Ah, the smell of football is in the air again. The Dolphins opened camp today at their practice facility in Davie, Florida, as the start of one of the most anticipated seasons in recent memory is underway. Yes, it's just practice, but with how the NFL has captivated the hearts of the American sports fan, the opening of camp is quite eventful.

And with competition all over the field, we won't be short of topics to delve into as we inch closer and closer to the regular season. As for today's session, there were a few surprises to hit the airwaves, but mainly just excitement and optimism as we have now shifted to the time of year we have waited months for.

Marshall dominates
When you dish out $50 million to a guy you expect to drastically improve an entire offense, today was exactly what you want to see. Marshall reportedly looked dominate at times out there, and made second-year corner Sean Smith look foolish, causing him to fall to the ground on two occasions.

On the downside, hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come for Smith, as the defense is counting on him and Vontae to make significant strides this year, but my guess is this is more to do with Marshall being the top tier physical specimen that he is, than with Smith's development. A few more reports like this, and patience to finally see Marshall in a game setting will be harder and harder to come by for Dolphin fans.

O-Line shake-up
I hope you didn't fill out your depth chart in pen, because the offensive line was shuffled around from what we perceived heading into camp. John Jerry, who spent the spring at left guard, lined up as the starting right guard- ahead of free agent acquisition Richie Incognito. Across from Jerry, Cory Procter started camp with the first-team and was backed up by Donald Thomas.

Nate Garner, meanwhile, who many media members had projected as a starter at left guard now that he's healthy, returned to reserve duty at right tackle. It's still too early to read into any of this, though, because the Dolphins rotated their guards every other practice in OTA's, and could very well continue that trend. Also, in the battle for starting center, the favorite Jake Grove started over Joe Berger.

Pennington not placed on PUP, Pat White a no-show
It was speculated that Chad Pennington would be placed on the PUP list to start the season, as he fully recovers from a season-ending shoulder injury a year ago, and in order to make room for all four quarterbacks. Well, that theory is out the window, for now anyways. Pennington ran the third-team, and reportedly looked as efficient as always.

In another surprise, Pat White, who's chances of making the final 53-man roster declined with the keeping of Pennington on the roster, didn't work out with the team. The Dolphins declined to comment on the matter, but Sparano did say a couple players could be sidelined today with some minor injuries.

Merling remains on the 80-man roster
After reportingly tearing his Achilees' tendon, it was a forgone conclusion that Merling would be placed on the PUP list, and eventually the IR. He wasn't. Instead, the Dolphins waived guard Rey Feinga, and continued to allow Merling to count towards the 80-man roster. Does that mean his injury isn't as serious as previously reported? I guess only time will tell, but at the moment, things aren't adding up.

Wake-Misi starting duo at outside linebacker.
Despite flashing signs of potentially being a dominate pass rusher, Wake only saw limited action with the first-team during offseason practices. Wake started to shine when the pads came on last year, though, and appears to be on that track again. He lined up as the starter at weakside linebacker with rookie Koa Misi at the strongside.

That's what most Dolphin fans were probably hoping for, given the potential both bring to the table. It will be interesting to see if the team lets Charlie Anderson and recently converted defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis in on the action tomorrow in the same rotating strategy they used at guard in the spring.

Defensive end competition
A day after signing his rookie contract, first-round pick Jared Odrick lined up with the first-team at right defensive end, holding off recently added veterans Marques Douglas and Charles Grant. Douglas' reps came with the second team, and Grant's with the third.

No. 2 receiver competition
Brian Hartline worked with the starters opposite Marshall, and indications suggest it's his job to lose.

Sources: Armando Salguero, Omar Kelly, Jeff Darlington, Mike Berardino

Finally, after a brilliant offseason from a personnel standpoint, and a controversial one off the field, the Dolphins are ready to get back to work. When they hit the practice field today at 2:00 P.M. ET, they will finally open up training camp, and kick off the much anticipated 2010 season in the process.

If you live in the Miami area the session is open to the public, as is most of these camp workouts, but if not, fear not, I plan on doing a camp report, that recaps each day, every night. For up to the minute updates, though, be sure to follow the following on twitter:

Jeff Darlington
Armando Salguero
Omar Kelly
Mike Berardino
Phins Phocus

The Dolphins locked up first-round pick Jared Odrick this afternoon, and shortly after made sure second-round pick Koa Misi would join him when the team kicks off camp tomorrow. Misi's deal is reportedly for four years, and is worth $4.75 million, with around $2.7 million guaranteed.

Now with the business side of the game out of the way for Misi, he can focus on earning the starting job at strong side linebacker. He spent most of the spring working with the first team, but will need to hold off the likes of Charlie Anderson and Quentin Moses as the competition heats up in camp.

Also, to make room for the newly signed rookies on the camp roster, the Dolphins released guard Dimitri Tsoumpas.

Multiple sources are reporting that the Dolphins and first-round pick Jared Odrick have agreed on a contract. According to the Sun-Sentinel's Omar Kelly the deal is for five years, but financial details are yet to be revealed.

This is obviously great news for Odrick and the Dolphins, as the 28th overall pick won't miss a rep on his quest to earn a starting job at defensive end. It won't be easy, as newly acquired Marques Douglas and Charles Grant are proven competition, but the team hopes Odrick is the long-term answer to start with Kendall Langford.

This leaves second-round pick Koa Misi the only unsigned pick, but the Dolphins have reportedly been working on the deal all week, and many are still optimistic it will get done before practice tomorrow.

This is it ladies and gentleman. The last training camp preview means the 2010 season officially kicks off tomorrow for the Dolphins. And good thing I waited until the last minute to preview the defensive ends, with all of the acquisitions that have gone down since Phillip Merling was sidelined for the season.

Since then, the Dolphins have added Marques Douglas, Montavious Stanely, who has prototypical defensive end size, but will reportedly work at nose tackle, and Charles Grant, who should officially sign the deal that has been agreed upon today.

That figures to induce a nice, healthy competition starting tomorrow. The Dolphins are set on one side with Kendall Langford, but the other remains up for grabs. Eventually, the team has to hope first-round pick Jared Odrick takes over, but he's going to have to beat out a couple proven veterans who have a combined 256 games of starting experience under their belts.

Safe

Kendall Langford: Perhaps, the most underrated player on the entire defense, Langford has been solid and reliable for two years now. As a 3-4 defensive end, you typically don't get the credit the 4-3 pass rushing types do. But die-hard Dolphin fans know how valuable Langford is to the run defense.

His stats don't jump off the page at you (43 tackles, 2.5 sacks in 09'), but Pro Football Focus does a nice job of discovering how good he was a year ago. The site ranks his 09' performance 7th among all 3-4 defensive ends in the league. Not quite Pro Bowl caliber, but very solid work, nonetheless.

Jared Odrick: The 28th overall pick has yet to sign a contract, but you would think they are close. The team reportedly tried to hammer out a deal yesterday, but haven't quite come to terms yet. The signing of Devin McCourty, who was selected one slot ahead of Odrick at 27th, surely makes things easier for the two parties, as Odrick's deal figures to be worth slightly less.

Once business is taken care of, Odrick is going to have his hands full trying to earn a starting job. The Dolphins do like to rotate their DE's frequently, however, which means Odrick is going to get his snaps regardless.

Marques Douglas: Douglas may only have one or two years left, but at 33 years old, he's fresh off a 64 tackle season for the Jets, where he was as solid as ever against the run. If he shows no signs of slowing down in camp, he could be the favorite to snag the vacant starting defensive end job.

Even though, he would likely concede time to Odrick frequently in order to stay fresh, and would undoubtedly sub out on passing situations, as he's a non-factor rushing the quarterback.

The ideal situation is still Odrick having a fantastic camp and starting form day one, but in the likely event there is a bit of a learning curve as he adjust to the scheme and the speed of the league, Douglas would provide much needed stability as Odrick develops.