The Cincinnati Bengals and the Miami Dolphins started from the same place. Each made a new head coaching hire in 2019, each was miserable for much of the 2019 NFL season and each drafted a franchise quarterback with a top-5 selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. And for any Miami Dolphins fans who may get flustered at the idea of the 2020 Miami Dolphins’ defense or the team’s conservative handling of rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa — all one needs to do is look across the field to the opposing sideline this weekend to gain an appreciation of just how far the Dolphins have come.
Because while the Dolphins and the Bengals had the same launch point for their respective regimes, they surely aren’t in the same place any longer. The Bengals “bested” the Dolphins in 2019 to secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, which was used to secure LSU passer Joe Burrow. And while Burrow won’t play this weekend, his presence may not have made a great deal of difference anyway — as the quarterback posted just two wins in 10 starts this season before a brutal knee injury ended his year.
But things get worse for Cincinnati when looking at the resume of head coach Zac Taylor, who has posted a career record of 4-22-1 in his 27 career games as an NFL head coach.
Comparatively, Brian Flores now sits at 12-15 in the NFL — his units on both sides of the football undeniably in better places than where the team left them in 2019. Flores has momentum building with this Dolphins team, which is something that could only be described as a pipe dream for Cincinnati.
So what is the biggest difference? Having the right people is obviously key and it appears as though the Dolphins made a better hire in Brian Flores than Cincinnati did with Taylor. But don’t overlook the value of each team’s methodology and approach to team building, too. The Dolphins were criticized for tearing their team down to the foundation under the direction of Chris Grier, but that approach has rapidly bore fruit for the Dolphins. An obnoxiously large 2020 draft class has provided plenty of well performing rookies.
Cincinnati? There were rumors that the team had offers, including one from the Dolphins, to trade back and out of selecting Joe Burrow. They certainly could have used the assets — given how barren the Bengals’ roster currently is. Cincinnati is learning hard lessons that have been learned in Miami over the past decade: you don’t draft a franchise quarterback and start him behind a piecemeal offensive line. The Bengals also could have taken some cues with how to approach trading talent for more assets, too.
Cincinnati placed WR AJ Green on the franchise tag this offseason and refused to trade him. Green, who is 32-years old, has logged 35 receptions for 357 yards and 1 touchdown this season (and half of his yards came in a two-week stretch in October) while the Bengals pay him $18.17M this season. Ideally, Cincinnati could have kept Green for cheaper if they wanted him. But instead, the Bengals stubbornly held onto a talent that was clearly not going to be in the fray for their long-term plans and missed the chance to tag and trade him or, alternatively, trade him at the 2019 NFL trade deadline.
It’d be different than the Dolphins’ decision to trade Laremy Tunsil, but still similar enough to drive the point across. The Dolphins were forced to make a choice between long-term flexibility and paying a talent who may not be at the top of his game by the time the Dolphins are ready to compete. If the AJ Green case study is any indication, it seems the Dolphins chose right.
And that’s a common theme between these two teams over the last two years between the coaching hires and the approach to team building. So as the Dolphins clash with the Bengals on Sunday, remember to consider how easily the shoes Cincinnati fill could have easily been the Dolphins and enjoy the progress Miami’s first two years have shown.