Free Agency Thread? Free Agency Thread.

He was the last one I can remember though I feel like James Harrison got pressed into doing it for the Steelers a few years back in an emergency scenario and snapped one over the punter's head for a safety.

I believe Jason Taylor was also Miami's emergency LS in case John Denney ever got hurt. Guess it's good to have someone who can fill in if need be.

 

Free agency doesn't begin until March 12? Snooze city.

It feels like throwing figurative darts at a figurative target while wearing a figurative blindfold. I hate this time of year.

I just hope we can get another pre-vet Montana linebacker to make up for it.

 

That's my thought. Geno Atkins is fantastic, but I think Dorsey could adequately replace Randy Starks. Though, having seen some of Sharrif Floyd's tape I'd be more apt to just draft Floyd outright. That is dependent upon what happens with the receiver situation in free agency. But, I wouldn't say anything bad at all if Ireland somehow got Floyd, if he even lasts until 12, and traded back into the 1st for Cordarrelle Patterson.

 

Can't speak to Mike Jenkins, but with regard to Dorsey; is that something that is scheme-wise? Or has he just not lived up to expectations with his play?

 

Fair enough. What are your thoughts on Sharrif Floyd? I know alen and Boomer like him. He seems pretty intriguing to me to try and fill the role of Randy Starks if they don't bring him back.

 

Am I wrong to say that I see more of a diverse game in Richardson then Floyd.?

 

For me it comes down to sacrificing some size and power for more agility and speed, there's more in the repertoire in terms of football movement with Sheldon imo, more pass rush potential, and besides we have Solai under contract..why do we need Floyd?

 

How are you thinking about him, and what scenarios have to take place for him to make sense at 12?, over a guy who can play all three downs and potentially play all positions along the Dline.?

 

I won't speak for Chris, but to me from what I've seen, he'd be a direct replacement for Randy Starks at the 3-technique DT spot. He's explosive and very athletic for a man his size; more so than Starks who is of comparable size. I think if you let Starks walk, Floyd would replace him nicely.

 

I agree. Richardson strikes me as someone who would essentially replace Jared Odrick in Miami's defense in terms of how they used him last year. I don't know if spending the 12th overall pick on someone to fill that ideal. If it were a pure, pass-rushing DE or OLB, yeah, I'd be on board. But when you could get a guy like Datone Jones or Malliciah Goodman later on to do what Odrick does. And if that's really how Miami intends on using someone at Odrick's position, then I don't know if there's a great rush to replace Odrick just yet.

 

So your keeping odrick outside then to play opposite wake..I don't understand why we're talking about Floyd when there's no potential for him to play outside..

We're assuming we're getting rid of Starks and not moving Odrick inside.

 

Yes, that'd be my assumption based on what Kevin Coyle has said about Odrick. I think Floyd's a better inside player than Odrick, so why move him? You'd have a D-line of Odrick, Soliai, Floyd, and Wake, from right to left in the base packages. When you go nickel, you can kick Odrick inside with Floyd and have Vernon, Shelby, or Misi play as a Nickel DE. Perhaps Josh Kaddu gets some looks there as well.

Floyd would assume Randy Starks' role of being a 3-down DT while you can leave Paul Soliai as a 2-down run-stopper. Kheeston Randall would be your rotational guy as he was last year at the beginning of the season. Tony McDaniel took that on more as the season progressed, but I don't think he's likely to be back.

 

I don't think you try and turn Dorsey into what everyone thought he was coming out of college, you go with what he's been able to do as a professional. He's a quite good run defender, double down on that. Let him gain weight and turn him into a 2-down run defender, it's what he already is now.

A lot of great giant space eaters weren't drafted as such, they grew into it in more than one way.

 

Going between Kevin Coyle and Jeff Ireland's observed preferences, I think there is going to be a pretty big overlap between the 3-technique and Odrick's DE position in this defense. They're going to be 3-4 DE style guys, and if one ends up looking better at one position than the other it's a bit interchangeable. It's like when Saban took over, they signed Vonnie Holliday to be the 5-technique and Kevin Carter to be the 3-technique, and they ended up switching them.

 

What does everyone think of Brandon Gibson who is reportedly not returning to the STL Rams

 

so under the assumption we don't sign Starks and don't move Odrick, you think we need two 0 technique payers in Solai and Floyd?, that seems like nose guard overload, don't you want a penetrator to play alongside Solai who has flexibility to move outside as well?

 

Def worth bringing in to check out at least.

 

I like him and apprently the Rams are close to the cap already. Thats why Jackson will not be a Ram in 2013 unless he accepts far less then the 7 million he is projected to make. Brandon Gibson had a rough start as a rookie 2009-2010, but he has come on pretty good. Holds onto the ball too.

 

Soliai would be the 1 technique and Floyd would be the 3 technique (what Randy Starks played last year). I'd say that one of Floyd's best strengths is his ability to penetrate and be disruptive, much like Starks was for the first 2/3 of last year.

Also, I'm not sure why you'd be looking for an interior player who would move outside? Generally players reduce down and play inside, like Odrick. He's a DE in the base packages and moves inside in nickel and pass-rushing situations. I think Kevin Coyle wants to have a big, run-stopping DE like Odrick in his base packages, but he's flexible enough to allow Miami to get Olivier Vernon and/or Derrick Shelby on the field because he can move inside in pass-rush situations.

I think Floyd could play the 5 technique end spot that Jared Odrick plays, but why would you want him to? He's better inside, and as Disgustipate said, the positions are somewhat interchangeable. It's almost like you could view Miami's current defense as a shifted 3-4, just that Cameron Wake's playing on the line with his hand in the dirt. You'd have Odrick, Soliai, and Floyd as your front three guys, with Misi and Wake on the outside (though Wake's on the line with his hand in the dirt) and Dansby and Burnett are your inside guys. It's a 4-3 Under defense, similar to what Saban had here, but due to Wake's propensity to rush from the defense's left side, it looks more like a 4-3 Over shift.

Miami's got three big guys on the line and a pass-rusher in Wake, but based on Koa Misi lining up wide, and sometimes away from the TE side, it looks funky (and probably why a lot of the beat writers were up in arms about Burnett being the SAM LB last training camp, even though he's playing more like a WILL LB).

 

Have you considered the possibility that Kevin Coyle's opinion on this matter is a bit weightier than your own and Armando Salguero's?

He explicitly said he likes Odrick at DE, and there is pretty clearly the same prototype in the defense in Cincinnati. Maybe some of the differences in our personnel package/defensive fronts means they'd be willing to make a switch, but at a certain point the writing is pretty well on the wall here.

 

I don't want Floyd playing the 5, Im talking about Richardson, he could play the outside in the base and move inside on passing situations.

 

As long as we're gonna continue to use a hybrid type rush LB, we're likely to continue employing a bigger 3-4 type right end rather than a traditional 4-3 end, no?

Personally, I'd LOVE to have that end be Ziggy Ansah who's stout enough to play the role but has significantly greater speed, athleticism, and playmaking ability than a typical 34 end. Ansah might not be a great edge rusher at the moment but he's one of the few 3-4 capable ends who can also line up at 7 or 9 technique and apply more pressure than the average 4-3 end. I can easily see Ansah becoming one of the top pass rushing 3-4 type ends behind JJ Watt but better than Calais Campbell.

 

I'm getting a bit lost in this debate, were speculating under assumptions, like you, I feel getting the best out of our former #1 pick would be to move him to dtackle next to Solai, let him penetrate and use his number one asset, his hands on guards, but that means we would need to get rid of Starks, and if that's the case, I would rather have Richardson replace Odrick then keeping Odrick out there and drafting Floyd to play next to Solai..

 

Ok for a moment lets say that we are happy with Odrick on the outside, and we resign Starks, then there is no reason to draft Sheldon or FLoyd..

Speculation has now begun to drive me crazy, why are we even talking about D'ends all offseason when were probabaly gonna resign Starks..

If we don't sign Starks, then we would need to replace that, for me that player would be Richardson over Floyd for versatility reasons, and the fact that Solai is on the roster..

 

The weird thing with Misi is that he's an true OLB in the base defense that sometimes plays a rush position in passing downs. They don't really have that OLB position blitz much, and it was the same with Manny Lawson strangely enough.

 

How did you get that from my post? Floyd would be a 3 Technique. He'd be the direct replacement for Randy Starks.

As far as Richardson, I'd rather have Floyd playing the 3 than Jared Odrick playing the 3. I'm not sure I see a fit for Sheldon Richardson in Miami's defense...unless they get rid of Jared Odrick between now and the draft. But I think that's unlikely.

 

That is weird. I can't remember fully but don't we sometimes blitz his B & C gap with Dansby or Jones?

 

Some testy $hit going on around here.
The 13' season needs to start a few months earlier, IMO

 

Again, he's explicitly said he likes Odrick at DE, and there really isn't a lot of reason not to take him at his word. Odrick's playing the same role in the same defense as Jonathan Fanene and others did in Cincinatti, and guys like Odrick at DE aren't at all rare.