2009 NFL Preview: Miami Dolphins

(Note from JFein: I had a brain fart last night and forgot to copy and paste the Dolphins preview which Keith had written yesterday onto here. Here are the Dolphins, and sometime later today I will have the New England Patriots preview up as well).

By 49er16:

To say last year's Dolphins team was the surprise team of the NFL is an understatement. Think about it for a second. This was a team that finished with a 1-15 record in 2007, and made the playoffs the very next season.

A lot of the credit goes to Bill Parcells. Parcells inherited a mess and he completely cleaned house. With the 1st overall draft choice Parcells drafted Left Takle Jake Long. He brought in his old quarterback Chad Pennington. He cut loose long time veteran Jason Taylor. He hired a new coach in Tony Saprano. And the new pieces all came together nicely and the team reached the playoffs. With a little help from the new NFL sensation, the wild cat offense. The Dolphins will look to continue their success from last season.

What Will Tony Saprano Think of Next?: Last year Tony Saprano and the Dolphins re-introduced the world to the wild cat offense. And the league was hooked. Especially how affective the offense was against the New England Patriots in Boston. Pretty soon, every team in the NFL was implementing the wild cat offense into their system. But no one ran the offense better than the Dolphins and running back Ronnie Brown.

Now the Dolphins and Saprano are trying to think of new ways to be innovative. Right now the Dolphins are looking at ways to best utilize their new draft pick Pat White. White was a spectacular quarterback at West Virginia and he could fit in nicely with the Dolphins. The Dolphins are also looking to utilize both Joey Porter and Jason Taylor in a special defensive package. The Dolphins will continue to be a team to look for new innovative ways to use their players and offensive and defensive packages.

The Return of Jason Taylor: Bill Parcells and Jason Taylor clashed before the start of last season. Taylor had just stared in 'Dancing with the Stars' and was complimenting retiring to start a career in Hollywood. Parcells decided to ship Taylor to Washington. Well after one disastrous season that saw Taylor hurt the most of the time in Washington, he's back with Miami. And Taylor seems to be having a better go around this time with Parcells and Miami. If he can stay healthy this season, look for Taylor to have a bounce back season in Miami.

Can Pennington Hold Up?: While Chad Pennington was last year's comeback player of the year, there is always the question of his health. It's well known that Pennington has a noodle for a arm. But in the past Pennington has been injury prone. And at this point only Chad Henne and Pat White are the back up quarterbacks. And neither one of them have much NFL experience. This could be the Dolphins Achilles heel, if Pennington is injured during the season.

Newcomers to Watch: The Dolphins brought in a whole host of receivers in the off season. The one to watch will be Pat White. White killed the Big East with both his legs and arm throughout his career at West Virginia. Last season saw White dramatically improve his throwing skills. But look for White to be the do-it-all player for the Dolphins. I expect the Dolphins to use White as a quarterback, running back, receiver, and punt returner.

Also look for the Dolphins first overall draft choice Vontae Davis to make an impact in the secondary. Veteran cornerback Will Allen has taken Davis under his wing during training camp. If Davis can show more maturity than his cousin Vernon, look for him to have an immediate impact on the defense.

Schedule: Let's just say the NFL did the Dolphins no favors in the scheduling department. The Dolphins start off the season against three playoff teams in Atlanta, Indianapolis, and San Diego. They also play in New England and Buffalo late in the season when the weather will be at it's worst. It's not an easy schedule at all.

Prediction: 7-9/2nd AFC East. The schedule and the health of this team will be in question all season. The Dolphins have several veteran players who's health is always in question. Plus the unfavorable schedule won't make it any easier for them. Plus with New England, New York, and Buffalo all improving, I would look for Miami to take a step back this season.