Miami Dolphins off-season changes won’t fix this defense in one year

The Miami Dolphins are one week away from kicking off the new year by starting their off-season and changes are coming but they won’t fix this team.

If Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross wants a winning team in 2019 he should really think again, this team isn’t going to win it all in 2019 no matter what changes are made. There are simply too many holes at too many positions and not enough to money or draft picks to fill them all.

While the question of what changes will be made remains, no change is going to fill holes and a new system could put the team further back in their progression. This is not a matter of who is the head coach or the defensive coordinator or who is running the office, when it comes down to it, it is about the players on the field.

Even at full health this team has enough issues that it is going to be difficult to fix in one off-season. Part of that is because they have failed to fix them in the last two off-seasons.

Defense

Miami needs to address defensive end this year. Free agency will be very expensive and if Miami looks that way they will definitely overpay for a veteran. Consider that Cameron Wake may not be back as he is a free agent and may choose to retire. He is almost 37.

Andre Branch should not be back and Miami could use the cap relief from his inflated contract and the same can be said about Robert Quinn’s contract that would bring around $12 million in cap space. That could potentially be three rotational starters at defensive end gone in 2019. Add to that mix William Hayes who may not be back and the extremely poor development of Charles Harris and Miami may not have a single worthwhile defensive end entering the league new year in March.

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If defensive end is a big problem the defensive line isn’t much better. Miami has relied upon guys like Ziggy Hood and Akeem Spence to fill the line. Davon Godchaux has played well but he didn’t show the kind of jump this year many expected. Vincent Taylor will be back but he and Godchaux alone can’t fix the Dolphins woes against the run. In other words, defensive tackle is a big concern for 2019.

Linebacker is not set either. Raekwon McMillan played his first season in the NFL and had his weaknesses exposed. Fellow Ohio State Buckeye Jerome Baker impressed in his rookie season but is he the type of player that will become the defenses quarterback? Kiko Alonso is playing well but put the three together and you still need to find one single dominant linebacker that can change a game.

Corner is locked down with Xavien Howard on one side and, oh wait, no one on the other. Miami should lock Howard up to an extension this off-season but knowing the front office that likely won’t happen for another year. Miami still has to find a corner to play on the other side because Bobby McCain is much better as a slot corner and Minkah Fitzpatrick is much better as a safety.

Maybe the Dolphins can get lucky and fill a couple of these holes in free agency but the draft is where you find your future and Miami has a lot of holes on defense that need to be fixed and simply not enough draft picks to get it done. At least not high enough picks.

Let us not forget also, there are holes on the offensive side of the ball as well.

The biggest change however should be Matt Burke and the question will be can a new DC come in and improve the play of the players that are here enough to make a difference in 2019?