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What a preseason!

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by tirty8, Aug 28, 2022.

  1. tirty8

    tirty8 Well-Known Member

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    Guys, I am your resident Dolphins' critic. I pride myself on giving honest analysis, and if I see that it is raining outside, I will tell you it is raining.

    I honestly cannot remember feeling this optimistic after a preseason. I am bracing my expectations for the first month due to our brutal schedule, but I really, really think that the future is bright.

    I just wanted to touch on a few people that really caught my eye in the preseason.

    McCoachin' - I loved it when we hired him, and the more I watch, the more impressed I am. This really is the scheme for Tua. I remember the Tannehill days where there was just never anyone open. We did not see Waddle at all in the preseason, and we saw a series with Hill - essentially our best players did not play. But what I did see was players open almost every play. These plays developed quickly, and I just kept envisioning Tua's quick release and accuracy. I think that this will only look better. I was worried about the run game early on, but after the Eagles' game, I feel a lot more comfortable.

    Wes Welker - Was there any unit that looked more prepared as a whole than our WR unit? Even the guys that are not as physically talented are running crisp routes and doing the little things like blocking down field. Call it a hunch, but I do not think that Welker will be a Dolphin for long. I think he is gonna be an OC somewhere very soon.

    Erik Ezukanma - I honestly do not think that we would have signed Cedric Wilson if we would have known that we were gonna get Erik in the draft and he would look this good. With as much talent as we have at WR on the field, he is gonna make it hard on the coaches to keep him on the bench.

    River Cracraft - He is an older guy with limited experience, but he sure looks like he knows and understands the system. I don't have a lot of wild superlatives to describe him, but I can say one thing - I trust him out there.

    Skylar Thompson - The golden one. I say this jokingly, but he sure does look good out there. He is gonna make guys in the front office make some difficult decisions.

    Salvon Ahmed - He is another guy that really seems to fit the system. He is good at hitting that hole and turning on the jets. I would not be surprised if he beats out Sony Michel or Myles Gaskin and makes the team.

    Jaelen Phillips - The dude looks explosive. You just see that disruptiveness play in and play out.

    Chris Grier - I have slammed Grier in the past, but I will always tell the truth on this board. The Dolphins were the only team to interview McDaniel, and we made him our head coach. Grier essentially dealt away our entire draft class to land Tyreek Hill and give us one of the best receiving units in the NFL. With what little draft picks he did have, he landed Erik Ezukanma. He then took a player at position that we were set at and drafted Skylar Thompson. I see you, Chris Grier!
     
  2. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    Chris Grier- still a sore subject for me, but I'm starting to see that he might have actually delivered a "perennial playoff contender" after all. This team has really come together and he deserves a good bit of the credit. It pains me to say that because it's one of the few things I've been wrong about...but it is what it is. Him and his staff have an eye for talent and built it around a vision from 3+ years ago.

    Reflecting back, I was FURIOUS when we fired Flores. Solid coach that did a lot with very little. But honestly, I haven't thought about Flores much this past month because his replacement has me pretty excited. McDaniel is very likely the better fit for this team and our QB.

    As for Ross...eh, no comment there. But he did see Grier's vision and despite almost messing it up by tampering at every possible opportunity, we somehow still have this 2022 team that's going to win double-digit games and make noise in the playoffs. It's a beautiful thing that somehow out of all this madness we deliver this team, and Chris Grier deserves the overwhelming majority of the credit. I was dead wrong about him.
     
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  3. Pauly

    Pauly Season Ticket Holder

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    Put me in the wait and see what they do against live NFL opponents camp. Preseason has become a bit of a circus and nothing like what it was even 10 years ago when starters got some legitimate playing time.

    In particular I am still to be convinced that our OL has turned around sufficiently so as to not be a liability. I’m not asking for a reincarnation of the 1991 hogs just yet just something that isn’t a complete embarrassment. The McDaniel/Shanaham system keys off the run game and if our run game can be shut down because of the OL then our offense might not reach the heights that preseason suggests.

    I was worried that Tyreek would join the line of overpaid underperforming big name WRs from Dolphin’s history. I am now confident he’s going to play at pro-bowl+ kind of level.

    I wasn’t sad to see Flores go. I could have been on board with the Dolphins retaining him, but the disaster of the OL last year and the twin OC debacle had me very skeptical of his ability to be more than a DC. Apart from the OL I’ve been content with Grier as GM, and we’ll see this year if the OL woes have been coach centric or talent centric, with my belief being that the coaching has been so bad we can’t tell what level of talent we have.

    Anyways it’s better to have a positive pre-season vibe than what’s coming out of Foxboro this year, but no one has even qualified for the Superbowl based on how they played in August.
     
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  4. dolphin25

    dolphin25 Well-Known Member

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    I'm excited.
     
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  5. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    One other note- I know it was just preseason, but we blew out the Eagles with our 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th string players. If the guys that will get cut today are showing up like that, then it's a highly competitive locker room with people buying in. Several of our cuts will make a roster somewhere this season due to those 3rd and 4th quarters...and that makes me really happy.

    Preseason or not, this team has a vibe that I haven't felt in decades. There's 7 or 8 men around the ball carrier on every play. There's offensive linemen throwing blocks 10 yards downfield. There's running backs driving through tackles for extra yards...all in preseason where it doesn't really matter. But to our guys, it clearly matters because they're out to make a statement. That means something.

    I know a win is a win, but what we saw the other day was very different than your typical preseason game. Our team dominated from start to finish despite our 1's playing a single series. How you win ABSOLUTELY MATTERS as an organization if you're gearing up for a championship run. And I think we'll be talking about that a few months from now.
     
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  6. MonstBlitz

    MonstBlitz Nobody's Fart Catcher

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    I've been fooled too many times in the PM (Post Marino) years to be fooled into pre-season optimism. But I'm also biased towards pessimism at this stage of my fandom. I hope that those of you who are optimistic end up being right.

    I think I've seen this story before though:

    Tua / Hill: Surround a struggling QB with talent and hope he suddenly starts playing at a franchise QB level; e.g. Henne / Marshall. I hope it works out, but also hope they're ready to quickly move on if Tua doesn't perform this season.

    McDaniels: Get excited about an offensive guru only to realize he can't hack it as an NFL coach; e.g. Philbin, Gase, etc. At least McDaniels can maintain eye contact with the media, so that's something!

    Ross is still the owner, and his buffoonery has only gotten worse. I don't think I'll ever really get excited about a Miami Dolphin team that he owns, because **** rolls down hill and Ross is the ****tiest owner out there.
     
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  7. tirty8

    tirty8 Well-Known Member

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    Lemme tell you, I am the king of "I've seen this story before..." This is NOT the same story.

    The last two offensive gurus were never gurus to begin with. In my mind, they were obvious examples of fool's gold and essentially an example of Ross making the same mistake twice. He undervalued Hall of Fame quarterbacks. With Philbin it was Rodgers and with Gase it was Manning. Both of these guys were on loaded teams and did very well. I would go as far as to say that most OCs in this position would succeed.

    I have always thought that the best way to evaluate coaching talent is to look for the guys doing a lot with a little. McCoachin' was rolling with Jimmy G. Running backs that I have never heard of became household names in SF. Realistically, he had good offensive linemen and Kittle - Deebo really came on last year. Just to give you an idea about what others think of Jimmy G, any team that wants him could have him right now...

    Think about every other year that you have had false hope. Almost always, we had incredibly high expectations for a FA or a draft pick to be a star. For how long have we been at the mercy of Parker staying healthy. Guys like Preston Williams had to work because there were no other options. How many times were we one injury away from a nightmare at a position group.

    Now think about how deep we are. How many WRs, TEs, and RBs currently on the team would you feel comfortable with starting? My answer. A lot.

    Even think about QB. I don't think that we have a QB on our roster not capable of wining games.

    You bring up the uncertainty with Tua, and I think that is fair. I really think he is the reason that I am not saying we are real contenders for the SB. The last few seasons were not what we hoped, but he had legitimate excuses. We are gonna see shortly. I really do think that this is his last chance because there are many, many QBs that could win with this team today.

    I really do think he is gonna pan out. This is the right system for him. I implore you to rewatch any game. I don't care if Tua is in or out. Watch how quickly WRs are getting open. Tua's best quality is his quick release. I kept watching these preseason games thinking to myself, "Tua hits that guy every time."
     
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  8. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    team looks prepared and disciplined.

    Tua is getting back to his 7th step a lil different, quicker

    Misdirection on every play, play action on every pass, boots to both sides, make great athletes hesitate and you win

    This coach is so conscientous of everything little damn things its amazing..

    hope Boyer knows how to call and has the balls to call the 0 defense, our idenity
     
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  9. The_Dark_Knight

    The_Dark_Knight Defender of the Truth

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    I was thinking the same thing with Boyer. I know our cover zero was used frequently when we were ahead but I think (and hope) with what appears to us having the ability to strike quickly that it’ll be pulled out more frequently.

    I’m cautiously optimistic for this season.
     
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  10. TheHighExhaulted

    TheHighExhaulted Well-Known Member

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    The 11th can't come soon enough. They gave Tua the keys, up to him to drive it home.
     
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  11. MonstBlitz

    MonstBlitz Nobody's Fart Catcher

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    At some point in time the story has to be different. All of us Dolphin fans are either biased towards homerism or biased towards pessimism at this stage. I'm sad that I fall into the latter category now, being a homer was a lot more fun! If Ross wasn't the owner anymore, I think I could be drawn back over to the good side. Either that or a playoff win! Until then I'll be over here being a negative Nancy, but still waiting for the Dolphins to be delivered from mediocrity!
     
  12. tirty8

    tirty8 Well-Known Member

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    Always be skeptical. My dad always told me, hope for the best but plan for the worst.

    Factor in some busts.

    Factor in some injuries.

    I still see paths to victory.

    Think about these last 5 years.... If Parker was hurt, we were immediately in a ton of trouble.

    Suppose Hill gets hurt. We still have Waddle, Wilson, Ezukanma. We can still pound the rock with Edmunds and Raheem.

    This team roster has:

    Plan A
    Plan B
    Plan C
    Plan D
    Plan E
    Plan F

    We are no longer living on and dying based on a handful of prospects.
     
  13. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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    Except for the OL. We're counting on a new LT and C and coaching to transform the league's worst performing OL in both pass and run. And we're counting on neither of those two getting injured. But none of that matters. If anyone does get injured Tua can just ask the opposing DL to count to three before rushing.
     
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  14. tirty8

    tirty8 Well-Known Member

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    That's fair.
     
  15. Serpico Jones

    Serpico Jones Well-Known Member

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    We’ll see. We had a good preseason in 2007 and finished 1-15.
     
  16. The_Dark_Knight

    The_Dark_Knight Defender of the Truth

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    I get your point but Tagovailoa isn’t Trent Green…Teddy Bridgewater isn’t John Beck and Skylar Thompson isn’t Cleo Lemon
     
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  17. Serpico Jones

    Serpico Jones Well-Known Member

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    Trent Green was a two-time pro bowler. I get that he was old when he was here but he was still much more accomplished than Tua.
     
  18. The_Dark_Knight

    The_Dark_Knight Defender of the Truth

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    The key word in your description of Green is “was”
     
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  19. TheHighExhaulted

    TheHighExhaulted Well-Known Member

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    He was a Pro Bowler handing the ball off to Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson, and throwing to a Hall of Fame tight end.

    He barely threw for 4000 yards and 25 touchdown passes in those seasons.
     
  20. Puka-head

    Puka-head My2nd Fav team:___vs Jets Club Member

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    Slightly left of center
    Sure, but there was nothing Trent Green could do that Jay Fiedler couldn't.
     

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