that's quite a reach to try and suit your argument. His playoff failures have everything to do with their defense going from dominant to sub average. Brady has had no problems scoring since Faulk retired.
Even the browns were living in the backfield, and Thomas's pass pro has been really poor. Recall when Tebow beat us that game? Late in the 4th we were driving key third down guess who misses a blitz pickup? Daniel Thomas Henne got sacked, we punted, Tebow tosses a duck and the bronco catches it for a Td. That is a good example how the NFL is about pressure at every position.
21-17 is not exactly an awful Defensive performance. But, the offense has struggled in the playoffs b/c Brady cannot handle pressure, w/o Faulk the problems have only grown.
So a rookie will never learn blitz pickup on your team because they'll never be on the field to do so with all your FA signings. This just makes no sense. Bradshaw would come in and take snaps from Miller and Gills; that's a fact. Rookies can and should be relied upon to do the things they're good at, ya know, the things that got them drafted in the first place.
If you can successfully start a rookie QB, you can damn sure expect a rookie RB to learn how to pick up blitzes.
Different world b/t NCAA blitz pickups and NFL ones, in fact it is impossible to evaluate b/c the difference between the two is so great, GM's literally cannot know if they are able to read them or not. And as pointed out, it's Rb by cmte today, they'll have a chance to learn. And alternatively, it would then be better to just trust to luck that they will learn on the job with little effect on the offense?
could be asking price or it could be an issue of playing time availability. So you would rather have Donald Thomas who if you breathe on him is out for a month?
If healthy, Bradshaw is worth pursuing. He's a good back, not that old and a good blocker. We are not so deep at RB that it would be overkill and something around $2.5M per year is hardly unreasonable.
Rex Ryan never had a dominant pass rusher but not for lack of trying. What do you think Vernon Gholston was supposed to be?
I actually said I'd like to see Bradshaw on this team, but the price has to reflect that he is always injured. A RB with bad feet is a pretty big concern. Now, if we're paying him part-time RB to be a part-time RB, then Bradshaw becomes a big asset to this team.
Before Mr C chimes in with "Donald Thomas is playing for the Lions this year, Daniel Thomas is still on our roster.."
And that's why I said the reason he's still available is going to be related to asking price vs offers or playing time availability. If he's asking 2.5-3.5 IMO he's worth that for an excellent backup who can start as well. I'm a very big fan. He has a lot of leadership qualities and his effort is never in question
I watched the Ravens win the superbowl this year with an older team, lead by a pocket passer, and an older nfl coach vs. a very young 49ers team with rookies all over the place, that has a revolutionary running qb and cutting edge creative coach who is still new to the NFL. The old school team won and the sexy new cutting edge team lost. Many approaches can work.
No and hells no. Even at the vet minimum Bradshaw would be the highest paid RB on the team. Miller, DT, Gillie and Gray are all younger and cheaper guys who can collectively get the job done IMO. He's a RB, not a fine wine, his feet are a mess, he's openly feuded with his HC about his role, he doesn't play ST, he doesn't even practice anymore. The Giants have a sound track record on personnel decisions so there's another strike against him in my book.
Tell that to the guys practicing hard, chasing punts and busting wedges for one-fifth of that amount while Bradshaw watches from the sidelines, ready to berate the coaching staff if he doesn't get the carries "he deserves". He did it to Coughlin so he'll have no problem doing it here. He'd be a good pickup on Madden 2014 though.
I'd be fine with paying him above the Vet min as his skillset is unique. And going into FA he wanted more carries? This is a business GMJ, like Patterson not wanting to put up "more bad tape".
I agree he's a terrific blocker and a productive runner, when healthy. As a vet, his salary becomes guaranteed if he's on the roster at the start of the season so I doubt anyone picks him up any time soon.
Well, you'd know soon enough after he is in camp whether he would be ready to go for the season. Do think 2.5 million for him is to much, but also think if healthy he can be had at a bargain and would help cover up early OL mistakes and that would help Tannehill a lot.
If the Dolphins had a proven LT, I wouldn't feel that Bradshaw would be a need for the team at RB. Because Martin remains a huge question mark at LT, the signing of Bradshaw as an additional blocker for Tannehill, makes a great deal of sense. He has proved to be an effective blocker in his years in the NFL and there is no other RB now on the Dolphins roster who has shown this ability at the NFL level. Miller wasn't known for his blocking ability in college and Thomas has proved to be incapable of being a consistent blocker. We have no idea how effective the remaining RB's will be at the NFL level because they have never played in the NFL. It would be a smart idea for Ireland to sign Bradshaw, if he is healthy and he can be the blocking back and possibly the third down back for at least one year. If the younger backs develop over the year, they can get a little playing time in 2013 and be ready to take over for Bradshaw in 2014. This would also give the coaching staff another year to see if Martin can be an effective LT or not in the NFL.
I would love to have Bradshaw because a) we wouldn't rely on him exclusively; b) he's a stable veteran and experienced in big-time games (which we don't have); c) he's still young enough and a proven (which we don't have - yet) excellent runner. I think he'd be perfect in our offense as well. The negative to me is that while I def. want Thomas to go (I think he is a liability in the offense), I don't want to sacrifice the other young runners and I doubt we keep Gray and Gillislee along with Bradshaw. Personally, while I don't dislike Gillislee, I don't think he brings anything special as a runner. I'd have preferred to sign Bradshaw and drafted someone else other than Gillislee. But, as it is, I am not sure Bradshaw benefits us if he pushes Gray out of the picture along with Thomas.
bradshaw n miller sounds a lot more stable then anything else currently on our roster. as of right now rb is our weakness with 0 proven backs
Ya, but we're talking about 2011 when he was a rookie. Last year, I thought he improved considerably. Was he dominant? No. However, he was better than Bush and he was in late in games because of his ability to help in pass pro. Why you're bringing up the 2011 Broncos game now makes no sense. You could just say - you're right, Martin wasn't on the team, Jake didn't get taken by Sheard, maybe me memory serves me wrong a little.
Really? How about b/c it came out later, for a fact, that Thomas missed the block that led to that sack. Clear enough.
That doesn't address what I stated. Calvin Pace is another person who they gave a fair amount of money to trying to secure a pass rusher. He had Suggs in Baltimore and tried to bring a pass rushing force to NYJ with no luck.
I do think Padre makes a very good point. Blitz pickup is THE thing young rookie RBs struggle with most in the NFL. We're putting our eggs in the basket of Lamar Miller, who seemingly IMO couldn't get significant snaps because of his lack of comfort in his blocking assignments. And Daniel Thomas, who simply hasn't been very good at anything really up until this point. Gillislee and Gray are complete unknowns at the NFL level. How is signing Bradshaw to < 2 million a season a bad idea?
Bradshaw is well worth the risk, IMO. His running style lends to injury, but it's nice to have a proven guy who can be dynamic when healthy. It's still Miller time...
Miller was lost last year with blocking assignments or he would have saw the field more often. If you re-watch game film you can see Tannehill and others telling him where his assignments are. The other big unknown this season is how Sims is going to fill Fasano's roll as a run blocker. Fasano was great in the running game and Keller just isn't Fasano when it comes to the other half of being a TE. Sims is going to have to start from day one or that strong side is going to struggle. I feel 100% better about the line with Calbo on board now than I did a week ago.
Your argument for Bradshaw isn't skewed and makes some sense, but would he be satisfied as a #2 option behind Miller ?? I don't think so...I doubt he signs here knowing he'd be 2nd in the rotation.
A) I dont think he has a choice but to take 2nd fiddle at this point. What good teams are still looking for a starting back? Even GB drafted 2 good ones and thats the only team remotely close that I can see still wanting a starting back. Maybe New Orleans as well? B) He never complained when he was time sharing with Brandon Jacobs a few years ago. Hes come a long way from being a kid with a bad attitude like was said about him in college.
True, he didn't complain with Jacobs, we assume, but he was the youngster then and Jacobs was the established rb for that group. Now he's the veteran...I think he'll have to accept some sort of rotational role wherever he goes... but it might be tough for him to come into our camp as the #2 option at RB...
This is not a bad idea we need Tannehill to stay healthy in order for the new receiving corp to make a difference. A little assurance for a year until we know there are solid cogs in the OL.
I think the FO will like to see what they have with their current players before venturing to sign another veteran .If the noobs fall flat on their faces or if there are injuries then Bradshaw would come into play assuming he would still be available.
Remember that with the salary cap the way it is now, a dollar spent today is a dollar spent tomorrow. Whatever money we pay Bradshaw in 2013 is money we could've rolled into 2014 and beyond. On that basis, I'm not too interested in Bradshaw unless he costs a scant $1 or $2 million.
The last two years of that rotation he was the clear #1. Jacobs at that point was the short yardage, clock chewer and nothing more which is what lead Jacobs to start griping and ultimately his release.
There goes CK pointing out the real problem with this idea like usual. Changed my mind forget Bradshaw Tannehill better get a fast release.
