Scandal is nothing new in the world of collegiate athletics. It seems like every time you turn the TV to ESPN they’re reporting on another academic scandal at a well-known school. Every other day it seems like some coach is getting busted for minor infractions, and with the amount of asinine rules there are in the NCAA handbook it’s really easy to see why. 

I, myself, have even written articles in the past outlining scandals as they popped up at various schools. No, these things are nothing new to the NCAA, but sometimes they cross the line from being minor violations to being major, and sometimes in extreme cases even outright criminal. As is the case with the current scandal the Baylor Bears find themselves involved with.

Contrary to what a popular ESPN program would have you believe, sometimes numbers do lie. Like in the NFL preseason, for example. If you were to look only at the final score of Thursday’s match-up between the Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears, you might think that things are looking pretty bleak for the Dolphins despite it being the first preseason game. Normally there’s not much good that can be said after losing 27-10 but that, my friends, is the beauty of the preseason. Contrary to the final outcome of the game, I saw a lot of good things from the Dolphins. A lot of things that have me pretty excited for the coming season.

In Sunday’s post, we took a look at the offensive unit for the Miami Dolphins coming into the new season. Today, it’s time to give the defense their time in the spotlight. Defense has always been a point of pride for this franchise. From the days of the “No name” defense, led by Nick Buoniconti and Manny Fernandez, that was instrumental in Miami pulling off a perfect 1972 season, up through the “Killer Bees,” a moniker resulting from the fact that 6 of the 11 starters had a last name beginning with “B,” in the early 80’s, all the way to the defenses I grew up with featuring Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas. 

This year, thanks to a huge free agent acquisition and some stellar play by some surprise names so far in training camp, looks to be no exception. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the 2015 Miami Dolphins defense.

The Miami Dolphins seem to be a trendy pick to make it to the NFL Promised Land every year lately. This off-season has certainly been no exception. Between the addition of some key free agents, and the suspension of Tom Brady for his alleged involvement in the Deflategate scandal, the Miami Dolphins are the chic pick to finally unseat the Patriots as the kings of the AFC East. Some, including a model done by students at Harvard University, even have the Dolphins going so far as facing the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. All this has many Dolphins fans asking “Is this the year we finally put it all together?”

In this post, the first of two, I’ll be taking a look at the Dolphins roster, both offense and defense, and providing my breakdown. Is the Super Bowl a realistic expectation for this team with the pieces they’ve added through free-agency and the draft? Let’s find out.