• Determined not to take a step back from his 14-sack season, Dolphins linebacker Cameron Wake has studied every one of his 2010 plays “at least 10 times”; he carries the video data base on his iPad and sometimes watches at dinner. “I get angry when I see plays I could have made,” he said. “By no means have I arrived.” Wake, who had no sacks in the final three games, is working with new Dolphins pass rush coach Bryan Cox and said he is adding more to his arsenal. “I’m going to get to the quarterback,” he assured. “I don’t worry if you send two guys or 12.” Wake is a bargain the next two seasons at $480,000 and $565,000. His agent has asked about a new deal, but Wake said the issue doesn’t concern him. • Phillip Merling appears no better than Miami’s sixth-best defensive lineman. But give him credit for what he said was a 28-pound weight loss this summer. “He’s moving a lot better,” defensive lineman Paul Soliai said. Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/06/2348266_p2/armstrong-among-hurricanes-with.html#ixzz1UJS8iXdu
From the onset I thought it was a bad idea trying to get Merling to bulk up. That along with a position change made his selection at 32 pretty questionable IMO. If we ran a 4-3 and kept him in the 270 lb range, then fine...... but not as a 3-4 297 lb project.
Merling actually grades out as well as Langford in 08 and 09 per PFF, and Soliai was in the same situation at this time last season, all but written off with Starks switching to NT, and it woke him up, he shed the weight and had a great yr...why not Merling?
I suspect they would like Merling to play a Ratliff style NT Deej, a penetrating NT who weighs about 310 or so.
This team needs to lock up Wake before its to late. Pay him now before he goes off on a sack rampage where he will deserve 'break the bank' money.
Agreed. Sign Wake now and save a huge mess this offseason. As far as Merling I cant help but think we need to dangle him or Starks out in front of teams that are DL hungry (Cle, Den) and see what compensation we could net.
I agree with locking up Wake ASAP. I knew he would be a beat for us. I imagine Padre was one of the only other posters who knew what Wake could do because of his love of the CFL. BTW, sorry about your Lions Padre, it's gonna be a long season.
I'am not sure how he can do that if this report is accurate 28 lbs?, is this report serious or is that a typo?, how come I haven't heard one report on this from someone who has watched practice.?
The last I heard of Phil Merling, prior to this blurb, he was being tried out at NT, but that was 3-5 days ago, and on Twitter. But it does make some sense, Merling v Fields for the backup NT role, but Merling as a DT in the nickel is interesting to me at least.
I actually wrote a little note on my pad but didn't type it up wondering who the DL was that was rumored to have gained a bunch of weight in the off-season because it clearly wasn't Merling. Wouldn't have pegged him at losing that much weight though, unless he was like 310-320.
Good point. Cincy drafted him as a DE though right? (not that this matters b/c he obviously would've been worth the risk regardless). Do the Bungals get that little respect that Smith couldn't have received a Pro Bowl appearance before going to SanFran?
right...I'am confused. One thing I'am not confused about is that I have always been against him dropping weight to play outside linebacker..My projection has always been that he just needs to train the weight he had on him and flip the fat ratio around a bit.
Yeah, they did, but he was a much smaller 4-3 DE his whole career. He was drafted at like 270 if I remember correctly. He got franchise tagged one year, but he wasn't the same kind of player.
