Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
We have reached March. Normally, we would be wrapping up the NFL Scouting Combine right now, talking about how fast Prospect A ran or how much Prospect B could bench press. In Covidland, however, there was no Scouting Combine, so there seems to be a hole in our offseason coverage plans.
To fill that hole today, I decided to take a way, way too early look at the Miami Dolphins 2021 roster and try to build a 53-man depth chart for the season. With the free agency period set to begin in a couple weeks and the NFL Draft kicking off in April, there are obviously a lot of additions and subtractions to Miami’s roster still to come. Where I think a new name will be added to the roster, I will add in either “Free Agent” or “Draft” to fill out the 53 players.
DAVIE, Fla. The Miami Dolphins defense attacked offenses with a confusing, blitz-happy and man-heavy scheme throughout the 2020 season. But the lasting memory for that unit is its Week 17 loss in Buffalo when Bills quarterback Josh Allen and the starters played only the first half, yet the Bills put up 56 points.
Despite spending parts of the season with the No. 1 scoring defense, the Dolphins aren t a finished product. While still the strongest part of a young team, Miami s defense can use that Week 17 blowout as fuel to avoid complacency and add more sideline-to-sideline playmaking speed and elite pass rush.
2021 NFL draft coverage
You back? And divorced? Great. You really shouldn’t have wasted all that time reading a pile of junk from a dude who’d struggle to write a stop sign.
So what is this nonsense, no one asks? This is my weird little corner of the multiverse where I cosplay as an NFL General Manager and pretend I’m not just a cat tracking the sinking sun across a keyboard. I don’t suggest what the Dolphins should do, and I most definitely don’t predict what they’re going to do. This is just my own special way of distracting you while I sneak into your house and eat all your snacks. Don’t check the pantry. I filled it with bees.
Dolphins coach Brian Flores was ecstatic to coach the Senior Bowl, which looks to be the last significant in-person and on-field football evaluation teams will get ahead of the draft now that the NFL scouting combine has been made largely virtual.
Miami (10-6) is far from a finished team. With nine total picks, including two in the first round and four in the top 50, Flores and general manager Chris Grier will be busy. I didn t think they had a very talented roster last year. Outside of a couple of guys, they didn t have much special talent. Flo did a great job getting the most out of their players, Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy said. I can only imagine how good they are going to be once they add even more talent.