2006 NFL Preview: Miami Dolphins

Last Year

After a messy season in which Dave Wannstedt resigned mid-flight, new head coach Nick Saban had a lot of cleaning up to do. Following a four-win campaign, the expectations were low in Miami, but Saban was shrewd, piecing together a quality coaching staff that helped the Dolphins overachieve. With six consecutive wins to end the year, along with the acquisition of franchise quarterback Daunte Culpepper, the Dolphins now have the playoffs in their sights.

What We Learned From Last Year

It took some time for Saban to re-wire his players psychologically in the early stretch of the season because they still had a loser's mentality.

The Dolphins were 3-7 after their first 10 games and had lost a couple of tight ones that playoff-caliber teams normally eek out. To name a couple, in trips to Buffalo and New England, the Dolphins were in need of a late touchdown and had gotten the ball inside the red zone, but stalled.

In making his jump from the college coaching ranks to the NFL, Saban enlisted the help of a number of savvy veteran coaches.

On offense, heady coordinator Scott Linehan called the plays, while offensive line coach Hudson Houck was paid handsomely to leave his post in San Diego.

Houck is one of the premier line coaches in the NFL and patched together a leaky unit. In his first season, he cut the sack total in half as the front five only allowed 26, fourth-best in the NFL.

Behind a strong line, the Dolphins offense finally developed a second dimension. Although the team was hindered by an average quarterback, the passing attack still climbed to 16th overall, which was by far the best in recent memory.

Frerotte developed a rapport with Chris Chambers, who set new personal highs for receptions and yardage. Chambers emerged as the go-to guy in the aerial attack and led a decent receiving group with Marty Booker and tight end Randy McMichael. Wes Welker proved to be an effective slot receiver, but the coaching staff had concerns about overusing their special teams standout.

Frerotte was a mediocre option at quarterback, but that was nothing new for the Dolphins. Compared to Jay Fiedler and A.J. Feeley, some people might consider him a bit of a step up. Like the rest of the team, Frerotte excelled in the second half of the season, as he threw 10 of his 18 touchdowns and only five of his 13 interceptions after October.

One of coach Saban's miracle works was convincing Ricky Williams to stop hotboxing hostels in India and return to the NFL. Although Ronnie Brown would have preferred — and could have handled — more carries, sharing the load with Ricky Williams helped his growth in his first season.

On defense, the plan was to install the 3-4 defense, but there was an adjustment period. With plenty of talent on the defensive line, the 4-3 was readily mixed in, as well. One question that persisted in the media was whether Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas would fit in to the new plan, but they did not disappoint. Thomas led the team in tackles for the ninth time in 10 seasons — and Taylor led the team in sacks — again.

The Dolphins 49 sacks were only second to the Seahawks in the NFL, as the new schemes generated pressure from every angle and every level. Fourteen different players registered at least one sack.

Veteran Keith Traylor anchored the nose and shared some time with supplemental rookie Manny Wright, who played well at times. But Matt Roth, another rookie along the line, had a disappointing season. With Kevin Carter, David Bowens, Jeff Zgonina, and Vonnie Holliday, the defensive line was one of the deepest crops in the league.

Rookie linebacker Channing Crowder had a solid first season and looks to be on the cusp of busting out. Donnie Spragan and Thomas performed well, but the Dolphins didn't really have enough linebackers to consistently play 3-4.

The play of the secondary left much to be desired as there was little stability. Lance Schulters was steady, but there was a youth movement employed around him. Youngsters like safety Yeremiah Bell and corner Travis Daniels showed promise in spurts.

The final record was little exaggerated in comparison to who this team really was. They made giant strides in 2005, but their final six wins came against softies such as the Raiders, Bills, Chargers, Jets, Titans, and Tom Brady-less Patriots.

The Dolphins now have a stud quarterback, something they have lacked since Dan Marino and expectations of winning more than nine games. With the New England Patriots taking yet another step back in the offseason, the door is wide open for them.

This Year

If Nick Saban is back-seating the President of the United States for football, you know the team must be focused.

The Patriots have long been the class of the AFC East, but have taken another few hits on the roster and on the coaching staff and they have scarce amounts of depth. The Bills and Jets are rebuilding.

This has to be the time for the Dolphins.

With Culpepper at the helm, and even with Joey Harrington backing up, this will be the strongest stable of quarterbacks Miami has seen in a while. Culpepper's failures last season had to do with the departure of Randy Moss and the injury to center Matt Birk more than a deterioration of talent. With the likes of McMichael, Chambers, and Booker, Culpepper is the catalyst that will make this offense into a serious passing threat.

The third receiving spot should be handled by polished rookie Derek Hagan, who dropped to the third-round because of a case of the dropsies while he was on display before the draft. Wes Welker will provide a spark from time to time and Kelly Campbell is a speed demon who will have a role.

Among the front five protecting Culpepper, tackle L.J. Shelton, who revived his career in Cleveland last season, will secure the left spot. Mike Pearson, a former starter in Jacksonville and Damion McIntosh, who is overpaid at $4.4M, are there for backup. The interior will be without the services of guard Seth McKinney because of a neck injury that will keep him out for roughly half of the season. He likely could have started but the bottom line is that it is very difficult to envision an offensive line struggling under Hudson Houck.

Sophomore Ronnie Brown is poised for a breakout season. He does everything really well in the backfield, but one concern is the depth behind him. The team is trying to address that in the preseason.

On defense, the whole front seven returns minus Junior Seau. Weak-side linebacker Channing Crowder is poised for a coming out party while everyone knows what to expect with Zach Thomas.

The four starters on the defensive line, Traylor, Taylor, Carter, and Holliday are all over the age of 30. Wear-and-tear should be expected, but depth is present and the team is banking on a better season from sophomore Matt Roth.

While the front seven will look familiar, the secondary has undergone a makeover.

The Dolphins and Giants swapped starters, as veteran Sam Madison will start in New York this season while former first-round Will Allen gets a new start in Miami. Both teams feel like they upgraded, but both teams might be delusional.

Madison is no longer elite and his cover skills dropped off last season. Allen didn't play up to expectations in New York, but he has lightning quickness as has more upside of the two players.

Corners Travis Daniels and Andre Goodman have some potential, but have not proven themselves as legitimate starters. That may or may not happen this year.

Rookie first-round pick Jason Allen was a little late into training camp, but the free safety position is essentially his to lose. As a whole, the secondary will be a fast unit, but there is a lot of youth and inexperience, so expect them to be picked on.

A pass rush is always a secondary's best friend and the Dolphins have to keep up their pressuring pace to lessen the burden on the younglings.

Saban has added more experienced coaches to his staff again this season, assigning former Bills head coach Mike Mularkey the offense and former Texans head coach Dom Capers the defense.

This is the most talented roster in the AFC East and barring significant failures in game-day execution, the Dolphins will be back in the playoffs. Whether they return as a wildcard or as division champs has a lot to do with their two meetings with the Patriots.

Over/Under: 9

With an opponent win percentage of .469, the Dolphins have the sixth-easiest schedule in the NFL. Jacksonville won 12 games on this type of soft opponent list last year, so the Dolphins aim for at least 10. They can't afford to stumble against the Bills and Jets, though. They play: @PIT, BUF, TEN, @HOU, @NE, @NYJ, GB, @CHI, KC, MIN, @DET, JAC, NE, @BUF, NYJ, and @IND.

Fantasy Sleeper

Randy McMichael has been a second-tier fantasy tight end during his four seasons in the NFL, but he has been handcuffed by incompetent quarterbacks. The Dolphins are no longer a run-based team and with the additions of Daunte Culpepper and Mike Mularkey, McMichael is ready to break out.

This is the fourth consecutive season of comprehensive NFL previews by Dave Golokhov. Stay tuned as he brings you previews for all 32 NFL teams! He can be reached at [email protected].