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The Miami Dolphins have endured their first loss in player personnel to the final wave of player opt-outs for the 2020 NFL season. While some teams have gotten turned upside down by player decisions, the Dolphins have been a team that has avoided chaos — until now. Dolphins wide receiver Allen Hurns announced yesterday that he was opting out for the 2020 NFL season, citing concerns about the health of his family with a young baby boy at home.
Hurns’ decision should be considered a selfless one — he himself referred to it as one of the hardest decisions he’s ever had to make.
— Allen Hurns (@A1hurns) August 4, 2020
From the Dolphins’ perspective on the field, Hurns’ loss hurts — he was one of the more consistent contributors on the field on a week to week basis. Is Hurns a mismatch player and a high volume receiver? No. But his experience allowed him to find success last season by being a chain mover. The good news for Miami is that this is a young team and there are no shortage of younger talents who will be ready and looking to step up and claim Hurns’ reps in the receiving room. Youngster Isaiah Ford looked like a more smooth version of Hurns when he was pressed into action towards the end of the year and a healthy Gary Jennings Jr. will look to make his first real impact on the Dolphins this season and may now be afforded the opportunity to do so.
The deadline for COVID-19 opt outs is tomorrow at 4PM EST, so we may not be done with Dolphins unscheduled departures. But if we are, the Dolphins will still be, relatively speaking, lightly hit relative to some other teams. In the AFC East alone, star linebackers CJ Mosley and Dont’a Hightower have opted out and the Patriots have lost nearly enough starters to count on one hand. It hasn’t come to that for the Dolphins yet and we’re likely to run out of time before it gets half that chaotic for Miami.