It is safe to say that the Miami Dolphins this year, are not very good. Then again, for a little while the Dolphins haven’t been good. Upper management decided enough was enough, and blew it up.

Old news here, the Dolphins traded away starting QB Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans, traded Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills for a king's ransom, shipped Minkah Fitzpatrick out as well, and from the outside let everyone that had at least a little bit of talent go.

But what if, and hear me out, what if it was for a good reason? What if it was to help bring back a winning tradition to a once proud franchise, and what if the Dolphins front office was playing a little sleight of hand on us all? Let’s explore!

This team has a ton of holes. The most glaring hole seems to be the quarterback position. What’s the answer? Who’s the answer? The most obvious answer is to obtain the number one overall pick, and select Tua Tagovailoa with it. He has all the makings of a franchise quarterback. Strong, accurate arm. Makes great decisions. Really seems to be in command of his offense at all times. It was reported yesterday, that Chris Grier was in Alabama yesterday to watch Tua play. This screams that the Dolphins will take him first overall. But what if that wasn’t the case? What if this is the sleight of hand?

The Dolphins own three first round picks this year. What if I told you that none of them would be spent on a quarterback? You’d think I’m crazy! But what if I wasn’t? Let’s take a look at the direction the Dolphins could be going right under our noses without us all even knowing.

In terms of pass rush here, this guy has it all. A dominant edge rusher with the ability to get to the QB. Taking a look back at his last 16 games played in college, he has 16.5 sacks in those 16 games. He will provide the pass rush we need to help solidify the defense. Christian Wilkins would benefit from this pick, as teams may try to double team Young, which could free him up to make big plays.

Taking a look at CBS sports top prospects for this coming draft, there are five offensive line prospects inside the top 30, and several more just on the outside. The Dolphins are in desperate need of offensive line help and taking a lineman here could be more than beneficial.

Before Miami selects a quarterback and makes an investment, they should solidify the insurance.

Talk about a shocker right? The Indianapolis Colts struggled in terms of offensive line for two years. In the draft before last season, the Colts selected two offensive lineman in the first round. All that did was bring them back into the top ten in the league in terms of the line. Miami uses this formula to help protect the quarterback. Being able to protect the quarterback leads to better offensive production.

Three first round picks, no quarterback selected. I know what you're thinking. Who’s going to play QB? The answer to that question is already on the roster.

QB Josh Rosen gets a second season to develop and prepare as the starter.

Some of you don’t believe that Rosen is the answer. It’s hard to ignore that he’s been victimized by two bad franchises, zero offensive line help, and a lot of dropped passes. Rosen, behind two first round picks on the line and some free agency retooling of the receiving corps, should blossom into the QB the Dolphins need. And if he doesn’t, then Miami has the draft capital to then go and select QB Trevor Lawrence out of Clemson. Some are considering him the second best QB prospect behind Tua Tagovailoa.

It’s going to be a long season folks, but there will be bright spots. There is a light at the end of this very long dark tunnel. His name just happens to be Young and not Tagovailoa.

This story was written by Dakota Gabel. Follow him on Twitter: @DakotasForrest

Making bets can be a dangerous game. Make the wrong one, and you could find yourself in serious debt. Make the right one, and you're instantly a rich person.

There are plenty of ways to learn how to determine what bets to make as a Miami Dolphins fan. But some individuals evidently have a much grander plan.

According to Darren Rovell, one bettor has placed a total sum of $3,400 on the Miami Dolphins not winning a single game all season long.

The Dolphins odds of going 0-16 have been set at +500, which equates to a 16.7% chance (as stated by SBD). Their best chances to pick up a win will be home games against the Redskins (Week 6), Jets (Week 9), and Bengals (Week 16).

But if those games were happening this weekend, the Miami would be sizable underdogs in each. The Jets starting QB, Sam Darnold, should be back from the mono diagnosis that is currently sidelining him. As a result, it's likely that Miami is more than a field-goal underdog in every game this season.

Nevertheless, making a bet like that belies a confidence that the Dolphins are simply so bad that there's no chance they could beat anyone in 2019. There's proof to support this, as Miami is on course to set a franchise worst in point differential. So far, they've been outscored 102-10 in the first two games, and there are no signs that will improve anytime soon.

"The thing is, I just try to keep a positive mindset through all of it." DT Christian Wilkins said on Wednesday. "The good, the bad, the ugly, I just feel like it is part of the process. Whether I have a good play, a bad play, a good game or a bad game, whether we win or we lose, it’s just all a part of the process. Just have that mindset that it’s just a part of being a pro now. I’m going to be exposed to different things I’ve never been exposed to, be a part of different things I’ve never been a part of. You just have to keep a mindset of you’re here to get better."

It's been tough on the players, hence the mass exodus of talent. Minkah Fitzpatrick, now traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a first round pick in 2020, made it clear he wanted to leave Miami. One could speculate it had more to do with the apparent intention to lose than his position, but it's his position that is on the record.

Will things get better in 2019? Unlikely. And GM Chris Grier seems unconcerned with the now, choosing to look at the big picture.

“We’ve talked about building this long-term with sustained success right away, and for us, we’ll be very aggressive." He said. "We’re not going to sit here on a bunch of money or anything. The plan is to build a winner here. No one likes losing. We’ve talked about building a team that’s going to win and compete for championships for a long time instead of being in this one year, and then you fall back for two or three. Again, it is a long-term vision, but we will be aggressive.”

​So the future, if all goes well, will be bright. But for now, that bettor seems to be on course for a huge payday. Then again, all it takes is one win for that all to be ruined. So make sure you use discernment and do research before taking that kind of a leap of faith.

“I’m such a baby ‘cause the Dolphins make me cry.”

Darius Rucker said it best and it’s never been more fitting. Being on the wrong side of 102-10 over the last two games - albeit against playoff teams. Normally there is a green shoot somewhere to latch on to but all I see is a Sahara wasteland with humidity.

From all the fans I know and talk to on the daily, many are upset but they are also doing their best to buy into the program. If it were anyone else other than a Belichick disciple I think it would be even tougher to take, but that’s all we really have right now, a singular vision of New England South!

That plan doesn’t always work out and I would even say most of the time it hasn’t worked. Even Josh McDaniels failed miserably in Denver but somehow in New England he’s a genius. Is it because he is under the wing of the greatest modern-day coach? Or is it because he has a selfless QB in Tom Brady who is all in on being the greatest spinner of the football for generations to come?

I’ll go with the latter and remind everyone that Brady has never broken the salary cap bank. He is smart with his body, mind and money. Tom Brady makes $15 million a year, not even enough to break the top half of paid quarterbacks. The Patriots plan is to pay above average and good players in mass and not typically set contract records. Tom Brady allows them to fill the roster with support. That just doesn’t happen and may never happen again.

But I digress, we don’t have to be Patriots South. But we do need a quarterback. Stephen Ross is a businessman. He doesn’t like losing money but with the Dolphins he is so desperate to bring a winner to town that he has given the keys to the franchise to his guys. You must understand that in Miami we have to be competitive to sell tickets. The strategy of years past has always been bring in a couple of overpaid free agents not to fill holes but rather sell tickets.

Taking this approach is a losing one. Revenue is somewhere in the $400 million-dollar range. Ross has essentially written a $200-$300 million-dollar check to get this thing right over the next couple of years. What fans are buying jersey’s right now? Season Tickets? Parking Passes? For that matter, how excited are South Florida transplants to come to the games?

Stephen Ross deserves all the credit in the world for throwing the kitchen sink at getting this thing right!

There are few owners with the resources of our owner and many that do aren’t willing to go to this extreme to bring the Lombardi home to a franchise with lots of rich history. We host all the Super Bowls; it’s been a very long time since we had one and Ross for damn sure is trying. You can bitch and moan about the process and micromanage the decisions as expert Monday morning quarterbacks but none of us have real world capital on the line.

To be honest, we might as well say the Miami Dolphins are living under the curse of Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan. We literally drafted a RB with an average career of 2.57 years and a Left Tackle that never even made it to his second contract. Parcells once said he didn’t want to give top overall pick money to a quarterback. Think about how dumb that sounds now? Saved $10-$20 million on a draft pick so that we spend hundreds of millions on multiple team rebuilds?

Let that sink in for a minute.

Mike Shanahan proved that you can get a running back anywhere, yet the Miami Dolphins took a prototype that wasn’t even the main starter in college. Oh, wait we did that with Drake too. At least he wasn’t the second pick overall. But back then the fan base was thrilled! That excitement didn’t age well.

At this point, I want to give every young guy on the roster a chance to be veterans on this team in a few years. We have a few pieces to build around and the year should be considered preseason from here on out. Josh Rosen, Preston Williams, DeVante Parker and Mike Gesicki, should all be lined up on offense. Sign some other teams practice squad guys, take a shot on some Offensive Lineman that are way down on the depth chart on teams that are loaded. Don’t buy any jersey’s this year, wait till next. We will have our franchise quarterback soon. Just survive and put your knives away. Trust the process.

Cam Cameron said it best, “Fail forward fast!”

This story was written by Steven Paulsen. Follow him on Twitter: @SarcasticPhin

Coming from New England and introducing the new TNT Wall players had to run to when they made a mistake, many people thought this would be the most disciplined football team Miami has had for a while. That was not the case. Throughout the whole game, many fans say the only bright spot was Preston Williams getting his first touchdown catch. Fans and the media roasted the Dolphins secondary and the offensive and defensive lines, as they were by far the worst three position groups.

After the abysmal Ravens game, not only did some players want out, but some players were unhappy with the coaching staff as well. Players feel like the coaching staff is not good at adjusting mid-game and putting players in the wrong position to be successful.

Two players that played below expectations on Sunday were Bobby McCain and Minkah Fitzpatrick. Both players are now playing safety when they both played corner last year. McCain was considered one of the top slot corners in the league while Fitzpatrick was saw as a top young corner. Now both players are adjusting to a new system and position while their previous position (cornerback) is considered one of the worst position groups on the team, outside of Xavien Howard.

The Dolphins now have a locker room full of players who: do not believe in the coaching staff already, are mad the team is not serious about winning for future success, tired of playing out of position, and most importantly, are not having fun. After taking a look back at everything can you blame for the players for getting mad, or for requesting a trade?

This story was written by Tanner Elliott. Follow him on Twitter: @Elliott302Tj​

1. I was looking forward to seeing Lamar Jackson have to pass the ball this game. Unfortunately there was little reason for him to have to do it early. The Dolphins run defense was extremely poor to start. The defensive linemen couldn’t keep the blockers off of the linebackers and they were not free to move to the ball. This is essential to the success of the Dolphins defense.

2. I was, perhaps, most disappointed with the defense up the middle which, coming out of the preseason, I had as a Dolphins strength. Needless to say, they have some roster building to do here.

3. Once the Dolphins started to concentrate on stopping the run, it opened up the passing game for Jackson. And he did not disappoint his defenders. He had a great game passing the football. He dropped some beautiful deep passes for touchdowns this game. A mobile quarterback who can really throw an accurate ball could change the game. Looking forward to watching him against a better defense.

4. Dolphins pass coverage was really poor. They gave up a deep ball in the first half rushing 3 men with the other 8 in coverage. And yet, the Baltimore receiver still go behind the defense. Everyone not named “Howard” was culpable. Jomal Wiltz, Eric Rowe, Walt Aikens, Bobby McCain. All had poor fundamentals in coverage at some point. This has to be cleaned up.

5. I’ll give this much to the Dolphins defense. They didn’t give up. They were still fighting for pride in the 3rd and 4th quarters despite the blowout. That’s encouraging.

1. Baltimore came out putting pressure on a suspect Dolphins offensive line. It was obvious that the plan was to hit Ryan Fitzpatrick as often as possible. No quarterback likes to be hit but the older quarterbacks really, really don’t like it and they tend to get gun shy. To a certain extent this strategy worked. Fitzpatrick’s interception in the first quarter came with no one really in the vicinity.

2. Having said that, Fitzpatrick didn’t really fall apart under pressure. once the Ravens built a big lead and backed off just a bit late in the second quarter, he was given more room to work and he took advantage. He was reasonably accurate under those conditions and the Dolphins started to move the ball just a bit.

3. I thought it was interesting that the Dolphins thought they could beat the Ravens defense by attacking the edges. They came out with some passes to the outside to Kalen Ballage and to Albert Wilson on the wide receiver screen. Baltimore quickly adjusted and shut it down. But I think it's an indication that the Dolphins, at least, think they might have a bit more speed to the outside than people think.

​4. If you are going to have Albert Wilson in the wildcat, could you at least be more creative than a run right up the middle?

5. Kudos to DeVante Parker with a nice catch in the second quarter. The Dolphins need him to make more of those - indeed, have needed him to make more of those for years now.

1. Special teams were poor, Jakeem Grant had a flashback to the stone hands he had his rookie year as he fumbled away a punt return deep in Dolphin territory. A Ravens fake punt gave them the ball on the Ravens ten yard line. They converted that into a touchdown.

2. Preston Williams had an awful drop in the endzone that cost the Dolphins four points as they settled for a field goal. Allen Hurns had a big drop in the second quarter. That needs to be cleaned up.

3. Other than Grant's bobbled punt, we also had the Fitzpatrick interception. Baltimore had no turnovers. Poor start with Josh Rosen as he threw an interception on his first set of downs as a Dolphin. Marlon Humphrey made a good play on the ball.

4. What is the deal with the defensive holding calls on the Dolphins? Time after time these penalties killed them this game. Again, that needs to be cleaned up.

5. I understand that the Dolphins are out-manned on the field and I’m willing to cut them some slack because of that. But there is no excuse, no matter what the talent level, for poor fundamentals. Poor tackling, penalties, turnovers, poor technique in coverage. These things go beyond talent. The one thing that Dolphins fans have to look forward to is seeing the improvement in the play of their young players. And there’s a lot here to improve on.

This story was written by Tom Shannon. Follow him on Twitter: @bearingthenews