The Miami Dolphins haven’t known how to win with consistency since the early 2000s. It’s been a rough ride for the team and its fans — the Dolphins have been mired in mediocrity and seen their fair share of games slip through the cracks because the team simply hasn’t had the “closers” in-house to help slam the door shut on the opposition. It could be the maulers up front who could have helped get the ground game going to chew clock. Or the quarterback who needed to ignite a two-minute drive and go down the field to claim a game winning score. But no matter how you slice it, the Dolphins haven’t known how to consistently win.
Head coach Brian Flores is hoping he can shift the narrative there. After all, Flores himself has plenty of experience winning with his pedigree with the New England Patriots. No one has won more over the last decade — and Flores spent the vast majority of it experiencing the inner workings of a winning program.
But Brian Flores as an even-keeled coach can only bring so much to the table to help secure wins. His players have to execute on the field and they, too, must be comfortable with the price of winning. And that is what makes the Dolphins’ recent roster overhaul so important. If you look at this organization’s trends in player personnel, nearly every room on the roster has players who have achieved the highest of heights as it pertains to player success. The Dolphins have added a bunch of players who have college or pro winning pedigrees — and they’re hoping that those pedigrees combined with Brian Flores’ own winning background are what is needed to forge a winning pedigree once again in South Florida.
Here are some of the most winning programs in football in both college and the pros as of late and, more importantly, how many Miami Dolphins projected starters come from those programs.
New England Patriots — 3
- Safety Eric Rowe, Linebacker Kyle Van Noy, Center Ted Karras
Clemson Tigers — 2
- Defensive End Shaq Lawson, Defensive Tackle Christian Wilkins
Ohio State Buckeyes — 2
- Linebacker Jerome Baker, Linebacker Raekwon McMillan
Alabama Crimson Tide — 1(?)
- Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (plus 2nd-round pick DL Raekwon Davis)
Add in RB Matt Breida coming over from the 2019 NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers, DE Emmanuel Ogbah coming over from the 2019 Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, CB Byron Jones coming over from the Dallas Cowboys (40-24 over the last 4 seasons) and you’ve got 20% of the team’s roster anchoring Miami with strong success and experience in the cost to get there.
The final piece of the puzzle is for it all to come together and create a winning standard in South Florida.