Believe it or not, the Miami Dolphins officially broke camp yesterday morning following practice, effectively ending the three week precursor to the season.
What does this mean?
Well, not much really. All it really means is that, from now on, us media people won't be allowed to watch practice anymore. But, in a larger context, it also means that we're one step closer to the regular season (23 days to be exact).
With this in mind, lets take a look at where this Dolphins team stands right now as they head into their second preseason game Saturday night in Tampa.
- At the beginning of camp, I wasn't sold on the offense, and was head over heels for the defense. Well, three weeks later, I've done a bit of a 180 here. After seeing Ryan Tannehill grow the way he has over the past month, and take control of Bill Lazor's offense the way he has, I think I'm pretty confident in this offense at this point, and a little more skeptical about the defense.
- Why do I say this? Well, quite simply, I just haven't liked what I've seen from the linebackers. The tackling is suspect, the pass coverage is shaky, and the run stopping, as we saw last week, just isn't there yet. Koa Misi looks pretty good in the middle, but outside of him (literally) it's a crap shoot right now. These next two weeks should tell me a lot more.
- The offensive line concerns me less and less each week. The left side is rock solid with Branden Albert and Daryn Colledge. Samson Satele has secured the center position. And the duo of Dallas Thomas and Ja'Wuan James had an impressive showing last week. Five new starters was scary at first, but this unit has been sturdy for a while now.
- Randy Starks and Cameron Wake have been camp studs since day one. Starks in particular has the looks of someone who is ready to have a monster season. Bank on it.
- Losing Reshad Jones for the first month of the season may seem like a big blow to the national media, but in all honesty, Jimmy Wilson is more than capable at filling in. In fact, Jones may be in a dog fight when he returns if he wants that spot back. Wilson is a big time play maker, and he's got the chance to prove it now.
- On that same note, Jamar Taylor and Will Davis are also ready to step up. They've come leaps and bounds in the last year.
- Brent Grimes and Brian Hartline are Brent Grimes and Brian Hartline. Enough said.
- Mike Wallace will flourish in this offense. I expect you to start seeing this on Saturday night when he'll make his season debut.
- Lamar Miller and Knowshon Moreno compliment each other well. They are two completely different runners, but each will have a huge role in this offense. Moreno has looked the best he has in a Dolphins uniform the past week.
- Brandon Gibson, Rishard Matthews, and Jarvis Landry would easily be the 1,2, and 3 receivers on half of the teams in this league. They're the 4, 5, and 6 receivers on this team. Let that marinate.
- Cortland Finnegan has shown IT in practices, but I haven't seen it in a game yet. I'll be monitoring him closely.
- Louis Delmas is going to catch a lot of people off guard this year. He is a breath of fresh air on this team, and could be a huge spark plug in the secondary if he can stay healthy.
With that all out and in the open now, we can officially put a bow on training camp 2014.
The team is traveling to Tampa today ahead of the 7:30 kickoff tomorrow night.
I'll be helping cover the game for The Finsiders and Dolphins.com, but make sure to check back for pre game notes, and look for a an update or two during the game. As always, the quarter by quarter blog doesn't start for another 23 days.
See you tomorrow!
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