2010/2011 Season Preview : Miami Dolphins

Info on What’s Hot, What’s New & What’s Worth Knowing About

Expectations for how good the Miami Dolphins can be haven’t been this high heading into a season since the Dan Marino era – and the fact that this is only year three of the trifecta regime (Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano) adds to the intrigue.

Ever since Wayne Huizenga successfully lured Parcells out of retirement a little over 36 months ago and made him executive vice president of football operations, South Florida fans have been dreaming of a return to the glory days under Hall of Fame head coach Don Shula. The sting of a gut-wrenching 1-15 season 2007 was quickly washed away by the record-setting turnaround in Sparano’s first year as an NFL head coach and Ireland’s first as a general manager during which Miami went 11-5 and won the AFC East for the first time since 2000.

Despite that success, Parcells, Ireland and Sparano preached patience and emphasized how they were rebuilding the Dolphins for the long haul in order to be competitive for years to come and make reaching the playoffs and vying for another Super Bowl the norm as opposed to the exception. That’s why Parcells signed a four-year contract and kept his nose to the grindstone after Huizenga sold his majority stake in the team and Sun Life Stadium to multi-billionaire real estate mogul Stephen M. Ross in January of 2009.

Fast forward to this past March and April, as Miami was coming off a rough 7-9 campaign that revealed some cracks in the armor and took a toll on the medical and training staff; and, fans got to see a bit of a new approach from the trifecta. In addition to going after big, solid and proven players in the NFL Draft, the Dolphins made a splash in free agency and the trade market on both sides of the ball. First they picked up one of the most attractive defensive players on the market, former Arizona Cardinals linebacker Karlos Dansby, and then set hearts racing a week before the draft by acquiring top-flight wide receiver Brandon Marshall from the Denver Broncos for two second-round picks.

All of a sudden, Miami’s offense has the potential to be almost as explosive as when Marino was shattering passing records on his way to the Hall of Fame and connecting with the Marks Brothers (wide receivers Mark Clayton and Mark Duper). Chad Henne is just OFF THE FIELD Brandon Marshall Chad Henne entering his third season in the league and first as a starting quarterback, but he showed off his cannon arm during 13 starts in relief of veteran Chad Pennington after Pennington suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. By season’s end Henne had gone 7-6 as a starter and completed 247-of-451 passes for 2,878 yards, 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Marshall has caught over 100 passes in each of the last three seasons.

“I think it’s going to be exciting. You’re going to get a lot more double coverage on Brandon and that’ll give us some access to our other receivers and let them work,” said Henne, who got married on July 3rd to his fiancée of 10 years, Brittany. “So overall for our receiving corps I think a lot of guys are going to get some more balls because the attention is going to Brandon. In the run game he’s a great run blocker and is going to open up some holes and give us more Cover 2 safeties so we can open it up and we’ll get fewer men in the box for the running game.”

The only thing missing on the offense in the Marino years was a quality running game, and these Dolphins have that in Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, who is poised to become the franchise’s all-time leading rusher. Brown made his first Pro Bowl in 2008 after revolutionizing the Wildcat offense, and Williams set an NFL record for the longest stretch between 1,000-yard seasons as he passed the mark last year for the first time since 2003. Young wide receivers Davone Bess, Greg Camarillo and Brian Hartline will be the beneficiaries of the attention being paid to Marshall, as will tight ends Anthony Fasano and Joey Haynos, while Pro Bowl left tackle Jake Long will anchor a stout offensive line.

Dansby brings his playmaking ability to a defense that will be put in position to make big plays under new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. He and middle linebacker Channing Crowder, along with converted nose tackle Randy Starks and rookie firstround pick Jared Odrick hope to open up pass rushing lanes for rookie outside linebacker and second-round pick Koa Misi and secondyear outside linebacker Cameron Wake. Pro Bowl strong safety Yeremiah Bell anchors a young and talented secondary with secondyear cornerbacks Vontae Davis and Sean Smith and young safeties Chris Clemons, Tyrone Culver and rookie Reshad Jones.

“They went out there and they got some players, with Karlos Dansby being the key on defense and Brandon Marshall on offense,” said Crowder. ‘We’re excited and this now being my sixth year knowing the game and seeing how Super Bowl and championship teams are built, I think that Jeff, Tony and Bill are starting to build a championship team.”