In just over three weeks, the Miami Dolphins will open training camp for the 2020 season ahead — and with it face the prospect of building upon a promising “foundation” year. The Dolphins surprised everyone last season with a 5-4 stretch to finish the year and promptly followed suit by nailing down one of the most prolific college quarterbacks in recent history, plus a slew of new faces to add to the team.
The Dolphins will hold camp this year with fan enthusiasm as high as it has been in quite some time. But amid the restrictions of this offseason due to the ongoing health crisis, can the Dolphins rise to the challenge? We’ll be taking a look at each position group for the Dolphins ahead of the start of training camp and exploring which storylines are most pressing to monitor as Miami looks to improve in Year 2 under Brian Flores.
Here are the Dolphins’ key storylines in training camp amid the inside linebacker group.
Can Jerome Baker build more splash plays into his resume?
Jerome Baker entered the 2019 season with high expectations — he received universal praise from the Dolphins’ coaching staff for his football intelligence and how well he was picking up the defensive playbook. And by the end of the season, Baker was a team leader and respected presence on the defense; but he didn’t log a ton of game changing plays. Some of that was due to a lack of depth from the Dolphins’ personnel — and hopefully 2020 will provide better results as Miami can be more present in putting Baker in the best position to make a splash, not necessarily just fulfilling the biggest need on the team because he’s the smartest, most athletic linebacker.
More splash plays for Baker isn’t just a sign he’s getting better, it’s a sign the defense is more competent around him, too.