Prior to the start of the 2018 season, the Miami Dolphins arguably had the best defensive player in the NFL in Ndamukong Suh, they were in the hunt for a second consecutive playoff appearance, and they were favored to win the AFC East. Since then, things have not gone as planned, as the Dolphins have lost seven of their 10 games and are tied for last place in the division, despite a talented defense that still includes Suh and a budding star in rookies Minkah Fitzpatrick.
The Dolphins went into the off-season trying to move forward with their burgeoning, young core in what could be a very promising year for the team. They traded for Browns receiver Jarvis Landry, signed Dan Campbell to a multi-year contract to be their head coach, and drafted second-round running back Kalen Ballage from Arizona State. Unfortunately, even if all of those things pan out, the Dolphins won’t be back in the playoffs unless they are able to improve their overall roster.
Miami is a talented defensive team, but the chances of them being able to make up for the drop-off on offense are slim. Although the Dolphins signed Jay Ajayi, they allowed Jay Cutler to leave for Denver after three mediocre seasons. Ajayi’s consistency is a big reason the Dolphins have had so much success on offense recently, but Miami still has less than 10 offensive skill players to work with.
Miami is running in place at quarterback. Ryan Tannehill, as impressive as he can be, cannot be depended on to do it all, and the Dolphins’ offense relies too heavily on his improvisational talents to win games. The better offenses in the NFL are usually led by effective power running attacks, and Miami is not set up to do that. They don’t have a dominant power running back and Ajayi is as inconsistent as they come.
The Dolphins aren’t the only team to have problems. When the Bills were able to take the Patriots to five overtimes to start the season, it led to even more attention on the Dolphins’ struggles. The Dolphins are still eighth in the league in total defense, but struggles through the air have the potential to be debilitating. Ryan Tannehill isn’t a strong enough player to pull it out in the fourth quarter. Defensively, the Dolphins lack of front-seven pass rushers leaves them susceptible to a run-based offense, which makes it all the more difficult for the offense to win games in the fourth quarter.
In the end, the Dolphins still have the roster and skill players to contend for a playoff spot, but those particular games will be the ones that will decide whether Miami has recovered from a 2016-2017 slide into irrelevance. The losses of Jarvis Landry and Ndamukong Suh, along with several other disappointing losses to injury early in the season, will make the Dolphins’ season more difficult.
In 2019, the Dolphins have the chance to recover from their early-season slump and make a serious run at the playoffs. But they have to get some pieces back to the roster that weren’t in place by the end of the 2018 season.