NFL Preview: Dolphins and Redskins

Miami Dolphins:

Cheers: Jason Taylor had an awesome season last year, and he should still be a great player again this year. Ronnie Brown is a pretty complete back, even though he’s yet to really put it all together. They have some other solid contributors on defense as well, including veteran Zach Thomas.

Jeers: After a bad year in which they were almost preseason favorites to win the Super Bowl, Miami isn’t horrendously overrated heading into this year. Trent Green is running on empty and the price of oil is too high to refill his tank. Chambers is inconsistent and they don’t have much going for them in the passing game, O-Line included. The secondary still needs some work as well.

On second thought… the Dolphins haven’t been able to figure it out for a while now. They’ve wasted the careers of Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas and they’ve never been able to build a complete team around them. There’s no consistency; cutting Culpepper and trading for Green just screams quick fix, and it’s not going to work. Again.

New guy who won’t meet expectations: Trent Green. He’s not the same player he was a few years ago. Even before he even stepped on the field the day he got the concussion, he was on the decline. The injury only sped things up a bit. I have no idea why Miami thought this was a solution.

New guy who will meet expectations: Cory Schlesinger. He’s only a FB, but he’s a pretty underrated player. He’ll help out their running game a bit and he’ll provide an outlet, which Trent Green will desperately need a lot this year. I know he’s just a FB, but I wasn’t exactly enamored with their draft.

Washington Redskins:

Cheers: They should actually have a pretty explosive offense. Maybe I shouldn’t call it explosive, but it’ll still be pretty good. Portis is an elite back when he’s healthy, and Betts is one of the best backups in the league, who could probably be a starter in a lot of places. Jason Campbell looks like he’s coming into his own, and he has a couple weapons to throw to in Santana Moss and Chris Cooley.

Jeers: It’s unlike Gregg Williams, but the defense isn’t very good. Their pass rush is abysmal, and the run defense and secondary don’t make up for it. London Fletcher leads a pretty good group of Linebackers and they have a couple good corners, if Shaun Springs is healthy. And that’s not likely.

On second thought… Sean Taylor might be the most overrated player in the league.

They might end up around .500 at the end of the year. The defense isn’t as good as it was a couple years ago, but if their offense can put up points, the defense should be adequate enough for them to play spoiler. Someone has to step up on the DL and generate some pressure this year. It’ll make the whole defense better.

New guy who won’t meet expectations: As far as I’m concerned, Tyler Ecker. He’s buried so low on the depth chart he won’t have the chance to make bad plays costing his team the game.

New guy who will meet expectations: LaRon Landry. He hasn’t taken the field yet and he’s already the best safety on the team. He’s going to be a good one.