Fantasy Football Team Preview: Dolphins

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet The ...
Team who invented the Wildcat formation! Cue all sorts of zeal from the dramatic broadcasters. Of course, the formation has actually been around for decades, we just hadn't seen a ton of usage in the NFL until the Dolphins seemed to perfect it -- peaking with Ronnie Brown's ridiculous game against the Patriots.

The Dolphins have a careful quarterback, two solid runners, a good, young receiving corps, and have added a great all-around athlete via draft. It might be tough to predict who is going to consistency amass yardage, but we know one thing: They are going to be fun to watch.

---

---

The Breakout
Ted Ginn. It's time. It's his third year in the league and second in this offense. He made steady progress from his rookie year to last season and reports from around the Dolphins this summer have Ginn being called upon to serve as the team's true number one receiving weapon. Considering the skills we've seen in the return game and on rushing attempts (5 carries for 73 yards last year), we know Ginn can collect many yards after the catch, but he hasn't totally shown that yet. He will, and he'll eclipse 1,000 yards along with around 7 touchdowns.

The Bust
I hate doing this, because it's the first team preview -- but there is really no one on this team screaming bust. Remember, a bust isn't a bad player. It could actually be a stud. A bust is simply someone who is overvalued in fantasy football. I look up and down this roster, and no one seems overvalued. Alas, I can't be spineless and go without a pick on the first freaking team preview. So, here's one: Ricky Williams.

Yeah, he's not highly rated, but I won't name anyone else. I see a pretty sizable fall in Williams' production from last year, though. At 32, he's getting up there in age. Ronnie Brown was coming off ACL surgery last season, so the Dolphins had to be cautious with him (he only averaged 13 carries per game). Expect him to see an increase in carries at the expense of Williams. Plus, the addition of Pat White gives the Dolphins an added element Williams doesn't.

Williams had 160 carries last season. Expect that to fall down to around 100. The 878 total yards he amassed won't be approached this time around, due to the decreased workload -- barring injury to Brown, of course.

The Depth Chart
QB1 - Chad Pennington
QB2 - Chad Henne
Wildcat Dude - Pat White
RB1 - Ronnie Brown
RB2 - Ricky Williams
RB3 - Patrick Cobbs
WR1 - Ted Ginn
WR2 - Davone Bess
WR3 - Greg Camarillo
WR4 - Patrick Turner
WR5 - Brian Hartline
TE1 - Anthony Fasano
TE2 - David Martin
K - Dan Carpenter

The D/ST
As I said in the rankings, I really like the potential for this defense. It was an incredibly productive offseason for the front office regarding the defensive side of the ball. They ranked eighth in sacks last season, thanks mostly to Joey Porter and a motivated Jason Taylor has been welcomed back to the fray. They also ranked eighth in interceptions and the secondary has been significantly upgraded. The Dolphins brought in Gibril Wilson to play safety alongside Yeremiah Bell and added two strong corners via draft (including first-rounder Vontae Davis). Let us also not forget the Dolphins have two very capable return men, in Ginn and Bess. This unit is worthy as D/ST1, and you'll be able to get them late.

The Skinny
The over-arching theme with this team is there is very good value to be had here, across the board.

- Pennington threw for 3,653 yards and only 7 picks, but he's going in the mid-20s at his position.

- Bess is developing and will continue to do so. Considering Camarillo tore his ACL in Week 12 last season, there's little reason to believe he'll be strong enough in the preseason and early going to stay on the field more than Bess. The undrafted Hawaiian caught 35 passes for 366 yards in the Dolphins' last six games without Camarillo around. Those numbers pro-rate to 93 catches and 976 yards in 16 games. He's a very solid late-round flier.

- I like Ronnie Brown, but there's a definite ceiling. The Dolphins are going mix things up enough that he's not getting more than 20 carries a game. Earlier I mentioned his workload would go up, though, and I believe he'll see in the neighborhood of 18 carries a game. Also, his passing from the Wildcat will likely be taken away by White.

- Speaking of whom, I can't wait to see how the Dolphins use White. He doesn't have any fantasy appeal yet, but it's going to be really fun if they put him and Brown in the backfield with Pennington in the sideline occasionally. They could feasibly run option or any combination of pass-trickery.

- You can't draft them unless you play in an incredibly deep league, but the two rookie receivers (Turner and Hartline) bear watching.