Miami Dolphins Glancing Toward the Future

After a devastating 0-7 start to the 2010-11 season, the Miami Dolphins finished with a strong 6-10 effort beating out the Buffalo Bills for the third spot in the AFC East Division.

The success in winning six of their last nine games was due to the emergence of fifth-year quarterback Matt Moore, newly-acquired running back Reggie Bush, and the 15th best defense in the NFL.

When quarterback Chad Henne went down with a knee injury in week 4, a large quantity of the fans lived with doubts that Moore wouldn’t fit the number one spot in the depth chart, but in a string of a few victories those doubters became believers.

Moore’s resume isn’t anything special but the long wait will surely be over for the former Beaver to receive a true knock at the National Football League. The front office has not made the best decisions, but they can change their image by giving Moore an opportunity.

Last season Moore tallied for an impressive total of 2,497 yards, 16 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He could have potentially doubled his totals having only played nine games out of the 16-game season.

Definitely look for newly-acquired quarterback David Garrard to give Moore a run for his money but don’t expect number 8 to be calling out plays on the sideline in the 2012-13 season.

With little help left on the roster for the offensive side of the ball, the spark plug has to be running back Reggie Bush. While recording his first career 1,000-yard season, Bush carried this team contributing big play after big play along with the process of learning how to run north and south rather than east and west.

Bush’s performances will only progress year in and year out due to the loss of wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who was traded to the Chicago Bears on March 13th. The Miami Dolphins will look to be a run-heavy offense in this upcoming season. A bulk of the carries will go to Bush but don’t shy away from first-year running back Daniel Thomas. The former Wildcat had a stagnant year due to injury but still finished with 165 carries for 581 yards.

The strapping piece of the Miami Dolphins last year was their defense led by linebackers Karlos Dansby, Kevin Burnett, defensive end Cameron Wake, and cornerback  Vontae Davis. This defensive core has made their mark in the past few seasons.

GM Jeff Ireland and owner Stephen Ross have assembled a lot defensive free agents like former New York Jets’ linebacker Jamaal Westerman, former Arizona Cardinals’ defensive back Richard Marshall, and re-signing defensive tackle Paul Soliai.

Their needs are not on the defensive side of the ball, it is essentially the offense that needs some tuning up. We will see on April 26th-27th what the Miami Dolphins’ front office has in stored.