How big a step Vontae Davis and Sean Smith take in year two, will be instrumental in determining how improved the Dolphins' 24th overall pass defense can be. In what is becoming a pass first league, that ranking is significantly too low for a team with playoff aspirations

Now, a lot of that had to do with Will Allen going down, starting two rookies, and having virtually no help over the top, with Gibril Wilson seemingly looking lost back there. For defenses to succeed nowadays, especially aggressive ones, you need at least one lockdown corner, and at least another solid one on the other side.

The Dolphins project to have three solid corners, with Will Allen returning from an ACL tear. But can any of the three emerge as one of the league's elite lockdown cover guys? Well, that's what it might take for this defense to become a top ten unit when Tom Brady (twice), Brett Farve, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger (unless he is actually given a six game suspension), Carson Palmer, Joe Flacco, and Jay Cutler await.

Safe

Sean Smith: It may surprise many, but I actually think Sean has the most potential to be a lockdown corner. No, he didn't pick off a pass last season, and looked somewhat timid at times, but he was thrown at nine less times than Vontae, despite seeing 205 more snaps.

His long arms enable him to get his hands on receivers first in press coverage and a little work in the weight room could make him dominate in those situations. He has the size to go up with the big-athletic receivers, and the speed to run stride for stride with most. Let's not forget that he started over Vontae at the beginning of the season, when Will Allen was healthy, either.

And I have said before that I thought the zero interceptions was a fluke. He showed promising ball skills last preseason, when he picked off two passes, including the highlight one-hand snag. Albeit the preseason doesn't mean anything, but I would be shocked if we didn't see some of those plays when things get real this year.

Vontae Davis: I may feel that Smith has slightly more potential, but Vontae played harder and with more passion last season. He may have gotten burnt a few more times than he would have liked, but most of those plays happened because he was being a little too aggressive.

He got caught looking in the backfield on occasion, and often committed too much to the receiver's initial move. If he can refine some of those mistakes, he has all the tools to be a fine corner, maybe even this defense's lockdown guy. Physicality and solid ball skills highlighted his rookie season, and unlike Smith, he actually picked off four passes.

He does a fantastic job coming up in run support, and will probably always be a better open-field tackler than his counterpart.

Will Allen: Allen is a far better corner than most give him credit for. And he was having a pretty remarkable season before the knee injury. According to Pro Football Focus, Allen only allowed 37.9% of the passes thrown his way to be completed. Incredibly, that was second only to Darrelle Revis in the entire league.

With that being said, should we take his "I'm starting" prediction seriously? You would think if he returns to 100% you would have to be throw him into a competition with the young guys. But that's just it. Him returning to 100% by the beginning of camp could be a long shot.

He was reportedly limited for the duration of offseason workouts, and when you combine the fact that he's now 31 with him having such a serious knee injury, it's possible that he will never be the same again.

Possible Cuts

Jason Allen: Has the former first-round pick's time finally come? He's underachieved for four years now as a safety, and then as a corner, and it's becoming obvious now that he will never live up to where he was taken in the draft.

What he does bring to the table though, is solid special teams play. Last season he notched 15 special teams tackles, which was good enough for second on the team. In 2008 he tallied 16 special teams tackles, which was tied with Patrick Cobbs for first.

So while fans may not have a favorable opinion of Allen, he certainly still has value to this football team, and probably isn't going anywhere.

Nolan Carroll: This year's fifth round pick isn't going to be handed anything. He's going to have to earn that roster spot. Even though, he would probably have to struggle pretty heavily to get the boot, considering the Dolphins essentially traded Ted Ginn for his services.

Likely Cuts

Will Billingsley: Failed to make the team last camp, and was designated to the practice squad. He has some raw ability, but it would probably take the Dolphins keeping six corners for him to make the squad. Something that I can't envision happening.

Evan Oglesby: Was signed late last season and actually saw limited action in the Jacksonville game. He had some game experience with the Ravens and Cowboys in the first four years of his career, and accumulated 35 tackles and defensed two passes in that span. In the event that Carroll performs dreadfully, the door would open for Oglesby.

A.J. Wallace: The undrafted rookie out of Penn State has litte chance of joining his former teammate Jared Odrick on the Dolphins' roster.

Ross Weaver: The undrafted rookie out of Michigan State faces the same near impossible task that Wallace does, as both were likely just brought in to be camp bodies.

Camp Battles

Vontae Davis vs. Sean Smith vs. Will Allen: Even though he is still rehabbing that knee, I fully expect Allen to push the two young corners for all their worth. If he isn't ready to fully participate at the start of camp though, he severely hurts his chances, becuase every rep is vital if he is going to convince the coaching staff they can throw in a 31-year old that will halt the progress of one of the sophomores.

There may be a bit of a competition between Sean Smith and Vontae Davis too. Which one will man the responsibility of taking on the opposing team's number one receiver? My guess is, it will depend on which team they are facing.

For example, if Miami is facing the Texans and Andre Johnson, Smith projects to match up better, but if they are playing the Panthers and Steve Smith though, Davis would match up better against the smaller and faster threat.

Considering, the majority of elite receivers in this league are big and athletic, I expect Smith to get the nod, even though both will likely rotate throughout the game.

Predictions

Depth Chart
1. Sean Smith
2. Vontae Davis
3. Will Allen
4. Nolan Carroll
5. Jason Allen

Cuts
Will Billingsley
Evan Oglesby
A.J. Wallace
Ross Weaver

Countdown to Camp: 22 Days

In honor of the running backs getting their training camp preview today, and in honor of me suffering some pretty serious football withdrawals, I thought it was only fitting to try and get the juices pumping again with a little clip of Ronnie and Ricky. Here's to pounding the rock all year long, and hoping one of the league's best running back duo's has a full-healthy season together.

The future at running back may be a little hazy, but there are few teams in this league that can boast about having two backs as talented as Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. Sure, Ronnie has had his injuries, and Ricky has had his drugs, but when both are on the field together, they have been brilliant.

The studly one-two punch has been given the nickname R&R Express, and in order for the Dolphins to do what they want to on offense in 2010, that train is going to have to keep on rolling all season long. The addition of Brandon Marshall gives Dan Henning the resources to open up the offense a bit, but in reality, having a legitimate threat at receiver for defenses to scheme around, opens up more space than ever for Ronnie and Ricky.

Teams can longer stack the box to stop the run. Dare I say this will be their most successful season, together? First things first though, Ronnie is going to have to stay healthy. Something he has only accomplished once in his career, which just happened to be the magical turnaround of 08'. Secondly, Ricky can't start showing any signs of slowing down. Even though he's now 33, that isn't so far fetched, considering he spent nearly three whole seasons out of football, and he has spilt carries with Ronnie for the majority of the second half of his career. Still though, he could hit the wall any season now.

This time next year, the running back position may be completely up in the air. But for now, at least, Dolfans can relish in the fact that Miami has two of the most talented in the business.

Safe

Ronnie Brown: This could be Ronnie's last season in Miami, but there's no question he's got top ten talent at the position. He makes the wildcat what it is, and has an excellent combination of power and athleticism. The durability issue has almost single-handily cut his career down, however. Has it just been a misfortunate case of bad luck, or is he really this injury prone? Whatever the case, hopefully he's due for a full-sixteen game season, because the running game and the offense as a whole, takes a huge hit when he can't go. Let's not forget he still has been rehabbing the foot that suffered the Lisfranc fracture, but all signs point to him being 100% by the end of the month.

Ricky Williams: How much longer can he keep this up? Many backs stumble to mediocre status once they hit the dreaded age of thirty, but Ricky is still running strong at thirty-three. He probably can't carry the load by himself anymore, which was evident by the way he wore down in the last few games of the season, but if Ronnie can stay healthy, and the Dolphins can manage to keep both players' workload relatively even, he still has the potential to be arguably the best complimentary back in the league.

Patrick Cobbs:The return of Patrick Cobbs may be more significant than you think. He's the ultimate utility player. He returns kicks, lines up at receiver, executes reverse plays out of the wildcat, and steps in at his actual position when called upon. Many argue that he's Sparano's favorite player, which is consistent with the way he gushes about Cobbs in press conferences. It's still uncertain if he will be able to return to his old-self a year removed from an ACL tear, but at the end of the day, he does too much for this football team to not find a spot.

There are many unkowns surrounding the Dolphins' defense that are sure to make or break Mike Nolan's efforts at turning around a unit that finished 22nd in the league, in the same way he did in Denver a year ago. Among them are Randy Starks' transition to nose tackle, how the outside linebackers shape up, and if Chris Clemons can develop into a quality starting free safety.

How good the secondary can be, likely falls on the shoulders of Clemons. Vontae Davis and Sean Smith are expected to make significant strides in year two, and the strong safety spot is already established with veteran Yeremiah Bell.

If Clemons can live up to the expectations that have come with the coaching staff and front office talking him up all offseason, then the pass defense, which was arguably the Achilles heel of the entire team in 09', will be in substantially better shape then it was last season.

Safe

Yeremiah Bell: One of the league's most reliable tacklers is obviously safe on the roster and safe as the starter at strong safety. He's fresh off his first ever Pro Bowl appearance, and should be able to maintain that high level of play for at least one or two more years.

For future sake, hopefully Reshad Jones gives the coaching staff a reason to believe he can be Bell's eventual successor at the position, if free safety doesn't work out for him, that is.

Chris Clemons: When Parcells and Ireland failed to woo in the services of Antrel Rolle and Ryan Clark in free agency, and chose not to invest a high-round draft choice in a free safety, Chris Clemons instantly became a lock to make the roster. Perhaps even more surprising, has been the team's constant praise of Clemons' offseason work.

Everyone knew he had the physical tools to become a quality safety in this league, but mental mishaps reportedly prevented him from earning the starting job, even though Gibril Wilson was in the midst of a nightmare campaign. Parcells gave the fans a reason to believe those mental mishaps are a thing of the past though, when he confirmed that Clemons had one of the better ratios of snaps to mental errors on the team during offseason workouts.

That trend needs to contine when the pads come on and things speed up a bit, and more and more information is thrown at him. If his mental progress starts to digress, expect Reshad Jones to enter the picture, and a heated competition to unfold.

Tyrone Culver: To many people's surprise, Culver hasn't been given the opportunity to compete for the starting free safety job. Instead, he has been getting the backup strong safety reps. Still though, he's likely a lock to make the final 53-man roster because the coaching staff knows what they are getting with him. Which is a consistent, solid back-up, with value on passing situations.

With much of the sports world glued to their TV sets this morning, looking for any insight into what the NBA's crazy free agent class is going to do, here at Phins Phocus the start of July simply means that training camp is right around the corner. So without further ado, let's get the first installment of this year's training camp preview underway.

What better position to start with than quarterback? How good the offense can be is invested heavily into if Chad Henne can take that next step as a quarterback. And with four quarterbacks on the roster, this year's camp is sure to produce a heated battle for that final roster spot.

Locks

Chad Henne: Although, this is without a doubt Henne's team now, this year's camp will be crucial, as all eyes will be looking to see if he is ready to become a franchise quarterback. All indications suggest that Brandon Marshall will be ready to roll at the start of camp, so developing a chemistry and a rhythm with his new go-to target will be a must. Sparano recently praised Henne's efficiency during OTA's and minicamps this spring, but looking back to last year, he had a bit of a rough camp, especially in the two-minute drill. That better not be the case this August.

Chad Pennington: The front office thought what Pennington brings to the table as an insurance policy and a mentor, was enough to bring him back to Miami. Many envision him as player/coach, who eventually takes over as quarterback's coach when his playing days are over. Those days may be over sooner than Pennington is willing to admit, with yet another shoulder surgery that likely weakened an already "noodle" arm. Still though, Pennington wants to play beyond 2010, but doesn't want to rush back, and is comfortable playing behind Tyler Thigpen as the Dolphins' third quarterback. There have been rumors he is headed for the PUP list to start the season though, which could open things up for the Dolphins keeping four quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster.