NFL Power Rankings, Week 1: Titans ink Clowney, Chiefs remain clear favorites

Coming into last season, there was legitimate chatter about whether or not the Miami Dolphins would be able to win a single game. They accomplished that five-fold in Brian Flores’ first-year as the head coach as he proved his merit on the sidelines in leading his team to a 5-11 record. And as he enters year two, the team was aggressive in improving the roster.

That started in free agency as Miami added one impact veteran after another. They inked cornerback Byron Jones to a monster deal but also signed players like Kyle Van Noy, Shaq Lawson and Emmanuel Ogbah, all of whom should be immense upgrades over what the Dolphins fielded on defense last year and should make that unit at least competent.

The offense got quite the facelift too. Adding Jordan Howard and Matt Breida, in addition to drafting to help the offensive line, should help improve what was the worst rushing attack in the league last year. And of course, the Dolphins selected quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with the No. 5 pick in the 2020 draft.

Veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the starting quarterback for Week 1 and, frankly, the Dolphins are still at least a year away from fully realizing the fruits of their rebuild. Having said that, they are definitively trending upward and shouldn’t be taken lightly this year.