Miami Dolphins‘ head coach Mike McDaniel and general manager Chris Grier can’t be feeling all that comfortable these days. The duo’s make-or-break season hasn’t even started yet and the knives are already coming out.
From the tenuous nature of the starting quarterback’s health, to the mouth of the mercurial star wide receiver, to major trades to injuries…it’s a potential powder keg in Miami.
This whole thing could go one of two ways considering the amount of talent the Dolphins have. Theoretically, they could surprise some people and have a good season; we’ve seen teams do that many times before. But, NFL experts are predicting that won’t happen.
“None of it seems great coming out of Miami right now,” ESPN’s Peter Schrager said.
“Looks like Gucci, but closer inspection it’s suss,” Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports said while sounding a lot like my nine-year old daughter.
“When all crap hits the fan who is going to take hold of this team and lead us?” Manti Te’o said on NFL Network. “For the Miami Dolphins, who is that? Nobody knows.”
Sports Illustrated doesn’t think much of the Miami Dolphins
Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated was nice enough to write “2025 NFL Season: Predicting All 272 Regular-Season Games” yesterday. I’ve been telling anyone who will listen this offseason that this Dolphins thing is going to go one of two ways, and it’s nice to know I’m not alone.
If you’re keeping score at home, Orr has the Dolphins at 6-11 for the season.
“This was an exercise in ripping off the Band-Aid,” Orr writes. “Miami’s youth movement could hit early, but I just found myself tired of trying to buck narratives with this Dolphins team. I agree with the team’s fan base that the front seven is getting massively faded by the national media, though I have for years been saying that Bradley Chubb is highly underrated in terms of his ability to impact a game.
“All that said, I had a choice to make between growth and attrition. We have Tyreek Hill being an outward distraction and the man responsible for getting him the ball trying to clean up the mess and set the emotional thermostat for the locker room. While it may seem blasphemous, I had to pick a side. Also, three of Miami’s final five games come in cold weather, while another two come against the Buccaneers and Bengals.”
I’m trying to see the glass half full on the Dolphins. I too get drunk on Tyreek’s speed and I love to watch Jaylen waddle like a penguin. But, Orr might be spot on with 6-11.
Peter Schrager agrees with the “one of two directions” theory
ESPN’s Peter Schrager gave a pretty blunt assessment of the Dolphins for the upcoming year and it seems to be in line with the general consensus.
“It can go one of two directions,” Schrager said on NFL Live. “It could be lightning bolts, and everyone—we’re all in, we’re galvanized. The haters are going to hate. It’s us against the world. We don’t need Jalen Ramsey [or] Terron Armstead, we’re good, we’re fine. Let’s do it. We’ve got the guys, we’ve got the weapons, and we’ve got the coaching staff.”
That sounds optimistic! Go Dolphins! What’s the flip side?
“Or it could be what a lot of people are cautiously raising their eyebrows at, with quotes from Tua to start camp about how he and Tyreek really have to still hash things out,” Schrager added. “Quotes from Tyreek from week 18 are still lingering. Quotes from Tyreek where he’s questioning some of the play calls in practice, and then Mike McDaniel has to correct that. None of it seems great coming out of Miami right now.
“I have been doing this long enough where you wait for the regular season. They play Indianapolis Week 1. This could be the same offense that put up 70 points two years ago on the Broncos defense, or it could be a great disappointment, and we’re looking at ourselves in January, saying, ‘What happened?’ Maybe they got to redo this whole thing and start over.”
Schrager nails it. Either the Dolphins are going to surprise everyone with offensive fireworks and a sneaky good defensive front seven, or we could potentially be looking at mid-season firings and a complete overhaul from the G.M. on down.
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