In light of Tony Sparano's comments this afternoon that indicated rookie guard John Jerry has not earned anything yet and is basically just getting looks against the starting defense, it's hard to get a grasp on how the starting lineup would look if the first game was tomorrow.

Considering guys like Cameron Wake, Koa Misi, and Jared Odrick could also be on tryout's with the first-team, it becomes even more difficult to decipher which players are winning the numerous position battles. That is why I plan on putting together this weekly feature that projects the leaders at each notable position battle. Obviously, I'm not apart of the coaching staff, so I really have no idea how accurate this will be, but when you factor in how each player is reportedly performing and what reps each guy is getting, the picture gets a little clearer.

To clarify, this is not, by any means, a prediction of who I see winning these battles, just my opinion on who I feel would start if the season started today.

Offense

LG: Donald Thomas over Cory Procter- The first couple practices Procter spent as the starter were probably just the coaching staff getting the best possible look at a fairly new addition. Thomas, meanwhile, is known for being one of the strongest players on the team, and has proven to be solid as a run blocker, even though his pass protection could use some work.

C: Jake Grove over Joe Berger- Like I have said before, the only reason this is a competition at all is because Berger is capable of being a quality starter and is a far cheaper option than Grove. But Grove was one of the better centers in the game a year ago, and his addition last season instantly enabled the Dolphins the ability to run the ball between the tackles.

RG: Richie Incognito over John Jerry- We haven't really heard any reports evaluating Jerry's performance, so it's hard to judge his status solely on Sparano's comments. Incognito on the other hand, is the only guard that is thought to be in the mix not to get any action with the first-team. Despite his sometimes costly temper, though, he may have the most potential of any of these guys. My hunch is, the coaching staff already kind of has a feel for what he can bring to the table, and are just trying to develop the same with the other candidates.

WR 2: Brian Hartline over Greg Camarillo and Davone Bess- I really don't think this is much of a competition anymore. Hartline has started every practice opposite Marshall so far, and his big-play potential gives him the edge over the other solid, but slower options. I still expect to see plenty of action from Camarillo on the rotation, and, of course, Bess is going to get his share of looks in the slot.

Dolphins work in the bubble
After spending the first three and a half days of camp in the brutal South Florida heat, the Dolphins got a break from the sun in the cool air-conditioned climate of the practice bubble. That meant the session was closed to the public, but no worries, the team has announced they will hold a practice in Sun Life Stadium next Monday at 7:15 p.m that will be free and open to the public.

Passing game on display
Miami used the ideal climates to get extensive work done on their air attack. During a variety of different passing drills, Chad Henne reportedly went a combined 11 for 16, but had a few balls get away from him. Nothing to panic about, or even worry about for that matter, as the first week of camp is always a bit sloppy from top to bottom.

The Miami Herald's Armando Salguero also gave some insight into the team's one-on-one drills, which primarily feature receivers facing corners in single coverage. Salguero broke down every play. Some noteworthy statistics from the drill include Brandon Marshall snagging three receptions in four reps with two touchdowns, Vontae Davis jumping a Brian Hartline route for a pick-six against Henne, and Greg Camarillo beating Will Allen for two long touchdowns, using the same double-move on both occasions.

Jerry hasn't earned starting job yet
During the press conference following the morning session, Sparano mentioned that John Jerry has been working exclusively with the first team to get a feel for him against the first-team defense, not because he's the favorite to start. That same philosophy could apply to guys like Cameron Wake and Koa Misi at outside linebacker and first-round pick Jared Odrick at defensive end as well. By the way, the first-team interior offensive line included Donald Thomas (LG), Joe Berger (C), and John Jerry (RG).

Injury report
Ryan Grice-Mullen-missed his third consecutive practice with a leg issue
Austin Spitler-out with an illness
A.J. Edds-missed a few reps tonight and was seen icing his knee

Sources: Sun-Sentinel, The Daily Dolphin, Miami Dolphins in Depth

Vontae blankets Marshall, Smith struggles
Today, we finally got some insight into how Vontae Davis looks in year two. And the consensus seems to be, he is clearly the more improved out of the two sophomore corners. He reportedly held Brandon Marshall without a catch in 7-on-7's this morning, and the Miami Herald's Jeff Darlington said he continues to look like a "top-tier" corner.

So far, the same can't be said for Sean Smith. Sean was burnt on a few notable plays matched up against Marshall on day one, and now Brian Hartline is getting in on the action-beating him deep on a ball Smith reportedly played poorly. It's still early, of course, so there's no reason to jump to conclusions on Vontae or Sean.

Let's just hope this is consistent of what is to come with Vontae, and a minor bump in the road in an otherwise solid career for Sean. But I do wonder, If Sean continues to get burnt, how long before Will Allen becomes a threat to earn his starting job back?

Receiver update
Like you can notice above, Brian Hartline continues to impress in his co-starting role with Brandon Marshall. That has been the case everyday so far in camp, so I'm starting to think the hyped battle for the No. 2 receiver is already over. As expected, Davone Bess was working at slot today, with Greg Camarillo spelling him there.

Meanwhile, in the battle for the likely final receiver roster spot, Patrick Turner has actually mildly impressed and continues to benefit from Ryan-Grice Mullen missing valuable reps (missed second straight practice this morning with suspected quad or hamstring injury).

Today's O-Line depth chart
Starters- LG: Donald Thomas C: Jake Grove RG: John Jerry
Second-team- LG: Cory Procter C: Joe Berger RG: Richie Incognito

Wake exposed in coverage
We continue to hear reports of Wake being an explosive pass rusher, but haven't heard much about his production in the other elements of his game. The knock on him a year ago was he couldn't cover or stop the run. Today, he was reportedly left in the dust trying to cover Anthony Fasano. It was just one play, so it's no time to jump off the Earth-Wake bandwagon, but he needs to make progress in coverage and against the run to be a solid every down starter.

He has started every practice with the first-team, though, and appears to be locked in as the starter at weakside linebacker. On the other side, Koa Misi worked as staring strong side linebacker again, with Alama-Francis backing him up. It's still not clear how open that competition is, but Misi still seems to be in the lead for the time being.

Is it time to give up on Pat White?
Nothing new here. Pat White reportedly had another horrible practice. It just doesn't seem to be in the cards for White to be an NFL quarterback, and his roster chances appear to be slim-to-none.

Nolan's aggressive scheme shines
We all know Mike Nolan is going to shake things up on the defensive side of the ball, and in particular be more aggressive. Well, the linebackers, both outside and inside alike, and safeties were seen blitzing all session. Even the non-factor, from a playmaking standpoint, Channing Crowder got to Henne twice and even forced a fumble.

Sources: Omar Kelly, Benjamin Volin

Merling placed on the active/non-football injury list
After some brief speculation into why Merling was still listed on the active camp roster despite having a torn Achilees' tendon, it was confirmed today that the former second-round pick was indeed placed on the active/non-football injury list last Friday. That means the Dolphins can go after some of the $600,000 he is scheduled to make this season because Merling suffered the injury away from the team.

Paul Soliai continues to shine
After two straight days of earning a little praise for the improvements he has apparently made this offseason, Soliai had another outstanding practice today, splitting first-team reps with Randy Starks. At 355 pounds, Soliai is the prototypical nose tackle, not undersized like Starks (305 pounds), who converted inside from defensive end. If Soliai can stay consistent throughout camp, and perform well in the preseason contest, the door could open for Starks to move back to defensive end, where he was arguably Pro Bowl caliber in 09'.

Part of the plan was for Starks to still get snaps at defensive end, but only on limited occasions. In the event Soliai emerges as a starting caliber nose, though, he could fill the void of the retired Jason Ferguson, while Starks switches back to where he is proven. The Dolphins could still use Starks as a hybrid, moving him to the interior or the outside depending on the situation. Whatever the case, only positives can come from Soliai making drastic improvements. And just imagine how potentially loaded Miami would be at defensive end if this scenario were to play out.

Misi back to starting with Wake
A day after losing out on first-team reps to the surprising Alama-Francis, the rookie was back with the starters today. There have been mixed reports about how Misi is performing dating all the way back to rookie minicamp, but the worst I've heard is that he struggled against Jake Long. How insulting right?

Cameron Wake meanwhile, has been the guy at weakside linebacker for three straight days. And with everyone raving about how well he continues to rush the passer-yes even against Long- I'm starting to wonder if he hasn't already won the starting job.

O-Line rotates
I expected the line to rotate on day two, but John Jerry and Cory Procter stayed put as starting right and left guards. They finally did today, though, as Jerry moved over to starting left guard, where he spent the spring, and Donald Thomas got promoted to starting right guard. Richie Incognito still hasn't cracked the starting lineup in camp, but that could be because the coaches already know what he can bring to the table, and want to experiment with the other guys a bit.

I wouldn't expect the experimenting to drag out all of camp, though, because Sparano wants his starting line to develop chemistry. That's kind of hard to do when there are different starters every other day, and certain players are lining up at multiple positions. With that said, I expect them to continue to play around with the lineup for the first couple weeks, but for them to have their starters in place before the preseason concludes.

At the battle for starting center, Jake Grove and Joe Berger continue to switch every other practice. Berger was the starter today, so Grove will likely start tomorrow's morning session.

Injuries at Receiver?
Fifth receiver/kick-return hopeful Ryan-Grice Mullen missed practice today, and was seen riding the exercise bike. Nothing appears to be serious, however, and he is expected to make a return tomorrow. Brian Hartline spent some time with the trainer, but later returned, as it appeared to only be a cramp.

Sparano raves about Dansby
Ever since Marshall-mania and all the talk surrounding the various position battles, Karlos Dansby has been sort of forgotten. Well that's a bit exaggerated, but he hasn't received the attention you would think, after signing the lucrative deal he did this offseason to come to Miami as a Pro Bowl capable inside linebacker. Sparano reminded everyone of how much improved Dansby likely makes the defense, today. Sparano reportedly labeled Dansby the most "eye-popping" guy he's seen out there, and hinted he reacts to everything so much quicker than everyone else.

Sources: Sun-Sentinal, Omar Kelly, Mike Berardino, Armando Salguero

A day after opening up camp, the Dolphins were back at it again at 9 a.m. this morning and then again at 5 p.m., conducting their first two-a-day. Is it just me or are we always in for surprises this time of year? Last year it was Matt Roth's mysterious groin injury. This year Pat White has provided the speculation, and a possible cinderella story is unfolding in the outside linebacker competition. And when you throw in open competitions at multiple positions, we have more than enough to keep our interest peeking throughout camp.

Pat White back at practice
A day after being absent for the team's first workout, White was back to work, despite reports suggesting his season was in jeopardy with a "serious situation." Coach Sparano and White himself tap danced around what the issue was, only conceding that it was a personal matter, nothing injury-related.

Staying on the quarterback front, the Dolphins are scheduled to workout current AFL QB Tom Grady on Monday. It's too early to read much into this, but if he makes the camp roster, White would likely lose out on valuable reps that could make or break his 53-man chances.

Procter and Jerry the front-runners at guard?
To my surprise, the Dolphins chose not to rotate which guards got first-team reps today. Instead, Cory Procter stayed put at starting left guard and rookie John Jerry remained at starting right guard. Does that mean they are the front-runners to start Week 1? It's tough to say, simply because this could still be strictly experimental-with the coaches needing another day to effectively evaluate, or the rotational strategy could differ from the spring.

Maybe they are rotating every two days, or every week. Currently, though, I would be hard-pressed to say Procter and Jerry aren't the favorites. But things can change quickly, so it's way too early to count out Donald Thomas and Richie Incognito.

Speaking of Incognito, that notorious temper of his was on display today. There was no headbutting, but he reportedly got into a little scuffle with Tony McDaniel. If it were anybody else, you simply shrug this sort of thing off as in the spirit of healthy competition. But with Incognito's wild on-field track record, he can't afford do make this sort of mistake in games and kill drives with personal foul penalties.

Meanwhile, the battle for starting center saw Joe Berger take over first-team duties, which suggest that's where the closest competition currently resides along the O-line.

Ikaika Alama-Francis sees first-team reps at strong side linebacker
In a "out of nowhere" development, former defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis (lets call him Ike from now on because I'm lazy) is now apparently in the competition at outside linebacker.

Ike started over Koa Misi on the strong side in the morning session, being pared with Cameron Wake, who has continued to dazzle as a pass rusher. Is this still an experiment, or does Ike have a legitimate shot at unseating Misi? We will probably have to wait a few days to see if Ike continues to get first-team looks, but the Dolphins could have found a diamond in the rough here.

Of course, he has a long way to go for that to become a reality, but if he can move as well as some of the reporters and coaches are saying, I can't wait to see him play this preseason.

Nose Tackle update
Reports have been limited about how well Randy Starks is transitioning to his new role as staring nose tackle, something I would probably be watching intently if I could make it to any of these practices, but he pulled a Joe McKnight today when he was seen puking on the sidelines.

I don't think we can question Starks' conditioning. He passed his conditioning test, after all, and something like this could happen to anyone playing under the South Florida sun while working their butt off. Backup Paul Soliai has drawn a little praise here and there for his work, and was even seen chit-chatting with Parcells some during practice.

If Soliai makes drastic progress this year, could he take over the starting job and free Starks to switch back to defensive end, where he was border-line dominate a year ago? It's too early to tell, but I would surely welcome that scenario, given the moderate level of uncertainty with Starks' move.

Kick-Return candidates
Ginn's departure gives this year's primary kick returner some big shoes to fill. So far, the candidates to take over include: Tristan Davis, Kory Sheets, Nolan Carroll, Ryan Grice-Mullen, and Taurus Johnson. We will have to wait until preseason to see who has the most big-play potential.

Sources: Sun-Sentinal, Armando Salguero, Omar Kelly, Mike Berardino