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Winners of the Offseason? A Look Back at the Explosive Offseason of the 2022 Miami Dolphins
Going into the off-season the Miami-Dolphins had several needs at key positions as new head
coach Mike McDaniel was tasked to improve a struggling offense while maintaining a relatively
good defense. First things first, the Dolphins brought back defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah and
tight end, Mike Gesicki—two key players on defense and offense, respectively. But it’s going to
take more than just retaining key players to improve a team that has routinely failed to make the
playoffs in the last few years. The Dolphins needed massive offensive line help as the offensive
line was ranked dead last in the NFL by PFF, with only two players sporting grades above
60—Center Michael Dieter, and guard Robert Hunt. The Dolphins seemingly mended this
weakness by signing former Dallas Cowboys guard Connor Williams who posted a 76.4 PFF
grade in 2021. The Dolphins also made perhaps the marquee free agency signing by acquiring
the services of veteran tackle Terron Armstead, who despite only played in 8 games due to injury
in 2021, posted a pass blocking grade of 85.3. With the addition of these two players, the left
side of the line should be vastly improved, and it would allow Liam Eichenberg and Austin
Jackson to compete for the remaining guard or tackle position on the right side of the line after
struggling veteran tackle Jesse Davis was cut. Robert Hunt, who showed promise at tackle in his
rookie season, can shift to fill that right tackle position leaving only the right offensive guard
spot as the remaining hole to fill in the starting line. The Dolphins offensive coaching staff also
has a heap of new offensive line coaching experience highlighted by offensive coordinator Frank
Smith, who was previously the Los Angeles Chargers offensive line coach, and Matt
Applebaum, who had spent the last two years as the offensive line coach for Boston College.
Mike McDaniel has assembled a coaching staff that should help the young players on the
offensive line and hopefully produce a starting caliber level player from those that are going to
be competing for the remaining starting position on the line.
The offense also needed to bolster a wide receiving corps that was plagued with injury and
inconsistency. The Dolphins took their first step at alleviating these issues by adding wide
receiver Cedrick Wilson, who’s coming off a career year with the Dallas Cowboys. The
Dolphins then made the shocking move to trade for Kansas City Chief’s superstar receiver
Tyreek Hill, who was the 8 th ranked receiver according to PFF in 2021. With these new
additions, the Dolphins seemingly have one of the fastest and deepest wide receiving corps in the
NFL led by speedy wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle (who was ranked 18 th in 2021 by
PFF for wide receivers). The Dolphins also have Preston Williams still on
the roster, who is a big-bodied receiver who can create mismatches on offense if only he
remained healthy.
The Miami Dolphins also addressed their struggling run game which ranked 30 th in yards in 2021
by adding Chase Edmonds (PFF rating of 67.9) and Raheem Mostert (PFF rating of 79.3 in
2020) to go along with Myles Gaskin (PFF rating of 64.8 in 2021) who remains on the roster.
The Dolphins sacrificed most of their 2022 draft capital to obtain the services of Tyreek Hill, but
it is still possible that the Dolphins use one of their remaining picks to select another running
back to further bolster this squad for 2022. Overall, the running back room seems to be stronger
and has more depth coming into the 2022 season and it will likely benefit from an improved
offensive line stemming from the offensive line additions previously listed.
Written by- Alan Martin
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