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The Miami Dolphins may not be facing monumental expectations from the national media this upcoming season, but with the 2020 season now looming on the horizon it is clear that plenty of people are buying into what the Dolphins can be in the long-term. That includes the man who will be providing the color commentary for Miami’s Week 1 contest against the New England Patriots, former NFL quarterback Tony Romo.
Romo spoke with Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald via Zoom and discussed how impressed he is with how the Dolphins are approaching their roster rebuild.
“It’s a big boy game. It really is. It’s O-line, D-line. To me, you’ve got to get offensive linemen and you’ve got to be able to cover and to get your d-linemen to play hard. If you get a special guy and lucky enough to get a top 5-10 pick,… then that’s a little bit more random,” said Romo through Jackson.
“What they’re doing, they’re building it the right way. I really feel like you are going to see Miami come on. They will be better this year. There is no question they are going to be a much-improved team. The way they’re doing it is what I’m most impressed with. You will see them develop. Remember, the 49ers were bad, bad, bad for a little bit and then really good. They kept building that defensive line, offensive line. They did things that I think win in the National Football League.”
Winning hasn’t been commonplace for the Miami Dolphins in nearly two decades — the Dolphins haven’t logged back to back winning seasons since 2002 and 2003. And they may not get there just yet in 2020 either. But as Romo points out, this team is embracing all the areas of the team that seemed to be afterthoughts for Miami for the better part of the last decade as a lack of viable pieces and depth on the offensive line and complacency at the quarterback position contributed to Miami’s mediocre run through the 2010s.
Those aren’t staples of Chris Grier and Brian Flores’ Miami Dolphins. And, as Romo points out, the team is building through a blueprint that has a proven track record of success. You must have a quarterback, protect your quarterback and disrupt the opposing quarterback to win with consistency in the NFL. The Dolphins have been keen on checking all three of those boxes this offseason. The 2020 campaign will provide time to assess and pivot. But we’d like to agree with Romo.
The team is on the right track.