Philbin doesn't want to do it. http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/11/15/3756243/miami-dolphins-run-defense-struggling.html I wholeheartedly disagree. Ellerbe and Wheeler stink!! The best way to get them off the field would be to switch to a base 3-4 and bench their asses. Starks,Soliai, and Odrick have all played in the 3-4 before. This way we get all three on the field at the same time. Wake and Vernon on the outside with Misi at Mike and Jordan at Will. I like Misi with the helmet. He may have some issues but he is also very intelligent and quick minded. Vernon in coverage out in space???? We know he is an excellent athlete, but... Wheeler and Ellerbe on the bench! Never should have been signed in the first place. I'm done even calling our GM by name; I'm just calling him the abomination from now on. I would assume Shelby would have to become an undersized 5-technique for depth, however, if the Dolphins did win their next couple games they could give Richard Seymour the 5 mil he wants and add him to the rotation. With Jelani Jenkins maturing, do we really even need Wheeler and Ellerbe next year? I don't care much for Trusnik's game but he is versatile enough to backup every LB position and he has lots of experience in the 3-4. I wish Philbin would change his mind about this.
Its not going to happen with this coaching staff and front office. First, Ellerbe and Wheeler may actually play better in a 3-4 as the two MLBs, but our two best OLBs then would be Wake and Jordan. Where does that leave Misi, who they just resigned?
They didn't really give him that much money. He had a pending court case that was serious business. He was very fortunate. Misi has never been emotionally stable. He has suffered from depression in the past. He is, however, very smart and even more important he thinks fast on the field. I think he has been out of position since he was drafted. I have been calling for him to become an ILB for years. I think he could be just as effective if not more effective than that Patriot lardass Brandon Spikes. I would also use a 4th round pick on Max Bullough in the 2014 draft and try to acquire SS/LB Cooper Taylor from the Giants for coverage LB depth and special teams. IMO, it is bad for team chemistry to give out these horrific contracts that reward unworthy players, while other guys who are playing better get peanuts. It is BAD management and the team is weakened by the hard feelings it causes.
I've always thought going away from the 3-4 with our personnel was stupid. We clearly was set up to run the 3-4 and forced a 4-3 defense.
I don't think Wheeler would move inside in the 3-4. Misi should and Wheeler be situational on the outside.
Why are you complaining about the D? The results are good. I understand it's hard to watch poor tackling, but the bottom line is the D has not allowed high scores.
Might be time for Philbin to go if he's too blind to see his personnel is better suited to a 34. You play to your players strengths when you need immediate results not to a flawed double a gap blitz scheme which has given you underwhelming and declining results. Move Misi inside like nappy and others in the past have suggested next to Ellerbe. Vernon wake and Jordan are your edge guys and Odrick/Soliai/Starks as your front 3. This should have been done this offseason.
It might help the edges a bit, but I'm not sure it really fixes the main problem- the performance of the every down linebackers. If they're misfiring and missing tackles, that's a problem regardless of the package/alignment. They've thrown out some 3-4 and 3-4 type alignments at times too, and I don't think it has really been much of a solution.
I think realistically, the best thing, regardless of scheme, is to find a way to get rid of one of the two between Ellerbe and Wheeler and get a true Mike LB. Wheeler's contract is a little more palatable, but even then, it's still biting a financial bullet. A lot of it also depends on what happens up front with Soliai and Starks, and I suppose Odrick as he's only got a year left. As much as I'd like to think the 3-4 would better fit this personnel, there's too many bad contracts and bad players saddled into key positions. Personally, I'd try and shake Wheeler and Misi both loose, but that's just me. I personally don't think Misi would be too effective on the inside; he's very much an edge guy, but if Miami were to shift to a 3-4, I think he falls behind Wake, Jordan, and Vernon, so what are you really paying him for? You may as well see if Josh Kaddu can be a backup at that point. Give me a Shayne Skov, A.J. Johnson or Brandon Spikes, if the Patriots are stupid enough not to bring him back, to sure up the middle. I think the biggest obstacle is the bad contracts given to guys who aren't performing...which is all 3 starting LBs at this point.
bottom line is we just held Phillip Rivers and the Chargers to 16 points. The D is not the issue... Our offense while playing with a lead however, just plain stinks.
I agree with this. I also think the idea behind playing an even or odd front is overrated in the sense that you are probably in sub packages 60% of the time at least. Another thing is, right now, the type of defense Joe Philbin wants does not match with the type of offense he has. In an ideal situation, Joe wants an offense that can score early and often and force the opposition to pass, and he wants a defense that can pressure the quarterback and force turnovers on the back end. There is a lot of bendability on defense in his ideals. The overall philosophy behind the bendability is that it is difficult for teams to have 12-15 play drives without making a mistake, and when they make that mistake, you have to take advantage. See the San Diego game. San Diego was driving early, got inside the redzone....Rivers makes one mistake on a throw and Brent Grimes picks it off. Miami's defense is currently 6th in the NFL in interception percentage and 7th in the NFL in defensive pass efficiency/QBR. They are 11th in ANY/A against the pass and 13th in sack percentage. Against the run, the Dolphins are actually tied for 14th in the league in Y/A. 13 teams in the league currently allow between 4.0-4.2 Y/A on running plays. Teams have run the 5th most against the Dolphins though. Now, I don't think the disconnect between the offense and defense is the sole reason. Miami has had some big leads early that they have lost, and a lot of that is that teams were patient and stuck with the ground game against Miami instead of pushing the panic button and throwing the ball. So, there is no doubt that the team has to get better at defending the run. You aren't going to see this staff bring 8 in the box though. You are going to see them continue to focus on the pass defense, come up with various ways to rush the passer, and try to confuse the offense with a variety of coverages. The thing is, Joe Philbin came from a team that runs the 3-4, and he appears to want no part of it. I don't know if he thinks the 3-4 has an inherent weakness against the pass or not, but Joe clearly wants a team that can defend the pass. To be honest with you, the numbers of success somewhat support his philosophy, as the one thing that has the biggest effect on winning games is passer rating differential, as Joe said when he took the job. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20....rating.differential/index.html?sct=nfl_wr_a1
I've noticed Starks, Solai, and Odrick doing everything possible to split defenders and penetrate, like pretty consistently, which in return, I've seen lots of backs running past them as they penetrate.. I thought the philosophy of the d-tackles in a 43 was to be stout, hold up as many blockers as possible and let the backers make tackles, maybe we have a case of dtackles trying to pad stats instead of doing what's best for the team..it's just a thought, don't have a whole lot of conviction about it, I've seen Starks playing better as of late, but the gashes of runs is ridiculous for a front 7 with this much talent.
That is the idea in some 4-3 philosophies. Not all though. Miami wants their DT's to penetrate into the backfield and collapse the pocket. This isn't the Dave Wannstedt 4-3 defense where the DTs top assignment is to occupy blockers.
I think there is an argument that moving forward(like, with a new coaching staff) that a 3-4 defense would be a good fit for the edge rushing elements of the defense. Olivier Vernon, Koa Misi, and Dion Jordan would all benefit a lot from it I think, and with Wake would be the best group of OLBs in the league I think pretty easily. I think you would be looking at a significant investment in down linemen though. You're looking to probably re-sign both Starks and Soliai, and even then you might not be done.
So..It'd look something like.. Starks....Solai.....Odrick.. Jordan.....Misi......Ellerbe......Wake. ??
Personally, I would like to have a defense like we had under Nick Saban. When that staff came in, they looked at Jason Taylor and though of a lot of ways they could use him. That's what I'd like to see with Dion Jordan. I was reading an old article last night where Jason Taylor said that his defensive playbook that year was an inch thick, and his first day, he was doing about 6 different things that he wasn't used to doing. I also like the philosophy of being able to switch your looks from an odd front to an even front with both odd and even front principles. It's complicated, but it is effective, IMO.
I'm not sure the investment in down linemen would be a deterrent. At present, you're probably already looking to replace one or the other between Starks or Soliai, if not both. On top of that Jared Odrick is a free agent after 2014, so that's another potential guy you may have to replace. Assuming you bring back one of the two between Starks and Soliai, you also have Odrick, Vaughn Martin - who started as a 3-4 DE in San Diego, and I think you could get some mileage out of Isaako Aatui as a backup guy/sub package guy. There's a good amount of quality 3-4 players that are becoming free agents at season's end. Aubrayo Franklin, Tyson Jackson, Brandon Deaderick, Cam Thomas all stand out among the others. New Orleans has found a bevy of guys on the cheap as well. If anything, I think the value of having those guys at OLB starts to weigh in and you've got to look at maximizing what they can do, and I think the 3-4 and various looks out of that as your base maximizes things. And there's still plenty of snaps to go around in sub packages. That's one of the few things I like about Coyle's current scheme.
Hmm...guess the team site needs to update their IR list as he's still on it. Either way, he could be re-signed to a lesser deal this offseason.
I think you need at least three good defensive ends and a Nose Tackle to run a 3-4. I'd rather Vaughn Martin not be on the roster- He's too bad of a player to get that big of a role, and too old/expensive to get a developmental slot. You need to come up with a strong borderline starter #3. It's a bit easier if you drop Ireland's aversion to older players, but I think you still need to spend more resources on the position than you would otherwise. I don't think it's an insurmountable odds, nor do I really have a preference on what kind of defense the team runs, I just don't think a 3-4 is in any sense a gimme.
Ellerbe and Wheeler aren't that bad, but they aren't exactly all pros at this point either.... This team is still a few players away from Coyle's 4-3 personnel... mainly tho, our secondary is suspect. Jones has plateaued, Clemons is just a guy, Patterson can't stay healthy and our backups are suspect. Grimes is the only guy who's playing at a higher level. I just hope we can keep him next season. If, and I highly suspect it'll happen, Ross cleans house....Grimes will be bolting from here and helping some other team to the playoffs next season. The DL has been underwhelming, compared to where we thought they'd be, that is for sure. In fact, as you implied, the whole D has been underwhelming from where we'd thought they'd be. If they'd play more games like they did against Cleveland well...that's more like we expected from this group. Dansby and Burnett would not have been any better than Wheeler and Ellerby by any stretch.
Fair points on all accounts. Also, I was incorrect about Martin. Apparently Miami dropped him off IR with an injury settlement. He's still listed there on the team website, but he's already gone it seems.
Would rather go back to last year's hybrid in base D with Odrick 2-gapping it at RE and Jordan at OLB, or at least mix it in frequently. That'd make Ellerbe and Wheeler's life easier, and it plays better into Coyle's desire to blitz the linebackers by opening an extra gap to pressure from. Plus the duo of Odrick-Jordan on the right side is no weaker vs the run than Vernon-Misi, so there wouldn't be any need for excuse-making on Coyle's part as to why Dion isn't on the field developing his game. It just comes down to who you'd rather have on the field in base D. Vernon & Misi... or Starks & Jordan. Maybe I'm an idiot but I don't see how anyone would opt for the former.
