22-year old undrafted rookie WR Marlon Moore out of Fresno State appears to have won the #4 WR job for the Dolphins.  He will be behind Brandon Marshall, Brian Hartline and Davone Bess so he likely won’t get much P.T. unless one of those guys gets hurt.  He has caught 5 passes for 74 yards (14.8 avg) and he has carried the ball 2 times for 13 yards (6.5 ypc) this pre-season for the Fins.  Moore’s making of the team continues to prove that hard work and determination can help you beat the odds.

The Dolphins’ offense looked like it was running in quicksand last night against the Falcons.  Chad Henne didn’t look too good at all as he completed 10 of 22 passes for 123 yards with 1 INT.  Chad Pennington was also so-so as he completed 7 of 14 passes for 62 yards.  He also had 1 carry for 9 yards for the Fins.  Pat White looked o.k. in completing 4 of 4 passes for 27 yards.  Ronnie Brown didn’t look too sharp last night with 9 yards rushing on 8 carries (1.1 ypc) but he did catch one pass for 19 yards.  Ricky Williams carried the ball 4 times for 5 yards (1.3 ypc) but he also caught 5 passes for 43 yards (8.6 avg).  Brandon Marshall (3 rec, 51 yards) and Brian Hartline (3 rec, 52 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Dolphins last night.  The Dolphins finished up with 46 yards rushing (2.6 ypc) and 195 yards passing last night as they only had the ball for 26:52.

The defense was led by cornerback Vontae Davis who had 7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he defensed 3 passes.  The defense played well for the Fins last night holding the Falcons to 102 yards rushing (2.8 ypc) and 159 yards passing despite being on the field for 33:08.  The Dolphins fall to 2-1 on the pre-season.

The Dolphins have acquired 29-year old cornerback Benny Sapp from the Vikings for 28-year old WR Greg Camarillo.  Sapp played in all 16 games for the Vikings last season and he had 43 tackles, he defensed 6 passes and he forced 2 fumbles.  Sapp has now played in 86 games in his six years in the NFL and he has 168 tackles, 22 passes defensed, 2.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and he has 4 INTs.  Sapp will provide depth in the secondary and help out on special teams.  Greg Camarillo played in 16 games (all starts) for the Fins last season in which he caught 50 passes for 552 yards (11.0 avg).  He played three seasons for the Fins appearing in 42 games (27 starts) in which he caught 113 passes for 1,325 yards (11.7 ypc) with 4 TD grabs.  Camarillo had slid to #4 on the depth chart at WR so the Dolphins won’t likely miss him too much unless the guys that were ahead of him get injured.

The Dolphins looked pretty decent offensively on Saturday Night but they have some work to do with the pass D.  Chad Henne was outstanding for the Fins on Saturday Night.  He completed 11 of 14 passes for 151 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Chad Pennington made a brief appearance and he looked sharp completing 3 of 4 passes for 54 yards with 1 TD pass.  He also had 1 carry for 13 yards in this game.  Tyler Thigpen was also good once again as he completed 8 of 12 passes for 76 yards.  Lex Hilliard led the way on the ground for the Dolphins in this game with 18 yards rushing on 4 carries (4.5 ypc).  Patrick Cobbs didn’t have his best game as he finished up with 16 yards rushing on 9 carries (1.8 ypc).  Ronnie Brown carried the ball 4 times for only 5 yards (1.3 ypc) but he also added 2 catches for 19 yards (9.5 avg) with a TD grab.  TE Anthony Fasano was the star of the game in the passing game with 2 grabs for 66 yards (33.0 avg) and they each went for TDs.  WR Brandon Marshall pitched in with 4 receptions for 65 yards (16.3 avg) in this game.  The Dolphins finished up with 79 yards rushing (2.8 ypc) and 262 yards passing in this game.

Defensively the Fins were led by S Nate Ness (5 tackles), rookie 5th round pick (S) Reshad Jones (5 tackles) and LB J.D. Folsom (5 tackles).  The Jaguars finished up with 54 yards rushing (2.8 ypc) and 221 yards passing in this game.

The Dolphins have signed 34-year old guard Randy Thomas.  Thomas played in 2 games for the Redskins last season and he started both of them.  He has now played in 143 games (all starts) in his 11 years in the NFL.  The Dolphins needed some depth when Nate Garner went down and Thomas is more than capable of filling in while he is out of action.

UPDATE:  (8/25/2010) – The Dolphins have released Thomas.

The Dolphins will be without backup guard Nate Garner for at least the next 8 weeks due to surgery on his left foot.  He played in 16 games (8 starts) for the Fins last season.  The 25-year old, 6’7″, 325 pound Garner is important to the Dolphins’ offensive line so they hope he will be ready to return in 8 weeks.

UPDATE:  (8/31/2010) – The Dolphins have placed Nate Garner on I.R. ending his season.

The Dolphins must really like what they have seen out of 25-year old DE Ikaika Alama-Francis in practice as they have extended his contract through 2011 even though he didn’t play a down for the Fins in 2009.  Alama-Francis has played in 19 games (2 starts) in 2007 + 2008 with the Lions in which he had 35 tackles, 1 sack and he defensed 1 pass.

The Dolphins didn’t look too good Saturday night on offense.  Chad Henne started the game and he didn’t look too good completing 5 of 11 passes for 19 yards.  Tyler Thigpen finished up the game by completing 10 of 19 passes for 145 yards.  Ronnie Brown led the way on the ground for the Fins in this game with 20 yards rushing on 5 carries (4.0 ypc).  Lex Hilliard pitched in with 19 yards rushing on 8 carries (2.4 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 2 passes for 18 yards (9.0 avg) on Saturday night.  WRs Patrick Turner (2 rec, 44 yards) and rookie Marlon Moore out of Fresno (2 rec, 44 yards) led the way for the Fins in the passing game.  The Dolphins rushed for only 50 yards (2.4 ypc) and passed for 156 yards on Saturday.

Rookies Rashad Jones (5 tackles) and Austin Splitter (4 tackles) both had solid games for the Fins.  Safety Nate Ness also had a good game with 4 tackles and 3 passes defensed.  The Dolphins finished up with 139 yards rushing (4.2 ypc) and 170 yards passing on Saturday night.

27-year old RB Patrick Cobbs will likely get his old job back returning kickoffs with Ted Ginn out of town.  Cobbs played in 5 games for the Dolphins last season and he returned 16 kickoffs for 361 yards (22.6 avg).  He has now played in 38 games in his three years with the Fins and he has returned 29 kickoffs for 594 yards (20.5 avg).  Cobbs gets the ball and runs straight up the field like a true RB would.  Don’t expect a lot of big returns out of Cobbs but he will be moving forward whenever he is hit.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR DOLPHINS KICKOFF RETURNERS in 2010:  C-

Opposing teams knew the Dolphins were going to run the ball but they couldn’t stop them because of their O-Line.  LT Jake Long is the anchor of the O-Line.  He is good at protecting the back of the QB and he’s also a very solid run blocker.  Donald Thomas and Nate Garner will likely duke it out for the starting job at RG and they are both solid players.  Center Jake Grove is a tone setter in the middle of the field for the Dolphins as he is a outstanding run blocker.  Rookie 3rd round pick John Jerry out of Mississippi will battle veteran Richie Incognito for the starting job at RG.  Incognito is a nasty ballplayer and he’s one of my personal favorites.  RT will belong to Vernon Carey who is a great athlete for a man his size.  He’s good at both run and pass blocking.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE DOLPHINS O-LINE in 2010:  B+