The Miami Dolphins head into the off season feeling a lot better than they did at the start of last year’s offseason. Heading into last year’s offseason the Dolphins had many questions that needed to be answered. They had an unproven head coach with no prior head coaching experience. The Dolphins were without a legitimate starting quarterback and a GM that had not produced a solid draft class in four years. All of that changed this year. The Dolphins head into this year’s offseason with bit more confidence.

First year head coach Joe Philbin has proven to his doubters that he is a top level coach. He led his team to a second place finish in the AFC East only behind the New England Patriots, when many experts predicted a last place finish before the season.
The play of rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill gave much needed confidence to a weary fan base tired of years of ineptitude at the position. The success of Tannehill was a bit of a surprise even for his supporters. With little college experience at the quarterback position, many felt he had to serve as a backup for a few years before he was ready to start in the NFL. His accelerated growth at the position has allowed the Dolphins to move forward faster than anticipated.

The general manager position for the Dolphins has been under scrutiny lately. After several years of unsuccessful drafting by GM Jeff Ireland, the Miami fans were growing impatient with the direction of the club. Being witness to the greatness of Dan Marino and then suffering through 16 different starting quarterbacks at the bottom of the quarterback barrel, Miami fans desperately needed a first round quarterback to be drafted by Ireland. With the selection and success of Tannehill, some of the pressure was taken off Ireland.

While many positives came out of this year’s season, if you are a Dolphins’ fan don’t go reserving your Super Bowl tickets just yet. Take a step back and look at the big picture here. Now comes a bit of reality. The Dolphins finished 7-9! That’s less than mediocre. They finished in the bottom half of about every single offensive statistic. The secondary finished 27th in passing yards allowed out of 32 teams. While the Dolphins did do better than many expected, they still have many holes that need to be filled.

Wide Receiver

Perhaps the most glaring need for the Dolphins is the wide receiver position. With Brandon Marshall gone, the Dolphins must find a number one receiver. Brian Hartline and Davone Bess are superb complementary receivers but neither will scare defensive coaches into rolling coverage their way. The Dolphins need that deep threat and big physical presence, if they want to take the offense to the next level.

Tight End

The Dolphins drafted 6’6” tight end Michael Egnew in the third round in hopes of filling this need but Egnew has not lived up to expectations. Current starter Anthony Fasano is an excellent blocker and a reliable receiver but is not a dynamic playmaker. The Dolphins play in the same division as Rob Gronkowski and get to see firsthand what a difference a play making tight end makes to an offense.

Cornerback

The Dolphins seemed to have traded away their best players at the position they need most. (Marshall at wide receiver and Vontae Davis at corner) While this left a glaring hole in Miami’s roster this year, it gave the Dolphins and extra second and third round pick for April’s draft. The Dolphins were torched in the secondary allowing over 248 passing yards per game this year. The Dolphins needs to seal up the porous secondary if they want to compete with Tom Brady and the New England offense. Miami would be wise to use a high pick on a shutdown corner.

Miami will enter the 2013 season with much hope and a lot of draft picks. There is still a lot of work left to do but the Dolphins are moving in the right direction and Miami fans can finally be prideful of their improving football team. The NFL is year round these days and the start to next season has already begun for the Dolphins.