In 2020, the Cincinnati Bengals finished their season 4-11-1 with first overall pick Joe Burrow missing the final six games of the year due to a torn ACL.
With a healthy Burrow entering his second-year and first-round pick Ja’Marr Chase for 2021, the Bengals made an unexpected run to the Super Bowl that resulted in a loss to the loaded Los Angeles Rams.
A quick jump like that has other teams believing that they can do something similar. In a conversation with Pro Football Focus’ Doug Kyed, former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman predicted that the Miami Dolphins could do so in 2022.
“They’ve got a really good defense,” Spielman said. “The (Xavien) Howard contract dilemma is done, so that should be a non-factor. I think (Jevon) Holland is going to be a young, rising potential Pro Bowl-type talent at the safety position. And then what they did on offense with going to get Hill and Cedrick Wilson, and they got a Pro Bowl-type tight end, pass-catching tight end (in Mike Gesicki) and they helped the offensive line by signing Connor Williams from Dallas and going to get Armstead from New Orleans to solidify the left tackle position. Then they got whole different types of running backs. … It’s (Mike) McDaniel’s first year as the head coach, but if he can do what he did in San Francisco with that run game, that takes a lot of pressure off Tua (Tagovailoa).
“And then I think you just have to ask yourself, does Tua have more upside or more potential than Garoppolo? And what he (McDaniel) did with Garoppolo and if he can elevate his game because Garoppolo got them to the NFC Championship game last year. But they had a good offensive line, they had a really good running game. That’s why I’m excited to see what he will do with Tyreek Hill and with some of these weapons in the running back room, how he’s going to utilize those guys. I think Miami may surprise a lot of people, too, and rise up through it.”
Miami finished the 2021 season with a 9-8 record, which doesn’t tell the whole story. The Dolphins had a seven-game losing streak and a seven-game winning streak over the course of the year, making it one of the strangest seasons a team has had.
As Spielman noted, the Dolphins have done a lot to add talent this offseason, and McDaniel’s offense is one that’s extremely friendly to quarterbacks. A lot of the pressure that had been on Tagovailoa’s shoulders the last two seasons should fall off in this situation.
“I think this type of offense will help Tua to take it to another level,” Spielman said. “There’s no question, and everybody saw the talent that he had at Alabama. It’s just a matter of him growing into the position at the NFL level, and I think that Mike will do a great job as far as getting him to get the ball out of his hands to make quick decisions to get into a rhythm because I think he’s pretty good if he’s got a run game going. He can get into rhythm, they can evolve in the play-action pass, take the shots downfield when there is. But it takes so much pressure just off that quarterback when you’ve got a strong run game and you can do play action.”
The former Crimson Tide quarterback still needs to perform, and he knows that.
With all of the improvements that the conference made, as a whole, this offseason, it’s obviously a longshot that the Dolphins accomplish the same things that the Bengals did last year. All fans are asking for is a chance.
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