26-year old Anthony Fasano will be the starter at TE for the Dolphins this season.  He played in 14 games (all starts) for the Fins last season in which he caught 31 passes for 339 yards (10.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Fasano has now played in 62 games (40 starts) in his four years in the NFL and he has caught 93 passes for 1,062 yards (11.4 avg) with 10 TD grabs.  Look for Chad Henne to look for Fasano a lot when other options break down.

25-year old Joey Haynos will likely be the #2 TE for the Dolphins in 2010.  He played in 16 games (8 starts) for the Dolphins last season and he caught 19 passes for 162 yards (8.5 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Haynos has now played in 23 games (8 starts) in his first two years in the NFL and he has caught 21 passes for 184 yards (8.8 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  He has good hands but don’t expect any long runs after the catch out of Haynos.

25-year old Kory Sperry is #3 on the depth chart at TE.  Sperry played in 8 games (1 start) last season for the Fins and he caught 3 passes for 31 yards (10.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  That was his first taste of the NFL.  2nd year TE John Nalbone out of Monmouth will likely have a hard time making the team as he hasn’t done anything in the NFL yet.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE DOLPHINS TEs in 2010:  C

28-year old Lousaka Polite is one of the better fullbacks in the NBA.  He is a battering ram as a blocker and he is a good short yardage runner.  Polite played in 16 games (9 starts) for the Dolphins last season and he carried the ball 37 times for 123 yards (3.3 ypc).  He also caught 11 passes for 51 yards (4.6 avg) last season.  He has now played in 59 games (17 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 69 times for 234 yards (3.4 ypc).  Polite has also caught 29 passes for 172 yards (5.9 avg) with 1 TD grab in his career.  The Dolphins will continue to run the ball well with Polite acting like an extra lineman in the backfield.  They will also throw him a bone and give him a couple of touches per game as a reward for his blocking.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE DOLPHINS FBs in 2010:  A

28-year old Ronnie Brown and 33-year old Ricky Williams will likely again form one of the best RB tandems in the NFL once again in 2010.  Brown will likely have the lead role for the Dolphins if he can just stay healthy in 2010.  Brown played in 9 games (all starts) for the Dolphins last season in which he carried the ball 147 times for 648 yards (4.4 ypc) with 8 TD runs plus he also caught 14 passes for 98 yards.  Brown also was the QB a lot of the time when the Fins went into the Wildcat.  He completed 2 of 6 passes (33.3%) for 22 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (84.7 QB Rating) last season for the Fins.  Brown has now played in 60 games (55 starts) in his five years in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 928 times for 4,081 yards (4.4 ypc) with 31 TD runs.  Brown has also caught 151 passes for 1,249 yards (8.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs in his career.  He has also completed 4 of 10 passes (40%) for 63 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs (101.2 QB Rating) in his career.  Brown is a solid all around back but the Dolphins need to get a full 16 game season out of him in 2010.

33-year old Ricky Williams really stepped up last season after the injury to Ronnie Brown.  He played in all 16 games (7 starts) for the Dolphins last season and he carried the ball 241 times for 1,121 yards (4.7 ypc) with 11 TD runs.  Williams also caught 35 passes for 264 yards (7.5 avg) with 2 TD grabs last season.  He has now played in 115 games (84 starts) in his nine years in the NFL and he has carried the ball 2,164 times for 8,892 yards (4.1 ypc) with 62 TD carries.  Williams has also caught 310 passes for 2,382 yards (7.7 avg) with 7 TD grabs in his career.  I’m thinking that Williams will want to end his career with a bang as he is talking of retiring at the end of the 2010 season.  He proved last season that he can still be the main man when needed giving the Dolphins great depth at RB.

27-year old Patrick Cobbs will likely be the Dolphins’ #3 RB in 2010 if he can stay healthy.  He played in 5 games for the Dolphins last season in which he carried the ball 6 times for 36 yards (6.0 avg) and he also caught 3 passes for 23 yards (7.7 avg).  Cobbs also helped out some on special teams for the Fins last season as he returned 16 kickoffs for 361 yards (22.6 avg).  Cobbs has now played in 48 games (2 starts) in his 4 years in the NFL in which he has carried the ball 33 times for 171 yards (5.2 ypc) with 2 TD carries.  Cobbs has also been an effective receiver in his career out of the backfield as he has caught 24 passes for 318 yards (13.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Cobbs also has returned 29 kickoffs for 594 yards (20.5 avg) in his NFL career.  Cobbs is a solid #3 RB for the Fins.

25-year old Lex Hilliard will battle Cobbs for the #3 RB gig on the Fins for 2010.  He played in all 16 games (0 starts) for the Dolphins last season and he carried the ball 23 times for 89 yards (3.9 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Hilliard also caught 20 passes for 158 yards (7.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs in his rookie year in the NFL.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE DOLPHINS’ RBs in 2010:  A

The Dolphins have released 29-year old linebacker Reggie Torbor.  Torbor played in all 16 games for the Fins last season and he had 37 tackles, 1 sack, 3 tackles for a loss, he defensed 4 passes and he had 1 interception.  Torbor played in 32 games in his two years with the Dolphins in which he had 54 tackles, defensed 4 passes, he had 1.5 sacks and he had 1 interception.  Torbor will likely hook on with another team for 2010 but the Dolphins likely won’t miss him much as they appear to have a lot of depth at linebacker.

The Dolphins have signed 27-year old G/C Cory Procter.  Procter played under coach Sparano with the Dallas Cowboys so the Fins got a player that he likes.  Procter is 6′4″, 311 pounds and he can handle either guard or center.  He played in 12 games (0 starts) for the Cowboys last season.  He has played in 44 games (13 starts) in his eight years in the NFL.  I like this signing for the Dolphins as Procter should give them solid depth at the interior positions.