The Miami Dolphins will head into the 2024 season looking to finish what it started the past two seasons when it was one of the best teams in the NFL heading into December before faltering down the stretch.
The national view of the Dolphins, though, is that they have to prove they can get that done before they’re anointed as one of the powerhouses in the league — or even a top 10 team.
As we begin our weekly roundup of national power rankings, the Dolphins came in the top 10 in only two of the 10 outlets we examined, with a high of ninth from Yahoo Sports. The lowest ranking was 16th by USA Today, a figure that would put Miami smack dab as a middle-of-the-road team.
Here’s the breakdown of the Dolphins’ 10 power rankings spots heading into Week 1 of the 2024 regular season, along with the commentary associated with it:
Ranking: 13
Analysis: I’m warming back up to the Dolphins; that’s how you can tell the offseason is too long. How much so remains to be seen, but we know the foundation of a highly successful offense is there. The adjustments made to presnap motion rules will affect this team, but Mike McDaniel will find a way. The bigger challenge is going to be masking Tua Tagovailoa’s issues when a play slides off schedule. There were games at the end of last year when he played freer and certainly games before Tagovailoa’s confidence was torpedoed by Brian Flores that he played that way.Â
Ranking: 11
Analysis: The expectations are high. We’ll find out as of Thanksgiving whether they’ll deliver.
Ranking: 14
Analysis: They will be a fun show to watch every week, but are they tough enough? Can they win big games late in the season and beat playoff teams?
Ranking: 11
Analysis: As with the Cowboys, the winning-in-the-playoffs thing is kinda big for the Dolphins. As in, they haven’t done it since the 2000 season. They’ve changed coaches seven times since then (10, if you count interims). With current head coach Mike McDaniel, they have hope, and his recentcontract extensionlikely means he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Miami has a chance to be undefeated heading into the Week 6 bye, and the Fins could keep it rolling even past that. The schedule unfolds quite nicely early in the season, then stiffens up after Thanksgiving. It’s similar in that regard to the schedule last year, when Miami started 9-3 but won just two more games from Week 14 on, ultimately sufferinga first-round playoff exit. It will be critical for new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver to keep his unit together — and do so without as much firepower as the 2023 defense had. The Dolphins’ D was decimated by injuries down the stretch, and they sank thereafter. That can’t happen again.Â
Ranking: 14
Analysis: “I want so badly to believe in this team because it seems like being on the Dolphins bandwagon is a fun time. Head coach Mike McDaniel has taken the Shanahan system and transformed it into an explosive play machine, surrounding an accurate quarterback with a 4×100 relay team in Raheem Mostert, De’Von Achane, Jaylen Waddle, and Tyreek Hill. Miami was also one of the NFL franchises to pluck a defensive coordinator from Mike Macdonald’s staff in Baltimore, hiring former defensive line coach Anthony Weaver. Things still feel so tenuous for this roster, though, and I don’t know how much more juice is left. Miami’s decision to draft a pair of pass rushers proved to be prescient, with Bradley Chubb starting the year on the PUP list, but it doesn’t have a way to replicate the production Christian Wilkins left behind, and there are several aging pieces in the secondary. If Miami has enough defense to win games late in the year, I’ll revisit my stance, but this is one team I won’t touch with a 10-foot pole.”
Ranking: 13
Analysis: The Dolphins are sticking with their successful offensive balance and explosiveness under Mike McDaniel after creating some QB stability with new contracts for Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, and Jaylen Waddle. Defensively, the secondary is a strength, but there will be concerns about scheme change and front-seven changes.
Ranking: 10
Analysis: Tua Tagavoila and Tyreek Hill are coming off big seasons together but the Dolphins need to expand the repertoire of their explosive offense with more receiving depth. They also need much more from the defense, which they hope to get fresh from the Ravens in new coordinator Anthony Weaver.
Ranking: 14
Analysis: Miami coach Mike McDaniel may be the only non-family member who believes in Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa so much, but that was enough to get Tagovailoa a four-year contract extension that guarantees him $167.2 million. And why not? Their two years together have produced 6.3 yards per play. No NFL team has done better than that in the same period, according to TruMedia. The problem: The Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game and have won only four combined games post-Dec. 1 in those two seasons.
Ranking: 9
Analysis: This offense is a cheat code in non-freezing games. However, they just never seem to be the same team down the stretch. The defense should be decent if they can stay healthy and avoid another NFL equivalent of the “Red Wedding.”
Ranking: 10
Analysis: On one hand, the Miami Dolphins appear to have all the talent necessary to not only make the playoffs but also do damage in them. The team’s skill-position players are fast, faster and ridiculously fast. The defense has talent at all three levels, whether it’s Jaelan Phillips on the edge, the newly acquired Jordyn Brooks at linebacker or Jalen Ramsey in the secondary. But while the Dolphins have made the postseason each of the past two seasons, the team hasn’t won a playoff game since 2000—the longest active drought without a postseason victory in the NFL.
For the record, the Dolphins’ upcoming opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars, have an average ranking of 17.7, with a high of 12 and a low of 22.