After the Dolphins’ franchise-worst 59-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, fans are showing more fight on Twitter than their team showed in the game.

So it raises a question:

Has the Dolphins’ tank already gone too far?

Time for 5 Live.

Chris Kouffman (@CKParrot) of Three Yards Per Carry: “The Dolphins are spending 67% of the average league AAV this season, which is $27 million worse than the next cheapest team out there. They’re spending $36 million less than the next cheapest team out there in cash payroll. They have the 3rd most salary cap space in the league at $38 million. They flushed Laremy Tunsil, Kenny Stills, Kiko Alonso, TJ McDonald, Tank Carradine, and 26% of the roster days before the season began. The entire right side of the offensive line (Danny Isidora & Julie’n Davenport) didn’t even have their parking space yet, and they had a career right guard playing left tackle. They had a slow 5’9” experimental career slot corner manning the last line of defense at free safety, a coverage linebacker from the CFL playing Edge defender, and a defensive lineman that similarly hasn’t found his parking space Avery Moss playing 46 snaps (poorly). None of this has anything to do with Nick Foles, nor will it be helpful in any way to the effort in 2020+. All of it could’ve been prevented with basic roster management. Choosing this resulted in the worst home loss in franchise history, a fan base that will probably not go to any more home games, and (evidently) multiple players complaining they want out. This was a choice, it had nothing to do with Nick Foles, and we shouldn’t pretend there was only one way to do a rebuild, or even one way to tank. They chose THIS way, and they’re gonna have to live with the consequences, and I’d just assume stop playing holier than thou with the people that are upset about it.”

Luis Sung (@LuisDSung), Dolphins writer for 5 Reasons and Dolphin Maven: “As someone who despised the idea of tanking from the very beginning, the Miami Dolphins have indeed gone too far with their tanking process. And in some ways, they also haven’t gone far enough. If the goal is to be back on their feet by 2020, they can’t go so far as to completely remove any and all talent that’s found throughout the offseason. Cutting Nate Orchard, their top pass rusher in the preseason, serves what purpose other than to make sure they fail? Could he not have played an Andre Branch role when Miami decided to contend again? By the same token, if tanking is the goal, why are the young players not playing? Isaiah Prince was inactive against Baltimore, as was guard Shaq Calhoun. Why are they not giving them that experience? Let’s not even discuss the Josh Rosen angle. Miami has done too well in removing talent that can contribute, and seems unwilling to develop the raw talent that can potentially help in the future. That’s the worst of both worlds.”

Alfredo Arteaga (@UptownReport) of Three Yards Per Carry: “The Goldilocks principle.  Not too far, not far enough, just right.  Where did they probably” go too far?  I would say that the Tunsil/Stills trade was an opportunity that fell into their lap and they took advantage of it.  The purge that started with allowing Cameron Wake to walk and trading Tannehill was necessary for a rebuild.  So are we at the point where it’s the cuts of Tank Carradine and Nate Orchard as the last straws?  No.  Although those two cuts bother me because I thought the point of a tank is to of course, lose enough, but also attempt to add some cheap useful talent, which those two were.  Where they did go too far is on the offensive line, where it started with a Tunsil trade, that I don’t have a problem with, but continued with a mysterious Jesse Davis journey from RG to RT, to now LT!.  Shaq Calhoun getting what seemed like every 1st team snap in camp and preseason, to then be inactive on gameday while they play a journeyman (Isidora) in his place.  Then Davenport plays RT out of the blue?  This looks intentional, and if it’s not intentional, it’s something much worse. Incompetence.”

Josh Houtz (@Houtz), Dolphins writer for 5 Reasons and Dolphin Maven: “Everyone knew heading into the season, that the Dolphins were going to be bad. But no one was ready for what we saw on Sunday. It was bad. Really, really bad. Now there are reports of a mutiny in Miami, but why?  This team was going to be bad with or without Tunsil, Stills, or Kiko. An influx in young players is on the horizon. And with a Billion dollars in cap space, the Dolphins can get one or two franchising altering free agents. If there are players that are upset with what’s going on in Miami, do better. After all, none of those guys did anything to stop the 59-10 pummeling. …. The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming…. #TrustTheProcess.”

Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick), Five Reasons content director: “The Dolphins, after two decades of abrupt direction changes, have finally found one that works. Down. And while I understand the impetus for the overall strategy, because Steve Ross gave up trying to do it the right way, it’s impossible to defend what we saw last week, with the cuts of useful players in favor of unproven newcomers. And it’s impossible to defend what we saw on the field Sunday. Here’s the problem: Most fans aren’t on social media. They don’t know the ins and outs of the Dolphins’ plan, and unlike the Marlins, Chris Grier has done a poor job of explaining it. They just see the outrageously inept output.. What’s worse is that Grier has put his new head coach, Brian Flores, out front, to justify the unjustifiable. It’s unfair, and we see where it’s going. Eventually, when Grier goes — like Sashi Brown and Sam Hinkie went in similar tank jobs — Flores won’t be shielded either. He’ll bear the brunt of fan apathy and anger. Grier has accumulated gobs of assets, sure. But do you trust this organization to do right by them anyway. Simply put, bring on Heat season.”

MIAMI GARDENS — It is one thing to talk of tanking as a concept.

The reality of it?

That was the atrocity on display Sunday when the Dolphins offered the resistance of tissue paper in a 59-10 walkover by the Ravens.

In their inaugural season in 1966, the Dolphins lost 58-24 at Buffalo, the most points allowed in a regular-season game in franchise history before Sunday.

The only loss more one-sided and humbling than this one was the 62-7 playoff thrashing at Jacksonville in Dan Marino’s final game.

Ironically, two decades later they are still trying to replace him and have sold their soul for the chance to draft another magic quarterback. Or so they hope.

No question, the Dolphins were in need of a major overhaul, a radically different approach than has failed miserably over the past two decades.

The debacle Sunday showed what tanking looks like, what happens when you take a stripped-down roster into games that count.

More from Maven: Flores vows to do better job of coaching

Disaster on defense

It looks like giving up a 49-yard run on the first play and never being competitive in the game.

It looks like having such a talent deficit with the opponent that you fall behind 28-0 just over a minute into the second quarter, as the Dolphins did.

Dolphins icon Larry Csonka tweeted, “New personnel. Unrehearsed. This is tough to watch. “

Particularly on defense, which is coach Brian Flores’ forte. Obviously, he is not directing the Patriots defense anymore.

Nonetheless, all of the scheming and attention to detail and punitive dashes to the TNT (Takes No Talent) Wall were supposed to yield a unit that knew what it was doing out there, albeit limited in talent.

But this Dolphins defense look disorganized, clueless, lost.

It was a total pushover. It had no answer to Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.

Jackson produced the best passer rating (158.3) in Ravens history and rookie Marquise Brown debuted with 147 yards receiving, including touchdowns of 47 and 83 yards on his first two catches.

I didn’t think there was a scheme issue,” Flores said. “There was an execution problem and we weren’t getting aligned. We’ll be better next week.”

Seriously? Next week, Flores’ former team, the defending champion Patriots, come to town.

Trade fallout lingers

There may well be a morale problem, stemming from trading away Laremy Tunsil, Kenny Stills and other veterans at the end of the preseason.

The Tunsil trade seems a reach too far into the tank. Left tackle is one of the cornerstone positions and he was a rising star still on his rookie contract. Sure, they got three high draft picks in the deal, but those will be late in the round from a good Texans team.

And they will need to draft someone to fill the void of Tunsil, which will be a reach.

Meanwhile, Sunday was no isolated bad day for the home team. Be prepared for a month of NFL Sunday’s like it.

For the aqua-clad people in the stands, it means little return in entertainment value on those pricy season-ticket plans.

That is what tanking the season is all about. It was on display in all of its teeth-gnashing splendor.

“We’ve got problems on offense, defense and special teams. We’ll try to fix them all,” Flores said. “Schematically from a personnel standpoint, we’ll try to fix them all. We’ll try to put our players in the best position to win. We’ve got a lot of work to do from that standpoint.”

Problem is, there is no immediate fix for this season.

Dolfans can point to a huge cache of future draft choices as hope for the future. But this game illuminated how much talent will have to be mined from upcoming drafts to field a competitive team, and gave an indication of how long that could take.

Let there be no mistake, the Dolphins will be picking near, if not at the very top next April.

But there’s no guarantee the strategy of suffering through losing seasons and stockpiling draft picks will work.

Look at Cleveland, which endured a 1-31 stretch in 2016 and 2017. This is supposed to be the Browns’ year. They started it with a dud in a 43-13 loss to the Titans.

Imagine how their fans feel today. Probably worse than Dolfans.

Roster turnover hurts

There were some boos early from the home crowd at Hard Rock Stadium. They had one highlight moment to cheer when DeVante Parker made a leaping 49-yard catch between two defenders.

Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who made history by starting for his eighth NFL team, led a spunky touchdown drive before the half, with undrafted rookie Preston Williams punctuating his first NFL TD catch with a resounding spike.

By halftime, with the Dolphins trailing 42-10, fans were sitting dumbfounded in their seats or retreating up the aisles, presumably to a bar.

The big question about the Dolphins going into the game wasn’t could they find a way to win?

It was, who are those guys?

I counted only 20 players who were on the roster last season. A dozen joined the team since the final preseason game. Fifteen hadn’t appeared in an NFL game before Sunday.

Two who had just joined the team started on the offensive line, Danny Isidora at right guard and Julien Davenport at right tackle. Jesse Davis, who played all preseason at right tackle, moved to left tackle.

An offense that aspires to be successful running the ball had 21 yards rushing, averaging 1.8 yards a carry.

Josh Rosen created a mild stir from those still watching when he entered late in the third quarter and threw a short completion on his first pass. His second pass was intercepted.

“He told us, let it sink in, remember this feeling,” said cornerback Eric Rowe, a former Patriot who was victimized on Brown’s first touchdown catch, said of Flores’ message to the team. “I think everybody is going to remember this feeling because that’s just going to motivate us to push harder in practice.”

“We’re going to let it sink in. Let that [expletive] hurt. Let it hurt, let it hurt, because it does,” safety Bobby McCain said.

Get used to it, folks. These are your 2019 Miami Dolphins. And it’s going to hurt. A lot.

Craig Davis has covered South Florida sports and teams, including the Dolphins, for four decades. Follow him on Twitter @CraigDavisRuns

(Photo of Ryan Fitzpatrick by Jasen Vinlove for USA Today)

More from Dolphin Maven

Please check out our site, dedicated to bringing you Dolphins news, insight and commentary year round.

This past week has been a rocky one for the Dolphins and the NFL in general. The difference between words and actions make reading Miami’s plan difficult. Are they tanking? Their actions say yes, yet coach Flores insists they are not. In any case, whether they’re tanking intentionally or not, 2019 is going to be all about player evaluation and development. It has to be, since winning is unlikely to be something they do a lot of.

So with that in mind, here are the top three players to keep an eye on as the Dolphins face the visiting Ravens to open the 2019 season.

Jerome Baker, LB

When facing off against a running quarterback like Lamar Jackson, containing him becomes crucial to success. If he finds a hole to run through, Jackson will take it and he will make the defense pay for letting him have it. That’s where Jerome Baker comes in. More than likely, the Dolphins will have extra defensive backs on the field throughout the game. That extra speed is very reminiscent of the Bill Belichick defense that Flores comes from. But Baker will be closer to the action, and his sideline to sideline speed and ability to shoot gaps and rush the passer will be crucial.

As one of the team captains, Baker is being looked at as one of the defense’s cornerstones. It will go as he goes. If his preseason performance is anything to go by, Baker could become one of the league’s best as time passes. Keeping Jackson in check will be quite a challenge.

Albert Wilson, WR

With Wilson listed as questionable with his hip injury, it’s unclear whether or not he’ll be back to full speed against Baltimore. Nevertheless, the reason Wilson is worth keeping a close eye on is because his future with Miami may be just as questionable as his game status. Wilson is under contract through 2020, but the Dolphins have made trades that suggest they aren’t beyond subtracting talent to add draft capital and cap space.

If Wilson shows signs of being back to his old self, and a WR needy team looking to contend comes calling, Miami may pull the trigger. Trading Wilson at this time would save the Dolphins around $7 million in cap space, and another draft pick would fall right in line with what Miami wants for the rebuild.

Isaiah Prince, OT

Prince went from a preseason backup to probable starter almost instantly. The Dolphins traded Laremy Tunsil, and now have only four tackles on the active roster. Prince is the only one besides Jesse Davis – who recently signed a three-year extension – who has experience in Miami’s offense. Thus, he’s the best candidate to start at right tackle on Sunday. That makes three rookies starting on the offensive line, the other two being guards Michael Deiter and Shaq Calhoun.

Prince had his ups and downs in preseason, but that’s to be expected for a young player. Prince started at right tackle for years at Ohio State, even getting a chance to protect first-round QB Dwayne Haskins. He showed steady improvement through college, but it’s no secret that OL coach Dave DeGuglielmo got frustrated with Prince a lot throughout camp and preseason. This will be a real test of what Prince is capable of. Depending on how he develops, he could be Miami’s long term right tackle, or further proof Miami needs to invest heavily in the trenches in 2020.

Luis Sung has covered the Miami Dolphins for numerous outlets such as Dolphins Wire for six years. Follow him on Twitter: @LuisDSung

Heading into Sunday’s Week 1 matchup vs Baltimore, a lot of Dolphin fans appear to be more optimistic than they should.  After all, the team just jettisoned their elite left tackle Laremy Tunsil to Houston and churned the roster of talent, faster than the Amish churning butter on a cool Pennsylvania night. But unlike the Baltimore teams of the past, the 2019 Ravens have one of the more unique signal-callers in all of football.

His name is Lamar Jackson.

The Pompano Beach prospect was highly-regarded as one of the top-5 QBs of the 2018 class. And whether you believed in Jackson’s potential, or you were ignorant enough to believe a switch to WR was imminent. One thing is for certain, QBs like Jackson are the future of the NFL.

Which begs the age old question, how do you stop someone with his unique skill-set?

Maybe you use a spy, which frees up another play-maker to run rampant. Maybe, you blitz the heck out of him, in hopes that the rush gets there before he’s able to throw a 30-yard dot to his tight end.  Truth is, when trying to figure out the best way to stop Jackson, you would have to look back through history.  For this study, I ventured back to the 2018 season to focus on the Baltimore Ravens’ wildcard matchup vs the Los Angeles Chargers.

Here’s what I learned

For most of the game, the Chargers countered Lamar Jackson’s speed by utilizing six defensive backs.  This allowed Los Angeles to bring Derwin James down to the line of scrimmage, to help spy the speedy Jackson.  This wasn’t exactly a groundbreaking idea by defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.  But up until this point, no one was able to counter his elite speed with a quick, sure-tackling defensive back. The Chargers used James as a hybrid linebacker.  And at times he would post up on the edge, drop back in coverage, or play man-to-man vs an opposing tight end.  Lucky for the Dolphins, they have a player with similar skills in Minkah Fitzpatrick. (Don’t @ me)

Here’s a look at some of the Chargers’ defensive sets, and take notice as to where the NFL’s DPOY of the year lined up.

Now, yes, this might be more difficult for the Dolphins, who only have six cornerbacks on the roster.  And with a guy like Minkah Fitzpatrick potentially taking on the “Derwin James” type role, someone will need to step up in the secondary.  The one name that surfaced a few days ago was Jomal Wiltz, the former New England Patriots defensive back.  Wiltz, possesses elite measurables and could have a significant role in week 1.

as @finalytical pointed out, jomal wiltz is quite the athlete.

4.43 40
6.8 3 cone
10’4 broad
37.5 inch vert

maybe, just maybe, he is the perfect ‘spy’ to lamar jackson. pic.twitter.com/nOcqPWC7iR

— josh houtz (@houtz) September 6, 2019

Obviously, mimicking what the Chargers did is in Miami’s best interest.  Furthermore, using Fitzpatrick in a variety of different ways is inevitable.  Flores should allow him to line up on the edge, which should help contain Jackson inside the pocket.  And when he does eventually decide to take off, Miami will have a plethora of players waiting to make the tackle– or so we think. This game plan might make the most sense. But what if Miami feels it will be unable to contain the rest of Baltimore’s offense.

After all, we know the Ravens have a triplet of tight ends in Nick Boyle, Mark Andrews, and Hayden Hurst. And although it seems like a no brainer for the Dolphins to try to replicate what LA did, that’s easier said than done. And like we saw with James during the wildcard matchup, when a TE motioned to his side of the field, he would drop back into coverage. So what if Fitzpatrick was tasked with keeping Andrews in check?  Who might Patrick Graham and Coach Flores call upon?  My guess, stud LB Jerome Baker.

Pick 6 for Jerome Baker off Sam Darnold. Mistakes continue to pour in for Darnold. Had another dropped INT earlier. pic.twitter.com/8teoyEklRW

— Ian Wharton (@NFLFilmStudy) November 4, 2018

When asked which player should have the biggest impact for the Dolphins in 2019, many people would agree it’s the standout LB from Ohio State.  Baker has consistently improved since being drafted in third-round (73rd-overall), and could be the team’s best defensive player by season’s end. With the emergence of Sam Eguavoen this offseason, Miami has more versatility than ever at linebacker. Truth is, no one knows the extent of McMillan’s injury or why he was a ghost for much of the offseason.  But what we do know, is that he’s better suited as a thumper and should fill the void left behind by tackling-machine Kiko Alonso.

There’s also the potential that Reshad Jones could play in the box as a third linebacker, and help alleviate some of the responsibilities. What will be most interesting, is how many exotic looks Flores and his staff throw at the second year QB.  After all, he may have had a great offseason as he continued to progress as a passer. But coupled with one of Miami’s defensive playmakers shadowing the duel-threat QB, throwing ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ Jackson’s way, should be the ‘Willie Wonka’ golden ticket.

In the end, no one can sit here and tell you definitively what the plan is to counter Lamar Jackson’s unique skill-set. But based off of LA’s success in the Wildcard Game, the conclusion is quite simple. Shadow him with one of your best defensive backs and bring pressure, early and often. So whether it be Jerome Baker as a spy, Reshad Jones in the box as a third LB, or Minkah Fitzpatrick in a Derwin James-type role, the Dolphins will have their hands full in stopping the Ravens franchise QB.

But let’s not pretend that it hasn’t been done before.

Spy the raven, never more.

Josh Houtz (@houtz) is a die-hard fan of the Miami Dolphins. Tank or no tank.