That's not what it seemed like, but without seeing the full quote, I don't know. And the overall problem with this is that we don;t have a great draft foundation to build on, which is why Ireland's continued employment is so maddening. 2008 draft is likely to be completely gone. 2009 draft could be completely gone depending no what happens with Smith and Hartline. 2010 was a major dissapointment and 2011 was a disaster outside of Pouncey.
How dare you apply common sense and rational thinking to a subject like Stephen Ross and the Dolphins.
Well, most owners don't have these types of press conferences following a season. Ross probably felt he ahd to given the widespread dissatisfactino with the team, the decision to keep Ireland, etc. So one would've expected that he would have been more bullish on free agency given that the purpose of the PC was to keep the wolves at bay for awhile and throw the fans some red meat. If all he was going to say was "be patient as we build through the draft", he shouldn't have done the PC at all
The main thing he needed to talk about: 1. The direction of the team and how they see themselves going into free agency (aggressive or non-agressive) 2. The stadium and what will be done to improve it, what is needed to land Super Bowl L and what this means for the fans 3. Where does Ireland stand and is this a make or break year for him Sounds like he slightly touched on 1, totally avoided 2, and grazed 3.
There were certainly no specific ultimatums, but he did say that he expects to be in the playoffs next year. So that's something at least. And it's a reasonable goal. In the aFC, you don't have to go 11-5 to get in.
2010 was a major disappointment? We walked out with Odrick, Misi, and Reshard Jones. A Pro Bowl caliber player and 2 solid starters with continuing upside. That's pretty good for any draft class IMO, although you and I may have different standards as to what a good draft consists of.
The 2010 draft produced 4 starters. 3 of them being on one of the better defenses in the league. 2011 is still too early to draw a conclusion on.
Then he would have been criticized for "hiding" and not showing his face. Communication with the fans is important, even if it isn't exactly what the fans want to hear.
Odrick and Misi are average players in this league. I'm on record as hating the trade down at the time, and I hate it now. If we had walked out of that draft with Earl Thomas and Reshad Jones, then you'd be talking. But don;t give me Odrick and Misi. Misi was picked two spots before Gronk.
2011 is Pouncey and....? Daniel Thomas a major dissapointment. Clyde Gates, gone. Charles Clay hasn't developed and is now coming off a major injury. Who am I missing?
People said the same thing about Jones last year. Look what happened this year. The 2011 class may not turn out well but you need to wait until after next season to draw a conclusion. And Odrick and Misi are better than average.
Based on what? Both are JAGs. Misi in particular has joined a long line of Dolphins outside LBers like Derrick Rodgers, Morlon Greenwood and Donnie Spragan who seem okay, are serviceable, yet don't make a play of note. In short, both are fine guys to have on a team, but neither has had the impact that earl Thomas or JPP or even dez Bryant would have had. In that way, the draft was a major dissapointment, to me at least.
I honestly think most objective evaluators of talent would disagree. I think average is a perfect description for both of those guys. And while Odrick is a good player who I'm a pretty big fan of, his pick in that spot was below average, IMHO considering team needs at the time.
Odrick is pretty good, and he we simply had the 28th pick, he would've been a reasonable pick. But we traded down, passed up 3 elite talents in order to recoup a 2nd round pick that turned into Misi. So, not only did we pass on the elite talents by trading down, we then made a bad pick in the 2nd round on top of it.
Well I didnt hear and really don't intend to, but yes I would agree. At least say that they will be looking at all of their options, including FA
Sure, with hindsight you can go back and take Gronk over Misi. But you act like getting 2 good starters plus a Pro Bowl player in 1 draft is below average results for a draft class. That just isn't true.
The 1st part is up. http://www.miamidolphins.com/media/...a-Part-1/a251cc78-9e05-4e99-8c13-0ed75b9ac83b
This whole press conference is totally uninteresting to me. He already made his decision on Ireland, so that alone dictated everything he was going to say. Although I did find the individual arguments interesting in that there were so many glaring holes in them. Regardless he might as well not have had the press conference. Nothing revealed in it was not easily predictable.
What Pro Bowl player did we get, or are you counting Jones who didn't actually make the Pro Bowl? And yeah, it's not a good draft when you draft two average players over one excellent player. Not to me.
Precisely. Ross should know that wolves are too stupid and ignorant to realize that winning franchises are built through the draft, not FA. Ross: "Hey fans, after a decade and a half of trying quick fixes that failed miserably we're going to do things right this time. It won't happen overnight but we're trying to bring a consistent contender not some smoke and mirrors to get ticket sales back up again..." Wolves: "BOOOOOOOOO!!! GTFOH- We'd rather lose and demand people be fired annually than do what it takes to build a winner. Bring us Ireland's head. And then Sherman's. And then Philbin's. And then yours."
I said Pro Bowl "caliber" player the first time, I meant to do it here as well but left it out. However, whether he actually won the vote is unrelated to the caliber of his actual play. Jones was one of the best safeties in the NFL this year, not just the AFC. So, I'm going to judge the pick based on how well the player plays... not based on how well he is recognized for that play. And I agree that 1 excellent player > 2 average players. I never said different. I said: 1 excellent player + 2 solid players > the average NFL draft class for any team If you believe differently, you're not viewing the draft realistically in terms of the probability of hitting on a draft pick.
I didn't hear the PC with Ross but FA can be very big for a team as can be proven by a few players. Johnny Unitas, Kurt Warner, Warren Moon, Drew Brees, and now Peyton Manning. There have been other free agents who have impacted their teams by different degrees and Cameron Wake is proof right in our own back yard. You can't build a team through free agency but you can certainly make a big impact with one. I guess the biggest question out of all of this is how much of your draft has to be successful in order to make your team a success.
Yes, but you're giving Ireland more credit for trading down for two solid players than for staying where he was and getting one excellent player. Obviously hindsight is 20/20, but I find it very hard to believe that the Dolphins didn;t have Earl Thomas and JPP rated higher than Odrick, but they chose to bypass those two for quantity over quality. And I just simply disagree with that philosophy even if the result was getting two average to solid players.
You can watch it here: http://www.miamidolphins.com/media/...a-Part-2/3c682b7b-1187-42b1-bd82-f3b3e8c568f2 That is Part 2 and Part 1 is listed below it. Funny part when his cell phone goes off. Ross still uses a Blackberry (dying breed) and his ringtone is the Michigan fight song.