Dolphins' Biggest Question Marks Ahead of 2021 Training Camp

Brian Flores and the Miami Dolphins took a step forward as a franchise in 2020. Now they'll be looking to make the transition from plucky underdog to a bonafide challenger to the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots for the AFC East crown. 

Josh Allen and the team from Orchard Park were able to take the throne in the division now bereft of Tom Brady, but Miami did enough to put itself on the radar. In most years, their 10-6 record would have made the playoffs. Last year, it just so happened to be a potential building block for a good run. 

Miami rode a strong defense, a little bit of Fitzmagic and a strong rookie season from Tua Tagovailoa. With the safety net of Ryan Fitzpatrick removed and the offense seeing a continued overhaul, there's no guarantee that success will roll over into the new campaign. 

There are plenty of questions to be answered about this roster and the 2021 campaign in general. Here are the biggest questions facing the team as they prepare for training camp. 

There were a lot of reasons why Tua Tagovailoa might not have shown us the best version of himself as a rookie.

Between a serious hip injury in college that he was recovering from, a COVID-19-impacted preseason that limited time to prepare for his rookie season and the constant possibility of being overtaken by Ryan Fitzpatrick, it was a tough spot for the Alabama product to produce in.

Despite all of that, he posted a respectable run in his debut season. He was 6-3 as a starter, completed 64.1 percent of his passes and threw 11 touchdowns to five interceptions. 

This year, those roadblocks are gone. He should be completely healthy with over a year to have healed, he has a full offseason to get familiar with the offense and build rapport with his receivers and Fitzpatrick is now with Washington, so this is undoubtedly Tagovailoa's team. 

They've improved his weaponry by adding Will Fuller V in free agency and Jaylen Waddle in the draft. There's no reason Tagovailoa shouldn't thrive in this situation, and 2021 will give us a much better idea of what his ceiling in the league is.

Last season, the Dolphins finished the year ranked 28th in PFF's final offensive line rankings. They struggled to keep Tagovailoa upright, and the running backs had to work to find daylight in the ground game. 

There was good reason for that, though. The Dolphins were among the youngest offensive lines in the league. Austin Jackson, Robert Hunt and Solomon Kindley all played big roles as rookies. Their progression from Year 1 to Year 2 will be a determining factor in how far the Dolphins go this season. 

This year's unit could look quite different. Veterans Matt Skura and D.J. Fluker were added in the offseason, and Liam Eichenberg joins the mix as a rookie. Robert Hunt played right tackle last season but has been taking reps at guard and others are moving around in early workouts, per Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. 

The Fins have invested heavily in the position through the draft. They've acquired talent in a way where they have multiple combinations and options at each position.

Eventually, that should start paying off. To what extent that's the case will become evident throughout the season, and early reports from training camp should start to give us an idea. 

In 2019, the Dolphins defense was 30th in defensive efficiency. In 2020, they finished 11th. That's a massive leap in one season, and the play of the secondary along with the coaching chops of Brian Flores and his staff should take a lot of the credit. 

So the question becomes whether the defense can become an annual terror to opponents in 2021. 

One thing that helped the Dolphins defense last season was the rate at which they forced turnovers. Miami led the league in takeaways with 29, fueled by their 18 interceptions. Repeating that will be a tough task. If you peruse through the top five teams in takeaways every season, you won't see a whole lot of repeat offenders. 

The Steelers were the only team to be top five in takeaways in 2019 and 2020. They also happen to be the only repeater when looking at top-five defensive efficiency. 

If the Dolphins are to be elite defensively again, they'll need the secondary to continue to play at a high level, and the pass rush will need to find ways to improve. Xavien Howard accounted for over half the interceptions with 10, and the Dolphins didn't have anyone over 10 sacks. 

This unit still has a lot to prove despite a successful 2020 campaign.