Miami Dolphins first practice means nothing in terms of starters
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins are holding their first practice of the 2019 training camp and the media is already pushing the “starter” agenda.
When the Miami Dolphins took the field today there were eyes everywhere letting fans know on social media who is starting here and who is starting there but in reality, none of that matters in late July.
This is the first practice of camp and a depth chart is far from being released. So when you hear that Kalen Ballage took the first snap at running back while Kenyan Drake stood on the sidelines, don’t get your panties in a bunch and don’t change your fantasy football draft plans just yet.
Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen are alternating to start camp as well and both have made some nice throws for touchdowns. Tip-toe taps by receivers on fade routes in the endzone get the fans worked up and the media talking but the little tag that comes later reads, “they are not running with defensive coverage” lets you know that these are simply drills.
So what is there to watch this early in camp? For starters, condition of the players. Who is showing up out of shape and who is in great shape? Who is injured, not injured, and who is riding bikes on the sidelines or heading to the locker room?
Some want to talk about scheme changes and lineup changes but it is hard to believe that Brian Flores is going to roll anything out to a group of fans with cell phones. That being said there have been some new wrinkles rolled out on day one that will be more interesting to watch over the weeks than who started along the offensive line.
According to our friend Luis Sung who is at practice today, the Dolphins lined up with press coverage on the outside. This is a change from the five yards off the line that was used by Matt Burke the last few seasons. Flores wants a more physical team across the board and that means the corners need to be more physical as well.
As camp rolls on things will even out but for now the concentration shouldn’t be on who is taking what reps with the first unit or the second, it should be about the simpler things. Later, the depth chart will make a lot more sense and if so and so is starting at right guard then we know that the other so and so didn’t win the job. Until then, relax and enjoy football being back.