In the four years between Hall of Famers Bob Griese and Dan Marino, David Woodley was the Dolphins’ starting QB.  He played in 42 games (40 starts) in his four years with the Dolphins and he completed 508 of 961 passes (52.9%) for 5,928 yards with 34 TD passes and 42 INTs (65.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 173 times for 771 yards (4.5 ypc) with 9 TD runs in his time with the Dolphins.  Woodley was a rock solid 27-12-1 (69.2%) as a starting QB for the Dolphins during the regular season.  Woodley played in 5 games (all starts) in the post-season for the Dolphins and he completed 48 of 81 passes (59.3%) for 645 yards with 5 TD passes and 6 INTs (74.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 17 times for 102 yards (6.0 ypc) with 1 TD run in the post-season.  Woodley played horrible in the Super Bowl on 1/30/1983, when the Dolphins lost 27-17 to the Washington Redskins.  He only completed 4 of 14 passes (28.6%) for 97 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT (50.8 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 4 times for 16 yards (4.0 ypc) in the Super Bowl.  Woodley is #5 in passing yards (5,928) and #5 in passing TDs (34) in Dolphins’ history.  Woodley sadly died on May 4th, 2003 at the age of 44 due to complications due to kidney and liver failure.

The Dolphins have released 27-year old DE Phillip Merling.  Merling played in 10 games for the Dolphins last year and he had 4 tackles and 2 passes defensed.  Merling played in 47 games in his four years with the Fins and he had 66 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 interception (he returned it for a TD) and 8 passes defensed.  Merling was a complete bust for the Dolphins and he was just taking up roster space, so this is no loss.

The Dolphins have signed 28-year old WR Legedu Naanee to a 1-year deal.  Naanee played in 15 games for the Carolina Panthers last year and he caught 44 passes for 467 yards (10.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has now played in 69 games in his first five years in the NFL and he has caught 107 passes for 1,213 yards (11.3 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  I like this pickup for the Dolphins as Naanee appears to be a late bloomer as he played the best football of his NFL career last year.

I just conducted by complete mock of the 2012 NFL Draft on bloglockers.com and here is who the Dolphins finished up with:

1. (8) Ryan Tannehill, QB, Texas A&M

2. (42) Chris Givens, WR, Wake Forest

3. (72) Greg Childs, WR, Arkansas

3. (73) Brandon Mosley, OT, Auburn

4. (103) Nigel Bradham, OLB, Florida State

5. (145) Trevor Guyton, DE, California

6. (196) Phillip Thomas, FS, Syracuse

7. (215) Darrell Scott, RB, South Florida

The Dolphins have signed LB Gary Guyton.  Guyton played in 13 games for the Patriots last year and he had 47 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception.  He has now played in 60 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 229 tackles, 5 sacks, 6 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 3 fumble recoveries, 3 interceptions (one returned for a TD) and 15 passes defensed.  This was a good signing for the Dolphins as Guyton is a solid LB.

The Dolphins hired a brand new coaching staff, but they have not been able to add a lot of talent to the roster as of yet.  Here is a look at the off-season so far:

Offensively:  First off, the Dolphins dealt WR Brandon Marshall to the Bears for a couple of 3rd round picks, so they are going to need help at WR at some point before the 2012 season begins.  The Dolphins lost out on the bigger name QBs in free agency and the trade market, so they had to settle for signing David Garrard.  Garrard missed all of last season due to a back back, but he will try to beat out Matt Moore in training camp for the starting QB gig in Miami in 2012.  The Dolphins also signed G/T Artie Hicks and they re-signed OT Lydon Murtha to help out the offensive line.  RB Steve Slaton has also been retained to serve as a backup in 2012.

Defensively:  The Dolphins have brought in three free agents to help out on defense in OLB Jamaal Westerman, CB Richard Marshall and safety Tyrell Johnson.  They are a nice trio of players, but none of them are going to be big time impact players.  The Dolphins also re-signed NT Paul Solial, DE Phillip Merling, DE Ryan Baker and OLB Austin Spitler.  Only Solial is likely to start out of the players the Dolphins are bring back for 2012.

OFF-SEASON GRADE SO FAR:  D

The Dolphins have signed 26-year old strong safety Tyrell Johnson.  Johnson played in 11 games for the Vikings last year and he had 28 tackles and 1 pass defensed.  He has now played in 49 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 123 tackles, 2 interceptions, 10 passes defensed, 2 tackles for a loss and 2 fumble recoveries.  This was a good pickup for the Fins as Johnson is a physical player at the back end of the D.

The Dolphins have re-signed 25-year old OLB Austin Spitler to a 1-year deal.  Spitler played in all 16 games for the Fins last year and he had 11 tackles and 1 fumble recovery.  He has now played in 28 games in his first two years with the Fins and he has 15 tackles and 1 fumble recovery.  It was smart of the Dolphins to bring Spitler back as he is a decent backup and special teams player.

The Dolphins have released 34-year old safety Yeremiah Bell.  Bell played in all 16 games for the Dolphins last year and he had 107 tackles, 4 passes defensed, 1 interception, 2 sacks and 1 fumble recovery.  He played in 110 games in his 8 years with the Dolphins and he had 562 tackles, 9 tackles for a loss, 11 sacks, 9 forced fumbles, 7 fumble recoveries, 45 passes defensed and six interceptions.  Bell was a very productive safety, so the Dolphins need to add safety to the shopping list in free agency or the draft.

The Dolphins have signed 34-year old QB David Garrard to a 1-year contract.  Garrard didn’t play at all last season due to back surgery.  He last played in 2010 with the Jaguars.  He played in 14 games (all starts) for the Jaguars in 2010 and he completed 236 of 366 passes (64.5%) for 2,734 yards with 23 TD passes and 15 INTs (90.8 QB Rating).  Garrard also carried the ball 66 times for 279 yards (4.2 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  Garrard has now played in 86 games (76 starts) in his first 9 years in the NFL and he has completed 1,406 of 2,281 (61.6%) passes for 16,003 yards with 89 TD passes and 54 INTs (85.8 QB Rating).  Garrard has also carried the ball 380 times for 1,746 yards (4.6 ypc) with 17 TD runs.  Garrard is now 39-37 (51.3%) as a starting QB in his NFL career.  Garrard will battle Matt Moore for the starting QB job for the Dolphins in 2012.