HOW WILL THE FINS GET BETTER? 

                  Football God Bill Parcells will guide the offseason decisions...what will he do?

As the Miami Dolphin fans settle into life without football for the next eight months, thoughts naturally turn to what the team will do to improve this offseason. Last offseason Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland crafted a brilliant strategy that brought great players like Justin Smiley, Anthony Fasano, and of course Chad Pennington to the team. They also had a terrific draft hitting on players like Donald Thomas, Jake Long, Phillip Merling, Kendal Langford who all contributed this season and Chad Henne seems to be the QB of the future. If the brain trust can recreate that kind of offseason success then 2009 should see the Dolphins go deep into the playoffs.

The following is FinHeaven's list of team needs:

High Priority

Defensive line - The D line was solid as run stoppers, but Miami had little to no pass rush from this unit.  If they can aquire a pass rush specialist it would really boost the defense.

Wide Reciever - The Fins need a solid #1, big game breaking wide receiver.

Linebacker - Joey Porter had a career year and should be good for another year or two. But Crowder and Roth were very mediocre.

Medium Priority

Center - The running game still is not finding as much room as it should. With Donald Thomas and Justin Smiley coming back the unit gets better. However, Satelle seemed undersized and out matched most of this season.

Defensive Back - A great shut down corner would be nice to boost this unit. Andre Goodman really came on as the season progressed and Will Allen was solid, but after that it got pretty suspect. Yerimiah Bell was fairly solid but wasn't making the big plays we had come to know him for.  A hard hitting, playmaking safety in the mold of the Colt's Bob Sanders or Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu would round out this secondary nicely and shut down some of those big receivers that dominated us this year.

After this, it really is a "best player available" approach. Miami could use some depth that can not only back-up the starters, but also be developed for the future. This would provide the Miami Dolphins with the long term success that can keep them in contention every year. This is how teams like New England and the NY Giants have done it. Even though they get hit with free agent losses each off season they just keep plugging on guys and winning. 

So as much as we all hated to see the season end it is really an exciting time to be a Miami Dolphin fan. There is a feeling that the team is on the right track and the expectations for 2009 will just get higher and higher as the season gets closer. The Miami Dolphins have a very difficult schedule this year and will face the cream of the NFL crop. But if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. 

FinHeaven will be tracking all of the offseason moves for you and this is the place to get your breaking news, player analysis, and the pulse of the Miami Dolphin fan.

Stay tuned! 

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