The Miami Dolphins’ offseason is well underway — the team is bracing for a critical week of evaluation next week in Mobile, Alabama as the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl marks the official beginning of the NFL Draft process. Between now and the draft, Miami will of course have to tackle free agency; but both landmarks offer the Dolphins a critical chance to level up their roster and position the team to contend in 2021.
What are the key points of emphasis? Where must the Dolphins invest their time, energy and resources? Here are Miami’s three most pressing needs on the offensive side of the football entering this critical offseason for Miami.
Wide Receiver
The need of wide receiver isn’t a question of which one to add but rather how many receivers the team will add. The good news for Miami is that this is a great offseason to need wide receivers from both a free agency and NFL Draft perspective. The team may avoid to make the premiere investments into position (although we still consider DeVonta Smith at No. 3 overall to be the most likely outcome for April’s draft) but the tier 2 wide receivers of both free agency and the draft would be upgrades over what Miami currently boasts on the roster.
Running Back
No one should be overlooking the quality season Myles Gaskin had for the Dolphins in 2020. He was effective as both a rusher and as a ball carrier. But Gaskin’s athletic profile doesn’t necessarily mesh with the rest of Miami’s recent investments in the running game. The Dolphins went out and secured a bunch of big bodied bruisers in the run game and Gaskin, at just over 200 pounds, can’t really back up their punch at first contact and power through gaps and create added yardage in the hole.
Miami can go about this one of two ways: they can look to add explosive speed or they can look to add size and power. We lean towards power being a more likely addition; and there’s plenty of options in the early portions of the 2021 NFL Draft to bring tackle breaking abilities to the backfield.
Interior Offensive Line
Miami could tend to a pressing need at center be resigning Ted Karras. That would be a perfectly reasonable action to take. But the upgrade potential there (and at left guard, where Ereck Flowers is set to return as a starter) is difficult to ignore. Look for the Dolphins to secure at least one new starter between those spots; with center looking more likely unless the Dolphins find a way to get Flowers off of their books. That would have to come via trade this offseason to save the Dolphins from paying his 2021 guaranteed salary.
