Final thoughts on the Miami Dolphins 2018 pre-season
By Nick Belotto
The Miami Dolphins preseason is officially over. The last few weeks gave us a lot to think about and now it’s time to look forward to the rest of the season.
Now that the regular season is around the corner, it’s officially time to put together some final thoughts on how the team looks heading into week 1 against the Tennessee Titans. Let’s get started!
1: Whoever backs up Ryan Tannehill will be a liability.
It’s been a few years since the Dolphins have had an issue with backup quarterback. Matt Moore locked down the position for a number of years. Moore’s departure opened the door for David Fales and Brock Osweiler. Both have connections to Adam Gase and both were expected to compete to back up Ryan Tannehill.
Unfortunately, neither of these guys have looked great this preseason. Osweiler played a great game against the Falcons last night and Fales looked pretty poor in comparison. It’s still up in the air who will back up Tannehill, but I don’t feel comfortable with either of the options.
2: The running game is going to be good this year.
When Kenyan Drake has been on the field, he has looked great. The combo of Drake and Frank Gore is going to be fun to watch and they are going to move the ball well. Kalen Ballage has also had an impressive preseason and looks like a great mid round pick for the team. If Buddy Howell makes the team, it would add another back who can pick up yards and provide depth.
Honestly, Senorise Perry was, in my opinion, the least impressive of the running backs with the exception of the first game of the preseason. It already seems like he is going to make the team which means one of the young backs are more than likely going to be cut.
Regardless of who it is, I can see this unit being very strong this year.
3: Godchaux and Taylor are going to be fine replacing Ndamukong Suh
With Suh’s departure in the offseason, a number of people were rightfully concerned with how we would stop the run in 2018. While I don’t think the run defense has looked great this preseason, I think it will improve once the season starts.
Davon Godchaux and Vincent Taylor are going to be just fine in the middle of the defensive line and I don’t for see the run defense falling off that drastically, if at all.
4: Injuries could be devastating to the Dolphins this year if it’s the wrong guy
A lot of the preseason needs to be taken with a grain of salt. I understand that. I do think, however, that the one thing we can get a really good understanding of in the preseason is how deep the team is going to be. Last night’s win against Atlanta was impressive, but I don’t think Miami is going to be that deep of a team this season
Injuries are going to happen to every team and they all will need to adjust. When the injury bug inevitably comes to the Dolphins, I worry that this team is not deep enough to cover up for some of the losses we may experience. I hope I’m wrong, but the way the backups have played throughout the entirety of the preseason, I have my concerns.
What are your final thoughts on the preseason?