Team Previews - Miami Dolphins

Projected Starting Lineup

QB: Ryan Tannehill RB: Kenyan Drake WR: DeVante Parker WR: Kenny Stills WR: Danny Amendola TE: Mike Gesicki

LT: Laremy Tunsil LG: Josh Sitton C: Daniel Kilgore RG: Jesse Davis RT: Ja’Wuan James

Dolphins Offensive Profile Under Adam Gase 2016-2017 Pass Attempts Rank: 31st, 4th 2016-2017 Rush Attempts Rank: 18th, 32nd 2016-2017 Play Volume Rank: 32nd, 22nd 2016-2017 Yards Per Play Rank: 7th, 22nd Unaccounted for Air Yards from 2017 (Rank): 1,718 (8th) Unaccounted for Carries from 2017 (Rank): 207 (7th)

Adam Gase's average offensive production as an Offensive Coordinator in the NFL. (3 Seasons)

Passing: ATT COMP PCT YDS AVG YDS/G LONG TD TD% INT INT% SACK YDSL RATE

534 341 64 3784 7.1 223 75 24 4.6 16 3 32 218 88

Rushing: ATT YDS AVG LONG 20+ TD YDS/G FUM FUML 1DN

411 1688 4.1 53 9 10 106 7 2 88

Receiving: REC TAR YDS AVG TD LONG 20+ YDS/G FUM FUML YAC 1DN

341 534 3784 11.2 24 75 48 237 5 2 1743 177

Quarterback- The Dolphins welcome back Ryan Tannehill, who has fully recovered from his torn ACL. He looked comfortable under Adam Gase completing 67.1% of his passes and throwing for 2,995 yards in 13 games before injuring his ACL. The Dolphins did not want to pay check-down specialist Jarvis Landry, so Tannehill will be without his favorite weapon this season. He is not a quarterback with much upside tapping out around 4,200 yards with 25 or so touchdowns, and won't be selected come draft day.

Wide Receiver-

It is a real shame that the most talented receiver on the roster can't seem to take advantage of his opportunities. Last year Devante Parker teased us with a huge preseason that only led to 57 catches for 670 yards and 1 touchdown. The fourth year wideout can never seem to stay healthy or please his coaches with his work ethic. If there is a year for Parker to breakout, this would be it as the Dolphins have 160 targets vacated with the Landry trade. I will continue to monitor him this off-season but as of now I will not be spending higher than a 9th round pick on him.

I believe the person that will benefit the most from Landry's departure will be free agent signee Danny Amendola as he will play out of the slot. Just be ready to grab Albert Wilson should the fragile Amendola go down with another injury as he too struggles to stay healthy. I would expect him to lead the team in targets should he play all 16 games and is one receiver in the later rounds that I like a lot.

The most reliable deep threat receiver is Kenny Stills. Coming off of a career-high 105 targets last season, Stills caught 58 balls for 847 yards and 6 touchdowns. He should see an uptick in targets this season as he will also factor in out of the slot. His big play ability plus the added volume out of the slot should increase his catch numbers and give you 6+ touchdowns this season. I am looking for Stills in the later rounds much like Amendola as has WR2 upside.

Tight End-

One of my favorite players in this draft was Mike Gesicki, unfortunately he went to the Dolphins. He couldn't stop my mother from rushing the quarterback but he is deadly in the passing game. I had him as the second best receiving tight end in the draft, which he displayed a 4.54 forty to go with a ridiculous 41 1/2-inch vertical. He has tremendous hands and at 6'6/245 he is a red-zone monster. It might take him sometime to adjust to the NFL game but if used correctly in the passing game he will be a force down the seam.

Running Back-

I swear if Adam Gase trots out and hands that fossil Frank Gore more than 80 carries I am going to lose it. Kenyan Drake should be getting minimum 17 touches a game as he flashed in both the running and passing game last year for the Dolphins. While he has never carried a full load, he needs to get 220+ carries this season along with 45+ catches out of the backfield as he was the lone bright spot not named Landry last year. Once Damien Williams went down with an injury, Drake averaged 21 touches and 119 yards per game from week 13-17. The knock on Drake is his durability as he has never seen a full workload in college or the NFL. He is one of the riskiest picks in the draft but has a ton of upside. If he falls in the draft and you're comfortable with your first 3 round selections, a gamble on Drake could bring you a fantasy title come December.

I am hoping that Frank Gore is only used for those breather carries after Drake busts a long run this coming season. He simply is too old to offer any fantasy value. The Dolphins added Kalen Ballage in the 4th round out of Arizona State. I am a big fan of Ballage and think he could be a lottery ticket should Drake get injured. He is very proficient in the passing game and think he will spell Drake more as the season progresses. Like all rookies he will have to sharpen his pass protection before he can move past Gore on the depth chart but I think he has the skills to be successful in the NFL. 2018 Vegas Win Total The Dolphins’ Win Total opened at 6 after Miami went 6-10 last year. They were extremely fortunate to win 6 games as they somehow won 5-of-6 one-score games. It would be very hard to duplicate that this year, as the defense should be one of the worst in the league. The offense does have a couple of playmakers but most of them can't seem to stay healthy. I think this is one of the worst rosters in terms of overall talent in the NFL and think they struggle to win the 6 games Vegas posted.