With the acquisition of veteran Trent Green the Dolphins appear to be in good shape heading into the 2007 season at QB.  Green only played in 8 games last season for the Chiefs due to a nasty concussion he suffered in the first week of the season.  He appeared to be a little off all of last season but the off season rest might recharge the batteries a little bit for the old vet.

Cleo Lemon and rookie John Beck will battle for the backup job.  Lemon would appear to have an advantage based on how he played at the end of last season for the Dolphins.  Lemon played in 4 games (1 start) for the Dolphins last season and he completed 38 for 68 passes (55.9%) for 412 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception (77.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 3 times for 7 yards (2.3 ypc).

John Beck was the 2nd round pick for the Dolphins in this year’s draft.  Beck comes from BYU and he was a good college QB.  He also is a little old for a rookie at 25, so the clock is ticking early on his NFL career.

The Dolphins probably drafted Wright with the idea of converting him to outside linebacker.  Wright was a good defensive end in college at Colorado but he’s too small at 6′2″, 234 pounds to play there in the pros.  Wright has the speed to handle the shift as he runs a 4.66 40 but it’s questionable as to how he will play in space.  He also has never had to cover a running back or tight end on a pass play and that could be a problem.  At Colorado, Wright played in 36 games (26 starts) and he made 107 tackles, had 28 tackles for a loss, 21 sacks, forced 3 fumbles and broke up 8 passes.  Wright is a project on defense but he should be able to help the Dolphins on special teams.

The Dolphins might have drafted themselves a good punter.  They expect Fields to win the starting job as a rookie.  Fields is a big guy at 6′5″, 236 pounds and he’s fast enough (4.81 40) to get down the field and make a tackle if he has to.  Fields had a solid senior year and that’s what caught the Dolphins eye.  He punted the ball 57 times for 2,469 yards (43.3 avg) as a senior at Michigan State.  Fields punt team downed 16 of Fields’ kicks inside the 20 yard line and only 23 of his punts were returned at all.

Kelvin Smith was a good player in college but he doesn’t project well into the NFL.  He has nice size at 6′2″, 240 pounds but he only runs a 4.82 which is a tad slow.  Smith can make all of the plays between the tackles as he’s strong at the point of attack, but he struggles in coverage or when trying to make a play towards the sideline because of his poor speed.  He also might be too slow to help out much on special teams.  Smith played in 47 games (46 starts) at Syracuse and he made 316 tackles, 21.5 tackles for a loss, had 5.5 sacks, forced 2 fumbles, recovered 2 fumbles and broke up 3 passes. 

Drew Mormino was a good pick for the Dolphins as he will provide depth on the interior of the O-Line as he can play both center and guard.  Mormino is a good pass blocker but he usually needs help blocking as he can be overpowered in one on one situations and sometimes he has trouble with fast interior linemen.  Mormino projects to be a solid backup at the pro level but he will need to develop a bit of a mean streak if he’s ever going to be a starter in the NFL.  Mormino is 6′2″, 300 pounds and he has the frame to take on a few more pounds without losing his quickness.  Mormino started in all 42 of the games he played in at Central Michigan.