2019 Season grades for the Miami Dolphins
As the offseason begins for the Miami Dolphins, we look at how each position performed for the team and first-year coach Brian Flores.
The Miami Dolphins finished 5-11 and ended the year with a great win against the Patriots in New England, something that hadn’t happened in 11 years. The team showed a great deal of fight after they survived the first month of the season. They now head into draft and free agency preparation, with the most picks in the draft as well as one of the highest amounts of cap space.
Changes for the Dolphins began quickly as the team decided to move on from offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea, offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo, and safeties coach Tony Oden. Also, the Dolphins named Chan Gailey the new offensive coordinator. Although on the surface it is strange that he decided to come out of retirement, digging deeper there seems to be a reason for it. He has a familiarity with Ryan Fitzpatrick, offensive schemes like the spread, option plays, and utilizing quarterback mobility as well.
Head Coach – B +
Brian Flores was certainly handed a difficult situation for a first-year head coach. Not only did he come to a divisional rival, having come from the Patriots staff, but he was also put in charge of a team that was in a rebuild before the first snap of the season. With all that he helped guide the team to a five-win season when many thought there would be far fewer wins. Moving forward, I for one will be looking forward to seeing how he builds on this season and addresses the needs of the team. All signs point to a home run caliber hire for the Dolphins when they hired Coach Flores to lead the team.
Quarterback – C
This offseason saw the departure of tenured quarterback Ryan Tannehill via trade to Tennessee and the arrival of Ryan Fitzpatrick as well as Josh Rosen. Fitzpatrick started the first two games of the season as the team struggled to gel with each other and was outgunned in games against the Ravens and the Patriots. He appeared in two more games before being named the starter in week seven and remained the starter for the remainder of the year. Finishing with 3529 yards 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, he also completed 62 percent of his passes. Fitzpatrick also ran for a team-leading 243 yards and four more scores. His playstyle certainly helped this team and was a tremendous asset for Coach Flores and his staff.
Josh Rosen who was acquired in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals in a draft-day trade during the 2019 NFL Draft. Rosen struggled going 0-3 in his three starts throwing for 567 yards and a single touchdown with five interceptions.
Wide Receiver/Tight Ends – B
The receiving group certainly had its share of highs and lows. But overall, the receivers finished with 4,117 yards and 22 touchdowns. The yardage was 11th highest in the league. It provided promise to see a healthy group of receivers perform next season, highlighted by Devante Parker who had a career year crushing previous personal bests in yardage (1,202), targets (128), receptions (72), and touchdowns (9). He finished the season ranked fifth in the league in yardage as well.
Mike Gesicki also had a breakout year with 570 yards and five touchdowns as well. The second-year player certainly came into his own and showed the production that made him a second-round pick for the Dolphins in 2018.
Preston Williams was a having a remarkable year before tearing his ACL landed him on injured reserve after a week nine contest against the Jets. The undrafted rookie had already tallied 428 yards and three touchdowns.
Running Backs – D
The running back group certainly struggled. With Kenyan Drake being traded during the season to Arizona, Kalen Ballage struggled to establish himself as the starter before landing on injured reserve. Although Mark Walton emerged and showed potential to be good, off the field troubles ended his stay with the Dolphins.
With all the turnover and injuries for the Dolphins backfield quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick leading the team in rushing as well with 243 yards. At 37 years young, he also became the oldest player to lead his team in rushing in an NFL season.
Offensive Line – Incomplete
The line has been an issue for years with the Dolphins, this year was a difficult one to watch though. Between the injuries and missing pieces as well as trading away all-pro Laremy Tunsil the line certainly struggled. The good news is there is some hope, 2019 third-round selection Michael Dieter struggled going between tackle and guard this season, but he is certainly better suited to play guard long term. Jesse Davis also showed a team-first mentality lining up at guard and tackle as well.
Daniel Kilgore showed that he has a firm hold on the center position and started all 16 games this season. The line gets an incomplete simply do to the fact they were playing with a makeshift line all season.
Defensive Line – Incomplete
Similar to the offensive front, the defense seems as though it needs more pieces in order to be complete.
The defensive line followed along a similar path to the offensive line. They had their injuries, however, they could not generate any significant pressure to disrupt the opposing offenses as they finished with a league-worst 23 total sacks. There were bright spots with Davon Godchaux finishing third in tackles among defensive linemen and Christian Wilkins led rookie lineman in tackles as well. Those are both positives to build around.
Linebackers – C+/B-
Although the unit had its struggles, the unit did perform well although sometimes inconsistent. Hopefully, as the team building continues, the linebacking group can grow and evolve into a force as part of the overall team performance.
Jerome Baker has emerged as the clear leader of the linebackers. His tackles increased in his sophomore season and finished ranked 14th in the league in total tackles with 126. Raekwon McMillan showed signs of being a dynamic pairing with Baker before being sidelined late in the year with an injury as well.
Sam Eguavoen emerged this season as a contributing piece defensively as was brought in from the Canadian Football League and tallied 40 tackles three and a half sacks and recovered a fumble. In certainly an adjustment year from the CFL, he showed promise. In 38 games in the CFL, he did record 159 tackles. Also, Andrew Van Ginkel showed some promise after being sidelined for the bulk of the season due to injury.
Secondary – C+
Heading into the season, the position group was viewed as a source of strength. With Xavien Howard emerging as a dominant corner in the league as well as Reshad Jones as one of the safeties that the team would build upon. Newcomers Jomal Wiltz and Eric Rowe were also brought in to help bolster the group. In addition, the team found Nik Needham and brought him in as an undrafted free agent.
Injuries derailed the sight of Howard and Jones lining up with Rowe, Needham, and Wiltz for more than a few games. The injuries provided a trial by fire so to speak for the newcomers. The injuries provided the players and coaches to determine best-suited positions for the newcomers and moving forward is promising once everyone returns healthy.
Special Teams – B
Jason Sanders and Matt Haack provided one of the best and most memorable plays of the season. With the fake that resulted in Haack throwing a touchdown to Sanders in the week 13 win against the Eagles.
As for Sanders, he finished the season making 23 field goals on 30 attempts. Also converting 29 of 30 extra-point attempts. He has demonstrated the leg to make field goals of 50+ yards. Haack has also established himself in the three years he has been with the Dolphins he has consistently averaged 44+ yards.