 Nick Buoniconti, who played for the Boston Patriots and the Miami Dolphins, and a leader of the Perfect Season’s defense in 1972, has passed away at the age of 78, confirmed by the Miami Dolphins organization Wednesday morning.
“Today, with a heavy heart and profound sorrow, my family and the entire Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and Buoniconti Fund community mourn the loss of a man who was truly larger than life, my father, NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti,” Marc Buoniconti, Nick's son, said in a statement. Buoniconti played for the Dolphins from 1969-1974, along with 1976. Buoniconti was the ultimate leader of Miami’s famous “No-Name Defense” and in 1973, he set a team record with 162 tackles. Buoniconti died late Tuesday night and a cause is unknown as of right now. Born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, Buoniconti played collegiate football at Notre Dame. Buoniconti was a two-time Super Bowl Champion, two-time Pro Bowler and was elected into the Miami Dolphins Honor Roll in 1991. This story was written by Brandon Liguori. Follow him on Twitter: @BrandonRLiguori
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 Prior to the opening of day two of training camp in Davie, the Miami Dolphins signed Allen Hurns, a former Jacksonville Jaguar and Dallas Cowboy wideout, to a one-year, $3 million dollar deal, according to league sources.
Hurns, who played high school football at Miami Carol City and collegiate football at the University of Miami, was released earlier this week by the Dallas Cowboys, six months after suffering a gruesome ankle injury during Dallas’ 24-22 NFC Wild Card victory versus Seattle. Hurns joins a speedy wide receiver unit, paced by DeVante Parker, Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant, who endured season-ending injuries in 2018 and are on the road to full recovery, and Kenny Stills. During Hurns’ four seasons in Jacksonville, the Miami native totaled 2,669 yards on 189 receptions, punching in 21 touchdowns. In his lone season as a Cowboy, Hurns started seven of sixteen games, scoring two touchdowns. Hurns, wearing a #86 jersey, joined the team early Friday morning, stretching and performing numerous drills with the wide receivers. This story was written by Brandon Liguori. Follow him on Twitter: @BrandonRLiguori  Having a solid offensive line in the National Football League is extremely crucial for a running back to create explosive plays. As the Miami Dolphins prepare to open training camp doors this upcoming Thursday, all eyes will be on Kenyan Drake, who will enter his fourth season at the professional level.
A former Alabama product, Drake rushed for 535 yards on 120 carries in 2018, consistently flipping and flopping with veteran Frank Gore, who signed with the Buffalo Bills on March 13, signing a one-year, $2 million dollar deal. Currently, the Dolphins hold seven running backs on the active roster: Mark Walton, a former University of Miami back, Kalen Ballage, entering his second year with Miami, Kenneth Farrow, Myles Gaskin, a 2019 seventh-round selection, Chandler Cox, also a 2019 seventh-round choice, Patrick Laird, and Drake. Losing Gore ultimately shrinks depth at the running back position, but Drake is well-prepared to soon take over everyday running back duties. “He’s athletic, he’s explosive, he’s fast. He’s a good route runner." Head coach Brian Flores said during a June 5 press conference. "He does a lot of good things.” The football world became very familiar with Drake this past December, after Drake received a lateral pass from WR DeVante Parker and raced 52 yards for a game-winning touchdown versus the New England Patriots with time expiring, in a contest that was later known as “The Miami Miracle.” Drake also shined under the bright lights in 2017 versus the Patriots, totaling 114 rushing yards on 25 carries. The NFL experts see it every so often, whereas the Miami coaching staff sees the potential of Drake on a day-to-day basis. The Dolphins, as a whole in 2018, scored seven touchdowns on the ground, four at the hands of Drake. Now working with a new head coach and offensive coordinator, in Chad O’Shea, Drake hopes to form into the Dolphins’ next Mercury Morris. This story was written by Brandon Liguori. Follow him on Twitter: @BrandonRLiguori  Take a deep breath in through your nose. Can you smell it? The freshly mowed grass, the newly drawn field lines, the helmets and pads of men tackling and colliding with each other. Football season is here, so you better buckle up, clear your calendar until January, schedule your fantasy football drafts, and get ready for some Miami Dolphins football! Who can forget that the last we saw the Miami Dolphins playing a meaningful football game, they were a few games out of the AFC Wild Card playoff spot (again). The season seemed very promising with a 3-0 start, which was the teams best start since 2013, and the appearance that luck was finally on the side of the Fins began to show. However, the wheels fell off midseason, and the team could not recover, ending the 2018 season with three straight losses to close out the season with a 7-9 record. The losing record, lack of team discipline, and many other factors meant sweeping changes were on the horizon for the Dolphins organization, both on and off the field. Not many coaches and executives were retained during the offseason and many veteran players were to be released. The proverbial “team reset” was necessary. The offseason saw the likes of many fan favorites and familiar faces be purged from the team roster and coaching staff including Cam Wake, Frank Gore, Ja’Wuan James, Ryan Tannehill, and Coach Darren Rizzi. Although they each had specific talents and qualities, the new coaching regime stuck to the plan of not retaining many veterans and pinching their free agent pennies. The new Miami Dolphins regime, led by Chris Grier and Brian Flores, took an offseason approach with the team that had not been seen in a long while. Besides purging many veteran players, and replacing the majority of the coaching staff, the team focused on bringing in young, unknown and inexpensive players while planning for the upcoming years ahead by accumulating extra draft picks (12 for next seasons draft) and saving future capital ($120 million in Cap space next season). The 2019 draft appears to have been a success, with the pickup of important pieces to fill the needs that were left behind by the purged player openings. In addition, the value that the team found with the pickup of Josh Rosen, a Top 10 pick in the prior year’s draft, for what ultimately turned out to be a fifth round draft pick in 2020, could be a sign that the ship may be turning in the right direction for the team’s front office. Obviously, a true assessment of this season’s draft won’t be made until the end of the 2019 season and future seasons. So, with Dolphins Training Camp opening on July 25th and the team’s first preseason game a few weeks later on August 8th, what can Miami Dolphins fans expect? If you have read the national media’s take on the team, the expectation is somewhere between zero wins and 4 wins. However, the National media tends to not pay much attention to the Dolphins. They just know that the team has a new font office and coaching staff and an overhauled team, and therefore the team shouldn’t win many games. However, just look to the North and the 2017 Buffalo Bills. Our AFC East nemesis overhauled their coaching staff that preseason, and purged many veteran players, similar to this season’s Miami Dolphins, and, although the expectations were for the Bills to win six games, the 2017 Bills team went on to win nine games and make it to the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. Many Dolphins fans believe too much of what they read and think this upcoming season will be a flop (and a few still believe that the team will be tanking .. HA). However, the majority of fans think that this season will be one of the most exciting seasons to watch in a long time. Some fans say it’s because of all of the fresh faces on the field and along the sidelines. Some fans say it’s because the team finally pulled the trigger on a full reset. Other fans say its because they like the new players that joined and are pleased with some of the players/coaches that left. The 2019 Miami Dolphins are going to be an exciting team to watch this season because fans just don’t know what to expect. They just know it’s going to be new and different, which is something this team, and this town needs. Take a whiff. That’s the smell of the new Miami Dolphins running out of the tunnels of Davie training camp and Hard Rock Stadium. And that’s the smell of optimism for a great football season! Can you smell it? Football is here! See you at Camp! This article was written by Ian Berger. Follow him on Twitter: @ian693 
In 88 career games under center, Ryan Tannehill compiled a total record of 42-46, failing to lead Miami to a postseason berth during his seven-year stay.
Injuries and inconsistency ultimately doomed Tannehill. The Dolphins moved on from Tannehill, dealing the former first-round selection to the Tennessee Titans in March. As a result, Miami attacked the free agency market, grabbing journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick and signing the former Harvard man to a two-year, $11M deal in March.
It seemed as if Fitzpatrick would be the leader of Miami’s new offense in 2019, but during the second-round of the NFL Draft in April, the Dolphins created a huge splash, acquiring former first-round pick and UCLA product, Josh Rosen, from the Arizona Cardinals. When the Dolphins open training camp doors July 25, Fitzpatrick and Rosen will spend approximately three-four weeks battling for the starting quarterback position. Fitzpatrick has the experience over Rosen, spending four years with Buffalo, two with Cincinnati, two with the New York Jets, two with then-named St. Louis, two with Tampa Bay, one with Houston and one with Tennessee. Rosen, in his lone professional season in Arizona, underperformed, but all hope still remains on Rosen, who showed his talents and capabilities at UCLA. Depending on who wins the competition, the landscape of the 2019 season could change drastically, watching these two go at it in camp and preseason should be the most exciting position battles in recent Dolphins history. This story was written by Brandon Liguori. Follow him on Twitter: @BrandonRLiguori 
Dolphins defensive tackle, Kendrick Norton, a former Miami Hurricane standout, sustained a horrifying and career-ending car accident early Thursday morning at about 1:18 A.M., leading to the amputation of his left arm, a number of league sources confirmed.
Norton's agent later confirmed the news on social media.
Per the Florida Highway Patrol's incident report, Norton was driving a 2017 Ford F-250 at approximately 1:18 a.m., heading westbound on SR 836. Moments later, Norton’s vehicle collided with a concrete barrier wall, resulting in the vehicle to flip over. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue was able to transport Norton to Ryder Trauma Center, where he has since recovered to a stable condition, though it's clear that his career in the NFL has tragically come to an end before it really had a chance to begin. Selected in the seventh round by the Carolina Panthers in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Dolphins signed Norton off Carolina’s practice squad on December 19, 2018. Slated to compete for a 53-man roster spot, Norton finished his collegiate days as a Hurricane with 84 total tackles, including 18.0 for loss and 5.0 sacks. This story was written by Brandon Liguori. Follow him on Twitter: @BrandonRLiguori |
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