2022 Miami Dolphins Odds, Schedule, & Fantasy Football Team Preview
Hello everyone and welcome to the Miami Dolphins preview for the 2022 season. Everyone is excited for the season to start, but Dolphins fans have to be ripe with anticipation. They were picked by many to be a sleeper playoff team last year, but got off to a slow start and had to battle back to finish above .500. With a new head coach (Mike McDaniel) in town and a blockbuster trade in the offseason, this team is ready to hit the ground running. Of the four teams in the AFC East, the Dolphins have the widest range of potential outcomes.
Here are the big questions the Dolphins face heading into the 2022 season:
- Will Tua Tagovailoa finally live up to the expectations of being the fifth overall draft pick?
- With new running backs on the roster and an overhauled offensive line, can this team finally have success on the ground?
- Will it take time for McDaniel’s system to work or will the team come out firing on all cylinders?
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2022 Miami Dolphins Schedule, Lines, and Best Bets
Projected Odds, derived & modified from data originally published by Sean Koerner here.
Win Total and Total Games Favored:
9 (105) / 10 Games Favored (2 Big Favorites / 1 Big Dogs)
The win total for the Dolphins is currently set at nine wins and they are currently favored in 10 of their 17 games this season. If they can survive the first four weeks with a 2-2 record, they will be well on their way to hitting the over on their win total. They open the season with the Patriots, Ravens, Bills, and Bengals. While that’s an extremely tough stretch of football, they are favored by at least 2.5 points in each of their next five games. At the very least, they should have a good chance of being .500 by the time they hit their bye week in Week 11.
Favorite Bet: Over 9 Wins // +105 on DraftKings
Even if you actively root against the Dolphins, you have to admit that this is going to be a fun team to watch. The organization pulled out all the stops to execute a blockbuster trade with the Chiefs to bring in Tyreek Hill. He’s the fastest player in the NFL and is going to change the entire landscape of this offense. All of a sudden, Tua Tagovailoa has one of the best wide receiver duos in all of football. The team will only go as far as Tua is able to take them, but there’s a big emphasis on run after the catch in Miami’s training camp. All he has to do is get the ball in the hands of Hill and Jaylen Waddle. The offensive line will be better, the running game will be better, and the defense has the coveted combination of a pass rush and a good secondary. Their division is tough and this is the first year for Mike McDaniel as a head coach, but this is a team with a lot of promise.
Miami Dolphins Props
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Favorite Prop: Jaylen Waddle Over 925 Receiving Yards
Honestly, this bet hinges more on Tua Tagovailoa than it does on Waddle. Rookie wide receivers tend to struggle, but that was not the case for Waddle. He finished with over 1,000 yards from scrimmage despite playing in a rather weak offense. Many are clamoring that the addition of Tyreek Hill will hurt his target share and while that may be true to a small extent, it should lead to him being more open, to him having more after the catch opportunities, and to him having more redzone opportunities (assuming the offense is better as a whole). On top of all that, most receivers show significant improvement in their second season in the NFL.
Miami Dolphins Fantasy Football Projections
Team Rankings and Ratings
Offense Ranks:Rank 19/ Average Rush / Average Pass/ Rank 17 Points For)
Defense Ranks:Rank 8/ Average Rush / Strong pass / Rank 17 Points Allowed)
Opponent Strength – Rushing:5 difficult vs. rush. 7 soft vs. rush.
Opponent Strength – Passing:7 difficult vs. pass. 3 soft vs. pass.
The addition of Tyreek Hill is going to steal all of the headlines, but the Dolphins didn’t stop there. They managed to sign LT Terron Armstead, who was one of the most coveted free agents in the offseason. On top of that, they brought in two proven running backs in Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds, as well as fullback Alec Ingold. If Tua can make the smallest of improvements, this offense should be better in leaps and bounds than they were last season. It’s a little funny that Mike McDaniel didn’t call plays for the Niners as the offensive coordinator, but is going to call plays as the head coach of the Dolphins. The biggest improvements should be in the running game, but this offense should be able to move the ball at will given the talent on that side of the ball.
The Dolphins defense finished the 2021 season eighth overall and should challenge for a top 10 ranking again in 2022. As noted above, they have the ability to get pressure on the quarterback, largely because they blitz more than any team in the league. They are able to get away with sending so many people at the opposing quarterback because they have one of the best cornerback tandems in the league in Xavien Howard and Byron Jones. Perhaps the Dolphins struggle in their first season with a new coach, but on paper they should be improved on offense and should have a very capable defense.
Miami Dolphins Top Fantasy Football Plays & Picks
Noteworthy Depth Chart
QB: Tua Tagovailoa – Underdog Rank: 112 (ADP 130 / 16.07% ADP Gap)
RB: Chase Edmonds – Underdog Rank: 106 (ADP 109 / 2.83% ADP Gap)
RB: Raheem Mostert – Underdog Rank: 160 (ADP 191 / 19.38% ADP Gap)
WR: Tyreek Hill – Underdog Rank: 16 (ADP 22 / 37.5% ADP Gap)
WR: Jaylen Waddle – Underdog Rank: 33 (ADP 38 / 15.15% ADP Gap)
WR: Cedrick Wilson – Underdog Rank: 218 (ADP 225 – 3.21% ADP Gap)
TE: Mike Gesicki – Underdog Rank: 120 (ADP 133 / 10.83% ADP Gap)
*Note: Premium Subscribers can find updated rankings for Underdog Fantasy in the content schedule here.
New Additions of Note: Tyreek Hill WR // Cedrick Wilson WR // Chase Edmonds RB // Raheem Mostert RB // Terron Armstead LT // Teddy Bridgewater QB
Departures of Note: Jacoby Brissett QB // DeVante Parker WR
Tua Tagovailoa hasn’t shown much of a ceiling in his first two seasons in the NFL, but he hasn’t been asked to push the ball downfield much. Jaylen Waddle is a budding superstar and Tyreek Hill is going to command so much attention from opposing defenses that Tua should have plenty of open receivers. This feels like a make-or-break season for the third-year pro. He should be fully recovered from his hip injury that he suffered at Alabama, he should have a better ground game, and he should have a better offensive line. He’s not a sneaky sleeper by any means, but is a good bet to finish as a QB1 this season and should be drafted as such.
The Dolphins were one of the worst rushing offenses in football last season. This had more to do with the offensive line than the running backs, but it’s not like they were overflowing with talent at the position. A lot should change in the ground game this season. Mike McDaniel is going to implement a new rushing scheme and he’ll have an improved offensive line and an improved bevy of running backs. Chase Edmonds is the popular pick at the moment and certainly carries upside, but we shouldn’t sleep on Raheem Mostert. He came over from San Francisco with McDaniel, so he knows the system well and will be in the coach’s good graces from the jump.
While Tua is not Patrick Mahomes, that doesn’t mean we can’t expect big things from Tyreek Hill. He’s one of those players that can turn a few touches into a few game-changing plays. If the offense takes off as expected, opposing defenses won’t be able to focus all of their attention on Hill. Personally, I view the addition of Hill as a positive for Waddle. He may see a small hit in his target share from 2021 (22%), but that should be offset by his increased redzone opportunities and how many yards he will be able to rack up after the catch. The addition of Alec Ingold at fullback could lead to fewer three-receiver sets, so I’ll temper my expectations on Cedrick Wilson. Mike Gesicki isn’t a great run-blocker at this stage of his career, but could rack up the touchdowns if this offense succeeds. When it comes to most tight ends, half the battle is getting targets in the redzone.
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