I think you can argue one way or the other with this team...think of this fact.... We have potentially 13 positions that have to 'be better' than last season... (Grimes, Ellerbe, Wheeler, Marshall, Olivier/Jordan, Clabo, Tannehill, Miller, Wallace, Keller/Sims, JJ/Thomas, Martin, Lane/Leach). There are some potentials there and to be honest, if Tanny takes the step many think he will, that should help several of those other guys have better impacts. If you want to call that negativity, go ahead, it has to do with realism. Sure, I think Grimes/Marshall will be an upgrade over Smith/Carroll last year, but those guys are coming off injuries? I think Tanny will improve. Wallace/Hartline/Gibson is better than Hartline/Bess/Whoever/Mathews. Ellerbe-Wheeler is a wash from Burnett-Dansby...different strengths, but still a wash. I think Clabo is a slight downgrade at RT from Martin. I think Martin is a downgrade from Long at LT. Is this the year JJ comes into his own ? Miller is, on paper, a better, quicker back than Reggie, but paper is thin with no experience... The combo of Keller/Sims is likely better in the passing game and lesser than Fasano/Egnew in the ground game, but Keller is coming off injury. At best, that is a wash from last season. It's like there's a rebuttal for every positive note until we see them in pads. IF 9 of these changes pan out, we could see a game or two in January. If not.....??? Ok, I guess that's the negative side of things, but just like CK has been posting, it's also an objective view...
The whole "coming off injuries" thing is an over used cause for concern that I think with real research will turn out to be mostly unjustified as well.
I think it really depends on the injury. I know there is research that indicates Achilles injuries usually are rare to get back to 100% from. IIRC the study was from ~2005, so obviously science has advanced since then.
And every indication still holds that you're not all the way back from an ACL until the second year after surgery.
Sure, but what do they get to in this amount of time...50%? 99%? Grimes has gone through minicamp and all sources seem to say he seems just fine.
I believe the average was 50% recovery from Achilles injuries. 30% never played again, or something like that. I'll try finding the study later. Indications about Grimes are positive at this point, but it won't mean much until we see how he performs through training camp.
I agree that the OL remains a huge question mark. I also think that the secondary remains questionable because Marshall and Grimes are coming off major injuries and two of the projected backups are probably going to be rookies. Last but not least, the biggest issue with this team is how well Tannehill will develop in his second year in the NFL. If he takes a big step forward in his development this year, the Dolphins might just be a factor in the AFC playoff race. If he remains in the bottom third of NFL starting QB's, this team just doesn't have enough talent at this time to be a playoff team with an average QB.
I don't think it was a typo. The Falcons were a playoff team and they think they have the players on the roster right now to be a Super bowl team this season. They didn't feel that Clabo was worth the money he was scheduled to earn this coming season and there wasn't a lot of interest from other teams to sign Clabo. He was a very good RT a few years ago, but his play has declined recently. I would have rather seen the Dolphins keep Martin at RT and gone after a LT in free agency or in the draft. I don't have much confidence in Martin at LT but I do believe he could have been as good or better than Clabo, if he had remained at RT.
There's always exceptions to every rule. Tom Brady was drafted in the 6th round. Guess that means we should sift thru 6th rounders if you want a HOF quarterback, no?
It's gotten progressively easier for players to come back and play well. RGIII has a legitimate shot at playing opening day 7 months after a terrible knee injury. So once again I will take the optimistic approach when it comes to the Miami Dolphins.
The irony is, we're laughing at the concept of Jon Martin being better than the 32 year old we just signed to a 1 year, $3 million deal after being tossed in the street by his former team...yet Jon Martin has been moved to the most important position on the offensive line and is charged with protecting the franchise's blind side.
I feel good about most of the team, I can only hope for the wonders of strength training creating better balance for the blindside.
Yep. Add in the fast-paced practice which hopefully equals quicker execution during games, and that means shorter time blocking. I'm always an optimist. Our Oline is a "we'll see", but every other position on the team I'm excited about! Grimes looks to be the best corner since Madison/Surtain days... I hope for consistency and no injuries for him. The biggest difference I believe for the LB unit will be fire. I think we'll see similar skills with greater intensity. The offense will have the potential to score from anywhere. That will give the run game every opportunity.
Like i said, I'm extremely worried about Martin, mostly because if he sucks what's plan b at LT? We should have signed McKinnie and kept Martin on the right side until he got stronger and proved he can actually play at this level. also do you realize that if Louis beats out Jerry, 3 of our 5 OL will be free agents at the end of the year...and if Martin doesn't improve significantly, we could be looking to upgrade from him very soon...we could have up to 4 new starting OL around Pouncey in 2014. Lol will this offensive line ever be set?
John Jerry is going to be a free agent as well so it doesn't really matter whether Louis beats him or not. Incognito, Clabo and Jerry/Louis (see what I did there?) will all be free agents. But I do imagine they'd look at bringing someone back...probably Incognito because they like him.