Not really. In pre-draft testing, Carroll was virtually identical to Davis in almost every measurement and drill, except bench press, where Carroll was still pretty respectable. Marshall was a little lighter and not quite as strong, but was pretty equivalent in all other respects. And it looks like Marshall has added a lot of bulk/strength since college. Vontae is not a much better athlete than Marshall or Carroll.
Marshall is absolutely stronger than Nolan Carrol. Carrol is a physical monster, though. 6'1, 205 lbs, 4.39 speed.
Carroll or Marshall, it really doesn't matter. Neither of these players are the type of secondary players the Dolphins should be looking at to build their future defense around. The reality is that the Dolphins were ranked 27th in pass defense going into their bye weeks. This low ranking was built against teams which are not considered strong passing teams in the NFL. Other than perhaps the Texans, not a single team the Dolphins have played so far has a dominant passing game, yet there are only 5 teams in the entire NFL which are ranked below the Dolphins in pass defense. I think the only keepers long term for the secondary are Smith and Jones. Every other player in the secondary should be replaced over the next two years. The Dolphins will not be a top tier team in the NFL until they have impact players in their secondary. Carroll is playing better right now then his did in his previous years with the Dolphins. Of course he was simply awful before, so him now being very average just seems to be a major improvement for him. I have always thought that signing Marshall for the type of money they paid him was a mistake by Ireland. Nothing I have seen from Marshall so far in the regular season has shown me that I was wrong in my judgement of him. The secondary is the major weakness on this team right now and it will continue to be the major weakness until better players are brought in to replace Carroll, Marshall, Wilson, and Clemons.
I do not agree about Carroll. I think he is a fine 5th/6th cornerback. It is not like you can replace everyone with pro bowl players. If Miami could keep him for around $1 million a year, they should keep him for that amount.
You're basically advocating the same thing he is if you think Carroll should be a 5th or 6th corner. I don't think we even have a 6th corner, and a 5th corner isn't likely to get many snaps unless someone is injured. There are teams this year whose 4th corner has 6 snaps. Demoting a rookie contract player who is performing well as a starter/Nickel to barely there or off the roster is not really a luxury you're going to court, and it's not all that likely an outcome of good utilization of resources.
I like what I've seen from Carroll the last couple of weeks and thought he had his best game vs STL. Coach Coyle seems to be a big fan of the trail technique. Early in the season, Carroll was way too close and drew a couple of PI penalties when the WR stopped and he ran into them. His angles are much better now.
I wonder how many of those"bad" passing defenses have dominant run defenses. iMO, the passing yards are inflated because teams abandon the run and have to pass against us.
The pass defense is ranked 9th in passer rating allowed. It is 6th in completion percentage allowed. It is #1 in 3rd down conversion percentage allowed. Those are all signs of a good pass defense. That 27th ranking in passing yards is largely because the Dolphins run defense has been so good and teams haven't been running against them. If you are concluding the secondary is terrible based on passing yards allowed, you are missing the boat.
But that's got him as what, your Nickel corner? It's pretty difficult to see a situation where Nolan Carroll doesn't have a substantive role if he's playing like he has been playing. I'm all for swapping around whatever to find more ball skills or what have you, but you've either got to be lucky or make some questionable decisions in terms of resource allocation.
IMO yards is one of the most useless measures for an offense or defense. I don't even consider a yards ranking when looking at how good or bad a team is.
talking about other players in the secondary...chris clemmons apparently shed his dreads..finally !!!
Why not? It indicates being able to control the ball a little. Yeah points are what counts, but high yardage means a team isn't a 3 and outer, no?
Yds allowed can be useful when its used in context with the other stats. But saying the defense is bad bc of one stat is misleading.
From what I see Vontae doing (or rather NOT doing) at Indy, this FO made a good decision. Vontae has the physical talent and abilities, but not the maturity or intelligence. Whomever we ultimately replace VD with I expect it to be a positive for our secondary. I like Vontae, and was pulling for him to learn, grow and develop into a top-tier CB, but his reaction to Ireland about the trade "I want to speak to my Grandma" just sealed that deal for me. We made the right move IMHO. At that position, talent & physical skills are only about 60% of the formula for success. Vontae was/is missing the remaining 40% and we needed to move on, so I am pleased Irish got value for him in the way of a 2nd round pick from a team that looks to be a top ten or even top 5 pick. JMVHO
