http://espn760.com/blogs/dolphins.php?action=blog&post_id=3229 Alright, more then likely not a household name among Dolphins fans but he is generally a straight shooter, sometimes infected with the immaturity that marks Dolphins writers, but for a radio host (ESPN 760) he does have a good eye for this stuff.
Just to burst you and Todd's bubble and down your chubbies, Lex Hilliard played exclusively against the second and third team defense. I think mostly third.
It's disgusting how badly we seem to neglect the TE spot. Instead of John Jerry we could have Jimmy Graham.
I agree, it is too early to anoint Lex as the next Norm Bulaich, or even Don Nottingham. Tony seems to have a lot of faith in him, so let's hope he is right. As for LaVicka, I'd listen to him as an unbiased source over Mando or Omar.
If anything I prefer a team to have blocking TEs and one specialty guy like a Clay in order to feature our quality WRs.
So you're installing a new offence, with only player organized off-season OTA's, and there is a question why the QB looks more comfortable running the O after a week of practice? I just don't get the current state of sports journalism. I don't know enough about Ken to say if he is doing this, but my biggest peeve is that the majority of them think they're in the analysis business. They make a decision something and then skew their factual reporting to support what ever BS they've come up with. I'm looking at you newspaper Dolphin beat reporters. With the possible exception of Hyde.
Yes. YES. We need elite cornerback play so badly. If Vontae can play the full season the way he played last September, we are set at that spot for a decade.
That was who he reminds me of a bit Mr C, Shula after the halycon days and prior to the early 80's runs, used to have do it all kinds of backs on his squad, Bulaich, Nottingham, Malone, later on with Parmalee. That review is hardly non biased Mr C, he admittedly disliked the Bush acquisition before the man ever played in a scrimmage let alone in a preseason game, I do think he tries to be a bit to realistic to the point of being overly negative. Reggie Bush can run away from 95% of the linebackers in the NFL and creates mismatches? Who knew?
Don't confuse being unbiased with being upfront about biases. Armando and Omar absolutely are biased. Omar is semi-open about it (he hates QBs but has only said it a handful of times) while Armando… well, high-five.
Thing with Lex, as mentioned before, he just runs too damn high. He is a solid dude, if he dropped his shoulders on regular basis, he got truck some fools, but he runs almost standing straight up. When I was at practice, I made sure I watched him....I can't understand why does he do it? Im sure coaches have said something to him about it.
Again with the Fasano disrespect. Seemed to get enough action the prior practices. Just goes to show that folks are all wrapped up in stats over actual team production. Especially after watching people drool for a guy who got $17 million guaranteed for 100 more receiving yards then Fasano, dropped more passes and is half the blocker Fasano is.
Perhaps the most noteworthy observation While he cautions that we shouldn't read too much into that yet, it is absolutely worth discussing. Why would the coaches have JT working ahead of Misi? Possibilities include.... Misi has underwhelmed. Taylor is just better. Misi already knows the system and they want to get Taylor the work. Ideally, a 37-year old JT is not a full-time, in-the-box player. So if they truly envision him as the starter, you would think Misi would still rotate in heavily. If one of the goals is for JT to be the 'other' end in nickel, he's certainly going to have to be spelled. Armando also chimed in a bit follow today's festivities. It's really interesting to me. And I'm not sure that I'd buy #3 right away. Hopefully KLV asks Sparano about it.
Maybe unbiased was not best choice of words. I mean I would trust his evaluation over Mando or Omar, same as I would trust Jeff Darlington over either. IMO, Jeff is the best of all the local media beat writers covering the Phins.
Agree, I suspect skinny jeans has his eyes on a job with NFLN or ESPN, mando and kelly are more or less Miami area lifers.
Benjamin Watson had a career year last year in Daboll's offense (see link to his stats below). He had the 5th most receptions of any tight end in the league. If the QBs were throwing to the the TEs all the time, everyone would be complaining about not throwing to the WRs and Bush. Let's wait and see what happens in the real games before seeing if they're ignoring anyone or not. http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/5557/benjamin-watson
TBH, the Browns Wr's were just that bad in 2010, Daboll had little choice but to target Watson that often, and Hillis, backup Te Evan Moore had a good yr as well. I know he takes heat for the poor overall finish for the Browns offense, but the reality is they had very little to work with in the skill positions.
I think they want to see what they have with Taylor. It's tough enough finding that out when he's going up against Murtha and Columbo as opposed to Long and Carey. But I think they want to see if he is a guy they can trust on certain downs and in certain situations, and the best way to do that is to throw him out their against the toughest competition they have. If the trend continues, then I'll start to worry about Misi some. But, for now, it's a bit early.
I want to start hearing about a few big plays on special teams. A return TD once in awhile. Our STs will need to be better this year and I haven;t heard much about them so far this camp.
Lex is about as physical of a runner as they come. That being said, he's not quite the solution, helpful though.
Whether that's true or not, we run a lot of 2 TE sets. I don't expect that to change much. That's a lot of pressure to put on Clay. I like what I have heard from him thus far, but there's no doubt that I wish we had done more to solidify the position in years past.
They ran a lot of 2-TE sets in 2008 and 2009, but not a whole lot last season. Our non-Fasano tight ends saw a little over 300 snaps, but more than 50 was with Fasano out week 17, which means it was like 20% of our snaps, and then even then it was probably less given just short-yardage situations in which you can just as likely substitute a Tackle eligible or what have you.
I'd still call that a fair amount. But what caused the drop? Was it by design or was it because we had somehow downgraded from Joey Haynos? All I know is 250 snaps is about 250 snaps more than Mastrud or Shuler should have been on the field last year.
It was probably because they didn't have the player for it. Haynos gets a lot of **** for not producing as a receiver, but he's a pretty good blocker unlike those other two. They might like to use two-TE sets, but they're probably better off using 3-WR base formations given their talent right now.
IMO a receiving TE is one of those mismatch players that gives defenses fits, much like having a Reggie Bush type. Martin filled that role for the Dolphins in '08 and I feel he was one of the reasons that our offense was so much more productive (along with a consistent running game and deep threat WR). Having a seam threatening TE is part of stretching the holes in the defense. You can use a third WR (and should) since running out of a 3-WR set is effective. But against many teams set up to stop the pass you can really punish them by being in a 2-TE set and either running at the them when they expect a pass or beating them with your receiving TE if they load up against the run. Also passes to the TE tend to be easier for the QB since they're generally a bigger target.
I think it's a little bit overblown. I don't think many of the seam-threatening tight ends in the league are really revolutionizing passing games out there. I mean, what exactly is Kellen Winslow, Vernon Davis, Ben Watson, Zach Miller, and for years in San Diego, Antonio Gates doing to lift up the offense beyond their own contributions? Pretty much sweet **** all, for the most part it seems.
I disagree. I think football offense in general has always been about stretching the spaces in the defense and attacking them. The college game and below has also been about mismatches and the NFL is increasingly becoming the same way. TEs are mismatch players. Teams like NE and GB recognize that.
I think the problem is Rafi, Running Backs are no longer used in that role, why that is I could not even guess, but I can recall Faulk and Herschel Walker and Dorsett running seam routes and creating big plays, that has ended and now pining for a Te is en vogue.
It's a real head-scratcher why this regime won't invest more in the TE position. To explain their value seems perplexing to me (I'm looking at you, Disgustipate).
I wouldn't say that about RBs. Bush is being brought in to do exactly that. Forte, McCoy, Sproles are just a few of many backs that teams use as mismatch players in the passing game.
Yes, but to what effect? People are citing this supposed phenomena that a good receiving tight end provides, and I've not seen a whole lot other than mysticism. They can provide mismatches, but so can every other offensive position. If you've got a guy who can't really block with a damn, and even if he's putting up a 1,000 yard reason as a receiving tight end, is that intrinsically more valuable than the 20 or so wide receivers who do that same thing every year?
But not down the seam, the last Dolphins Rb who I can recall running that route was Pat Cobbs as for NFL wide to me, it seems rare, what the reality of that is I do not know, in fact I can recall a Rb lining up at Wr not being rare, now I seem to recall seeing it only rarely, and even then they rarely see the ball. And I mean the "running back" not the "cop running back".
Saddly there isnt a Keith Jackson or Bruse Hardy lurking in the shadows . I wished we had Hunter Goodiwin that man could block or we should have went after Zach Miller.
Because if Fasano gets hurt, we are screwed blue and tattooed if we have to start Schuler or Mastrud at TE. I do not understand the aversion to quality depth at the TE spot.
I agree with you about 1 player not really being able to lift up the offense beyond his own contributions, but at the same time I disagree with the impact a great TE can have. Vernon Davis was well known for his blocking ability before his passing skills really took off, and he's an integral part of that offense. Gore has stated how valuable Vernon is to his rushing success. Gates is a big reason why Rivers was still able to have an outstanding year despite missing Jackson & Ryan Matthews and no more LT. Antonio is the 2nd most important person on that offense and is a big reason why Rivers has so much success downfield to Floyd, Jackson, or whomever else is on the field. Outside of the QB position, I'd argue that Gates is one of the more important offensive players in the league (along with Vernon Davis). The Raiders didn't struggle with their offense (6th in scoring) and #2 ranked ground game (155 YPG, 4.9 avg, 19 TDs) despite mediocre QB play and not much to worry about at WR outside of Jacoby Ford; IMO Miller was a big reason for this success....... and he, Ford, and McFadden complimented each other extremely well. Maybe TEs don't carry their teams per se like an elite Marino'esque QB, but then again----- what other position does? The best running back in the game doesn't lift up his offense beyond his own contributions when the rest of the Vikings' team isn't playing well. DeMarcus Ware led the league in sacks and his Boys finished 6-10. The Steelers' D wouldn't be the Steelers' D if all it had were Polamalu. Baltimore wouldn't have won a SB if Ray Lewis had no one around him. IMO if you have a solid team, a great TE (who has to be accounted for in the passing game) can be an extremely beneficial piece of the puzzle and worth his weight in gold. Look at Peyton Manning 2010--- When Clark went down, Peyton went 2-4 with 13 INTs over the next 6 games. I find that more than coincidental. Pittsburgh has been to 3 SBs with Heath Miller, one of the best TEs in the game. Shannon Sharpe was a big part of the Ravens' SB offense despite 2 different QBs splitting starts. Shannon also won 2 SBs with Elway........ and Elway seemed like a different QB before and after Sharpe arrived. During the 9 seasons before Sharpe burst on the scene, Elway had only 1 season of 20+ TDs and only 1 season with an 80+ QBR. After Shannon, he threw for 22+ TDs 5 times with QBRs of 93, 86, 86, 89, 88, 93. Before Sharpe, Elway had 1 season with a completion percentage over 57%. After Shannon took off, John had 1 season under 57% (with 3 seasons over 61%). And Elway's best season came before Terrell Davis arrived.
