And this year we get to play with an VERY unproven RB and no LT. I am not saying all is doom and gloom. We will have to see...but saying we are already a Playoff team because of the Free Agency acquisitions is extremely short-sighted. Sure we gained some players in the offseason, but, we lost some as well. Ryan Tannehill will have to improve, dramatically to be able to feel the pressure from his blind side now. Wallace is a nice shiny fast player, but he doesn't mean jack sqaut if Tannehill is laying on his stomach with the ball still in his hands.....
I once remember some kids at these Dolphin sites years ago who needed some games. I have them all. No need for NFL rewind. Get it.
We are not VERY unproven at RB. Miller played last year and played well, he can do this. We are a little unproven but with a higher ceiling. There's nothing wrong with that. LT is another story, but I can't imagine Martin will regress. At worst he stays the same which will suck, but we can survive it. We didn't just gain players, we gained quality players at needed positions on offense. Plus FA isn't over and the draft hasn't happened yet.
Personally I'm over the Lamar Miller battle. He is our guy now. Utilize his speed get him in space and watch him go. I'll be happy as hell watching 26 run all over opposing defenses.
Ugh. I'm not saying he will get 5 yards a carry this season, I am saying he showed plenty last year that we can certainly be optimistic about RB, instead of acting like we have nothing at the damn position.
Then why did they go out and get him ? He was the same in New Orleans, and it didn't change here. So where did the talent evaluation go wrong ? Hmmmm.....I wonder who is the common evaluation process since he was traded for......?
You do understand the offense changed after Reggie's first year..right? You do understand Reggie had a worse year statistically after that change...right?
"I'll keep repeating this until it sinks in to our entire fanbase, we effectively played pro football with only 2 WRs last year and neither of them are #1s" Lol..
Wait. I thought the debate was whether or not we are a playoff team, not exactly where in the offseason we are? Lets not forget, while there is LOTS of hoopla surrounding Mike Wallace, he is also not without blemishes. He is what he is. I will say this, he is not nearly as good a WR as Brandon Marshall is, and we know how far that got us. I am not saying that Wallace is nearly as big a bonehead or anything, I am just saying, while it looks good on ESPN and there is talk, lets not count our Easter Eggs before we have even set them in dye yet. I guess there is room for optimism, but we need to really just see how this pans out. Once again, we have obviously made some additions. Some "Philbin" additions (Yes I do like Philbin and his approach), but we have also lost some very key personnel. To say we are a playoff caliber team at this juncture is very wreckless IMO
Sigh. Its not an excuse goddamn it, its an explanation. I'm so tired of people like you, who just complain and then when an explanation is given so you actually understand the situation, you'd rather be pissed instead of informed so you pull out the "excuses" bullsh|t. The point of this message board is for discussion, not *****ing regardless of the reasons...that's what the rant forum is for or comment sections after articles on news sites.
all that being said, his issues and instincts sealed his fate mid season last year, thought he would be let go, now we need consistency, downhill instincts, explosive first step off the one cut, some power.. "Tannehill will lead one of the youngest teams in the NFL next season" Correction, I'm pretty sure after the draft, it will be the younGEST..
IMO the term "proven" is a meaningless term. Nobody is "proven" b/c schemes, supporting cast and even health changes from year to year. That's why so many "proven" vets change teams and promptly flop. With regards to Bush/Miller, I would argue that Miller has shown he's a better zone runner than Bush, so who is really more "proven"? Fans get caught up on total yards, but as a scout I always focused more on what plays, players ran best. IMO that is the key to deciding what player is best for your system.
I've clearly stated we are a playoff team right now. I only pointed out the point we are in the offseason to allay some of your concerns. Its like every time I post the argument starts over again. I said: So for you to tell me that Wallace isn't perfect (duh, who is?) or is not as good as Marshall was for us (depends) is silly and has nothing to do with my argument which is again: Wallace consistently scores TDs. That is a major deficiency in our receiving corps. It was a major deficiency in our receiving corps before, after and during Marshall. We are instantly better by adding him and Gibson than a year ago. Instantly. Wreckless? A) I'm a nobody. My expectations have zero bearing on the team. B) We were in the playoff hunt till very late in the season, with an inferior team. At this point, we are better on paper overall this year and the draft hasn't even happened yet. We may have dropped in a position or two, but overall we are better. There is no better reason to be optimistic.
No, no we are not. We are not even better off on paper. Will we be? Maybe. Right now? No. we aren't. Will we be? Perhaps. Just because you keep repeating yourself does not make you correct. Only history will tell us.
Yes we are. The only place we slipped was in LT & CB. That's it. Fasano is not better then Keller for our offense. The LBs we picked up are better for our defense than the ones we let go. Our WRs corp is night and day better. Our QB is no longer a rookie and neither is our HC. We are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better on paper than last year already. I am correct about the 2 WR thing last year. 100% correct.
Bush certainly had his weak spots as an NFL RB, but he was still by far the best offensive weapon the Dolphins had in 2012. He was the only player on the Dolphins offense that opposing defenses had to game plan for on a weekly basis. Miller might be able to fill the Bush role in 2013, but until he shows that he can actually be s starting RB in the NFL, we don't really know if he can be or not. At least with Bush, you knew he was capable of being a starting RB in the NFL. I remember that there were plenty of people on here stating that Thomas would be a good NFL RB after his first year in the NFL. I don't see many people stating that now. Just because the Dolphins brass, "showed Bush the door", doesn't mean they made the right decision. Maybe they did, but we will have a clearer picture of that issue after we see how Miller works out as the teams starting RB.
I think the RT struggles are pretty simple: He had one year of QBing in college and he was a rookie who was still learning! Not much more than that. Don't get all the other worries. I don't think he'll reach his peak until his 5th or 6th season or later (if he hangs in there). Tom Brady was a "cool" QB under pressure but was not nearly as good as he is now in his first 5-6 seasons even though they were winning SBs (They had a better defense then). And I think Philbin hit the nail on the head of what he needs: 1. Continue to improve his decision-making and make faster decisions (the better he knows defenses and his own offense - the more instinctual it is, the more he will make great decisions). - It's like taking a multiple choice test: you can know how to figure out answer and get it right but it may take you a while to get it out and you complete the test in 2 hours. But, if you know the material inside out, that it is second nature, you will give answers very quickly and may finish in 30 minutes. That's what RT has to do. 2. Accuracy in throws. He has to continue to work on this and part of this is knowing his receivers (getting timing right) part of it is his own throwing accuracy and form (good fundamentals); and part of this is confidence (like a shooter in basketball). When you look at Brady, he has absolutely perfect form and throws a near perfect ball. 3. Good in the clutch - when the game is on the line - making the big play. This is all about confidence and the above fundamentals. Confidence goes through all three of these. It's a fragile thing for a QB. I think that's what hurt David Carr at Houston. Had he been with a very good quality team and started out on say, Green Bay with Favre (if he came in at the right time) - he might have been a much better QB. If RT doesn't work hard enough (and he may have to put in an extra couple of hours a day compared to the average NFL QB - stay til 9 instead of 7), he won't make it. If he does and we can protect him and give him weapons, I think he has the basic tools to become a quality QB.
Reggie was boom or bust every week and as the season went on he started making more ridiculous decisions with the ball and missed more holes. Reggie was our best offensive player because our second best was Brian Hartline....which is a complete joke. I have no doubt Lamar Miller can and will run circles around what Reggie did.
My response to this insightful and indepth article expounding on the fact the Miami will lean heavily on their quarterback this season can best be summed up in two words: Well, Duh!!! Talk about taking a bit of fluff and trying to puff it up into a soft pillow upon which to lay your weary head.... Maybe writing takes too much time and research for him. More like he partied hearty the previous night and forgot his deadline!
Sir you have a way of condecending in your manner that is almost unbearable at times. I am fully aware of this team, and its "situations", as I have been following them for longer than you've probably been alive. What you need to do is get your head out of the sand and see what is really going on. We have improved at WR but lost considerable talent on the OLine. That to me is RIGHT NOW a wash, not improvement. Now if they are able to adequately infuse the offensive line with what they lost, it will be a gain. But as of this moment, this team is not an automatic anything other than a promise, that does not make them "an automatic playoff team" as some here have suggested. I have so far tried to be non-personal in my responses. You are the one that chose to bring that element into this discussion, and I hope for one that the moderators see what you have done and punish you accordingly. If you wish to post at a board with mindless Dolphin cheerleading, there are several that you can go to, and join them in their fantasy world of lollipops and rainbows and everything is sugar-coated with Aqua and Orange. But you sir, have no right to berate & belittle me or my opinions, or take this discussion to any sort of a personal level without warning from those responsible here. I trust in their judgement to see things fairly.
Auto correct strikes again! Other issue with THill is ball placement, that to me is the key to his development he has to start hitting guys more consistently in the chest with the ball.
I don't doubt his durability really. I don't see reason to. Being injured once or twice doesn't make you injury prone...and he hasn't had any significant injuries in a good amount of time. If anything he should be very fresh and able to handle a load due to his splitting carries a lot in the past.
No, no we are not. We are better at WR. How much better is yet to be seen, but yes, obviously Wallace is better than Nannobody. We MIGHT be better at TE. We don't know where or what Dustin Keller is. We know he can't block very well... I honestly like the Keller pickup, but would've liked it much more to compliment Fasano. We have ZERO idea where we are at RB. Miller might or might not even last. Can he handle 15-20 carries a game? This is something that will have to be monitored very very well. There is a big reason the kid plummeted in the draft. Maybe it plays in our favor, maybe not. Now then. Jonathan Martin at LT? There is a big reason that Mike Wallace was able to score TD's. That big reason is Ben Rothlisberger. I don't like the guy, I think he is somewhat over-rated as a QB, BUT the truth is, the guy can buy time in the pocket, which he often had to do, and that was with a very solid offensive line. Guess what, we don't have a guy that can stay standing after linebackers bounce off him playing QB, and now we have a serious turnstyle at LT. THAT is going to be tough to overcome, especially without Bush both in blocking and making offenses stay honest. Also, go read some Steeler websites in regards to Mike Wallace. The vast majority of their fans are happy to see the guy go. That might be nothing more than fans upset as how things played out..and then again.......just another question. Don't even get me started on how unproven our upgrade at defense is. We are going to have to wait and see how that pans out as well. Playoffs? Really? Are we talking Playoffs here?
Sigh. You are not fully aware of this team's issues i don't care if you invented football. You *****ed about Bush being a bad pick up and you did so completely ignoring that he was acquired when we had an offense he was perfectly suited for and played excellent in. You called that absolute fact an excuse. That is condescending. Me telling you that you're being ridiculous because of that may also be condescending but at least its rooted in fact. I'm not asking for cheerleading, I'm asking for discussion that makes sense. You are asking for a site where you can ***** and whine without making a cogent point, because apparently to you, all rational explanations are just excuses. We lost one person on the oline by the way, and that person was not playing all that great in this new system anyway.
Not sure why anyone is sad we lost Jake Long. There was absolutely no drop off in production when he sat with his injury. He's injury prone and as you said wasn't playing very well even when he was healthy last season.
Our o-line is awful right now on paper, our secondary is Swiss cheese, our running back is unproven and our quarterback had similar numbers to Chad Henne when he started his first season. Hold off on the playoff talk.
Yes, yes we are. We are significantly better. Wallace and Gibson are worlds better than Nannee and no one. We are better for our offense. Who is more like Finely...Fasano or Keller? How can you keep saying this? Its getting insane. Miller actually played last year...in the NFL...and even racked up 4.9 average. Are we sure? No. But to say ZERO with capital letters makes ZERO sense. I did say we dropped at LT. Tannehill was not the offenses problem last year, it was our receivers. There is no logical reason to think Hartline and Bess who've never scored a lot of TDs regardless of who has thrown to them were not the problem but Tannehill was. As far as your Steeler web site argument...well....if that's valid then losing Long was no big deal because there's people who were glad to see him go for the cost....right? The 2 LBs we picked up are perfect for this defense. Also, do you understand what the phrase "on paper" means? I ask because you are saying we aren't better on paper because we haven't seen them play yet...which means you don't really understand the phrase. Yes. We were close last year and we've significantly improved the team.
Our oline is about the same as it was last year as is our secondary. Neither of those things kept us out of the playoffs last year, our lack of passing TDs was. As far as the the RB thing, well he is more proven than any draft pick we could get, since he's played in the NFL already and carried a 4.9 average. The QB thing....sigh.....
The Bush TRADE (not pick-up he was not a FA), was a bad deal because there was a FA in Darren Sproles that was there for the taking, and didn't involve us having to give up a draft pick, and signed for $ 500,000 less than Reggie signed an extention with us for. That to me is not using your resources the wisest way. You can argue all you want in Bush's favor, but Sproles was the better bargain all around. As for the OLine, if you don't count the loss of Fasano as a loss you are once again with the head in the sand. Fasano was always a better blocker than receiver and getting Keller to replace him is not the offensive panacea you think it is. Keller may make some plays as a receiver that Fasano couldn't make, but right now I don't believe that Keller can even come close to Fasano as a blocker. As for Long, he is a better player in our present system then 9 out of 10 OLinemen in the league just because of his raw athletic talent. No he wasn't best suited for our new system, but that doesn't mean he still wasn't an above average OLineman, and possibly still our best OLineman, and that's including Pouncy.
I like Tannehill but we just don't really know about him yet. There were plenty of head scratching moments from him last year. I don't think Jonathan Martin can play left tackle...I'm not even sure he can play right tackle. Our starting corners are Dimitri Patterson and the immortal Richard Marshall...yikes.
Se my post above.....Long was still our best OLineman even when the system didn't suit him best, he was that good (when healthy). Others that won't recognize this are just acting all butt-hurt that he signed elsewhere. I wish the man best of luck, and its time to move on, but I won't act like he wouldn't have been one that I wish was still here.
I agree with you, if you have an adequate OLine, we don't and I think Fasano helped cover some of that up. Don't be fooled that our line is great. Just because people played doesn't mean they are great players in this league. It just means they are the best players our mediocre GM has acquired.
I just don't believe LT is an impact position in football today. I would never pay one what he is making or would have made without injury because I believe you can design blocking schemes to mask a weak spot on the offensive line but no scheme will ever turn Brian Hartline into a Calvin Johnson. Id much rather have financial flexibility and an average to above average line than have a stud LT who more often than not won't even be matched up against the opponents best rusher.
Thank you. While I don't agree with your stance at least there's real discussion worthy points, instead of calling things excuses. Bush: - I'm not going to get into a semantics argument, but the phrase "pick up" can be used for a trade, FA acquisition or even a drafted rookie. - I don't see how Sproles is better than Bush. I didn't think at the time either were ideal for our offense at the time but at least Reggie played a fair amount of RB up to that point, while Sproles had a very limited amount of time at RB. Fasano: - I used to think Fasano was more of a blocker last year, but someone (DPate or KB, can't remember) showed me the percentages and it wasn't the truth. I'm hoping one of them will see this and point me in the direction of the numbers because I cannot remember which thread it was in. Long: - Was not very good last year in this system. In fact, as someone has pointed out already, play didn't slip when he went down and Martin went to LT. And Long is in no way better in this offense than Pouncey. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think you'll find very many people to get on that band wagon at all.
I think we are a playoff team....if we fix the offensive line. Ryan Tannehill could make vast improvement but he won't be able to show it consistently if he is getting his head kicked in because the line sucks. Martin - Incognito - Pouncey - Jerry - Garner Does that look like an offensive line we can/should rely upon too vault us to the next level? I'd argue that we could use upgrades at three positions with one (Garner) requiring an immediate upgrade, one (Jerry) requiring high level competition and one (Martin) requiring hopes and prayers. Talk to me after the draft. If we add legitimate starting pieces between now and then, we are players. If we roll with that 5, a couple of mid round flyers and a close to done veteran at the minimum I think we are royally ****ed.
