Miami Dolphins open camp; Here is what you should expect

The Miami Dolphins veterans have reported for training camp thus joining the rookies who have been at the facility the last week. It officially ends the off-season.

Images of Ryan Tannehill walking into the facility have been spreading over social media this morning courtesy of the Miami Dolphins public relations department.

More videos will likely surface throughout the day but the Dolphins have made it a practice all off-season to let you know, Ryan Tannehill is the face of this franchise no matter what you think or want. With the money they have invested in him, why wouldn’t they?

What should you expect from camp? That is hard to say and really depends on whether or not you are a numbers fan or a ball fan. If you are a ball fan you are going to track the ball from quarterback to receiver or running back and how that ball is thrown and caught. Then conversely how the defense stops it.

The numbers side of thing is a bit different. You are less concerned with dropped passes but more concerned about proper route running, in-line blocking from the offensive line and tight-ends as well as blitz pick-ups from the running backs. You are more concentrated on the footwork of the quarterbacks and how the defensive schemes put people into position to make plays.

In reality you are more likely to watch and see how the team progresses from day one to the first pre-season game.

While you are doing all of that above, here are a few things we have not touched on that you may want to keep an eye or if you are not local, an ear on.

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Pads Matter

When the Dolphins take the practice field and the pads are not on it’s far more fun to ball watch. Don’t get caught up in the defensive line pushing around the offensive line. For the offense, contact is a necessity to block properly. On these non-contact days, the lineman work more on technique repetition and try to implement it on contact days. Typically you will hear the Oline has bad or average practices on non-contact days.

Running backs don’t have all the right stuff

It can get pretty impressive when you read a social media blurb about how running back “X” broke through for a 75 yard touchdown. Don’t get too excited. For almost the entire duration of camp, running backs typically are not hit full speed. Like quarterbacks they are “touched”. During contact practices the speed is not 100% and even then, backs are often not taken to the ground like they would be in a real game.

This practice is designed to give the backs opportunity to work on their footwork and moves at the line and read defenses but more importantly it’s designed to keep the players healthy.

The best drills are the receiver/corner drills

When the Dolphins go 7-7 it means that wide-outs, tight-ends, and running backs are getting focused work in. Typically only the center works in these drills and there are no defensive lineman. These are really fun to watch because the corners know they are one on one or in a coverage zone. This is where you see and hear about receivers making big catches and the defense breaking up or stealing passes. It will give you a good idea of player progression. Especially on defense.

Special teams are boring but…

Typically there is nothing special about special teams practices. It is widely noted that a prominent local Dolphins beat writer has fallen asleep during special teams sessions. This year the kicking game is up for grabs with an undrafted rookie and a 7th round rookie competing for the single kicking job.

While that may not sound all that appealing, the pressure will be on from day one as they both try and make the roster and both have an equal chance of doing so. In other words, don’t nap.

Injuries

Injuries happen to every single NFL team and training camp is where most will occur. The problem is that at some point prominent players will be banged up. A serious injury will not have a player riding a sideline stationary bike and the worst ones are those that take a player off on a cart.

This year the injury watch starts with Ryan Tannehill but Raekwon McMillan is also coming back from a bad injury that occurred in pre-season last year. Both players are expected to have major impacts on their side of the ball in 2018. It is easy to minimize injuries by keeping players fresh and hydrated but the “freak” injuries, those that are not controllable happen every year.

The Dolphins begin actual practice tomorrow after a day of weigh-in’s and performance tests to see who is in shape and who is not. The real work happens when pads come on and that is when we learn whether or not the film study and book work is paying off.

Welcome to training camp 2018!