Miami will go into the season with the making of what could be a very solid secondary, but there is still one major question to be answered.  Do the Dolphins have the answer at free safety on the roster at the present moment?  Is there a guy on the roster that can be a playmaker, be a solid tackler and be able to communicate with Yeremiah Bell and the rest of the secondary and help form the secondary into a cohesive, solid unit?

The Dolphins signed Gibril Wilson in free agency in 2009 in hopes that he would not only bring a solid tackler to the Free Safety position, but a player that could provide ball skills and the ability to be a factor in the passing game in the secondary.  To say that Gibril was a major disappointment is an understatement, not only in the fact that he did not provide play making ability at the free safety position, but that he also was a disapointment in the run game for the Dolphins and missed numerous tackles that turned into big plays.  To be honest, I thought Wilson was miscast as a free safety to begin with and thought he was a better fit at Strong Safety, but you had a solid Strong Safety in place in Yeremiah Bell.  The Dolphins cut Wilson after the 2009 season ended.

Candidates to fill the Free Safety position are Chris Clemons, drafted in the 5th round in 2009 out of Clemson, and Reshad Jones, this year's 5th round pick out of Georgia.  Both have the size you want at the position as Clemons is 6'1, 210 lbs and Jones is 6'1, 215 lbs.  Clemons is also blessed with very good speed as he ran a 4.4 40 at the 2009 NFL Combine, and while Jones is not that fast, 4.56 in the 40 is plenty good enough.

The concerns with Clemons is his lack of awarness on the football field as well as his lack of ball skills, as he only had 5 career interceptions at Clemson.  He had his moments last year, but more times than not seem to struggle in 2009.  He has come out in the OTA's and has been solid and has been the most consistent DB so far and seems to have taken steps to improve his game.  Jones is known as a big hitter and has nice ball skills as he had 11 career interecptions at Georgia, but he to has issues as he is considered better in zone coverage than man and is a little stiff and can be a little to aggressive.  He has not gotten off to a good start in rookie minicamp as well as OTA's and will need to really step his game up when the pads are on for him to have a chance to win the starting job.

With Vontae Davis and Sean Smith set to start at CB, and with Will Allen, Jason Allen and Nolan Carroll, the Dolphins look solid at CB.  Yeremiah Bell is a solid strong safety and Tyrone Culver provides solid depth behind him.  Can Clemons or Jones step up and be the guy at Free Safety?  That question has be answered if the Dolphins hope to cut down on all the big plays the secondary allowed last year.

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Matty I over at The Phinsider wrote this week that he thought that WR Davone Bess was one of the most underrated players in the NFL, and I totally agree with him. In many ways Bess reminds me of Wes Welker during his time with the Dolphins: he has very good hands, knows how to find the soft spots in a zone, and is fearless over the middle. He's also a good special teamer, although not as dangerous on returns as Welker was for us.

What did he do last year? His 76 receptions made him the 11th most productive receiver in the NFL last year. His 48 first down receptions is a clear indicator that when the Dolphins needed to move the chains, he was the receiver that Chad Henne believed would be open and make that catch. This was very refreshing for us after watching Chris Chambers and Randy McMichael drop crucial 3rd down receptions over the years. In two seasons, Bess has had two quarterbacks throwing him the ball and both quarterbacks bought into how important he was in the passing game.

Pro Football Focus crunched all the stats together and rated all the NFL receivers last year. They rated Bess as the 10 best receiver in the NFL last year. 

I guess we should not be all that surprised at his production at the NFL level. He was super productive at Hawaii in an NFL type of an offense and started 3 years there. In his final season he caught 108 passes and 12 touchdowns. Still, he went undrafted. Here is SI's predraft analysis of Bess:

Well-rounded receiver with the added advantage of being a return specialist. Quickly releases off the line, plays with terrific balance and body control, and effortlessly makes the reception in stride. Comes back into the clearing making himself an available target. Displays soft hands and elusive running after the reception. Terrific route-runner who quickly gets into breaks then separates from defenders. Keeps the play alive trying to pick up yardage and plays with a good degree of toughness. Consistently extends to make the reception away from his frame. Fearless and will go up in a crowd to make the difficult catch. Adjusts to the errant throw and comes down with the ball in a crowd. Did not miss a beat last season when his starting quarterback, Colt Brennan, was out of the lineup.

I could go on and on about Bess, but I will let JP's video clip of Davone Bess fill in the blanks. Hopefully we will sign Bess to a longterm contract and not underestimate the possibility that another team will try to get him when he becomes a restrict free agent as the Patriots did with Wes Welker. The poison pill that the Patriots put into Welker's contract made it impossible for the Dolphins to match it. Of course, blame it on Welker. If he really wanted to play for the Dolphins he did not have to sign that contract.

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