The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step

the-journey-of-a-thousand-mThe journey of a thousand miles begins with one step

By Byler Henry

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Lao Tzu once said and the start of OTAs is the one step that will lead to those thousand miles. The Dolphins got a chance to look at how the new free agent signings and rookies look with the team. “The guys did a good job, there weren’t a lot of mistakes but there are some things that we have to clean up.” Head coach Adam Gase said.

There were a lot of good things that I saw on both sides of the ball. The wide receivers looked crisp with their route running and had some pretty good catches. I really like the resigning of Kenny Stills, he was decent last season starting all 16 games with 42 receptions for 726 yards with 9 touchdowns which is an improvement from 2015, his first year in Miami. I believe that he will have another good season this year. I think another receiver who will improve this year is DeVante Parker. With his 6’3” height and his leaping ability, I think he will have some big catches this season and I’m looking for-ward to it. For the receivers to make an impact it will be up to the quarterbacks to get the ball in their hands. After suffering a knee injury last season, quarterback Ryan Tannehill says his knee feels fine and he is ready to go. “I feel good, I’m feeling good. I’m back to 100% and everything goes totally normal just have to keep pushing and get better next year.”

He looked comfortable moving around and it seems that the knee brace doesn’t limit his movement. He started 13 games last season completing 67.1% (261 of 389) of his passes for 2,995 yards with 19 touch-downs and 12 interceptions be-fore going down with his knee injury. I hope to see an improvement upon last season. Matt Moore looked like a capable quarterback who could come in and perform at any moment’s notice. An effective offense starts with an offensive line. The offensive line doesn’t always get enough credit for doing the dirty work, protecting the quarterback and opening the holes for the running back to run through.

Laremy Tunsil has moved from the left guard back to his natural position at left tackle after the departure of Branden Albert in the off season. “I think offensive line is offensive line, right tackle left tackle I think they are all the same, playing left guard really helps to play left tackle.” It sounds like he will have no problem transitioning from the guard to the tackle position. After getting his rookie season under his belt, I think he will continue to improve in his second season. One notice-able lineman missing is center Mike Pouncey who reinjured his hip last season. “Mike is doing a lot of cardio and more lifting on the side.” Head coach Adam Gase says. Hopefully he will be ready to go soon.

It’s a little hard to determine how effective an offensive and defensive lineman can be without much contact and no pads. Although it’s a little harder, you can still see how speed and explosiveness out of a stance is easy to see. The defensive ends look to be explosive and quick with their feet. The corner backs are looking to make improvements from last season. The future is looking bright with this Dolphins team under Adam Gase. I pick the Dolphins to be back in the play-offs next year. The new signings and rookies should blend in nicely with the current re-signings. The beginning looks promising, but t the end of the day they still have to go out and execute on the field.

 

About Carma Henry 24481 Articles
Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

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