The Miami Dolphins have a long way to go before they’re considered viable contenders in the AFC East. The team’s roster was barren by the end of the 2019 season, although that was hardly a drop off from what Miami saw their status as at the beginning of the 2019 season, too. But Miami has begun taking the necessary steps to being that climb to prominence — logging agreements with several key veteran players who can all help pull the Dolphins together to be a better, more well-rounded football team.
Those looming signings? They’re well received by the folks over at Pro Football Focus, who have implemented a metic designed to measure a player’s value in “Wins Above Replacement” — a measure more commonly associated with baseball. And through Miami’s first waves of free agent agreements, the Dolphins are among the most improved football teams in the league.
Improvement Index updated for Bridgewater to the Panthers, along with McCoy to DAL and Jefferson/Butler to BUF. Slight gain for the Panthers with Bridgewater at QB, but more than offset by losing McCoy
Post will be updated soon: https://t.co/fgYqM2JdUt pic.twitter.com/WDTypfzwAC
— Kevin Cole (@KevinColePFF) March 18, 2020
Miami is tabbed as the second most improved AFC team by the PFF metric — and you totally hate to see the New England Patriots and the Houston Texans (whose 1st and 2nd-round picks belong to the Dolphins in 2021) in the cellar of the entire league, too. It serves as affirmation to what the untrained eye also sees: the arrow is pointing up in Miami. The Dolphins ended their season with a ton of momentum and are now parlaying that into key additions that will help this team avoid the kind of hole they started their 2019 season in.
Remember, the Dolphins started the year 0-7 before finishing 5-4 in their final 9 contests. Between the free agent influx, Miami’s boatload of draft picks and a last place schedule in 2020, who knows how high this team could rise in year two under Brian Flores?