Slaton has some potential but I dont believe he was ever as good as his rookie year would indicate he actually was. Agree with you about gates.
I see where you're coming from on Sean Smith and I actually agree with you, I am not down on him as a corner. I just think that he might be a better safety. Will Allen has been a good corner throughout his career, but he's never been a GREAT one. I see Sean Smith's career at corner as possibly the same. I think he's good, he'll keep getting a little better, he'll be a valid starter for a long time, but he might never be great. I just think there's a possibility now that he's got some skins on the wall, that he could be a better safety than he is a corner. And you mention the communication, I think at safety he is a guy that could IMPROVE that secondary communication. He's a very smart player.
About as misleading a stat as there is. That is because he is leading the league in total returns but his average per return pretty much blows at 22.1 per and 26th in the league. Not particularly flashy at all.
And as I've said, YPA does not matter as much as impact plays, he has had 1 of them. What the total yds means debatable, I like having a player who can get 2,000 all purpose yds, and I note he has not lost the ball.
Well, Slaton also had a neck problem that led to a fumbling problem, add Arian Foster and Ben Tate and he became expendable. For us, I see him as a slashing type of back with more speed then DTrain.
There are guys, R Hill comes to mind, who do not have great talent in doing anything. Yet, they make the secondary and team much better because they are able to get everyone in the position they should be in. This is not an easy thing to do, and should not have been asked of Jones. He is somewhat like Bell, a sure tackler but, with a nose for the ball. Bell just wants to play, and has no desire or ability to be the QB of the secondary. I see Jones as a possible better version. Smith, as you say, is someone who can do this but, is better as a CB. Wilson is as intelligent, if not more so. Few fans appreciate what it takes to QB the secondary. It is a thankless job but, soo very important. Clemons was somewhat like Hill. We have given up more big plays in 4 games than all of last year, and it's not the ability to cover. It is the ability to be in the right place at the right time.
Yessir, and here is where Sparano and the Staff are failing, it is clear as a sunny day Jones is lost as a FS, he simply does not have the head for it, and yet they trot him out onto the field expecting a different result? One of the things I did not like about Lost Jones is he spent his offseason at the playboy mansion in Miami, he's a young dude, I get that, but it seems to me he lacks the dedictaion it takes to be even passable, he is officially my most "hated" Dolphin, he has supplanted Pat Cobbs, if not for him Colombo would be in the #1 slot. Colombo was so bad, the Chargers broadcasters were talking smack about him, and yet, there is coach fist pump trotting him out there like nothing happened, like he has not been bad most of the yr, like he has not acted like a turnstill. This bye week, and what the lineup looks like vs the Jest on MNF, will pretty much define Sparano's time in Miami, this was his one chance to regroup and repproach what they have been doing, if we see the same crappy azz players starting, I'm willing to then write him off. Never thought I'd say that, but it has come to it, he will have went all in on guys who did not deserve to be gone all in on which is career death for a coach, and betrays the first principles of what Parcells tried to do, namely "best player plays".
But still, the more return yds generally mean we're receiving more kicks and inflates those #s. punt returns are totally opposite in that the more the better. I would love to kick off only once per game while fielding 7 or 8 punts per game. That would be some serious *** kicking we're doing then !!!
I think we talked about this during the lockout Padre. Jones "was" a sure tackler, nose for the ball, and can come off the edge to rush the QB. Now, I'm seeing this poor kid miss tackles, never happened, and getting lost in coverage because he is worried about the others in the secondary. He is no where near as bad as some now make him out to be. He was just not put where he should have been put, and I can't blame the coaches enough. I'm hoping the kid can maintain confidence, and live through it.
No sir, he has crossed the great "he sucks" Rubicon for me, I want no part of him on the field, on the team, anything.
Well I tend to agree, to a point, this is what I do not understand, we have Clemons, we have Davis coming back, but will they play Clemons? Moore has been here through the actual install, but which way they go, running game or continue to throw the ball, will determine our fate imo. Matt Moore chucking the rock 40 plus times per game, behind this Oline? He won't last the season imo.
As a CB he's only asked to tackle RBs and TE's a few times per game. At safety he could be doing it a couple times per series. Safeties don't have the sideline to help them like CBs do and of if a safety misses a tackle there wont be anyone there to clean up the mess. Needless to say his tackling issues would be a lot more magnified. Leave him at DB. Put him in a press man/trail technique & give him some safety help over the top. There won't be many QBs/WRs who can fit a ball over him without the safety getting there to break it up.
I agree with you there, except I'd put Dansby at Will in the 4-3 and Misi at Sam. Burnett would be relegated to reserve status.
I agree with you. If we were going to move a CB to FS, I'd move Davis before Smith, because he is more physical and faster. Seems to me a lot of guys think of Smith as one to move because he is so tall.
He is not #1. He is the 3rd ranked center and the 3rd ranked run blocking C. Chris Myers of Houston is far and away their #1 C and Scott Wells is #2. Who said Pouncey was ranked 1st by them?
We have played a lot of zone this year, and I have no idea why. Nolan said it was because of match ups but our CBs are not zone coverage guys. I think the TON of big plays bear me out. It's hard to believe how many times the secondary has been out of position. How many plays have we seen where the WR was more concerned about the QB's throw than being covered?
Sean Smith's tackling is not suited for Safety at all. Most of his tackles come from a 2-5 yard short burst within his man. They don't come when he's striding from across the field to make a tackle. When he has done that, it hasn't ended well. Sean Smith on top of that gets stiff armed to no end by the majority of the running backs. Being 6'4 and not that physical tends to make him a target. He definitely has the ball skills and could snag a bunch of interceptions, but he could also be a bad choice for last line of defense as his tackling isn't bad, but nowhere near what it needs to be for safety. As a corner, he's actually in the upper echelon for tackling.
The man is 25 years old, with a body of an 19 year old, haven't seen enough to even make an assessment, 1 thing I do like is his nature on the field, I see some some fire, which I didn't expect considering his calm and very humble off the field demeanor.
So out of all the different facets of the game of professional football, those are our positives? Yikes.....
This is one of those use the stats to make it sound good when in fact its not. http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/thedailydolphin/2011/10/12/miami-dolphins-0-4-start-by-the-numbers/ A lot of interesting stats in this article.
17.2 – Points per game scored by the Dolphins, 29th-best in the NFL. Last year the Dolphins averaged 17.1 points, 30th-best. Woo-hoo! we're improving. One stat in particular that was really disappointing was the 0 sacks by our D-line. Our LBs (other than Burnett) are providing about the amount of pass pressure I expected, butI expected the D-line to provide much more pressure than they have.
