Dolphins: Worst RB's in NFL

To be fair, the Colts OL is atrocious. They pulled about 5 wins outta their *** last year, we'll see what happens when their luck runs out.

 

Lol... It was clearly lazy journalism..... But good effort defending it, for god knows what reason.

 

If the Dolphins had made a lot of moves I agreed with then I would praise them more. Before it was announced what the Jets were doing with Quinton Coples and Sheldon Richardson, I was very critical of the Richardson pick.

As things stand the Dolphins grabbed a couple of guys I liked heading into the off season like Phil Wheeler, Tyson Clabo (once he was released) and Brent Grimes. They drafted two guys I liked in Dion Jordan (although they paid a price I wouldn't have paid for him) and Mike Gillislee. Not much else has made a lot of sense to me.

Even the guys I liked were gotten in unfavorable circumstances. For example I like Dion Jordan but they paid an extra 2nd round pick to get him whereas I think they could've gotten a great player at 12 overall and then gotten another good player at 42 overall. I like Mike Wallace but they paid $12 million a year for him and I'm not sure I could stomach that. I like Tyson Clabo but signing him means putting Jon Martin at left tackle which I feel is a mistake. So that casts a shadow on that move. I like Phil Wheeler but there arguably was not a need for him, and the Dolphins created that need by casting out Kevin Burnett who played well last year. That casts a shadow on a move I'd otherwise like.

We'll see how it goes.

 

I didn't see the story, how are they planning to use them? I'm assuming its Coples more as an edge rusher and Richardson inside with Wilkerson. Either way they were 25th in total defense and 20th in scoring defense in 2012, and a couple rookies and bargain FA's may or may not be enough to replace Revis, Landry, Scott, Po'uha, Devito, Bell, and Thomas on their stop unit. Either way, Ryan will have his hands and stomach empty for a change.

Offensively they're in even worse shape, especially at QB. Sanchez will be booed mercilessly and has probably lost his teammates confidence. Smith is no Russell Wilson, and the receivers he had in college are probably better than the ones he'll have in NY. I think he has potential but if they try and start him early it'll be a disaster and Ryan doesn't exactly have time to wait on a rook to develop.

Not a fan of Ellerbe or Keller? A little competition for Carpenter can't hurt, Jelani Jenkins has the look of a ST performer, nickel LB and maybe some day a starting Will. Dion Sims gives us the in line blocking TE that we lost when Fasano headed north. I'd love to hear your thoughts on those guys as well as the DBs we drafted.

Yeah we may have overpaid for Wallace in a vaccum. I think some of that overhead will be mitigated by his overall impact on the game though. Given the amount of cap space that was available and the other available options in FA and the draft, I'd say it was a good choice. JMart is a concern, lucky for us we won't be facing a slew of dominant pass rushers and TBH the gap between his performance and Long's is a lot smaller than the gap in their respective salaries. I agree on Burnett, and Dansby, good players for us the past two years. But they are over 30 and this team is being built to contend for 2014 and beyond.

On paper we look pretty damn good IMO.

 

Yes we gave them our 2nd, but they gave us 9 slots of value...so maybe a three quarters 2nd..lol

I know the moves you would of done, but I would of thought you be more excited about the activity, I understand the Wallace concern, but he is ours and maybe that speed theory comes to fruition, and the acquisition of Ellerbe, Keller, Clabo, Grimes, Wheeler, Dion Jordan, all young players..Ireland was on the hook going into the offseason, and he didnt get all the players I wanted, but the team took a balanced approach and I think he did a good job.

 

Coples has not had a good offseason says Ryan, has concerns about his shape and weight and is pissed off.

Richardson is gonna smoke that dude.

 

spot on. huge weakness for us untilll one of them steps up

 

That brings up another issue. Most people say our draft was above average if not better and yet we don't need any of our rookies to come in produce right away. I wouldn't be surprised if not a single one is a starter come September. We can ease these guys into their roles w/o suffering in the mean time instead of plugging guys in ready or not the way we have for the last several years. That's the kind of assembly line that traditionally good teams like NYG, Pitt, GB, etc are known for and it's a sign that we're well on our way to being a consistently good team.

Coples can afford to come in out of shape b/c his role is pretty much cemented. He had work ethic concerns coming out of college and they've continued in the pros. talented first rounder or not, if he was down here his *** would in shape, riding the effin pine, or on a plane to Indianapolis. Aint that right, Vontae?

 

Yeah don't come here, or in Philly, loved how chip Kelly has gotten rid of two nites of junk food that the fatass Andy Reid had implemented into the world class million dollar prof athletes meal routine..

Only the progressive mind is going to survive this modern game, when these idiots learn that their paying these athletes a lot of money and that they should go the scientific route to get the best out of their investment, will they finally get it...until then, it's the most overlooked part of the game, Love the ideas that Philbin and Kelly I think are preaching, will give their players an advantage, coaches like fatass Reid will just sleep thinking its no big deal.

 

I expect Dion and JT to start, I expect Thomas to take over quickly if not win the job outright, thus moving richie to the right, I expect Gills to get some reps, jelani to play special teams, will Davis to be our nickel or dime, and Dion Simms to be our inline blocking tight end, Based on reps and needs, we should have most of them make the team if not all.

 

Sounds good to me. If it happens it'll mean that they balled their asses off in camp.

 

In a contest of ugliest kid we are mad they chose ours then? Would it have been ok if we came in 2nd to last?

The only team with a gripe is tennesee as they have two 1,000 yard rushers in there for an honorable mention.

 

I'm sad. I thought I was the only person who you argued with, without reading their post first. I feel cheated on.

 

I read every post. You think I don't because the level of discussion is above your pay grade. But that's ok. Nobody is judging you.

 

Then you willfully misrepresent what you read?

The poster says he doesn't like the list because its based on the flawed and frankly stupid notion that "unknown = worst" and you think its because....how did you put again....

So fine, you read it, I believe you. I question your reading comprehension or motives if that's what you got from it then.

 

From what I have heard, the Jets plan on pulling Quinton Coples out wider and possibly into space, like they were doing with Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas. When Coples was coming out, I thought his best bet as a pass rusher was playing wider so that he could convert speed to power better. I think the Jets used him more inside and as a 5-technique. I believe Richardson is going to take that role now because they have Wilkerson and Kenrick Ellis they can play on the inside.

Keller is OK but I don't think he's anything special. I'm not sure I love him with the football in his hands, and I don't think he's the seam threat people would want to say he is based on his athletic ability. I think he's great getting off the line and running out into the soft spot of a zone. He gets there quickly and with urgency and allows your quarterback to throw the football very quickly and with confidence. Also he's probably at his most dangerous running to the outside underneath a zone that has been cleared by a fast receiver such as Mike Wallace. But where everyone sees him having more potential than he showed in New York specifically because they assume Mark Sanchez must have been bad at using Keller (since we all know Sanchez sucks), the fact of the matter is quarterbacks pose different strengths and weaknesses whether they suck on an overall level or not, and I thought the way Sanchez got the ball to Keller was generally a strength of his, not a weakness. He threw with a lot of anticipation and confidence to Keller, and this helped Keller be productive. I think where Sanchez missed him a little more was just what I mentioned, Keller running to the outside underneath a guy who cleared out the zone. Sanchez missed and/or was late on some of those throws. But the throws between the hashes and in the soft spots of the zone? Sanchez was right on the money with most of those throws and his timing, anticipation and trust were impeccable. I don't even see Tannehill throwing like that in those zones. So, I'm not sure how useful Keller is going to be. Put it this way. Anthony Fasano leaves this team having scored 5 touchdowns in 2012 despite Tannehill/Moore having thrown only 13 total TDs. Dustin Keller leaves the Jets having scored only 2 touchdowns in 2012, whereas Jets quarterbacks threw 14 total TDs. Obviously some of that can be blamed on reps...but even when Sanchez threw 26 TDs in 2011, Keller accounted for only 5 of them. So how sure are we that we're really getting an upgrade in the passing game over Anthony Fasano? Meanwhile, we know we're getting a big downgrade in blocking.

As for Dannell Ellerbe, I like some of what he brings to the table. He's got range. I like that. He seems like a guy that can attack the hole and attack the lead blocker aggressively, allowing someone else to make the play. In coverage on crossing routes I've seen him be physical with receivers a few times and screw up the timing. But here's the thing. Consistently I see blitzing cited as a big reason you sign him. I don't buy that. I'm just not a buyer on the whole concept, no matter how you put it. I don't believe inside linebackers differentiate themselves that much in their blitz success. I think it's largely about system and coaching, with the remaining variance dictated by size and explosive qualities. It's not why I would buy a linebacker. I like Dannell Ellerbe to a degree, but this is not why I would like him. Meanwhile, when you ask him to flip his hips in coverage, he's lost. That's a lost cause. You'd better hope the throw is off. I've seen that on the tape. And the more he gets detached from the line of scrimmage in coverage, the more lost he looks. I've heard from pretty good authorities that the Ravens coaches did a lot of things to try and cover up his coverage weaknesses. The picture this ends up painting is one where the Ravens needed a successor to Ray Lewis, and actually decided that Ellerbe is not it, that they're not interested in paying him. I wouldn't be shocked if Miami's bid for Ellerbe was actually twice what other teams were looking to pay him. Again there are some things I like about the guy, and I think he'd look great as sort of a lower cost signing that you roll the dice on and you may get a windfall...but as a $7 million per year guy, this looks a lot different.

Overall what I don't like about what they did to the linebackers unit is they injected downside risk, and I'm not sure how much upside there is because Dansby and Burnett were playing at a high level. When you sign ANY outside free agent, there's a big risk owing to the simple fact that this guy has not been on your team, has not been coached by your coaches, has not played in your system, has not lived in your town, and so a lot of different things can go wrong that would make him less valuable on your team than he was on a previous team. History has shown us that the return on investment on other teams' free agents is poor. That doesn't mean you should stop trying. It's just a fact of life. So what we have here is the subbing out of age-related risk in Karlos Dansby (the risk that any given year he drops off the face of the earth due to age), to risk that is intrinsic to free agent acquisitions. I could've stomached this with ONE of the linebacker positions...but two is a significant cliff dive. You better hope the chute opens.

Competition for Carpenter is WELCOME. I'm glad they got competition for him. I don't like the price paid, specifically because of the opportunities I felt were still available at that spot. I tend to have faith in the guys I like. I had a lot of guys I like still available when they used a draft pick on a position that is becoming less and less valuable as the NFL attempts to water down the kickoff as much as they can.

The same really goes for Jelani Jenkins. He always struck me as a linebacker coverage specialist whose coverage isn't that special, but a guy that probably will play well on special teams. In other words, he's the coverage version of Josh Kaddu. Kaddu was a linebacker pass rush specialist whose pass rush wasn't that special when you broke it down, but he was a guy you could imagine playing really well on special teams. Again I go back to it, if you have guys you believe in, and there are several of them available, but instead you take a guy like this, you're just not likely to appreciate the pick. Is what it is.

Dion Sims to me is just a blocking tight end, but one whose blocking was too inconsistent. I won't go as far as I did with Jenkins/Kaddu and say a blocking specialist whose blocking isn't all that special...that would not be accurate. There are times when Sims' blocking ability IS pretty special for a tight end. It's just not consistent. In fact I feel the same way about Sims' blocking as I do Eifert's. So if you think about how Eifert is considered a pass catching specialist whose weakness is blocking consistently, that weakness is to me at about the same level as Sims' strength. And as for Sims' pass catching, nowhere near, IMO. Smooth with good hands, but slow, not explosive, no real run after catch ability, no real ability to break tackles except just by virtue of size mismatch which won't be the case in the NFL. He's very old timey, very classic, reminds me of Daniel Graham or Troy Drayton, one of those. But he doesn't have the explosive qualities of Drayton, IMO.

There's a certain tendency in Jamar Taylor's game that I'm wary about. He loses his aggressiveness in coverage a lot, especially when he's dealing with speed which he didn't have to deal with that often at Boise State. Very inconsistent player. One down you've got great coverage and great aggressiveness, another down you wonder who it is you're watching because it's not an NFL player. I think he was more of a mid round prospect. I believe heading into the 2012 season he was rated around a 7th rounder by BLESTO, National Scouting, all them. Would I have taken him where the Dolphins did? No.

Will Davis' issues are different and I'm more comfortable with them. He's too aggressive. He gets burned for having too much fight in him, too much will to play a guy tight. His style really jives well with Miami's system. He's quick as a whip and his acceleration is superb. What he lacks from an athletic standpoint is top gear, closing speed. When you get him into that situation where he's got to try and use that final gear to close distance and then physically make a play on the ball while pressing his speed, he gets into trouble. But usually on a play like that, go early enough in the route and you'll find that it was his aggressiveness that first got him into trouble. He's not physical. There's no getting around that. There are plays on his film that would make Antonio Cromartie blush. That lack of physicality can also show itself at the end of catches in situations where a big, physical receiver can push off, climb the ladder and go up for the football. Lucky for him, Miami doesn't have one of those guys. So he's going to look great in training camp, lol. But I consider many of the issues that Richard Marshall has in coverage to be similar to the issues Will Davis has in coverage, the biggest difference being Marshall is a lot more physical in support tackling.

One more note about the corners. Brent Grimes is a superb corner. Leon Hall made a comeback from an Achilles injury. Some of the things that allowed Brent Grimes to beat the odds to begin with in becoming a great corner, will work in his favor in the rehab from his Achilles injury. The work ethic, the will, the quickness, etc. Those are going to help him recover from the Achilles and if he does I think he'll be a revelation. Maybe I'm wrong. But I think that was a good signing. You'll notice that I included Grimes among the guys I liked that they signed, and I did NOT include him in my list of how many of those were still kind of "Yeah, but..." guys. I just think this was a great gamble to take.

To some extent you needed to get a guy like Wallace. You just had to. The money hasn't come back to bite us in the rear yet, so it's tough to be too critical about it. But I will say this...what's important to me is that Ryan Tannehill be the best Ryan Tannehill that Ryan Tannehill can be. At Texas A&M he never developed much rapport with the speed demon type. Jeff Fuller ran a lot of the same routes Brian Hartline runs, and he learned to separate on those routes like Hartline does. Ryan Swope was a slot guy, an option route guy, a between-the-numbers guy. These players (Hartline, Fuller, Swope) are the guys you can isolate and say Tannehill has shown DEMONSTRABLE comfort with as far as distributing the ball to them. Mike Wallace is the 12 million dollar man. Tannehill knows it. Wallace knows it. The coaches know it. The pressure to get the ball to Mike Wallace will be high and immediate, all the way around. Has Tannehill demonstrated a comfort level with leaning on this type of player. Not YET...and that's a risk. But it could end up amounting to nothing. It's just an unknown. Also it's worth mentioning that Wallace himself hasn't shown much comfort level being leaned on as a #1 guy. You can track his efficiency in games over his career and you'll see a big dropoff in games the more times he was thrown to during the game. It's a far bigger dropoff than is normal for the other big money #1 receiver types. Finally, worth noting, Philbin himself expressed a lot of dissatisfaction prior to this off season over the concept of having to deal with a #1 receiver and feeling pressure to get the ball in a particular receiver's hands. He may be thinking that Wallace's talents are so significant, he can handle it. He could be wrong. You could be taking all three guys out of their comfort zones.

As for whom JMart will be facing at left...I'd say he's facing some good guys. Maybe you don't buy what I've been selling about Antwan Barnes. From a metrics standpoint, he's been one of the most efficient pass rushers in the NFL over the last 5 years. He will rush against JMart, twice. Chandler Jones was superb as a rookie. He will rush over JMart, twice. Osi Umenyiora will rush over JMart in Atlanta, and there's even talk they might bring John Abraham back at a reduced price now that he's not finding the bidders he'd hoped. Abraham is still one of the best pass rushers in the NFL and the tape bears that out. Greg Hardy has turned into a fantastic pass rusher. He will rush over JMart. Terrell Suggs will rush over JMart. Michael Johnson will rush over JMart. Barkevious Mingo and Jarvis Jones will rush over JMart. This year won't be a picnic for him.

We'll just have to see how it all works out. I think Miami is an improved team in 2013, but dramatically improved? Enough to get us to the playoffs? Not sure if I see it. There are also a few positions I'm wary about potential downgrades and if those end up working poorly the team could be worse than their 7-9 in 2012.

 

This is losing the forest for the trees, IMO.

BTW don't be so sure you know what moves I'd have done. An off season is about fitting together a puzzle. It's true I had players I liked in free agency and players I liked in the draft, and those are a matter of public record. But which among those free agents we actually could've gotten, and how that would've affected the draft strategy (it would have), I'm not even sure I can say for certain.

 

I understand...it didnt come out right, no way of determining exacts.

However, I liked my draft value logic on the trade up..lol

Literally, we gave them a 2nd, and they gave us 9 slots of value, doesn't that compute to less that a strait up 2nd.?

 

I hope you're right and if so it's why the Jets are (still) the Jets. Their pieces don't fit, they have 3-4 guys who are out of place in a 4-3 and vice versa.

All good points. I suspect we'll see Keller used in the slot and on the backside of 2 TE formations. I don't think he'll be used as an inline blocker very often. Though it's worth noting that the Jets were able to place #1 in the NFL in rushing in spite of having Keller as their primary TE back in 2009.

I'm with you on Ellerbe and Wheeler, solid but unspectacular and not likely to be significant upgrades in the short term. But over the life of the contracts Wheeler/Ellerbe signed, Dansby and Burnett will go from 31-32 to 36-37 so I have to believe age/health was the primary factor there.

Die hard Florida St. fan here, the wide-rights traumatized me so I hate all kickers not named Janikowski. If they took Sturgis that early they most have felt he was a) better than anyone else available and b) unlikely to be around later on. If they're right he'll win the job and save a couple million vs the cap. If not then Carp is still a good, if overpaid, kicker to have.

IMO once you get past the first few rounds the wart free players are all gone, especially in this year's draft. You take the BPA with the knowledge that they more than likely won't amount to much in the NFL. If Jenkins can contribute on ST and play some nickel LB then it's a good pick in my book. If he does any more than that it's a great pick.

I didn't see much of Sims in college but I do know that we were in desperate need of a TE who could block inline. Keller, Clay, Fasano and Eggs are all below average to terrible in that role and Clay is probably going to be used more as a fullback if (when) Lane gets cut. Eifert was the best TE in the class and a first round pick so obviously Sims is going to pale in comparison. IMO it's the same as w/ Jenkins, if he's a backup/ST type then it's a good pick, if he does any more than that it's a great pick.

Can't really comment other than to say that we have 3 vet CBs on the roster plus Carroll and Wilson so there won't be any rush to get Taylor, Davis or Jones on the field. It's nice to have some depth for a change. Likewise, with 3 rooks gunning for roster spots the vets know they can't coast through camp, Marshall and Patterson especially. The DB battle will be the fiercest by far come July IMO.

I agree, it should be all about Tannehill, which is why I wanted to go beef up the OL first and foremost in the draft. Irish had other ideas in mind and like you said, we'll see how it shakes out. I think the overall success of the offense will trump the pressure to get the ball to Wallace or anyone else, and Wallace should be smart enough to know he's not well suited to be a high volume target. His speed alone will force deeper drops from the safeties and create bigger windows for Tannehill to throw to underneath. Wallace should also afford Lamar Miller an extra 3-4 yds of space between himself and the safeties coming up to fill, and with his speed and acceleration those yards will multiply exponentially. One of the more frustrating things to watch with Miami last year was how defenses suffocated our attack with squatting corners, lurking safeties, and LBs who flew downhill at the slightest hint of a run play. Cheating, basically. Whether he gets 60 catches or 90, Wallace is going to be the biggest reason why the cheating comes to an end.

Could be worse. Ware, Tuck, Orakpo, Cole and Pierre-Paul are all in the same division. Allen, Peppers and Matthews are all in the NFCN. The NFC South lacks any real pass rushing punch (not buying Umenyiora as a real threat) and outside of Tampa the secondaries are awful as well. The Kruger/Suggs, Freeney/Mathis and Harrison/Woodley combos have been broken up, the Steeler pass rush (and secondary) is a thing of the past. Cincinnati and Cleveland may pose some problems but I can live with that. NY, NE and Buffalo don't worry me much, either. They may generate some pressure but they have no one who's going to be a constant problem or wreck a game plan. If JMart has indeed gotten and bigger and stronger then I think he'll be OK.

Agreed. It's still very early and everything is based on paper at this point. But I think if you went through the schedule and dissected the opposing teams the way you've done the Dolphins you'd come up with a win total closer to 10 or 11 than 6 or 7.