La Canfora: Dolphins interested in DE Ray Edwards

He backtracked on that and now says Miami is his likely destination.

So far:

Scheftie
Mort
Clayton

All have Young coming to miami

Salpal has Young going to Philly.

 

Ray Edwards would be an absolutely fantastic SOLB. He is great at setting the edge. He's great at using his hands, and getting off of blocks.

But I don't think he's being looked at as a replacement for Cam Wake. He is a SOLB all the way.

 

The same guy who had 1,200 yds and 8 td's in 09?

Yep, that guy.

Maning has never had the injuries Palmer has, Brees has never had the questions about desire to play that Palmer has etc etc

 

It seems to me like they would want Edwards for the role that they had envisioned for Francis, no?

I would really love to hear what people think of the idea of moving Misi inside. I hear it thrown around all the time but often without any sort of followup analysis or debate.

 

Aw, poor offense, would just have BM, Bess and Dtrain and Fasano to work with, how will they ever score points?

Sooner or later the guys you have must perform Aqua, BM is not getting 10 million dollars per yr for 3 T'ds.

 

i found some ray edwards threads at a vikings message board, seems like they don´t really care if he leaves, because they all feel he is a product of the williams wall and jared allen, they also dont pay not much attention to his QB Hurries at 53, apparently Udeze when he was still a viking was also a pressure king:

Ray Edwards Part I
http://www.vikingsmessageboard.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23142

Ray Edwards a Boxer ?
http://www.vikingsmessageboard.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22949

Ray Edwards and Sidney Rice UFA Thread
http://www.vikingsmessageboard.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23130

 

Does this mean I can actually start taking pad's suggestion of trading Wake for Chris Johnson seriously?

 

Consistency was his biggest problem. But I think this coaching staff has done a good job dealing with inconsistent players.

 

I agree with Wake not being a SOLB. But is Misi good enough of a pass rusher to be a WOLB? I suppose the signing of Edwards would give Misi some time to grow into that position.

 

thats the end result i come up with too, a guy with a powerful body and consistency problems

 

Edwards would be a great fit opposite of Wake which is what the Dolphins have said they will do with him or at least that is the speculation.
Provides a great opportunity to move Misi inside while he is still young and develop him there. Opens up a door to get Channing Crowder the hell out of dodge.

 

I am the Lizard King I can see everything!



Well, still not seeing Edwards coming here, too many steps as he'd also be a conversion player with no OTA's and what have you, do think we up the talent on the LB Corps, just to unathletic.

 

well his boxing banner already is saying "Former" lol

 

I think Francis was an attempt to get another Matt Roth. They didn't ever expect for him to be an every-down defender.

I'm pretty skeptical. We have little to no proof that he's got the ability to be a player good enough in coverage or go sideline to sideline to be anything other than a two-down run stuffer who is going to be there to take on blockers and attack between the tackles. Basically a healthier Channing Crowder, but we don't actually know that he'd be as good as Crowder is at it.

There's the upside of guys like James Farrior or Tedy Bruschi, but for every one of them how many guys like Akin Ayodele or Reggie Torbor do you get?

 

I don't see how Wake about to turn 30 is any kind of reason to switch him out with a younger guy who's got almost as many miles.

That and Edwards switching from a 3-4 is ehhhhh. But I'll take Nolan's assessment on that one.

 

The way I see it, Wake will be his relentless self, and if Coordinators want to gameplan to shut him down then that comes with an expense, space for other players while they try to occupy 1 man, Plus if I can take one man to beat a double team, its wake..

Making bold negative statements about your team before they hit free agency, was a mistake on your part, especially with such a young talented football team.

I'am worried about Ray Edwards performance enhancing drug testing results.

 

I agree that the transition is not as difficult as many portray it to be but there still are issues there. He'd have to learn jam and reroute as you note and he'd have to carry the flats, which can be an issue depending on his hip flexibility. There are things there that are causes for concern IMO but that doesn't mean he can't make the transition. It still will be a transition because he's going to have to learn how to become more aware of the ball and the players around him. With so many teams pattern reading, the transition is becoming a bit more difficult because its not all just spot dropping like you may do out of a fire zone or a zone blitz or a landmark drop out of Cover 2 for example. He's going to have more responsibilities and sometimes, guys can't handle those responsibilities.

 

Alen I've heard a lot about how Crowder's role was scaled back when Dansby arrived. He mainly was a banger right. With Edds coming back and more than likely filling the nickel LB spot wouldn't that make the transition for Misi to Crowder's position quite a bit less difficult? Especially given his age and how he hasn't necessarily solidified a home in the NFL at a particular position.

 

I think those issues are less problematic given you've got Koa Misi on the roster. I think the skill sets of the three would lend themselves pretty well to a 3-man rotation, with Misi taking the heaviest coverage workload. Ideally you'd have some way to get all three on the field at once like the Giants have, but I think it's still cost-effective.

 

I wonder if Nolan has endorsed a move for Misi to go inside, that would be ideal, Misi does have some experience there, high school ball, senior bowl he got some reps and looked good, his skillset seems to fit there pretty good, inside pass rusher where he can use his strength, his hands, his instincts..maybe?..I would be really happy if this was the thought process.

 

I'm not fan of moving Koa Misi to ILB to be a thumper but I do think he could do it. I think he can do it because I've seen him play ILB at Utah before and I think he can bang heads with people. However, it's not the best way to use him because it does not maximize his talent in my opinion.

The transition for Koa Misi to Crowder's role would be difficult because it is a difference to play from outside then inside obviously. He'd have more responsibility and his keys are different. I don't think it is a less difficult process because of that. Its not just banging heads with people. Its also making calls, dealing with crossers, landmark drops, etc. I think Misi can do that but I don't think its the best way to handle his talent.

Sorry for the long winded answer.

 

Do you think Misi could match Wake pass rush at WOLB? I know Nolan can work magic but he'a around for maybe just another year.

 

That's true but the issue is that they're not always going to be able to get Misi out there on pass downs. It sounds good in theory but there are instances quite often when teams will notice a certain player who is a lesser talent than his teammates and they'll take that advantage. That's where Ray Edwards could be a disadvantage for the defense, assuming he has issues which we don't really know.

I recently read a coaching clinic transcript from Pat Narduzzi of Michigan State who made a really similar point. He talked about how he had a slow safety in his defensive backfield and that's one of the main reasons they struggled against Alabama because Alabama would create matchup advantages against that safety. He said the same about Greg Jones, his ILB at the time. He basically said that Jones was a ******.

 

you like him in space Alen?....crazy dude was playing Dtackle as well in college..

 

Aaron Kampman?

 

I don't think it would be "passing downs" that would be the problem, as much as it is teams trying to throw on the base 3-4. Last year both the OLBs were in 3-point stances in most passing down packages. It certainly isn't ideal, but I think you can manage a liability in coverage at strongside OLB, especially if it's more short term and you've got a sub.

It's always kinda funny when coaches will throw players under the bus afterwards like that.

 

That's about the singular name in recent memory that didn't seem to handle the transition well, but I don't think there is very good proof it was the position change. He played virtually the same snaps in Jacksonville as a DE the next season and had loads less tackles and a half a sack more. He was hardly exploited in coverage, either, giving up 42 yards per PFF as an OLB.

 

There may be better trade options next year anyways.