Dave Wannstedt has done a good job of keeping this team afloat talent-wise through the salary cap era with his brand of controlled conservatism in personnel decisions. Rick Spielman, the Senior Vice President of Player Personnel and Football Operations, deserves a good part of this credit as well. 

Ricky Williams' addition to the Miami Dolphins was nothing less than a simple toss of the dice for the front office. The Saints insisted on more than just the low first round pick Miami possessed, so Miami essentially built a performance clause into the trade.  If Williams would run for more than 1500 yards for the Dolphins, the team would pony up a second first round pick as part of the performance clause. Since Ricky easily exceeded this performance clause the Dolphins had to ante up their first round pick this year.  Before pulling the trigger on the trade, the Dolphins took the same approach to researching him as they would a high draft pick, doing all the research through their security department and finally deciding that he was definitely worth trading for. 

Junior Seau's acquisition, believe it or not, is somewhat more of a stray from the ethos. With Ricky Williams they gave up two first round picks; their primary payment was through the draft because of the unique nature of Williams' contract (thanks to Master P). With Junior Seau, the Dolphins gave the Chargers just a conditional 6th rounder. However, what the Dolphins primarily gave up was salary cap space...to an aged veteran whose viability in the Dolphins' scheme has been called into question. We shall see if this gamble pays off as well as the gamble for Ricky Williams. 

As for the organization, most fans and football experts alike would agree that the Dolphins entire organization is top notch. Eddie Jones, the President of the Miami Dolphins, who has once again decided that he loves the game too much to leave it now is staying on with the team. However, key front office man, Tom Braatz, who served as the Director of College Scouting is leaving. While neither will significantly affect the 2003 season, they are both guys you would like to see stick around and at least they're batting .500 there.

Dave Wannstedt is on the hot seat as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Denying or downplaying that would be like saying "I don't think J-Lo's butt is that big." The Dolphins had far too much talent in 2002 to have found themselves at home watching Ricky Lake on Sundays during the month of January. 

The Dolphins had one of the best runners in the league and an offensive line that ranked 7th in fewest sacks allowed, while pushing the pile for the 2nd most rushing yards total in the NFL (merely 5 yards behind the leader). They had a top 5 defense, an innovative offensive coordinator widely regarded as one of the best in the biz, and yet they barely won more games than they lost. This year we should expect to see a few tweaks in scheme and philosophy (this coaching staff is too conservative to go for any outright changes). 

Dave Wannstedt talked with his buddy Bill Cowher at some point during the off-season and they both came to realize what the term "balance" means for an offense. Both men cut their teeth in the old school philosophy of running the ball and playing good defense. Wannstedt admits he had forgotten what a good passing game can mean to a team so we'll see if the tweaks are focused on the passing game. QB Coach Mike Shula left to take on a head coaching position at Alabama, so Norv Turner will be filling in as QB Coach in addition to his Offensive Coordinator duties. 

Don't be surprised if the Dolphins hire someone to focus on the running game specifically to help alleviate Norv of some of the additional responsibilities. Joe Brodskey's name has come up as a possible candidate. At any rate, Norv Turner seems to be taking a page from the Dick Vermeil book of offense, focusing in on his biggest playmakers and finding ways to get them the ball. Ricky Williams will continue to be emphasized and Norv is changing the playbook to find ways to funnel the ball to their two biggest playmakers in the passing game: Chris Chambers and Randy McMichael. 

Meanwhile, on the defensive side of the ball don't be surprised if Jim Bates changes things up to utilize the additions of Junior Seau and Sammy Knight. The football X's and O's think-tank seems to think that those two additions could signal more use of the scheme that Jimmy Johnson first installed in Dallas and in Miami before switching to primarily Cover 2 Man Under, which is what the Dolphins ran in 2002. The scheme in question would be the Cover 4, or 'Quarters' defense. If we do see an increase in 'Quarters' defense, expect a sharp increase in turnovers created by the Dolphins accompanied perhaps, by a few more 'big plays' given up. None of us can really get inside Jim Bates' head here; however, we can tell you with 100% certainty that he is attempting to modify his scheme to take advantage of Junior Seau's unique abilities. What the final product will look like is anyone's guess.

• First of all, in fairness to the Dolphins, the reason that they were without a first round pick is because they traded the pick to the Saints for the rights to Ricky Williams. At some point we have to stop slapping the Dolphins on the back for having pulled the trigger to trade two first round picks for Ricky Williams. Considering he led the NFL in rushing last season, the trade was more than worthwhile.

• TE Donald Lee. With this pick the Dolphins thought they just found a guy who was supposed to be one of the best blocking Tight Ends in the draft. What they really found was a guy who was miscast in the Mississippi State offense. After watching this kid run some routes and catch the ball, you notice athleticism and ability...the kind that he showed when he got the chance in the East-West Shrine Game. He pulled in MVP honors in that game for his 100+ yard performance, and so far at Mini-Camp, Lee is looking impressively athletic to onlookers. One thing the Dolphins needed in this draft was to find a quality blocking TE, and it looks like they've done it. He may not end up a super-star, but you have to learn to appreciate it when a team has a relatively small yet integral hole to fill, and they manage to fill it. 

The Dolphins are one of the very few teams in the NFL that can say that they have two starting caliber quarterbacks on their team. Not only do they have Jay Fiedler, who is their uncontested starter right now, but they also have former Broncos Quarterback Brian Griese. 

Fiedler’s importance to the Dolphins can be found just going back to last year when he led the Dolphins to a 5-1 record before breaking his thumb. It was when Fiedler went down that Miami’s season started going down the tube like doughnuts down Anna Nicole Smith’s mouth. Fiedler is a tough, smart, gutsy, and collective quarterback that makes very accurate short passes, but struggles throwing downfield. What many people don’t give Fiedler enough credit for is his ability to throw extremely accurate while on the run. While Jay might not have the biggest arm in the league, he has enough overall talent to manage without the cannon of an arm.  Besides, he seems to perform well in crunch time during the regular season too. 

In Brian Griese’s case, he too has limitations but can probably launch a ball further than Fiedler. His problem is that he has trouble making smart decisions, especially when the game is on the line. The good thing for Griese is that in Miami, he doesn’t have the pressure he had up in Denver because he’s just the back up and not the heir apparent to John Elway.  Additionally, now that Marino is more of a distant memory in Miami, Griese won't have the pressure of replacing the legend that is Marino (like Jay Fiedler had to do).  That being said, if Griese is thrust into the starting job there is no doubt that people will compare him to his Hall of Fame father. 

While Griese’s arrival in Miami was big for the team, the player that has been shoved under the rug because of it has been Sage Rosenfels. Here’s a guy that has pretty good pocket presence, a good arm, and pretty good decision making skills. While this might not be Rosenfels' year to show his stuff, he does have the potential talent to be a starter in this league and he might get his chance to prove that next year when both Jay Fiedler and Brian Griese will need to restructure their current contracts drastically or be cut. Overall, the Dolphins have decent Quarterbacking that includes a high quality back-up QB, an up-and-coming third string QB, and an average starter.

Obviously this position is a strength for the Miami Dolphins because of Ricky Williams' presence. Ricky's 2003 outlook, if possible, could be a little better than in 2002. That might be wishful thinking considering the entire NFL knows about Ricky now, but he has cut his weight down even further. 

Now, the only time Ricky will come off the field is when he's tired. Behind Ricky is a guy who is solid, but not exciting in Travis Minor. He's smallish, so running the same power game plan up the middle that they do with Ricky Williams would be problematic, but Minor also has a knack for getting a decent YPC. 

Robert Edwards no doubt owned one of the greatest comeback stories of 2002. He appears to have most of his speed back, and if he can stay healthy, this is the guy that can help back up Ricky. Robert Edwards will never return to his pre-injury form and staying healthy is a big fat question mark at this point.  Likewise, the guy may have a hard time just keeping a roster spot because of it. 

Charlie Rogers was signed as the Dolphins return specialist (punts and kicks), after the Dolphins agreed in negotiations to let Rogers in on some offensive action. He's extremely small, leaving him open to be pummeled in an actual game, so his impact will mostly remain on Special Teams.

Leonard Henry was a 7th round pick a year ago that impressed the coaches enough to seriously consider giving him a roster spot. He spent the year on the practice squad and the Dolphins would like to be able to keep him around.

Fullback Rob Konrad decided to stay with the team that drafted him on the eve of free agency. He is fairly fluid in his flat routes and has above average hands for a fullback. As a lead blocker he's not the most powerful, but he knows which blocks to make and generally seals them pretty well. Deon Dyer is the type of fullback that can blow people up with blocks, but sometimes he blows and misses his assignment.  He has stone hands so it's doubtful that he'll be catching passes coming out of the backfield. As such, he is not the model Norv Turner fullback, and could find himself out of a job at the hands of Obafemi Ayanbadejo or Sedrick Irvin (a recent FB convert), who both make plays running and catching the ball.

The Miami Dolphins' Wide Receiving corps is possibly their biggest weakness, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the receivers are bad. While the Dolphins don’t have a clear-cut superstar receiver yet, they do receivers that can get the job done. 

The player that has the biggest potential out of the whole group is Chris Chambers, who is also the team’s number one receiver. Chambers has it all physically, but the only thing plaguing him now is consistency. Chambers has the speed to get down field fast, in addition to having good hands which has helped him make tough positional, and diving catches. Even though the physical talent is there, if Chambers is to have a Pro Bowl year this season, he’s going to need to run routes better, and understand his quarterback better. 

The second receiver on the Dolphins roster is James McKnight, the fastest receiver on the team. While McKnight does not have the best hands in the NFL, he does have good speed. He is the Dolphins' primary threat to stretch the field against opposing defenses, but will not play too often this season if (as the Dolphins hope) Derrius Thompson is able to wrestle the #2 WR position from him or Gadsden. 

Speaking of Derrius Thompson... he is a big possession receiver, much like Gadsden, that can make the tough catches.  Thompson's upside is that he's both younger and faster than Gadsden.  Therefore, Thompson could have a productive season this year playing alongside Chris Chambers, who could be drawing double-teams. 

Oronde Gadsden has finally returned to Miami after testing and failing in the free agent market.  He will give the Dolphins a very reliable target in red zone situations.   

The remainder of the Dolphins' Receiving positions is virtually up for grabs. Younger receivers like Robert Baker or J.R. Tolver will fill the 5^th spot in the Receiving corps but won’t get too much playing time. Overall, the Dolphins have a solid Receiving corps due to the fact that they have 4 reliable players. Not one of the top 4 receivers is great, but they're not too bad either.

The Dolphins will now try to find ways to get the ball into the hands of their athletic tight end, rather than just passing it to him if he's open. When the Dolphins go to a 4 WR set, McMichael will be one of those WRs. Donald Lee should do an adequate job in replacing Jed Weaver as the team's best blocking TE and he may be able to provide some athletic plays as well. 

TE Marco Battaglia might have something to say about Donald Lee landing the backup TE job, as he was added to provide depth at the Tight End position. Battaglia, a former 2nd round pick out of Rutgers, has had many chances to be successful, and has only a friendly relationship with the Howard Stern Show to show for it. TE Ed Perry is the Dolphins' long snapper and a darn good one at that. We've yet to see him botch a long snap and that is saying something in this league. It's doubtful that he'll ever see time at Tight End, but his roster spot will forever be safe while he is a consistent long snapper.

While the Dolphins don’t have a stellar offensive line, the fact that the unit that helped Ricky Williams rush for over 1,800 yards last year is still largely intact this year bodes well for the team. The biggest question mark heading into free agency was how the Dolphins would fill the Left Tackle position. 

The Miami Dolphins have one of the deeper Defensive End rotations in the league. Jimmy Johnson would be proud. DE Jason Taylor could very well be the best all-around Defensive End in the league (sorry, Strahan). He gets after the quarterback with his speed and he is always adapting his techniques to keep an edge on his opposition. 

Adewale Ogunleye, currently an unsigned Exclusive Rights Restricted Free Agent, served opposite Taylor and collected on the Taylor double-teams with a solid 9.5 sacks in 2002. He's not a guy who creates the pressure on the QB alone, but when he's one-on-one and a QB is forced to flush toward him, Ogunleye can get to the QB.  Additionally, Ogunleye is pretty solid against the run. 

Last year the Dolphins added two guys in Rob Burnett and Jay Williams who can get after the quarterback in part-time action. It was an added bonus for the Dolphins that both of these guys can also rush from the DT position. David Bowens will miss the entire season due to injury so the door is open for. Lamanzer Williams to try to snatch a roster spot.  Williams is coming from NFL Europe where his production can't be ignored as he accumulated 10.5 sacks over the course of merely 6 games, with only 4 starts.

At Defensive Tackle, the Dolphins are about as beefy as you can get. Tim Bowens went to the Pro Bowl in 2002 and is about as good at tying up two blockers as a DT gets. He's not a threat to push or collapse the pocket a la Warren Sapp, but this defensive scheme does not require that. It requires someone to keep blockers off the linebackers and Tim Bowens has helped Zach Thomas since he first arrived in the league. 

In the same mold, Larry Chester is another big body who ties up blockers rather than penetrating the pocket, but at least Chester is a bit quicker than Bowens. He spent most of 2002 recovering from a serious leg injury he suffered with the Panthers late in 2001. He's now fully recovered and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him improve at DT. Did we mention he might be the strongest man in the NFL? He bench-pressed 225 lbs so many times the people administering the test told him to stop because they didn't have all day to watch him.  If you need further proof, he once bench pressed DT Sean Gilbert after Gilbert ate dinner! 

The Dolphins had another wide-body stalwart behind Bowens and Chester in 2002 in former 7th round pick Jermaine Haley. The Redskins signed him to an offer sheet and the Dolphins opted not to match, instead deciding to sign veteran DT Jeff Zgonina away from the Rams. Zgonina is older than Haley, but is known for being able to get after the quarterback from the DT position, and his leadership qualities are excellent. He was voted a team captain on the Rams for 2003 while he was still a free agent, but the Dolphins stole him out from under them. Dario Romero served as the 4th DT last year, beating Dolphins draftee Ernest Grant for the roster spot. This year Romero will have to deal with hard working 7th round pick out of Troy State Davern Williams, but the flexible Defensive Ends could likely put one of these players out on the street. Overall, the Dolphins can boast outstanding starters and quality depth along the DL, therefore, the Dolphins DL ranks among the best in the league.

The score is based on a possible score of 100.0
To see how this compares to the rest of the league check out our Power Rankings

The Dolphins are the classic case of the whole being lesser than the sum of its parts. After analyzing this team position by position, it is clear that they are one of the most balanced teams in the league. The results of 2002 still boggle the mind to think about how a team so talented could lose 7 games and not make the playoffs. 

But that brings us to the Dolphins 2nd biggest problem in 2002. Road defense. The disparity between their road defense and home defense was huge. Away, they got lit up by the Bills, Chiefs, and Vikings. At home, the team was stifling the AFC Champion Raiders and many many others. 

Finally, there is the dreaded month of December. Most people remember the two losses in December to the Vikings and the Patriots because the Vikings were not a great team and the Patriots came back from an 11 point deficit in the last 5 minutes of the game.  But asking the Dolphins to win more games than they lose in December has not been a realistic goal in the last few decades. They still managed to finish the final four games 2-2 last year, but the reality is that they will once again have trouble making it into the playoffs if they do not perform better in December. And a close look at their schedule reveals that the league did not do them any favors, as they must face all three division rivals and the Eagles in that final month. Indeed, 2-2 this December would actually be better than expected for these Porpoises.

This team is very angry about the results of 2002. It has inspired individual efforts to get better, even for guys like Ricky Williams who were superstars and league leaders. The addition of vocal, confident, and perhaps a bit cocky, leaders such as Terrell Buckley, Junior Seau, Jeff Zgonina, and Sammy Knight were all done in concert with each other to wake up the defense on the road and get them playing like they do at home. 

We'll believe it when we see it.

Dolphins Defense The Miami Dolphins defense never fails to put up above average numbers every year in fantasy football leagues, but this year they could possibly be the best. The Dolphins can boast 8 Pro-Bowl players on the Dolphins defense, including the likes of newcomers Junior Seau and Sammy Knight.  Therefore, on paper, have one of the top 3 defenses in the league. Since sacks and turnovers are key for defenses in fantasy leagues, picking the Dolphins defense should be even that much more important to you. Just the addition of ball hawk Sammy Knight should produce more interceptions than what the Dolphins usually get. In addition, with more blitz packages on the way, the Dolphins will have a chance to force more fumbles than last year as well. Not only will the Dolphins defense be a safe bet every week, they could be the best bet.

Randy McMichael This could be a huge year for Randy McMichael, but the reason the Commish doesn’t have him as a sleeper is because he has more than just a sleeper chance of having a fantastic season this year. With the Dolphins focusing more on the two Tight end sets this year, and usually always having a Tight end in every formation, McMichael is going to get many opportunities to shine. He is a solid pick for TE because few people will jump the gun on him after looking over his late season stats.  There won’t be too high of a demand for him so you can snatch him after using other high picks for RBs, WRs, or QBs.

Projections: Ricky Williams: 1849 rushing yards, 362 receiving yards, 15 TDs
                  Randy McMichael:  488 receiving yards, 4 TDs

On a similar note, Oronde Gadsden should also be a fantasy dud. He's the opposite of McKnight. He is physical and has incredible hands but he just does not get open that often. He is still a good red zone threat, but Thompson is faster. 

Chris Chambers posted some very nice fantasy numbers in his 2001 rookie season -- and everyone thought that 2002 would be a breakout year for him. It didn't happen that way, but that was because of an untimely concussion (that cost him 2 games) and the total collapse of the Miami offense when Jay Fiedler went down. When Fiedler broke his thumb last year, Chris Chambers’ numbers began to drop as a result of not having his main quarterback playing. Now that Fiedler has a reliable backup in Griese, expect bigger and better things from Chambers in 2003.  

Chambers is a high risk/potentially high reward kind of guy. What that means is that he COULD have the breakout season in 2003 that many of us thought he WOULD have in 2002. But don't be guilty of jumping on him too early. If you've filled needs at RB and QB, then he may be worth picking up as a starter in 3 WR leagues. Otherwise, consider him a top backup.