Could the Dolphins offense break out this season? Well many National writers seem to think so.

Whether it's Greg Rosenthal or Bucky Brooks the Dolphins has got the national media's attention. In Bucky Brooks story on NFL.com (link below) he says Ryan Tannehill might be on the verge of stardom. Greg Rosenthal had Ryan Tannehill as one of the top 10 QB's under 25 and USA Today asks if Tannehill be the next best AFC East QB. Even the folks at ESPN had Ryan Tannehill as the number one NFL player primed for a breakout this season.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000212043/article/ryan-tannehillled-miami-dolphins-primed-for-big-offensive-year

The Dolphins as many are more than aware went on a shopping spree for some new toys for Ryan Tannehill and with viable help on the outside and down the middle this team maybe ready to take the next step this season.

Let's not get to ahead of ourselves and assume just because it looks good on paper that it will materialize onto the football team. Ryan Tannehill has taken the steps this offseason to become the center and focal point of this organization.

Ryan has to take his confidence and leadership that we have seem shine this offseason and bring those traits into the huddle this season. Tannehill seems poised and has all the tools to put it together and that could mean a new and exciting offense in Miami.

This team will only go as far as Ryan Tannehill takes them, let's see if Tannehill buckles under this new added pressure of the spotlight or is able to take the next step and become the franchise QB Jeff Ireland drafted him to be.

Even though the Miami Dolphins spent over 100 million in new contracts to get targets Mike Wallace and Justin Keller for Ryan Tannehill this season, the most intriguing, and yet mysterious move was to jettison fan favorite Davone Bess and sign Brandon Gibson, formerly of the St. Louis Rams.

While this signing was rumored to occur at the opening of free agency, the Dolphins’ Jeff Ireland and Coach Philbin were most intrigued by his skill set to play the X, Y, and Z positions for Miami.  Gibson, while not a speedster, 4.59 combine numbers in the 40, has good size and speed for a slot receiver and takes on the role of possession receiver in Miami’s west coast offense.  

However, if you compare Brandon Gibson versus Davone Bess in their careers, there is no comparison. Bess comes out far more productive.

Where both receivers came into the league in different years (2008-Bess, 2009-Gibson), only one was drafted-Brandon Gibson in the 6th round by the Eagles.  That same year, he was from the Eagles to the Rams where he played in nine games and started four.

However, later in 2009, Gibson managed to get 34 receptions and scored one touchdown.  In 2010, Gibson raised his total of receptions to 52 and 2 touchdowns.  In that same two year split, Gibson versus Bess, Bess caught 54 passes for 554 yards and 1 touchdown and in 2009 76 passes for 758 yards and two touchdowns.  Clearly Bess had a better two first years in the league catching 130 passes and three touchdowns.  On the contrary, Brandon Gibson caught five touchdowns last season for an up and coming Rams franchise that lacked any star receivers versus Bess who caugth one touchdown.

Overall, in Gibson’s seasons with the Rams, 2,090 yards with 9 touchdowns versus Bess’ 3,447 yards and 12 touchdowns with one more year in the league than Gibson.  

Even looking at the receptions Bess clearly wins out in this statistical comparison with 321 versus Gibson’s 174.  

So, now you are thinking, gee, why on earth would the Dolphins get this guy and dump a guy that was statistically more productive?

 Despite the fortitude and the determination that Bess showed in his first season by rising up the depth chart from undrafted free-agent to being a leader on the team by his 5th season, his leadership by example was nowhere to be found the last four games in his 4th season.

Despite making acrobatic catches on the sidelines where he would toe tap and cause other teams to use their challenges, the Dolphins needed Bess to play through pain and suck it up for the last few weeks of the season.  

Bess did not finish the season as strong as he should have and would have had he been healthy.  One clear play where the lack of explosive receivers for Miami came to a head was in San Francisco, where the Dolphins needed another TD and a field goal to tie and Tannehill threw the ball inside the 10 on a post pattern and Bess was clearly not going to get that football.  It sailed over his head and there was no attempt to grab at the ball.  That failed attempt demonstrated that not only did the Dolphins lack the weaponry to move this offense down field, but that Bess was playing out of position as a deep threat.  

Last off season, the Miami Dolphins were a team searching for a quarterback to take them to the next level. With the eight pick of the draft, they took Ryan Tannehill. However, as evidenced by HBO's hard knocks that negotiation was not an easy one when Jeff Ireland was shown hanging up the phone with Dawn Aponte and muttering: we have to get him signed.

Enter this year's big contract squabble aims to include that same sticking point.. offset language. 

The Dolphins, who have every right to protect their interests included offset language in the contract with Tannehill.

 If it wasn't for Ryan Tannehill's willingness to get in camp quickly, the negotiation would have dragged on and Matt Moore would have started week 1 and we would have seen a different Dolphins team.

Some fear, including Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, that the Dolphins will guard against injury by including offset language in their dealings with Jordan. In fact, it very well may be a sticking point that could drag on the negotiations well into the start of training camp.  Jordan had surgery on his shoulder in February and has since recovered and is close to being ready for camp.  However, since Jordan is missing time at OTA's due to the University of Oregon on the quarter system resulting in a later graduation date in June, he's missing some valuable defensive installation and meetings with Dolphins defensive players.

While the Dolphins have every right to protect their interests, they also have to realize that Jordan has to get in camp if he hopes to start and get on the same page with the strength and conditioning coach, where Jordan needs to be In playing shape and ready to be the force he was at Oregon. Not to mention, as a hybrid linebacker/defensive end, he'll Need to get those reps to be on the same page with defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle.

From a fan's perspective, one might say: just sign it already. However, the Dolphins should be as diligent as possible and get the deal done with Jordan by making him happy, but at the same time covering themselves if Jordan goes bust early in his career.

Including the offset language won't get the deal done as quickly. The Dolphins will have an uphill battle and a supposed "dogfight" according to Mike Florio in getting Dion Jordan signed.  

From an agent's perspective, with Ziggy Ansah of the Lions taken 5th overall signing without offset language, it will be all about burning the midnight oil and seeing if Dawn, Jeff, and Jordan's agent can find a common ground and strike a deal.

Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland handed $91 million in guaranteed money and over $200 million in total contract dollars this offseason. He was aggressive in outsourcing free agents that wanted to take their talents to South Beach at the right price. There were a couple of in-house free agents he needed to retain – Brian Hartline, Matt Moore, Nate Garner, and Chris Clemons are the biggest names that come to mind. However, amidst all this free agent spending is a player that apparently feels neglected. 

Reshad Jones, a 2010 fifth-round pick, has truly blossomed into a playmaking safety for the Dolphins. He had a Pro Bowl caliber season in 2012, excelling in both coverage and run support. According to Pro Football Focus, he finished the year as a top-three safety with only Eric Weddle and Jarius Byrd ahead of him. He is absolutely a building block for the Dolphins and their youth movement, and a bright spot in a completely rebuilt secondary.

According to Pro Football Focus, after starting all 16 games, Jones recorded 95 tackles, nine passes defended four picks, and a sack. Additionally, he allowed a 38 passer rating into coverage, which ranked fifth among NFL safeties. His playing time numbers enabled him to hit escalators in his rookie contract, which bumped up his 2013 pay to $1.323 million from $575,000. Jones feels underpaid and wants contract negotiations to get underway, which is why he skipped the first day of OTAs, all due to the discontentment of his contract. On the next day, Jones agreed to go to OTAs in exchange for “eventual” contract negotiations with Jeff Ireland.

With all of that being said – should Ireland pony up the dough? Ireland needs to start contract negotiations as soon as possible, but he needs to be careful not to overpay. Jones absolutely deserves a payday for his stellar 2012 performance. However, let’s not forget that Jones has one year of elite production under his belt, so his track record remains unproven. That’s good news for Ireland because he can use that in contract talks. If Ireland can sign Jones to a team-friendly contract all because he convinces Jones and his agent that he only produced one great season, that’ll allow Ireland to sign a young, promising, and supremely talented player at a bargain price. Ireland needs to be careful not to commit big bucks to a player that may or may not be a one-year wonder. The longer Ireland waits, the more expensive Jones gets. Oakland’s Tyvon Branch signed a four-year, $26.6 million contract with $17.6 million in guarantees last offseason. A deal of that caliber would be a win for both sides. 

This past weekend in South Florida, the Dolphins celebrated Fins Weekend which included various activities, all for charity.  The events included a golf tournament, fishing tournament, and various banquet type soirees. This coming Monday, the Dolphins take the field for OTAs with a brand new 53 man roster and various undrafted free agents working to land a spot on the team. With so many fresh faces on the Dolphins team, it's no wonder that players on the Dolphins are using Fins Weekend as a team buidling event.

Last week the focus in media circles, centered on certain Dolphins playing fortune teller.  The week began with Brian Hartline setting the tone with talk of the Dolphins having the best receivers in the AFC East.  Hartline, as you remember re-signed with the Dolphins before free agency because of the potential of the Dolphins reeling in some big names the following week.   Later that week, Ryan Tannehill, first round pick in 2012, beamed about his work with Mike Wallace and how he can’t wait to get started and show what he can do with new offensive weapons.  Later in the week, Evan Silva of Roto World got into a tweet fight with angry Dolphin fans about his opinion of the Dolphins being that Jeff Ireland should have been fired after 4 losing seasons and no playoff appearances without Bill Parcells.  Let’s not remember who Evan Silva picked as a potential landing spot for Mike Wallace, Miami.

As the dust settled later in the week, one thing became clear in Miami: Ryan Tannehill must step up and be a leader.  Ireland, as smart as he is, removed the key vocal veterans from the locker room.  Karlos Dansby, Jake Long, Kevin Burnett, and Reggie Bush have signed with other teams.  It was Ireland who somewhat cleared the way for the young guns on the team to be the leaders for not only this year, but for years to come.  Why else would Ireland spend away Steve Ross’ money?

Enter quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who has the potential to lead in the huddle and in the locker room.  With past veterans not on this Dolphins team, Tannehill has to lead not only by example, but by action.  With expectations of the Dolphins rising faster than Steve Ross’ looming interest payments on loans used to purchase the team, Tannehill must be the calming presence in the huddle supporting two new receivers (Wallace and Gibson), a new right tackle (Tyson Clabo), a new tight end (Dustin Keller), and a new running back (newly drafted Mike Gillislee).