Brutal question: After the draft and offeason do you think we really any better?

[Downunder Dolphan]

After the draft, I'm having trouble with this right now.

Long term addressing key DT and OG issues, as along as they are fit, probably and at worst possibly...

Our whole defensive secondary... no. Even more so if Ramsay is out of the building... it looks like a whole reset of all of our CB and S squad in the next 12-24 months...

Are we really any better than at the end of this season, let alone 12 months ago? I seriously have my doubts...

Picking Grant with our first round is a start. He's a National Championship winner with lofty ambitions... but that's the tip of the iceberg.

We've lost a lot of genuine leadership this off-season, and if we are going to rely on rookies to carry the load...
 

[CF DolFan]

I think we are better just for strengthening our offensive line. This should help our running game which in turn will help our passing game. Adding a big running back with great speed doesn't hurt either.

[Downunder Dolphan]

I think we are better just for strengthening our offensive line. This should help our running game which in turn will help our passing game. Adding a big running back with great speed doesn't hurt either.

If we get one injury in our OL, our backups are... (crickets...)

That's what I mean. Quality yes. Long term future in one position each in OL and DL, with no injuries. If someone gets hurt... oh, shit.

That's just the beef. If Ramsey is gone before the season starts, our whole secondary is a potential massive shitshow that can't be addressed until next season at the earliest.   

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

With the Dolphins cap situation and number of exiting FA, it is unrealistic to think the team would improve.

[masterfins]

After the draft, I'm having trouble with this right now.

Long term addressing key DT and OG issues, as along as they are fit, probably and at worst possibly...

Our whole defensive secondary... no. Even more so if Ramsay is out of the building... it looks like a whole reset of all of our CB and S squad in the next 12-24 months...

Are we really any better than at the end of this season, let alone 12 months ago? I seriously have my doubts...

Picking Grant with our first round is a start. He's a National Championship winner with lofty ambitions... but that's the tip of the iceberg.

We've lost a lot of genuine leadership this off-season, and if we are going to rely on rookies to carry the load...
 

What do you think Miami had 10 1st and 2nd round picks and plenty of cap space to buy up FA's?  It's an inane question unless you think Miami picked terribly, which at this point nobody believes.  It really won't be for two years until we know how the draft picks fare in the NFL.  I mean Buffalo Fans booed Josh Allen when he was drafted, and now he's like a god.

Of course Miami is better after the draft.  Will they compete for a playoff spot? NO  It's year #1 of a 2 year rebuild, 2027 is their next opportunity to be relevent.

[Pappy13]

Remains to be seen. I think we are better in some positions and worse in others. For example I think we are a lot better in the defensive tackle position and the OL, not just because of the draft but because of the free agents we've signed as well. How that will translate on the field is unknown at this point. The players have to go out there and perform, but I do believe it's possible that by getting better on the lines, it could help the Dolphins overall. Miami was too unbalanced on both sides of the ball last year. They couldn't run the ball and they couldn't stop the run. Yeah, we all know it's a passing league, but everyone forgets that you setup up the pass with the run. You still have to be able to run the ball to force the linebackers and safeties up to the line to try to stop the run and then throw it over their head. That's what Miami did so well in 2023. They couldn't do it in 2024. By not being able to stop the run, Miami's defense couldn't get off the field. Teams didn't need to pass the ball, just run it right down Miami's throat and eat up the clock and keep the ball away from Miami. Way too much of that last year.

No, I'm not convinced this year will be better than last year, but if we can run the ball and stop the run better this year they will be competitive and they can work on getting the missing players they need the following year.

[Downunder Dolphan]

It's year #1 of a 2 year rebuild, 2027 is their next opportunity to be relevent.

If you think we can rebuild in 1-2 years, I have a bridge to sell you in Sydney, prime location over the harbor, great income from road tolls... trust me, I can sell it to you for a good price.  

If Grier could have renegotiated more contracts to kick the can down the road, he would have. He couldn't. Armstead & Chubb took pay cuts, and luckily they did to save our ass... but when he approached Ramsey for the same thing without more guaranteed money in return (as has been officially denied, but is still doing the rounds as to the reason for the split) he told him to GAGF.

What I get from all of that, is that this is it for him, and probably McDaniel. No more rolling credit card. Prove it or lose it.

If we tank, and our attendances do the same, I can't see them surviving.

It would be also a reasonably clean and attractive rebuild for a new regime... Hill & Ramsey (more importantly their salary cap implications) are gone, and Tua basically has one year of guaranteed money to prove himself, or his ass is gone as well.  

[masterfins]

If you think we can rebuild in 1-2 years, I have a bridge to sell you in Sydney, prime location over the harbor, great income from road tolls... trust me, I can sell it to you for a good price.  

Every mid level NFL team, which Miami is, "can" re-build within 1-2 years; whether they are successful or not is a mystery.  And the mystery is whether the players drafted pan out.  Miami spent most of this draft on the defensive line, next year will be the offensive line, and the year after that will be when all those picks have had time to earn NFL experience.

[Downunder Dolphan]

Miami spent most of this draft on the defensive line, next year will be the offensive line, and the year after that will be when all those picks have had time to earn NFL experience.

We still need to rebuild the gutted defensive secondary, so addressing our needs on the defensive side of the ball are far from over. Ramsey will be gone, Kouhu is on a one year contract, so unless we extend him early, he's likely to be too. That's where the blown picks of Noah and Cam Smith (to replace X and Ramsey) have really hurt... we also need to work out what we're doing with Phillips.

[Dave Gray]

Unfortunately, not really, no.

I think we have some major issues and we are going to have to get lucky.

[fyo]

Unfortunately, not really, no.

I think we have some major issues and we are going to have to get lucky.

That's basically the case for the majority of teams.

The unfortunate fact is that our division has had a very consistent, very good top team for a long time. The Bills have averaged more than 12 wins a season over the past 5 years and the Patriots averaged more than 12 since basically forever before that. Having an insanely good competitor in the division just sucks and reduce the margin for error that the remaining teams in the division have.

I'm not particularly down on our overall roster situation, however. (My main concern is "can we score points") and I liked our draft overall. We came in with 3 areas of need: offensive line, defensive line, and the defensive backfield. We spent our top 5 picks on those areas.

The cap situation doesn't feel nearly as bad to me as many are making it out to be, so while we aren't going all in on bringing in big free agents (we don't often get value from those, anyway), we aren't in any kind of "cap hell".

Sure, we need to hit on our draft picks and the players that we have need to play well. Our coaches need to step up. McDaniel has had 3 full seasons to shape the coaching staff and influence the roster. For me, this is the season where we really start to see if McDaniel has grown with the job and managed to get the right people around him.

I'd have us as favorites to win about half the divisions in the league, but that's obviously irrelevant since that's not the game. I do think we'll get the second spot with a decent chance of making the playoffs, though.

[Dave Gray]

That's basically the case for the majority of teams.

Agreed.  I think we're a mid-tier team.  We can make the playoffs and win a game with competence, coaching, etc.

But I feel like we need a shake up to get to the next level...we need a superstar we didn't expect or something like that.