Colin Cowherd is sold on the Miami Dolphins rebuilding effort

Colin Cowherd is sold on the Miami Dolphins rebuilding effort

The Miami Dolphins are one of the NFL’s three most interesting teams of 2020. That is according to Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd.

Do not adjust your screens, Dolphins fans — this is a factual statement. After years and years of toiling in NFL mediocrity and never really generating any kind of interest from the national pundits, the Dolphins are prompting quite a good amount of interest and enthusiasm this summer. Sure, the Dolphins have “won” the offseason before thanks to spending loads of money in free agency. But this feels different — namely because the Dolphins took three steps back in order to set themselves up for long-term success. Add onto that an adjusted hierarchy in the front office and a new chain of command that creates clear communication lines and avoids inter-office conflicts and the addition of promising head coach Brian Flores?

Calling this time “different” for the Dolphins might be an understatement. The rebuild still needs to prove it works on the field — and much of that effort will come down to rookie QB Tua Tagovailoa. And he, as you’ll hear, is perhaps the biggest reason Cowherd is buying the Dolphins as the NFL’s third most interesting franchise this year.

“The Miami Dolphins with Tua (Tagovailoa). Listen, he’s going to play early. He’s gonna hit it in practice and no one is going to sit around watching Ryan Fitzpatrick,” said Cowherd.

“This team was very interesting down the stretch. They have solved their tackle issue, Austin Jackson — they went and got Matt Breida at running back at San Francisco. Defensively, Byron Jones, the corner from the Cowboys, Kyle Van Noy and we know the head coach can coach defense. It Tua plays, watch out! It’s going to be a lot of fun and I think they’re a dark horse playoff team.”

That is about as glowing of a review as you could possibly hope for as a Dolphins fan. Now — has the team’s offense tackle issues really been solved? Jackson will have the opportunity to fill that role, just like fellow rookie Robert Hunt on the other side. But execution is still needed before we can declare that issue as resolved.

At the very least, Cowherd seems to believe in the power of Tagovailoa as living up to his billing pre-NFL Draft as a charismatic leader with the intangibles and eye for the game that can elevate the play of those around him. If the Dolphins indeed get that, then Cowherd is right — it will be a lot of fun to watch play out.