The Miami Dolphins are set to begin training camp in a few short weeks. It will be Jeff Halfey's first as an NFL head coach.
The coach is bringing new ideas, new schemes, and a new attitude to the organization. He is taking over a team that, on paper, is about 30 chapters short of being complete. Fewer veterans with experience, a lot of rookies, and a desire to build a physically punishing team on both sides of the ball.
All of that makes this camp almost unique in its own way. This year, there is real competition at nearly every position. That competition will not just be for a spot deep on the 53-man roster either.
Miami Dolphins fans will love the level of competition this year's training camp provides
There are a few positions that will not be true competitions, not at the top anyway. Malik Willis, Patrick Paul, De'Von Achane, and Kadyn Proctor are locks. On defense, Jordyn Brooks and Zach Sieler are veteran locks as well.
Everywhere else players will be jockeying for a spot on the depth chart and the roster.
Miami previously made it a point to say that training camp was going to be competitive, but fans knew with almost certainty which players were going to make the roster and which ones were going to start. Despite Chris Grier's best efforts to persuade fans to think otherwise, his decisions were always predictable. That made camp battles far less of a battle and more of going through the motions.
That won't be the case this year. Players are competing for starting jobs, backup jobs, and, yes, roster spots. Fans don't have a good idea of who is on the roster bubble.
The WR room is a great example of this. Three draft picks, Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell, and Kevin Coleman, sit in the room. Three veterans, Jalen Tolbert, TuTu Atwell, and Jalen Reagor, also sit in the room. Three more are holdovers from last season: Malik Washington, Tahj Washington, and Theo Wease.
Of those nine players, only Douglas is 100% guaranteed a spot on the final 53. Bell could end up on IR before the season starts if he can't recover quickly enough. Not a single player from last season has a hold on a roster spot.
For most of the roster, this will be the case as well, and that will lead to battles on the practice field that actually will come down to who is the best player instead of their contract.
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