Excited For Training Camp To Start With The New Era

Excited For Training Camp To Start With The New Era

We are now about a month away from the Miami Dolphins opening training camp, and I’m as excited as ever. I’m nervous because this team has a lot of young players, but a change was needed for this team.  

It started last year, when Dolphins owner Stephen Ross fired GM Chris Grier and let go of members of the scouting department. Then, after the season, he let HC Mike McDaniel go as he was interviewing GM candidates. I know Ross liked and respected McDaniel, but if he really wants to show the fan base that he is committed to changing this organization, then he had to let him go. I feared that when the Dolphins went on a winning streak, Ross would keep McDaniel as HC, but it wouldn’t have changed my view of him as an HC or how he ran the team. Ross needed to hire a GM and give him the opportunity to bring in his own coach and have everybody on the same page. 

Think about it, since Ross has been the owner, the Dolphins have never brought in a new GM and HC together. He would also have an arranged marriage with the HC and GM, which doesn’t work well because the HC and GM don’t see eye to eye, or they just don’t work well together. Ross never saw it the way fans and plenty of outsiders did, which has been one of his biggest problems as owner.  

Ross brought in John Eric Sullivan from the Green Bay Packers, who worked his way up the ranks as a scout, and he has a good eye for scouting players in the draft. The Dolphins needed someone like that because they haven’t scouted or drafted good players consistently in recent years. He then brought in Jeff Hafley as the HC, and he was on many teams’ radars for HC opportunities. They both share the same vision for building a football team in the trenches and for having a bigger, more physical brand of football, which is something this team has lacked. McDaniel’s way took the Dolphins only so far, and while they did go to the playoffs in his first two years, they were a flash in the pan, and when the season wore on, they weren’t ready for the bigger and better teams. 

Sully also believes in building in the draft because that’s the foundation of your football team, and he learned from some of the best with the Packers, which is why they are one of the most well-run teams in the league year in and year out. 

 Sully had a tough task this offseason in cleaning up the Dolphins’ salary cap mess that Grier left behind, and so he had to rebuild this roster even if it meant having to take on $180 million in dead cap space. He said goodbye to Tua Tagovailoa, Bradley Chubb, and others. He also made a smart trade by trading wide receiver Jaylen Waddle for 1st and 3rd round picks this year. These tough decisions, but if the Dolphins were going to get out of this salary cap, hell, Sully had to rip off the Band-Aid, and he did. The team will still have dead money next year, but more cap flexibility.  

Sully then used his top pick on huge offensive lineman Kayden Proctor, who has high upside potential. He is a big guy, and Coach Hafley will have to coach him up to his potential. They also got a big corner in Chris Johnson, who has the potential to play all over the secondary. Sully also found a way to get quarterback Malik Willis, who is a strong-armed, athletic quarterback and can make plays off script, which is something the Dolphins have never had a quarterback do.  

Hafley will be interesting to watch and see how he does in his first training camp, but from the sounds of things, he is a great communicator, very detailed, and has discipline and a structure that the players need to obey. That is something they didn’t have under McDaniel, as players would walk over him and were undisciplined. 

I’m excited to see how Willis does once camp and the preseason come around. Is he a franchise quarterback? I don’t know. I personally don’t think so, but I could be wrong. 

I’m excited to see the second-year players and see if they take a step up in their game. Guys like Kenneth Grant, Jonah Savaiinaea, Jordan Phillips, and others. If the Dolphins get some improved play from a number of second-year players, then the roster might have a new core of players with the rookies drafted this offseason.  

This year will be about player development. The rookies will go through growing pains, but expect them to get better each week. Will Patrick Paul continue to take another step after last year’s success? 

I don’t expect the Dolphins to win a lot of games this year, but I do expect a lot of positive player development. I would rather have the Dolphins develop younger players and have a bad record than be average and not see the players develop. 

I’m excited for the fresh start this team is embarking on after the last couple of years have been very frustrating, with the team not being able to get over the hump in the playoffs and getting crushed by better teams. This fresh start will come with a lot of growing pains, but I’m glad we are starting over and finally getting new coaches and GM together and on the same page.