Multiple people around the NFL are concerned that the Miami Dolphins could underperform in the 2023 season because they have a lot of star personalities with a young head coach in Mike McDaniel.
“There’s no argument the Dolphins have a lot of high-end talent, and they could take a big step forward with better fortune in the health department,” The Athletic’s Jeff Howe wrote. “But they were brought up several times during The Athletic’s league poll as a team that could underperform. The reasoning was unanimous — lots of all-star personalities with a young head coach, a recipe that has often burned teams in the past.”
The poll by The Athletic isn’t the only mention of this concern, as an NFL executive recently said that the Dolphins have “too many egos” to succeed this season.
It’s interesting to see so many people around the NFL worried about Miami’s stars when the only star the team really added in the offseason was cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
While Ramsey is a big personality and talented player, he won’t be on the field for Miami for a good chunk of the 2023 campaign after undergoing offseason knee surgery. So, it’s hard to see his ego getting in the way of the team’s success if he’s not even on the field.
The Dolphins have other stars such as wide receiver Tyreek Hill, cornerback Xavien Howard and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, but the team succeeded in 2022 with all of them on the roster.
Miami went 9-8 in the 2022 season, and the team was even better in Tagovailoa’s starts. The quarterback missed four games due to the multiple concussions that he suffered last season, but Miami went 8-5 in the 13 games he started.
The ego issue is a bit of a strange response when injuries should be the bigger concern for Miami – especially with Tagovailoa’s history. Ramsey is already out, and the team placed running back Jeff Wilson Jr. on injured reserve to start the season.
McDaniel may need more credit than he’s getting from people around the NFL, as he navigated the team to the playoffs last season despite having to use three different quarterbacks.
Hill also deserves a ton of respect, as he had a monster season despite the changes under center. Hill finished the 2022 season with 119 catches for 1,710 yards and seven touchdowns. He averaged over 100 yards per game.
Only time will tell if the Dolphins’ egos will hurt them in 2023, but for now the team is hoping to build on the success of making the playoffs last season.
