With the NFL season just a few weeks away, Andy Benoit is previewing every NFL team in reverse order of last season’s finish. Up today: the Miami Dolphins, who finished 6–10 in 2017.

1. Miami’s biggest offensive problem last season was not Ryan Tannehill’s injury, Jay Cutler’s divergences, O-line coach Chris Foerster’s infamous video, Julius Thomas’s disappearance or the wide receivers’ inconsistency. It was the offensive line, which head coach Adam Gase never fully trusted. Every 3rd-and-long became a checkdown drill and primer for punting. Gase’s once-potent receiver screen game became ubiquitous and predictable. The ground game became an afterthought.

This team cannot rebound in 2018 if its front five doesn’t improve. Over the offseason, Gase and GM Chris Grier let center Mike Pouncey go, replacing him with seven-year 49er Daniel Kilgore. They supplemented this move by signing 32-year-old guard Josh Sitton. Overall, it’s a downgrade in interior O-line athleticism but, the team expects, an upgrade in reliability. Gase and Grier attempted a similar move at right tackle, shopping expensive 2014 first-round pick Ja’Wuan James. No motivated buyers appeared, leaving the Dolphins to simply hope their gifted tackle plays better. That hope is even thicker on the left side; third-year pro Laremy Tunsil has some of the sprightliest feet in football, but scattershot technique and awareness led to routinely poor play in 2017. There’d probably be serious consideration for moving Tunsil back to left guard, where he dominated as a rookie, but this roster has no other quality tackles. If the incumbent players don’t progress, neither will this offense.

2. With Tunsil and James being the only high-level athletes up front, it could be difficult to execute Gase’s outside zone running game. But it’s important Miami try. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who is coming off a yearlong knee injury, is more effective in a complementary role. And the Dolphins’ runners can make plays. Third-year pro Kenyan Drake flashed outstanding improvisational ability down the stretch last season, and perhaps no one in the 2010s has been better at maximizing his blocks than 35-year-old Frank Gore.

3. Another player Gase must consciously emphasize is third-year pro Jakeem Grant, a Tyreek Hill type who can play from the backfield, off presnap motion and even out wide. At 5’7’, 169 pounds, Grant is built more for gadgetry than everydown contributions. Gase has always had a cagey audible system for his unique personnel packages; with Grant in, the Dolphins can show a formation, eye the defense and check into the proper run or pass.

4. Gase hasn’t had a quality pass-catching tight end since arriving in Miami, which has hindered his patented “speed trips” aerial designs, where all three wideouts are to one side and the tight end is aligned by himself on the other. Tight end Mike Gesicki was drafted in the second round to change this. If Gesicki becomes a receiving threat, Miami’s wideouts become more dangerous on downfield route combinations. The weapon to watch is Kenny Stills, who is lethal on deep shots when aligned in the slot closest to the quarterback.

5. Dolphins fans need not worry about losing Jarvis Landry. Danny Amendola, Albert Wilson, Kenny Stills and Jakeem Grant can fill his void in the underneath and screen games. Decisive post-catch runners flourish more in Gase’s quick-strike scheme. Landry, productive as he was, didn’t always maximize opportunities.

6. Just like on offense, Miami’s biggest question on defense is the front line. Financially, dismissing Ndamukong Suh made sense, but his absence still represents a downgrade. And can Miami’s wide-9 edge rushers, Robert Quinn and Cameron Wake, consistently close the pocket? Quinn is supple but has a limited repertoire of moves, which is why the Rams traded him (and his $11.4 million cap number). Wake is 36, which puts him several years past a typical defensive end’s expiration date. You can’t argue that he’s not still highly effective. What small portion of speed he’s lost is camouflaged by refined technique and leverage. It helps that as a nickel down specialist he plays just under 60 percent of the snaps. With Charles Harris and Andre Branch also aboard, the Dolphins have enough quality defensive ends to keep Wake in a rotational role. Harris’s and Branch’s ability to morph from defensive ends to defensive tackles on passing downs also gives second-year coordinator Matt Burke freedom crafting stunts and twists. Uber proficiency in those designer rushes will be needed to overcome Suh’s departure.

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