Despite finishing just one game below the .500 mark in 2018, the Miami Dolphins kick off these NFL power rankings in the last spot.
There are a few reasons why.
First, there’s the questionable firing of head coach Adam Gase, which led to the team hiring Brian Flores as head coach.
Flores is inheriting a mess, combined with a lack of playmakers on both sides of the ball and an aging cast of contributors. Cornerback Xavien Howard is a nice player to build around. But defensive end Cameron Wake is getting up there in age, and running back Frank Gore shouldn’t be viewed as a linchpin in the offense any longer.
Now, the Dolphins are reportedly going to try moving quarterback Ryan Tannehill this offseason.
Tannehill isn’t the answer, so a move makes sense. But in a weak free-agent and NFL Draft class at quarterback, doing so is only going to compound the problems the Dolphins will have in 2019.
They’ll be much worse, record-wise, in 2019 than they were last year.