AFC East Preview/Miami Dolphins

Projected 53 man roster

10 Chad Pennington QB 33 6-3 230 10 Marshall
7 Chad Henne QB 24 6-3 230 2 Michigan
6 Pat White QB/WR 23 6-0 190 R West Virginia

23 Ronnie Brown RB 27 6-0 230 5 Auburn
38 Patrick Cobbs RB 26 5-8 205 4 North Texas
45 Anthony Kimble RB 23 6-0 215 R Stanford
34 Ricky Williams RB 32 5-10 230 9 Texas
36 Lousaka Polite FB 27 6-0 245 5 Pittsburgh

15 Davone Bess WR 23 5-10 190 2 Hawaii
83 Greg Camarillo WR 27 6-1 190 4 Stanford
19 Ted Ginn Jr. WR 24 5-11 180 3 Ohio State
84 Patrick Turner WR 22 6-5 220 R USC
18 Ernest Wilford WR 30 6-4 235 6 Virginia Tech

80 Anthony Fasano TE 25 6-4 255 4 Notre Dame
88 David Martin TE 30 6-4 265 9 Tennessee
86 John Nalbone TE 23 6-4 255 R Monmouth (N.J.)

57 Andy Alleman C 25 6-4 310 3 Akron
92 John Denney C/LS 30 6-5 255 5 Brigham Young
64 Jake Grove C 29 6-4 300 6 Virginia Tech
68 Ike Ndukwe G 27 6-4 325 3 Northwestern
65 Justin Smiley G 27 6-3 310 6 Alabama
66 Donald Thomas G 23 6-4 310 2 Connecticut
72 Vernon Carey OT 27 6-5 340 6 Miami (Fla.)
63 Andrew Gardner OT 23 6-6 305 R Georgia Tech
77 Jake Long OT 24 6-7 317 2 Michigan
61 Shawn Murphy OT 26 6-4 315 2 Utah State

NO. NAME POS AGE HT WT EXP COLLEGE
97 Phillip Merling DE 24 6-4 295 2 Clemson
98 Matt Roth DE 26 6-4 275 5 Iowa
95 Jason Ferguson DT 34 6-3 310 13 Georgia
70 Kendall Langford DL 23 6-6 295 2 Hampton
48 Orion Martin DL 23 6-2 260 R Virginia Tech
96 Tony McDaniel DT 24 6-7 305 4 Tennessee
94 Randy Starks DT 25 6-3 305 6 Maryland
90 Rodrique Wright DT 24 6-5 300 3 Texas

56 Charlie Anderson LB 27 6-4 250 6 Mississippi
51 Akin Ayodele LB 29 6-2 245 8 Purdue
52 Channing Crowder LB 25 6-2 250 5 Florida
74 Quentin Moses LB 25 6-5 260 3 Georgia
55 Joey Porter LB 32 6-3 255 11 Colorado State
99 Jason Taylor DE/LB 34 6-6 255 13 Akron
53 Reggie Torbor LB 28 6-2 250 6 Auburn

25 Will Allen CB 30 5-10 195 9 Syracuse
24 Vontae Davis CB 21 5-11 203 R Illinois
21 Eric Green CB 27 5-11 196 5 Virginia Tech
33 Nate Jones CB 27 5-10 185 6 Rutgers
31 Sean Smith CB 22 6-3 214 R Utah
32 Jason Allen DB 26 6-1 200 4 Tennessee
37 Yeremiah Bell S 31 6-0 205 6 Eastern Kentucky
30 Chris Clemons S 23 6-1 210 R Clemson
29 Tyrone Culver S 26 6-1 210 4 Fresno State
28 Gibril Wilson S 27 6-0 205 6 Tennessee
Special Teams
NO. NAME POS AGE HT WT EXP COLLEGE
5 Dan Carpenter PK 23 6-2 225 2 Montana
2 Brandon Fields P 25 6-5 245 3 Michigan State

Position battles

QB Chad Pennington will again be the starting QB, while rookie Pat White, who may also see some time at WR, will try to take the backup job away from 2nd year QB Chad Henne. Expect White to eventually see time in the teams Wildcat formation.

Ronnie Brown will again start at RB with Ricky Williams backing up. Expect Patrick Cobbs to retain the 3rd string RB role, while rookie free agent Anthony Kimble squeaks out a roster spot as long as he can provide help on special teams, unless they decide to keep two FB's. Lousaka Polite is the likely starting FB, with FB Chris Brown battling to find a place on the final roster.

Ted Ginn,Jr. should become their no.1 WR this season, with Davone Bess starting on the other side and Greg Camarillo as the slot receiver. Rookie Patrick Turner will battle WR Ernest Wilford, who is also trying to play TE, for the 4th WR role.

TE Anthony Fasano will again be the starter, but David Martin could get pressured for playing time as the 2nd TE by Monmouth rookie John Nalbone.

Ex-Raider Jake Grove is expected to take over as the starting center, with 2nd year tackle Jake Long and veteran Vernon Carey starting at tackle. Justin Smiley should also start at one guard position, with Ike Ndukwe trying to hold off Donald Thomas and 2nd year player Shawn Murphy to start at the other guard spot. Andy Alleman can backup at both G and C,while rookie Andrew Gardner will try to maintain a roster spot as a backup tackle against OL Brandon Frye. John Denney is the long-snapper.

Veteran DE/LB Jason Taylor should find his way back into the starting lineup at DE along with Matt Roth, with Philip Merling also seeing playing time as well. Rookie free agent Orion Martin and 2nd year player Kendall Langford should backup at both DE and DT,and could see playing time at DT in a rotation if they can improve enough to show they can fill in for vets Jason Ferguson and Rodrique Wright. Randy Starks should be the main contributor this year at DT though. Tony McDaniel should also provide depth.

LB Joey Porter will start again at LB along with Channing Crowder and Akin Ayodele. Charlie Anderson will likely take on the 4th LB role, with Reggie Torbor also providing depth.DE/LB Quentin Moses will have to battle for his roster spot against LB Eric Walden.

CB Will Allen is a likely starter at one CB,with rookie Vontae Davis eventually expected to start as well. Fellow rookie Sean Smith will battle for a starting job but will likely end up as the nickel back,leaving CB/S Jason Allen battling for playing time in the dime package with rookie S Chris Clemons. CB's Eric Green and Nathan Jones will also be in the mix but should be valuable enough to make the final roster anyway.

Safeties Gibril Wilson from the Raiders and Yeremiah Bell should be the starting safeties,with rookie Chris Clemons and vet Tyrone Culver backing up.

Schedule
Wk Date Game Time (ET)
1 Sep 13 MIA @ ATL 1:00 PM

2 Sep 21 IND @ MIA 8:30 PM

3 Sep 27 MIA @ SD 4:15 PM

4 Oct 04 BUF @ MIA 4:05 PM

5 Oct 12 NYJ @ MIA 8:30 PM

6 Bye

7 Oct 25 NO @ MIA 4:15 PM

8 Nov 01 MIA @ NYJ 1:00 PM

9 Nov 08 MIA @ NE 1:00 PM

10 Nov 15 TB @ MIA 1:00 PM

11 Nov 19 MIA @ CAR 8:20 PM

12 Nov 29 MIA @ BUF 1:00 PM

13 Dec 06 NE @ MIA 8:20 PM

14 Dec 13 MIA @ JAC 1:00 PM

15 Dec 20 MIA @ TEN 1:00 PM

16 Dec 27 HOU @ MIA 1:00 PM

17 Jan 03 PIT @ MIA 1:00 PM

Preseason Preview

One of the keys for the Dolphins this year will be the ability of QB Chad Pennington to be able to make it through another 16 game schedule unscathed. As long as he and RB Ronnie Brown can stay healthy, the offense should continue to improve, as the offensive line has gotten better and the WR's should continue to improve as well. Should anything happen to Pennington,however, the offense could struggle with either 2nd year QB Chad Henne or rookie Pat White at the controls.
Expect Ronnie Brown to again be a big part of the offense running the ball and catching some passes as well. Ricky Williams, though likely not what he used to be, is still a capable backup and should still be able to be productive should Brown have any issues staying healthy. Patrick Cobbs has also proven to be an effective pass catcher out of the backfield, so the 'Fins backfield should be strong in 2009.
WR Ted Ginn,Jr., now in his 3rd season, should emerge as their no.1 WR, and with Davone Bess and Greg Camarillo both showing signs of improvement and the addition of rookie Patrick Turner, who could become a future playmaker, the WR corps should continue to produce when needed. Although they are not among the league's elite, Pennington's ability to find the open man and spread the ball around should make them valuable as a unit.
TE Anthony Fasano also showed last year he can be a competent starter and valuable target, and if rookie John Nalbone can provide production comparable to 2nd TE David Martin, the offense will be even better.
With the addition of Jake Grove at center the offensive line should be improved as well, but I feel they could still be a guard away from becoming one of the better offensive lines in football. If either Ike Ndukwe,Shawn Murphy,Donald Thomas, or Andy Alleman can prove to be better than an average starter, this team could become much more dangerous.
On defense is where the Dolphins excel, and this year should be more of the same. Veteran DE Jason Taylor should help LB Joey Porter provide more pressure on opposing QB's, and rookie CB's Vontae Davis and Sean Smith, along with the addition of ex-Raider/Giant Gibril Wilson at safety should make this defense even better than last year, and should make the Fish one of the top 10 defenses in the league this season. 2nd year DE Philip Merling should also improve, and CB Will Allen as well as safety Yeremiah Bell could be two of the most under-rated players in the league. They seem to have good depth across the board as well. If DE Matt Roth and LB's Channing Crowder and Akin Ayodole can start to produce turnovers, this team could be dangerous.
K Dan Carpenter and P Brandon Fields have also proven to be very valuable on special teams and give the team stability and reliable production at positions where other teams are not as fortunate. Ted Ginn,Jr. and Devone Bess also provide talent as kick and punt returners, but this is still an area where they could use more production.
Overall, I think the Dolphins should come away with double digit wins and a possible chance at a wild card. A lot would have to go wrong for them to finish worse than 7-9 on the season, but even a 12-4 record may not be too far fetched if this team continues to improve. However, at 10-6,being in the same division as the Patriots, they may need some help to get into the playoffs, so I think a second place finish could be in the cards for the Dolphins in 2009, but hey, who would have expected them to do so well last year right?

Fantasy Outlook
QB Chad Pennington may be valuable to the Dolphins, but as a fantasy player I would suggest having him as a backup and only using him when the matchup is favorable. RB Ronnie Brown could have a big year and could be an effective no.2 RB to have on your squad. RB Ricky Williams should also be only be taken as a reserve, but could be a good option should Brown suffer any setback. WR Ted Ginn is the only WR I would recommend drafting, depending on how big your roster is, and could be a good no.3 WR,but counting on anyone else at this point could be asking too much.
Possible sleepers-WR Devone Bess,TE Anthony Fasano