Looking forward to the 2019 season, most experts expect the Miami Dolphins to flail around like a fish out of water, and with good reason. Miami purged their roster after the 2018 season ended in the same way it has in fourteen of the last twenty seasons, without the playoffs. The Dolphins traded quarterback Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans and allowed the franchise’s second-leading sack master, Cameron Wake, to walk in free agency.

In addition to the roster purge, Miami changed coaching staffs for the fifth time in fourteen years. Stephen Ross and Chris Grier chose former New England Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores to become the teams 12th head coach (interim coaches included).

Although the Dolphins probably won’t be blowing teams out on offense or pitching shutouts on defense, some players will step up and show their talent. At the end of the year, when the Dolphins are passing out their in-house awards, I expect these guys names to be mentioned quite a bit.

Miami Dolphins Most Valuable Player: Kenyan Drake

There were more than a few head-scratching moments during the Adam Gase era. Arguably, the most confusing one for fans was the lack of opportunity for running back Kenyan Drake. In his short career thus far, Drake has never lead the team in carries, even though in 2017 Jay Ajayi (who lead with 138) was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles after seven games.

In three seasons under Gase, Drake trails only wide receiver Kenny Stills in total touchdowns with 15 (one on a kick return). What’s astounding is the rate at which he scores. With only 380 career offensive touches, Drake has reached the end zone 14 times.

With a new coaching staff in place (who witnessed the Miami Miracle), Drake should finally get the bulk of the load at RB. With the additional workload on offense, I expect to see number 32 dancing in the end zone quite a bit in 2019.

Miami Dolphins Most Improved Player: Mike Gesicki

Coming out of Penn State, Mike Gesicki’s strongest trait was his blocking ability. Wait no, that’s not correct, blocking was by far his WORST trait as a football player, and yet, according to Pro Football Focus, in his rookie year in Miami Gesicki was asked to block 44% of the time he was on the field.

Coach Flores had some of his coworkers from New England follow him to Miami, including offensive coordinator Chad O’Shea. O’Shea was the wide receivers coach for New England and had a front-row seat watching Rob Gronkowski dominate NFL defenses for nine years. O’Shea’s presence in Miami will definitely effect Gesicki’s growth in a positive way.

While I don’t expect Gesicki to be as impactful as Gronkowski, I do believe he can be useful as a potentially game-changing pass-catching weapon. If Josh Rosen plays a significant amount of time this year, I expect Gesicki to flourish. Rosen is a young quarterback who will rely on mismatches to boost confidence. Gesicki, if utilized correctly, will be a constant matchup nightmare for linebackers and safeties.

Miami Dolphins Most Impactful Newcomer: Josh Rosen

In a draft-day trade with the Arizona Cardinals, Miami sent their second-round pick as well as a 2020 fourth-round pick to Arizona to acquire their potential franchise QB. Although most downplay the move since Miami didn’t fork over a first-round pick, it will be a disappointment if Rosen can’t beat out 14-year veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick has outperformed Rosen through offseason workouts. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. In 14 years, Fitzpatrick has seen everything the NFL has to offer. Rosen, on the other hand, is only entering his second year and will take more time to process and learn new information.

I expect Rosen will get more comfortable and settle down once training camp opens up and he has had a few months to study his new offense. He’ll be able to just play football. If the competition is even remotely close, Rosen needs to be the starting QB for the Dolphins. Fans already know what Fitzpatrick has to offer and need to see what Rosen can do with a fresh start.

With Rosen under center, Miami’s offense will be somewhat comparable to New Englands, a quick passing game that keeps defenses on their heels. Although Miami has enough holes in their roster to be mistaken for a block of swiss cheese, pass catchers are a strong point. Rosen will have a plethora of options to choose from in the passing game and should be able to flourish in Miami’s passing attack.

If he can stay healthy and off his back (looking at you offensive line), Rosen should be able to produce and a high level this year and prove that the Dolphins didn’t make a mistake taking a chance on him.

Jessee Lopez is a writer for PFN covering the Miami Dolphins. You can follow him @jlopez_416 on Twitter.