Miami Dolphins (Phin Phanatic)

Team MVP: The Miami Dolphins decided against naming a 2007 team MVP...the first time since the team instituted the award way back in the days of the No-Name Defense. The award is now known as the Dan Marino MVP award, and this year, it will be interesting to see who steps up enough to deserve one. In reality, any MVP award would mean that the team actually performed at a non-embarrassing level, which makes it difficult to name someone to that post. Early guess? Safety Yeremiah Bell. If he stays healthy. Bell stands to be a leader on the defensive side of the ball, his health issues however make him a question mark. Recovered from an Achilles injury suffered in game one last season, Bell is the longest-tenured Miami Dolphins draft pick currently on the roster. He was taken in the sixth round back in 2003. Break-Out Player: It is hard to predict what this team will do as a team, let alone individual achievements. You would think that someone would break out. My guess is an un-drafted rookie by the name of Davone Bess. The speedy WR has been turning a lot of heads this off-season and he seems to have hands made of glue. If Bess can get into the game plans, he may be the guy everyone is talking about...and not just Dolphins fans...but he needs to make the team first. Biggest Disappointment: If it is hard to imagine the Miami Dolphins with a surprise player, it has to be even harder to pick a greater disappointment. Considering this team is made up of question marks, I really don't think any one player could be considered a disappointment given the state of the team. Not one player on this team is a sure-fire playmaker that has no shadows surrounding him. Perhaps the most pressure is on Bill Parcells as these are all his groceries. Name one? Channing Crowder. Miami fans are needing him to step up and lead this defense. He has the most to lose by a poor season as he is in a contract year. Fans will look to someone familiar to point a finger. Fantasy Stud: Fantasy Stud? That's like Gisele Bundchen deciding to dump Tom Brady for Jared from Subway. The Dolphins don't have much in the way of fantasy players. In fact, if your looking at drafting one, you better hope your league is very, very deep. In reality, the only player you should consider drafting from the Dolphins right now is Anthony Fasano and maybe Ted Ginn, Jr.. The former Cowboy TE will have a chance to shine on offense. Solid hands and decent speed for a TE, Fasano could be the go to guy for the Dolphins QB, whoever that may be. While not worth drafting until the end of your draft and as a back-up at that, he stands to have the most potential to score bye-week fill-in points in deeper leagues. In reality, you can get this guy after the draft, off waivers. Ted Ginn is slated to be the number one or number two WR, but the issue is who will throw him the ball? Until that is determined, Ginn has late value at best. Offensive Outlook: The Miami Dolphins are a new look team and the offense is no different. Attend a practice and the first thing you notice is an offensive line that stands over six feet across the board and tip the 30-pound scales easily. No lean on this line. The QB situation is shaky, and that is being nice. Newcomer Chad Pennington and his noodle arm will start. John Beck, Josh McCown, and rookie Chad Henne will compete to back him up. The only proven talent is at running back, where Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown are monster rushers. The problem? Both are coming off injuries that put them on IR last year. While the WR core has some questions as well, all of Miami does, they won't do much until the QB situation is fixed. While this Dolphins team won't put many points on the board, they should be able to move the ball on the ground and put the team in position to keep games close with clock management. I suppose that is all you can ask for in year one of a rebuilding project. Defensive Diagnosis: Gone is the 4-3 defense. Gone is number 54 Zach Thomas. Gone is number 99 Jason Taylor. What is left? A group of second-tier free agents that arrived in Miami via free agency. The Dolphins defense is truly a No-Name bunch of individuals. While Jason Ferguson will anchor the NT spot, the LB core is a veritable group of equal talents...which also means average. What has changed for the better? The attitude. There is a renewed sense of pride from these Miami Dolphins on both sides of the ball. No longer made up of Detroit Lion cast-off types, the Dolphins are a mold of players who come from winning teams. Dallas, NY Giants, Tennessee and, did I mention Dallas? These are teams who are used to competing in the playoffs. These players do not know losing in the ways that Miami's own returning veterans do. As good as Jason Taylor was, he himself has known nothing but losing since 2004. This is the trend that has to stop, the mentality of losing. This is the type of group that can do it. While the defense will struggle as they continue to change from one system to another, the fact is that the players brought in, are used to those systems. The defense only has to be good enough to keep the game close and give the offense a chance to win, which isn't going to be easy. "Red Letter" Game: There is only one game that matters right now for Miami Dolphins fans and that is game number one. The NY Jets will be the tell tale for this teams season. A good showing will give the fans something to hope for, even a respectable loss will lift this teams spirits and confidence. A win, and not only will we feel like there is hope, but we will have done so at the expense of a divisional enemy...and a certain number four. Projected Record/Outlook: The Miami Dolphins and their fans should expect a record in the 5-6 win column. Despite the 1-15 record last season, six games were decided by three points. While most of those losses can be attributed to bad clock management and coaching, it has to be understood, that will not be the case this season. However, with yet another large turnover in players this season, any more than that would be unexpected, but welcomed. Parting Smack: The Miami Dolphins are team in transition. For the first time in its history, they are actually going through a legitimate rebuild, the last team in the NFL to go through a rebuild I might add, a testament to their history. From QB questions to offensive line issues to a defense that is moving from a 4-3 to a 3-4, this team is all over the board with change. If the team itself wasn't enough, even the ownership is in transition from Wayne Huizenga to Stephen Ross. New England Patriots: Is there a team that is more reviled in the NFL than the Patriots? From Spygate to Bill Belichic's gray hoodies, the Patriots are far from the classy New England team they were 10 years ago. While their remains some class acts on the field, the NE fans have made most NFL fans hate the franchise, an honor that once belonged to the Cowboys. Even their owner, who could have taken a step to show that no one person was above the team, showed an indignity toward the NFL by giving Belichic a contract extension a short period after the team was penalized for cheating. At least there is Bridgette Moynahan who had the decency to name Tom Brady's son Jet. Buffalo Bills: Long ago, the Miami Dolphins and the Bills fought bitter battles. Now, they both find themselves trying to climb from the depths of the AFC East. While no Dolphins fan will ever admit to liking the Bills, it has grown increasingly harder to hate them if for no other reason than the fact that both teams have not been playing well enough to make it matter. Still, it's the Bills, and the mention of Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas are always enough to warrant being spit on. The New York Jets: The CropDusters. The NY Jets fans are the fans that every Dolphins fan hates. Batteries, rocks, ice balls, sand, you name it; if you can hold it, you can throw it. The green and white jerseys alone are enough to make a Phins fan puke. They are the step children of NY. A backseat rider in the third row seat behind the Yankees, Mets, Giants, and even the Knicks. Jets fans are those feeble minded souls who think that romantic dates are a quiet evening watching garbage barges roll down the Hudson river under the moonlight. The same fans who learned to spell by chanting J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets unfortunately that is all they can spell. In Miami, we classify a season as a success by whether we make the playoffs, to the Jets, it's whether they were able to split with Miami. - Brian Miller