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+

The Dolphins have re-signed 31-year old TE David Martin.  He missed all of last season due to injury.  Martin has played in 31 games (22 starts) in his two years with the Dolphins and he has caught 65 passes for 753 yards (11.6 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  He has now played in 101 games (43 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 152 passes for 1,519 yards (10.0 avg) with 14 TD grabs.  The Dolphins must have wanted Martin to help out in the passing game and it will be interesting to see if he’s healthy.

48-year old Tony Sparano was very disappointed in the Dolphins’ 7-9 record in 2009.  But the Dolphins had reasons for the record as they suffered a lot of injuries to key players like Ronnie Brown and Chad Pennington.  That forced Sparano to depend on Chad Henne and Ricky Williams who both played pretty well.  Sparano thinks that Henne will improve due to being thrown in the fire last year.  Sparano has a 18-14 (56.3%) record in his two years as the head coach of the Dolphins and he’s 0-1 in the playoffs.  Don’t be surprised if the Dolphins are a lot better in 2010 than people think.

24-year old kicker Dan Carpenter made it to the Pro Bowl in only his second year in the league in 2009.  Carpenter played in 16 games for the Fins last season and he connected on 25 of 28 field goal attempts (89.3%).  He also hit 37 of 38 extra points to finish with 112 points.  Carpenter has now played in 32 games in his NFL career and he has made 46 of 53 field goals (86.8%).  He has also connected on 77 of 78 extra points in his career giving him 215 points for the Dolphins.  The Dolphins don’t have to get to close to put points on the board due to Dan Carpenter’s strong leg.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE DOLPHINS KICKERS in 2010:  A