacks.
Grade: B+
Safety
10 of 11
The Dolphins have at least one top-notch safety in Reshad Jones. The other starting spot could be up for grabs, but what spot will that be? That's another question entirely.
Jones has played both free safety and strong safety for the Dolphins over the past five years and could feasibly be asked to fill either spot in 2015, depending on where they feel their best options lie. If the Dolphins want Louis Delmas to return to the starting lineup fresh off a torn ACL, the back end of the Dolphins defense will look the same as last year: Jones at free safety, Delmas at strong safety.
Delmas has plenty of starting experience in his own right, though he has spent most of his career as a strong safety. He is much better when he can play aggressively downhill against the run and cover only in short spaces against the pass.
Don't count out Walt Aikens, either. The 6'1", 210-pound defensive back is listed as a safety, though he was drafted as a cornerback out of Liberty in 2014. Aikens would probably also be a strong safety, but with his experience at cornerback he could be a better option in coverage than Delmas. Michael Thomas has been a backup safety for the past couple years but has played mainly special teams.
Depending on Delmas' health and Aikens' ability to transition to his new position, this position could be one of the stronger positions in the defense or one of the holes in it.
Grade: B
Special Teams
11 of 11
Kicker Caleb Sturgis has had two years to prove himself as a potential starting kicker but has failed to answer the bell.
Sturgis has only converted 77.5 percent of his field-goal tries since entering the NFL in 2013, and though he could still turn it around, time is running out. Now, Sturgis is not only dealing with a quad injury but with a little competition in the form of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Andrew Franks.
Just because the Dolphins have added some competition, though, doesn't mean they will end up with a viable kicker at the end of the battle. Franks has not been much better and only converted 37 of 56 attempts in college (66.1 percent). That number would be unacceptable at the NFL level, and he'll have to step his game way up to be considered a serviceable NFL kicker.
The punting and long-snapping duties are not up for grabs. Brandon Fields has been one of the better punters in the NFL over the years. Fields was one of only three punters in the NFL in 2014 to see more than 20 punts land inside the 20-yard line but fewer than 60 total punts. He's due $2.52 million in 2015 but should still be the front-runner to punt.
The Dolphins also have a solid long snapper in John Denney, who has been filling those duties for the past decade after working his way up from an undrafted free-agent to a full-time special teams ace.
Grade: C
Unless otherwise noted, all advanced stats provided by, Pro-Football-Reference.com, NFL.com and Pro Football Focus. All salary-cap and contract information provided by Over The Cap.
.jpg?w=480 "Eagles Sirianni Football")
.jpg?w=480 "Titans Football")
.jpg?w=480 "Bears Ravens Football")
.jpg?w=480 "49ers Aiyuk Football")
.png?w=600 "New NBA Mock Draft 📝")
