QB

Chad Henne

(+) Henne looks to be improving with experience - Averaged 273 yards passing over the final five games of 2009
(+) A year of experience for Henne should give OC Dan Henning a bit more confidence in his passing game
(+) BRANDON MARSHALL IS SICK AND WRONG!
(+) A solid running attack should help defenses sleep a little on Henne as they’ll be game-planning for Ronnie and Ricky
(–) Passing schedule is not great at 22nd in the league while the team lacks an established WR2
(–) Henne was only able to put the rock in the end zone 12 times over his 13 games played last year, and only twice did he have 2 TD’s in a game
(–) Henne will rely heavily on Marshall, and though many good receivers have struggled when switching teams, we don’t see that as a concern with Brandon’s game

RB

Ronnie Brown

(+) One of the most multi-dimensional backs in the league, as he can get you rushing TDs, receiving TDs, AND passing TDs
(+) The addition of Brandon Marshall will make teams have to pay attention to the pass more
(+) He’s playing for both a contract AND a future job (considering his past injuries)
(–) Speaking of injuries…  Considering his horrendous luck, you’d be a moron to stand within 100 yards of him during a lightning storm
(–) Ricky Williams is still damn good, and Ronnie has never scored a touchdown in December
(–) With Chad Henne progressing, Miami has said they will open up the playbook more this year
(–) The Dolphins have the toughest rush schedule in the NFL this year

Ricky Williams

(+) He can probably still score the best weed in Miami
(+) A rejuvenated Ricky had 1,121 yards and 13 total TDs in just 7 starts last season
(+) Ronnie Brown is the most injury-prone RB in the game, so Williams should get the chance to go nuts again this year
(+) With an up-and-coming Chad Henne and the addition of Brandon Marshall, Miami could be considered to have one of the better offenses in the league
(–) He probably still smokes the best weed in Miami
(–) With Ronnie Brown is healthy, Ricky’s fantasy production declines severely
(–) Miami has the toughest rush schedule in the NFL this year

WR

Brandon Marshall

(+)Coming off of back-to-back-to-back 100-catch seasons and finally broke into double-digit TD range
(+) Has unstoppable size, strength, hands, and body-control
(+) Has an up-and-coming, strong-armed QB throwing to him in a warm weather climate
(–) Just got paid and is always just one bad day away from self/team-destruction
(–) Coming into a Wildcat offense that he’s never played in before
(–) Women of Miami, watch out for a 6’4” 230 lb guy wearing a wife-beater
(–) Wide receivers normally do not produce on par when switching to a new team

Davone Bess

(+) Chad Henne has a year under his belt, so he should be feeling more comfortable with the passing game
(+) The addition of Brandon Marshall should help pull attention away from Bess
(–) Bess is a slot receiver that has only 3 TDs in his first two seasons of action
(–) Miami likes to run the ball (3rd overall in carries last season and 14th overall in pass attempts)

Brian Hartline

 (+) Ranked 10th in the NFL in yards per catch last season (16.3 YPC)
 (+) He has a good amount of height (6’2”) and plays a physical game both as a receiver and a downfield blocker
 (+) Runs his routes very well and has the hands and toughness to grab balls going across the middle
 (+) Has a good a chance as any other Dolphins receiver to win the starting job opposite Brandon Marshall this year
 (–) Despite his big-play ability, Hartline lacks the overall speed to be a consistent receiver on the outside
 (–) Didn’t gain a lot of experience at the college level
 (–) Will have to share time and targets with Davone Bess and Greg Camarillo

TE

Anthony Fasano

-  The Miami Dolphins were expected to contend for a playoff position in 2009
-  Chad Pennington started the season as the teams starter but was injured in week 3
          and replaced by Chad Henne, at  this point the team was 0-3
-  The team proceeded to go 7-6 for the rest of the season finishing with a 7-9 record
          and securing Henne as the QB of the future
-  The team scored 360 points and allowed 390 points against

2009 Total Points Rank:           11th (112 tot pts)
2009 Average/Game Rank:     14th (7.0 pts/gm)

FR=Fumbles Recoverd, PA=Points Allowed, FP Rank=Fantasy Points Rank, FP/G=Fantasy Points per Game

2010 Dolphins Defensive Outlook...

Miami was tied for 3^rd in the league for sacks last season and while they did not generate much in the Turnover department, we love the consistency sacks bring to your points total Sunday.  They lost Joey Porter (9 sacks) and Jason Taylor (7 sacks) so we’re not all in that they can repeat the sack totals.  They did add Karlos Dansby at LILB from the Arizona Cardinals, and he is super talented.  He’ll help the defense get better, but we’re not sold on his Fantasy impact. 

Yeremiah Bell made the Pro Bowl last year at SS for the Fins, and we like his game in the prime of his career.  21 total turnovers last season is suspect (28^th in the league) and they were 26^th overall in points allowed as well.  The arrow is pointing down for the Miami Fantasy Defense.

-  Yeremiah Bell led the team with 114 tackles, Gabril Wilson had 93
-  The Dolphins had 44 sacks last season
-  Leading sacker was Joey Porter with 9
-  How can the Dolphins increase the effectiveness of their defense
-  Vontae Davis led the team with 4 INTs
-  Team forced 14 fumbles
-  Team forced a total of 29 turnovers

Analysis:  This is a transformed unit.  The Jack Long pick appears to have paid huge dividends.  They also signed Center  Jake Grove (Oakland Raiders) in March ‘09.  They have this unit locked up for a few more seasons at least, so this line will continue to gel.

The fantasy lifeblood of the players sitting on your roster boils down to one EXTREMELY important stat.  Drum Roll please……………………………  ATTEMPTS!!!!  Ahhhh, there, we said it.  Before you can make a play, you gotta have the pill in your hands.  It’s pretty simple really, in the immortal words of the maligned Keyshawn Johnson… “Just give me the damn ball”.  There is no “I” in the word “team”, but don’t fool yourself, it’s in the word rotisserie twice. 

For the QB, it’s Pass Attempts, for the RB, it’s Carries, and for the WR and TE, it’s Targets.  If you look at the players in the league who are amassing large quantities of points, they are the ones who are seeing the rock come their way the most often.  Sure, you have to be good enough to do something with the p-skin when you get it, but never forget, you can’t make a play until you have the pill in your hands. 

The PYRO Offensive scheme charts aim to deliver you perhaps the most important information you could attain before and after draft day; Will my player get the chances they need to put out or will they be shut out?  It really boils down to what the offensive game plan on Sunday is.  These charts should provide some perspective on which teams are going to live by land and which are going to live by air. 

By Air

-  Chad Henne will enter the season as the team’s starter from here forward. Henne started 13 games
      last season and will be expected to make improvements by leaps in bounds in his second season
      as a starter
-  The team ranked 20th in the league with 3,170 passing yards
-  The team acquired Brandon Marshall from the Broncos and he will be the teams number one receiver
-  Davone Bess, Greg Camarillo, and Brian Hartline will provide depth at the WR position
-  Anthony Fasano served as the teams primary TE and he was effective
-  Ricky Williams was a very effective receiver out of the backfield

By Land

-  The Dolphins ranked 4th in the league with 2,231 yards on the ground
-  The Dolphins have a dynamic duo at running back when Ronnie Brown can stay healthy for an extended
         period of time.
-  With Ronnie Brown out Ricky Williams gets a majority of the carries and shows no signs that the pot
         is slowing him down
-  Pat White was also used as a Wildcat QB along with Ronnie Brown and it was a dynamic offensive
         scheme - White rushed 21 times for 81 yards

RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number you see is Red Zone Touches (a pass attempt, a carry, or a target inside the 20 yard line).  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

% of Teams RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number is the players percentage of touches cut out against the total number of the Teams Red Zone plays called.  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.  So, if Thomas Jones received a touch in 45 percent of the Jets Red Zone calls last year, and Knowshon Moreno received a touch in 38 percent of all the Broncos plays last year, Jones would be ranked higher at his position than Moreno would be.

RZ TD Success Rate (Position Rank) = The first number is the percentage of which an individual player was able to score a TD against his total number of touches.   The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

Why Should I look at this Chart?

We couldn’t possibly take up a whole minute of your valuable fantasy football research time babbling about the importance of Attempts for your team and then leave out Red Zone Tendencies.

Yep, same drill with these charts, only a lot more important if scoring TD’s is what you’re leagues about.  The PYRO Red Zone Tendencies chart delivers a touchdown focused microcosm of the Offensive Scheme section.

To score a TD, your player needs a touch (pass att, carry, or target), and when they get a touch inside the 20, great things can happen for your Fantasy teams total points line.

It’s really easy, touches are King and converting a touch in the red is Fantasy Gold.

PYRO 2010 Dolphin Leaders in the Red Zone...

1. Ronnie Brown
2. Ricky Williams
3. Brandon Marshall
4. Anthony Fasano
5. Brian Hartline

Grade* = Team PYRO took this number directly from NFL.COM - not a number devised here by us, you know, your friends who don’t sleep?  In other words, proceed with caution knowing the source, but we thought it was at least a worthy effort and could help you gauge just how solid the teams draft was.  We hope it helps, we think it will. 

Draft Review...

The early word in the preseason on John Jerry is that he is having an impressive camp and could give Incognito a run for the starting position.  The Miami offensive line is real strong so this news comes as a bit of a surprise.  Either way, all signs point to a useful draft pick on Jerry and this is good news for Ronnie and Ricky.

Team PYRO considers our Strength of Schedule data an essential part of building you a Fantasy Championship.  This data is integral in helping us rank our players each year.  So far, so good.  We go to GREAT lengths to deliver you this PYRO nugget and we know nobody else in the industry is putting forth this type of effort, which puts you at a great advantage if you have been using us as your fantasy football research outlet.  Our SoS considers three factors when determining rankings for schedules for the upcoming year:

1) 75% weight is applied to the strength of defense from the previous season.  This is determine by fantasy points given up (run and pass).  Easy right? Here's where Team Pyro goes deep: before we get to that number, we factor in the quality of teams that these defenses had to face (essentially, a strength-of-schedule for the prior season).

 
2) 20% weight is applied to Free-Agent, Trade, and Injury Returns that will help or hurt the team for the current year.  We rank each players impact to their former team (2008), sum it all up, and then rank each team accordingly.

3) 5% weight is applied to the NFL drafincoming rookie impact.  It's a challenge to successfully gauge a rookie's effectiveness (too many Jamarcus Russells out there) which is why we valued it so low.  Some teams not only drafted highly touted defensemen this year, but will be immediately filling deficient positions from '09 with rookies, and usually, anything is an upgrade when you are starting a rookie.

Chart Key =

Ranking:  1=easiest  32=toughest

QB's, WR's, and TE's

(INDY) Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark have the EASIEST passing schedule in 2010

(BALT) Joe Flacco, Anquan Boldin, and Todd Heap have the HARDEST passing schedule in 2010

RB's

(SF) Frank Gore has the EASIEST rushing schedule in 2010

(MIA) Ronnie Brown has the HARDEST rushing schedule in 2010

June 26, 2010

Signed CB Nolan Carroll and LB Austin Spitler.

May 25, 2010

Signed OL Cory Procter.

May 20, 2010

Signed LB Zach Thomas and announced his retirement.

April 16, 2010

Traded WR-KR Ted Ginn Jr. to San Francisco for a 2010 fifth-round draft pick.

March 17, 2010

Signed G Richie Incognito to a one-year contract.

March 12, 2010

Promoted Nat Moore to vice president-senior adviser.

March 9, 2010

Re-signed NT Jason Ferguson.

March 8, 2010

Agreed to terms with QB Chad Pennington on a one-year contract.

February 12, 2010

Released LB Joey Porter.

January 19, 2010

Named Mike Nolan defensive coordinator and Bill Sheridan inside linebackers coach.