11. MIAMI DOLPHINS (6-10)

LAST SEASON: Dolphins missed playoffs for eighth time in nine seasons Kawann Short Jersey , and backslid in Year 2 under coach Adam Gase, leaving regime at crossroads in 2018. Miami was wildly inconsistent, undisciplined team last year, and Gase addressed issue in reshaping roster this offseason. Questions arose regarding leadership of defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and receiver Jarvis Landry, and both are gone. Defensive end Robert Quinn and receiver Danny Amendola among veteran newcomers. Gase may have improved locker room culture, but few see net gain in talent, which magnifies importance of draft. Owner Stephen Ross opted for stability at top after last season, and Gase, executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum and general manager Chris Grier are backs.

THEY NEED: LB Sean Lee Jersey , TE, G, DT, QB, CB, RB.

THEY DON'T NEED: DE, WR, S.

POSSIBLE FIRST PICK: QB Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma; QB Lamar Jackson Maliek Collins Jersey , Louisville; LB Roquan Smith, Georgia; LB Tremaine Edmunds, Virginia Tech; DT Vita Vea, Washington.

OUTLOOK: Dolphins have numerous glaring needs, including vacant starting spots at outside linebacker and tight end. However, Gase wants to draft quarterback to groom as Ryan Tannehill's eventual successor, and question is whether they'll devote their first-round pick to position, which would likely require trading up. With Tannehill entrenched for 2018, adding rookie QB would be done with long term in mind. But 77-year-old Ross is eager to win now Ryan Kalil Jersey , and worries about job security may tempt draft decision makers Gase, Tannenbaum and Grier to make picks that pay quicker dividends.

The new helmet rules reared their ugly heads twice within a few plays on Friday night at MetLife Stadium. And the penalties reveal how prevalent the fouls will be, if the rules are enforced as written.

On a kickoff return following a Jets touchdown, New York cornerback Buster Skrine braced to tackle Falcons running back Ito Smith, who was returning the kick. Smith likewise braced for impact, with both players dropping their helmets, instinctively.

Skrine, who was injured due to the impact, received a 15-yard penalty for lowering the head to initiate contact. The officials easily could have flagged Smith for the same infraction.

Smith got a flag of his own LeSean McCoy Jersey , a few plays later. While attempting to make a block in the open field, Smith dropped his helmet and made what appeared to be incidental contact with his helmet to the midsection of a Jets defender. The officials flagged Smith for lowering his head to initiate contact.

Although the fouls can be brushed off as an example of the overofficious tendencies that referee Brad Allen predicted for the preseason, the outcome reflected a fair application of the rule as written. The players in question lowered the helmets to initiate contact and they made contact.

In neither case was the blow forcible or punishing or otherwise indicative of an intent to use the helmet as a weapon. But that doesn’t matter, because the rules contain no such requirements.

Which means that, if the officials apply the helmet rules as written, 15-yard chunks of field position routinely will be assessed throughout the season, with a very high potential that the outcome of a game will be affected by rules that make it difficult if not impossible to execute blocking and tackling maneuvers against a target that is moving.

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