By Coach Joe Philbin calling being on Hard Knocks a "footbal decision", one has to wonder the amount of spin and continued negativity a once storied franchise faces.

Nothing about the Philbin era is interesting.  The fans do not have any idea what Philbin is about until the Dolphins face their bitter rivals and will see what kind of mettle this regime has in store for the opponent.  All the fan sees is intense practices, a new offense, and a new defensive scheme.

However, what is interesting is that Jeff Ireland, who runs a highly secretive operation would allow cameras on the practice field, coaches rooms, and the locker room. 

The selection on Hard Knocks does mean that the fans will be where many never go...inside the Dolphins hallowed halls of their Davie headquarters.  One can argue, that the Dolphins could limit even NFL Films exposure to the everyday conversations in meeting rooms and with players, but that would not be typical of NFL Films.  It is possible that the Dolphins have a chance to show the NFL and the fans a different side of the regime.  Not to politicize the event, it can in a way be more positive PR that the team needs in order to sell tickets and put more fans in the seats on sweltering South Florida days. 

One thing remains clear, the Dolphins edict of transparency during the coaching search, draft process, and OTAs has lead to this: there is an owner that wants to show the NFL he may not know what he is doing, but he has hired the right people to get the Dolphins out of depths of mediocrity and become a rising power on the NFL stage.

Let’s be absolutely clear here – the NFL is a passing league. While the 2011 season might be an outlier, it is still significant. After only two seasons in NFL history with a 5,000 yard passer, spread more than 20 yards apart, the 2011 NFL season saw three 5,000 yard passers, and one quarterback who came close (Eli Manning was 63 yards away from 5,000). Here’s the deal, all of those players are still playing and there looks to be even more passing this year. Players Peyton Manning and Matt Schaub who are known for huge numbers are coming back from injury while guys like Philip Rivers look to bounce back from down years. So where does that leave the less sexy part of the game called ‘Defense’?

For the most part, there are two ways to stop passing attacks:

1. Pass rush
2. Pass defense

The Giants knew this and their monstrous D-Line coupled with good secondary play helped lead them to a title. The Bills understand this; their secondary is fairly well put together and their D-Line is now one of the best in the league on paper. While the Dolphins ranked number 6 in the NFL in scoring defense, improvements can be made, namely at the two starting cornerback spots. Both drafted in 2009, Vontae Davis and Sean Smith were supposed to develop into one of the top cornerback tandems in the NFL. A pertinent example would be two years ago in Cincinnati when Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph were shutting down wide receivers. A more sentimental example would be the Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain tandem in years past for the Dolphins. With the D-Line potentially solid, focus shifts onto the somewhat disappointing play of Davis and Smith. While both are NFL cornerbacks and play as such, they need to step up and enter the elite category. So far, Vontae Davis is the perceived better of the two with good coverage skills, blitzing ability, and run support while Sean Smith is seen as a better cover corner but soft and with stone hands. If the Dolphins hope to compete with the rest of the NFL, they need to be able to slow down the high powered offenses sprouting up; especially considering one of those offenses is a division rival. With the former most senior member of the Dolphins secondary now a New York Jet, Smith and Davis must step up and take some pressure off of the younger guys like Carroll, Wilson, and Jones.

Davis is well known for great athleticism and strength packed into a small frame, but he must cut down on lapses in concentration and above all, stay healthy. With the Patriots now employing the services of Brandon Lloyd, Davis will presumably be covering him and will need to consistently play how he did when up against Randy Moss in his second season (in 2010, Moss caught 1 pass for 26 yards in two games against Miami primarily covered by Davis). Davis has been beat deep several times in his career and needs to play longer routes better. For Smith to step up, he needs to become much more aggressive, and work on his catching ability. Sean Smith is a very talented player. He has flashed brilliance many times in his career but has yet to do it consistently. While his size has something to do with what he can do, players such as Antonio Cromartie and Antoine Cason have had success with large frames. Smith often appears to be in great positions to make plays but either hesitates to make a tackle or play on the ball, or listlessly allows the ball to float into his hands before ultimately dropping it. In 2010, even though Smith only started 8 games, he led the league in dropped interceptions with 5 (via Football Outsiders). To me this seems to be a mental weakness which can be fixed. A dropped interception is still a pass you put yourself in position to catch.

As Jared Odrick said it best “It's a hard knock life for us, it’s a hard knock life for us...” The Dolphins and HBO have agreed to join forced for HBO’s Hard Knocks this year. Starting August 7^th, the Dolphins will feature for a national audience.

With all the talk in South Florida surrounding the Heat, Joe Philbin shocked Dolphins fans by claiming a bit of national buzz back for the Dolphins. Philbin announced that the decision for Hard Knocks was a football decision and was his own decision and not star hungry owner Stephen Ross. While some still question if that is a PR cover up, the first time head coach seems pretty excited about the opportunity that will come with Hard Knocks.

The show will give an opportunity for players like Jared Odrick, Vontae Davis and Sean Smith to become stars, while still focusing on superstar Reggie Bush. Bush will battle his ex Kimmy K in the reality TV rating this off season.

Most out there don’t really recognize the Dolphins as the most entertaining option around for Hard Knocks but most fans seem excited about the exposure the show will come with.

The show will also highlight Dolphins rookie Ryan Tannehill while surely making mention of his gorgeous wife Laure at every possible moment. The Dolphins QB battle will most likely be a focal point of the show along with watching player who are on the roster bubble give everything they can to make the roster.

The move for the Dolphins to go on Hard Knocks can go either way, it could be a brilliant way to become even more transparent with the fan base and get solid exposure to a national audience improving the team’s image OR it could be another Dolphins PR disaster. Either way I’m pumped!

Something to note, from NFLN research guru @MattPomPom: Average record of teams on HBO's Hard Knocks is 49-47. Playoff record: 3-3 

Phins Up!

As most of you know by now, I am a huge twitter enthusiast (@PhinsDaniel follow me). That being said there are a healthy amount of our Phins on twitter and most make pretty entertaining follows.  In case you needed wanted a Dolphins twitter crash course here it is.

 

Dolphin’s media you should be following:

@BenVolinPBP Ben Volin a very reliable member of the media, and a very solid Dolphins source.

@OmarKelly – He certainly is controversial and opinionated but most Dolphins fans follow him

@ArmandoSalguero – Breaks Dolphins news as quick as anyone

@davehydesports – Always brings his interesting sports mind to the table

Dolphin’s fans to follow:

@TheMattyI – A very solid representation of the Dolphins fan base, and isn’t too much of a homer.

@PhinsRock – Just a good dude to follow

@PhinNation / @thephinsider – Always a good read on their blog.

@FinsJesse – Not only a fan but also the leader of the finsiders and an absolute must follow for phins fans.

@rizzmiggizz / @finsnation – maybe the funniest dolphins fans out there

@AlexMigilio – A solid Dolphins fan who can give you some great fantasy advice as well

@KohneysKorner – His experience in the media world always brings for entertaining tweets, as well as his usual different perspective on the Dolphins.

@DolphinsTalk - Dedicated fan

@NealDriscoll - Tends to sometime be on the controversial side but no doubting his love for the Phins, also can be entertaining. 

@DolphinMick - Are other writer on PhinsPhocus.com

@PhinsDaniel - Me :)  

Dolphins players to follow:

@SeanSmith4

@VontaeDavis21

@brianhartline

@JaredOdrick98

@MikePouncey

@68Incognito

@ryantannehill1 

Now you should be all set !

It’s never too early to talk fantasy football. While hopefully I can begin to cure my fantasy football addiction shortly by starting to form and research on player rankings, for now its time to take an early look at some Dolphins players that might have some fantasy implication. The Dolphins aren’t really considered one of the major contributors to the fantasy world, the might be some hidden gems on this roster.

Here is a look at which Dolphins players might have fantasy relevance.

QB position

Matt Moore/ David Garrard – In standard leagues with one QB, neither guy would make a fantasy football roster regardless of which guy becomes the Dolphins starters. Neither guy has put up stellar fantasy numbers in the past and now is no time to count on either of these guys.

Ryan Tannehill – While his fantasy value for this year is very limited as he might be holding a clipboard all year, there is some potential value there for keeper leagues.

Running Backs

 

Reggie Bush – Bush enjoyed a career year last year and he promises to be in the hunt for the rushing title this year. While that may be an unattainable goal, Bush should be a hot commodity in fantasy leagues especially those that are PPR. Bush has top 10 RB value in PPR leagues and probably will rank around 14-16 in standard leagues.  Bush might see some looks at WR which would also boost his value.

Daniel Thomas –Last year he was a fantasy football disappointment and we cant promise you to expect any better this year especially with the Dolphins drafting Lamar Miller.  However Thomas is worth a roster spot and potentially is a very late round flyer.

Lamar Miller – The book is not out yet on Miller as it is probably too early to project his fantasy impact yet. That being said coach Philbin is said to be very impressed with Miller so far in camp.

Wide Receiver

Davone Bess – Bess certainly has value in PPR leagues, and he should benefit from Brandon Marshall’s departure, he is a WR3 by most standards and could bump up to be a low to high end number WR2 should he prove to be the top target in Miami.

 

Brian Hartline – Hartline is probably the player who will benefit the most from Marshall’s departure. That being said just because he will start does not equate automatic production. Hartline should only really be seen as a W3 going into the season, however there is potential for better production this year.

Roberto Wallace/Rishard Matthews/ BJ Cunningham/ Nanne – None of these players are even draft able however with the Dolphins weak WR core one could even land up being the team’s WR1 by seasons end, who knows !

Tight Ends

Anthony Fasano – While I wouldn’t suggest drafting Fasano unless desperate in the late rounds, he already has a nice connection with Matt Moore and could have a productive season this year.

Egnew/Clay – Neither player at the moment would crack a fantasy football roster.

As you can see the Dolphins offense isn’t exactly loaded with fantasy studs.