The Miami Dolphins are in the midst of another rebuild. After two straight sub .500 seasons under Adam Gase, Steven Ross decided it was time for a change. Ross and general manager Chris Grier ultimately decided on long-time New England Patriots assistant Brian Flores as the right man to lead this football team.

Under Gase, Miami had the reputation as somewhat of a sloppy team. Miami finished in the top three of total penalties in two of his three years coaching the Dolphins. Flores comes from a Patriots system that simply doesn’t tolerate boneheaded mistakes. One thing Bill Belichick coached teams don’t do is beat themselves. Will the change in the coaching staff bring a more disciplined team? Will Flores’ group be able to undo the last three years of unaccountability?

It’s always interesting to watch how a new coaching staff will come in and try to change the culture of a locker room. Miami’s new head coach is night and day different than their former, in more ways than one. Gase was an offensive-minded coach, Flores is defensive. Gase let things slide under the rug, Flores will not (supposedly; we need to wait for the first conflict to see how he reacts).

After the first week of training camp in Davie, there were some notable changes about the Dolphins. Some things look the same, but some things are worth noting, here’s what you should be watching.

One man quarterback competition for the Dolphins

When the Dolphins traded a 2019 2nd round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for quarterback Josh Rosen, a QB competition was born in Davie. Rosen wasn’t promised a starting job coming to Miami. He was offered the chance to compete and earn the starting QB job.

During Miami’s organized team activities and minicamps this year, Ryan Fitzpatrick outperformed the younger Rosen. Some, including myself, didn’t think anything of it, due to the difference in the two’s experience level. Rosen is fourteen years younger than Fitzpatrick. It makes sense that he would struggle to grasp a new offense at the same rate as the fourteen-year vet.

However, after four training camp practices, Rosen still looks to be well behind Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick has been accurate and in command of his offense on just about every drive he’s been in on. On the other hand, Rosen has had only one good practice out of four. The other three showcased what looked like a rookie QB. If this “competition” continues this way, Fitzpatrick will undoubtedly be the teams starting QB heading into the season and fans will have a right to wonder if the Dolphins wasted a second-round pick.

Kenyan Drake conundrum

One of Dolphins fans’ biggest complaints about the Gase era was his use, or lack thereof, running back Kenyan Drake. Even though Drake has a knack for making spectacular plays and finding the end zone, Gase never seemed to trust the Alabama product as his featured back.

Most fans credited this to Gase outsmarting himself, but looking back, Drake wasn’t Nick Saban’s featured back either. As of right now, he doesn’t look to be Flores’ go to either. Kalen Ballage was the first RB to take a team rep. in Miami’s opening practice that was available to the public.

It would be silly to think that Ballage being the “starter” means that Drake won’t see the field. However, it absolutely makes one question why Drake can’t seem to earn the trust of any coaching staff? Is there something going on behind the scenes that fans don’t see? I predicted Drake to be the team MVP for the 2019-2020 season, but I’m not too sure about that if he’s only playing 50% of the snaps.

Secondary shakeup

The Dolphins picked Bobby McCain in the 5th round of the 2015 NFL Draft. When McCain made it to Miami, he was almost instantly the teams starting nickel cornerback. McCain manned the position well, which was apparent when the Dolphins chose to reward the former Memphis Tiger with a 4-year $27,000,000 contract extension.

However, after drafting Minkah Fitzpatrick in 2018 with the 11th overall pick, it was evident that Fitzpatrick was the superior slot CB. This isn’t a knock on McCain; it’s merely a testament to how good of a football player Miami received when they selected Fitzpatrick.

According to Pro Football Focus, Fitzpatrick played 379 of his 1,044 snaps at nickel CB (36%) for the Dolphins in his rookie season. Fitzpatrick was asked to learn and play three different positions that year and performed above average at all three. The former Alabama standout shined in the slot which pushed McCain to the boundary for a career-high 421 snaps.

McCain struggled on the outside, posting a career-worst 54.0 coverage grade according to PFF. So the new coaching staff had a decision to make, and they decided to do something that Matt Burke never thought of, putting McCain at free safety and keeping Fitzpatrick at the nickel. McCain himself admits that he views himself as a safety now, which is good considering that NFL players don’t always like position changes.

Fitzpatrick has the potential to be an elite nickel CB in the NFL, McCain can be above average at best. This move shows that Flores’ staff can see talent and understand how to utilize it to its best ability.

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