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Now that ILB Karlos Dansby is signed, and has a locker and a jersey number (#58), the Dolphins are moving forward with free agency and continued preparations for the NFL Draft next month. They still have four open, high-profile needs: Nose Tackle, Free Safety, Outside Linebacker, and Wide Receiver.

 

How will Bill Parcells and Friends solve them?

 

The best unrestricted free agents (UFAs) are now off the market, and the Dolphins have a strong aversion to trading away draft picks for restricted free agents. This leaves the draft itself, and there is no guarantee that the right players will be available when the Dolphins come up to bat.

 

The cold hard truth, therefore, is that they may not be able to solve all their needs. Not this year anyway. Or, they may believe they already have an answer on the roster but need to become convinced to give a player more snaps in order to improve.

 

That's why the Dolphins go through their priority planning before free agency begins. They identify which upgrades are "must haves" for 2010 and which ones are "nice to haves".

 

Right now, I believe Nose Tackle and Free Safety are the probable remaining "must haves" because leaving things “as is” will probably cost the team some wins next year. That’s obviously negligent and unacceptable. On the other hand, the consequences of standing pat (worst case scenario) at Outside Linebacker and Wide Receiver (“nice to haves”) aren’t likely as severe.

 

Here's why:

 

Nose Tackle: Paul Soliai is not a full time NT and Jason Ferguson has been suspended until midseason. This means the Dolphins are in big trouble at a critical defensive position, perhaps THE most critical. Without a stout force in the middle of the 3-4 defense, teams will be able to run over them and that will open the door to a host of issues; this was the case last year after Ferg went down with a knee injury. If the draft gurus are to be believed, there could be some very talented two-gap prospects high on the board when the Dolphins go on the clock with their 12th overall pick. Like in baseball, the best defenses are, first-and-foremost, strong up the middle. Therefore, given the Dansby signing and Ferguson’s recent suspension and questionable health status, I believe that Nose Tackle is the #1 need that the Dolphins will look to solve on Day One of the draft.

 

Free Safety: The decision not to re-sign Renaldo Hill continues to haunt the Dolphins, and is probably the biggest blunder of the Parcells era. Hill’s replacement, Gibril Wilson, was thankfully released; his single failed season probably cost the 2009 Dolphins at least two wins and maybe a third. While the recent courtships of Antrel Rolle and Ryan Clark ended in failure, they reinforced the belief that an upgrade is critical to the team’s future success. If the Dolphins had to play a game today, second year player Chris Clemons would get the starting nod. Now there’s a lot to like about Clemons, but is he ready to be a full time starter? That’s for coach Tony Sparano to say. I believe free safety is an area where the Dolphins could look to the draft for some help early on as none of the remaining UFAs seem very appealing. It is vital that the Dolphins stop opponents from hitting them up for big plays, and fixing the problem at free safety is fundamental to that goal.

 

Outside Linebacker: Presuming that the Dolphins re-sign Jason Taylor and return him to his familiar weakside position, veterans Cameron Wake and Charlie Anderson will be left to compete for the opposite strongside job. That’s not the end of the world by any means! Wake is an example of a player that needs more snaps if he is to improve, but the coaches must first be able to trust him versus the run. Is he ready for that responsibility? Again, that’s for Sparano to decide. Meanwhile, don't expect the Dolphins to leave all their eggs in Wake’s or Anderson’s basket. A moderately priced free agent veteran, or even a high potential rookie, should be added to the mix to strengthen the depth chart. One player we shouldn’t forget is Quentin Moses; the Dolphins thought enough of him to tender him at a third round level. At 6-5, 260, he could be ready to be more of a factor on the strongside where his skills seem to fit best; the Dolphins are willing to pay to find out if this is indeed the case.

 

Wide Receiver: The Dolphins have a good, but not great, set of receivers. Without question they need a proven and consistent gamebreaker, someone who can regularly come up with chunk yardage and easy scores. They have three guys right now that might be capable of this: Ted Ginn, Jr., Patrick Turner, and Brian Hartline. Two of them (Hartline and Turner) were rookies last year. The big question, however, is with Ginn. Will the fourth year be the charm for Ginn, as it was for the Chargers' Vincent Jackson? Hard to say, though GM Jeff Ireland likes him “very much”. I must confess that there's something about Ginn’s game that keeps me watching, keeps me believing that the good stuff will come in time. One thing we already know is that he is not a bust; we’ve seen too much from him for that tag to apply. Yet Ginn has failed to play to his full potential. This season we’ll know for sure if he is a tease or the real deal. As for the rookies, Hartline showed us that he is capable of tearing up chunks of yardage from time to time. He should be even better next season. As for Turner, his was the classic case of a rookie overwhelmed by the mental demands of the pro game. Turner still has a chance to become that big dominant receiver that Ireland believes he can be. With a full offseason under his belt, he should be more instinctive, and that should translate into better productivity. We saw raw flashes of Turner’s ability during last year’s minicamp practices, before the mental weight of the game seemed to overwhelm him. Clearly, physical ability is not an impediment.