Miami Dolphins: Reasons To Be Optimistic Before the Preseason
The Miami Dolphins are poised to have a breakout season. With plenty of questions marks still on the horizon, there’s still plenty to look forward to going into the season.
Tua Tagovailoa’s Deep Ball
If there’s one thing taken away from Dolphins camp is Miami is developing the big plays. With a better understanding of the playbook, Miami and Tua are looking to break open the big play section of plays. A lot of time has been invested to getting the ball downfield and in large chunks in camp. While they might not use it to their advantage as often as they’re showing, the focus is on perfecting it for when they do need it.
Tua’s Chemistry
Another big part of this offseason has shown up all over social media. It seems each day there’s a new clip of Tagovailoa hitting a receiver for a big play. Okay, it’s mostly been Albert Wilson but that shows promise alone. He’s not hitting Devante Parker who was on the team last year. He’s not just throwing to Jaylen Waddle who he played with at Alabama. The second-year quarterback is making plays with a player he had zero chemistry with coming into this offseason showing some growth.
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Howard’s Back In House
It seems like the drama is over, at least temporarily, for the Miami Dolphins. One of their star defensive backs has his contract situation under control and will be attacking passes once again. Miami worked this deal tirelessly to make sure there was something in place to keep Xavien Howard in Miami and Miami financially sound. If he plays up to last year’s standard or even past that to his full potential, there will be a good reason to revisit his contract in the offseason.
Jevon Holland Is As Advertised
So far, Jevon Holland has shown he’s ready to go on day one. That’s not saying he’s totally at midseason form or playing mistake-free football. However, for what the Dolphins need him for and his expectations he should slide in quite nicely. Holland has been taken on a leadership role on defense and as one of the deeper positions on the field, he’s got to be in control because he sees more of the field. He seems to be ahead of schedule and ready to start for Miami come week 1.
Waddle Should Surprise
While expectations for the young receiver are high, there’s still a good chance he’ll shock the casual fans. Waddle might not get a ton of work outside of what we’ll see with Tagovailoa in the preseason. However, before their final preseason game, you can expect that he’ll break one play open for Miami that will keep fans in awe. Miami might not open the playbook in the preseason but theirs a good chance the shifty receiver makes something out of nothing.
The Miami Dolphins have a lot of expectations placed on their shoulders this year. While it might just be preseason, if they want to avoid frustrated fans, they’ll have to show something worth getting excited for.
Rick ODonnell aka Caveman Rick has many years covering the Miami Dolphins, Sports, and all sorts of movies and television.
