If you’ve been following the Dolphins closely this fall, you’ve probably heard someone mutter it over the course of the last two weeks.
“They can’t even tank right!”
As has been well established over the course of the Dolphins’ 2019 calendar year, the Dolphins are, in fact, not tanking. There’s been a managerial focus on collecting assets and creating salary cap space with the understanding that such an approach is probably going to hinder the Dolphins’ on-field product. Such an approach requires everyone to be on the same page — the Dolphins have done a very good job of ensuring that thus far in to their rebuild. But Miami wasn’t dedicated to slapping their players and fans in the face by giving up on 16 games, they’ve been playing to win.
And through a hard-nosed, disciplined approach, the Dolphins have started to do exactly that. Miami now sits at 2-7 and with the 4th overall pick in the current 2020 NFL Draft order. Is that going to cost Miami the chance to draft a quarterback? Potentially — but don’t tell that to Brian Flores, because he doesn’t care.
“My job is to put this team in the best position to try to go out there and be productive and try to win football games,” said Flores yesterday during his press availability.
“I think every head coach, every general manager, every organization is thinking about things long-term, as well as short-term. We’re no different, but right now my goal is to get each one of those guys in that locker better (and) as good as they can be. That’s the goal for me and our coaching staff.”
For most rebuilding teams, the worry would be concerns. But most rebuilding teams don’t have a war chest of 1st-round draft picks. And with 7 losses already this season, Miami will have the mobility they need to attack the draft. That luxury allows Flores the opportunity to make sure he’s developing his football players and — as he said himself — get his guys as good as they can be.
With more time, some of this year’s contributors will become fixtures for the next several years of the Flores era — and hopefully a dynamic turnaround into a winning program. That has value, too.
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