More stuff at the links. http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/01/2194692/analysts-assess-dolphins-draft.html#ixzz1L3usPpaO Bunch a Henne lovers!! Sorry, had to go there. http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/01/v-fullstory/2194921/jeff-ireland-uses-draft-to-fill.html
Seriously, did anyone else get weirded out seeing Mayock and Kiper praising us? I almost feel guilty for liking Gates so much now.
So they're actually going to go into 3 and 4 WR? Holy **** batman we've arrived in 2011. Be great if they can revive the kid's career and make him a good quarterback. Somewhere around Joe Flacco production.
You know the one funny thing about Sparano is that he's probably the only coach in the NFL who will make his team run the ball even out of a spread which is really one of the best formations to run out of with a decisive power back (hint hint). T.P. and I are in shock. I expected a 4.55 WR with a blocking TE running a 4.8 with decent body control. There's a good chance that Gates may in fact be better than Knox.
I have a couple of concerns, one is what if Gates is just another Ted Ginn? True we didn't squander a first round on the guy but great speed doesn't always translate into good football player. My other concern is, who the Hell is going to throw them the ball? I understand Henne has be knighted to be under center this year but we know Henne does not throw an accurate deep ball, so what good is all this speed if it cant be utalize and we play maainly within 10 yards of the line scrimmage?
Mayock has praised us before. He sounded positively orgasmic when talking about Pat White after we took him.
What makes us interesting is we can now run the ball either way, out of the spread (where rb's rack up easy yds) or with power with the traditional formations. BTW, the theory with Henne is the Wr's were not getting enough seperation in 2010 so he couldn't throw deep.
guys remember this is the first time in Ireland's entire LIFE that he has been able to control all the shots of a draft. It was -always- Parcels calling the shots, and he sometimes listened to Ireland, and sometimes did not listen. Or maybe Jerry Jones would step in also. So far, from Ireland's first draft where he is the boss, I love his approach. Good picks. This is Chad Henne's year to make or break his career.
Eh, I kind of feel you on that, but I think if he and Marshall get on the same page (which they were not last year), it could be a very nice combo. Henne has the ability to throw an excellent ball (I've seen the guy on numerous occasions fit it into very tight windows). I am quoting KB in saying that Henne had the highest passer rating on 3rd and 7 or lower. This is very encouraging. But back to the deep ball: I think it's all about getting their timing down. Let's hope they can. The speed could initially just be a facade to help out Marshall. I still think Hartline starts opposite of Marshall with three and four WR sets being utilized a little better. Henne was obviously gun shy last year. He also had a shotty O-line working in front of him (sans Jake Long). Even Incognito played a good turnstile in the movie "Miami's Crappy Pass Blocking: A Documentary". I do not care who the QB is, if he gets hit, he gets a little rattled. I think too much pressure got to Henne last year to produce; esp. with Marshall being brought in. Plus, Marshall has a pretty huge personality, so that might have had a bit of added pressure. Let's see what one more year does for him. I think he could surprise some folks. But I want to see legitimate strides this year.
Besides the picks, which all seem to hit a need, he did not throw out tomorrow on expense of this year. Even if this is a do or die year for Ireland, he had the integrity to keep picks for next year's draft. Also, it seems next year the 1st round picks will be more valuable due possible rookie wage scale.
No one reads it when I say though. lol. What's more impressive than the 117 Rating was the fact that Chad's 1st down conversion % during this time blew every QB's in the league away. I believe Brady was the closest 2nd, and it wasn't even that close IIRC.
Bubble screens baby! Don't forget Marshall is also one of if not the best blocking WRs in the league. I'm pretty sure it is.
Guess who has a back up QB with spread experience? That's right by leaning towards the spread and coming into Thigpen's realm, we just built a QB competition without drafting a qb. Could be fun to watch, and I remember Thigpen lighting up the scoreboard at the end of his days in KC especially against our D even though we won the game....
Well, you can say the same thing about Atlanta then. They paid a bounty to get Julio Jones, which was a foolish move on their part. Who is going to throw them the ball? Before you say Matt Ryan, the guy many Dolphins fans foolishly think we should have drafted instead of Jake Long, take a look at these numbers: Chad Henne - 8 for 38 (21.05%) Matt Ryan - 10 for 45 (22.22%) That is how many completions for attempts each player had on passes that traveled farther than 21 yards in the air. You can even throw Joe Flacco in there. He was 22 of 70 on those passes, though he was much better than both Ryan and Henne at throwing deep. Flacco was 60 for 106 in the 11-20 yard range (56.6%). Chad Henne was 59 of 101 (58.4%) in the 11-20 yard range. Ryan was 78 of 142 (54.9%) in the 11-20 yard range. So, Chad Henne actually shows better accuracy than the other two in the intermediate range. I've been saying for a while that there the two major differences between Chad Henne and Joe Flacco/Matt Ryan are the fact that Flacco/Ryan have organizations that have stood behind them and supported him, and Flacco/Ryan have leaned on much stronger running games than what Chad has had to deal with. My opinion on Henne has always been to build up the running game and then make an evaluation on whether he can do the job or not. Hopefully, Henne will step up and take a leadership role on this team. The fact is, the way this team has been constructed previously with a mediocre line and below average running game, no young quarterback would have success with this team.
after this draft im becoming abundantly confident in Henne. I have to dial it back but damnit i just see a different player than most the people on this board. I see a guy who despite his OC, despite his crap running game, his defense never getting turnovers, his line falling apart in the middle, his wrs dropping passes, despite all of it hes still hovering around .500 as a starter. This offense gets better and he will most certainly improve too.
After watching practically every Florida game he played in I tend to agree. I still don't like the pick and think that his draft stock only rose as high as it did because of what his brother did last year in the NFL and not what he actually did in college. I hope I'm wrong.
Not saying it is for certain, but there is a chance due to the close connection between Gates and Knox that the latter's success has caused the draft pundits to rank his close friend higher.
