It aint easy being brilliant...

If I had one single word to describe the Miami Dolphins off season it would be….

WOW.

And believe me when I say that I do NOT mean that in a good way.

The Dolphins:

• Passed on head coach Jeff Fisher because they didn’t want to give him complete control. Fisher ended up in St. Louis.
• Traded pro bowl WR Brandon Marshall to the Chicago Bears
• Didn’t do enough to convince Peyton Manning to sign
• Passed on QB Matt Flynn, allowing him to sign with Seattle despite having his former offensive coordinator in Green Bay, Joe Philbin as their new head coach
• Signed David Garrard (you heard me)
• They signed only ONE outside free agent, Richard Marshall, to more than a one year deal
• Signed Les Brown, a former accountant and BASKETBALL player to be their new tight end
• The Dolphins sign Chad Johnson
• The Dolphins release Chad Johnson
• The Dolphins release David Garrard

Quite frankly, I can’t remember the last time an NFL team had that bad of an off season.

The Dolphins started out 0-7 last season, and many believed they would battle it out with the Indianapolis Colts for top spot in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. That ultimately didn’t happen as the Dolphins won their next 3, and 6 of their final 9 to finish 6-10.

The Dolphins were bad passing the ball (23rd in passing yards per game), good running the ball (11th in rush yards per game), awful defending the pass (25th in opp. pass yards per game), and stellar defending the run (3rd in opp. rush yards per game). In other words, bad on both sides passing, and good on both sides rushing. Reggie Bush actually exceeded expectations in 2011, and ran for over a 1,000 yards.

Looking ahead to this season, I can’t think of a single thing the Dolphins did to improve their team with the exception of hiring Joe Philbin, who resided over a stellar Green Bay Packer offense as offensive coordinator as their head coach. But the Packers had Aaron Rodgers as their starting QB. The Dolphins are handing the rock to rookie lottery pick Ryan Tannehill on opening day. Some think he could be as good as Andrew Luck, most don’t. What concerns me is not so much the unknown that rookie QB Ryan Tannehill will bring to the table as the fact that Tannehill sincerely has nobody to throw it to. Not a single eligible reciever on the Dolphins current roster had more than 570 yards receiving last season. The Dolphins traded Brandon Marshall, remember?

At least the schedule is in the Dolphins’ favor. They only play 5 playoff teams from a year ago ALL season. With Philbin calling the plays, I believe the Dolphins stellar ground game from a year ago will suffer a little. New head coach Joe Philbin is clearly a pass first kind of guy. I’ll go ahead and put ahead to any potential drama this year and tell you that the Dolphins don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell at making it into the playoffs. It’s a hard knock’s life….

PREDICTION: 5-11, last in the AFC East