Which players' roster spots could be in jeopardy now with a new GM?

Most likely gone:

Matt Moore
Patterson
J. Martin

Guys that are going to be here during training camp but may not make the team:

Egnew
Will Davis
Jamar Taylor
D Thomas

Free agents that will walk:

Richie Incognito
J. Jerry
McKinney
Starks/Soliai
Clabo

Free agents they need to resign:

Grimes
Carroll
Soliai/Starks

 

Something that I just don't understand, and maybe some of you with more knowledge can answer, but why is it that LB's come here and struggle when they played excellent the year before with prior team? Money aside obviously. I know Dansby got a bit hefty, but that guy just killed it for the Cardinals this year. I know, motivated to stick etc. but still motivated. And Ellerbe was excellent for the Ravens last year. Guarentee if he'd go back to the Ravens next year, hypothetically speaking, he'd be great again. Watching all the Cardinals fans giving me shiat out here about Dansby this year sucked. I might have answered a few of the questions already, but IMO its the coaching staff not utilizing/motivating players correctly. Not in all instances, but it's still alarming. Same for Wheeler.

 

part of it... negative homefield advantage saps emotional intensity from players and team...Players lose their edge... teams, coaches, players, execs change, the results look eerily similar, leaving fans bewildered..

 

I agree. I have always thought Odrick was a wasted 1st round pick. He is a very average NFL player and as you stated, he seems to disappear completely in the majority of the games he plays. How he started over Starks is beyond me.

 

I agree with almost all of this, but I think that its very unlikely the team gives up on the young corners though.

 

I think since Ireland had final say over all player transactions, including cutting players, he stuck with many of his draft picks longer than he should have. I would certainly like to see a lot more from Davis and Taylor in training camp next year than they showed this past season. The fact the Dolphins signed players off other teams practice squads to play in the defensive secondary, instead of using Davis or Taylor, shows that this staff doesn't have a lot of confidence in either one of these players at this time.

Perhaps they will both be healthy and more productive in preseason, but if their not, Ireland won't be around to protect the players he selected in the draft. I don't think the next GM will have any problem get rid of players Ireland drafted who just aren't getting the job done.

 

The one before the superbowl? Link plz.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 4

 

I think the guy no one has mentioned is Nate Garner. He's stuck around because he can play all the positions and has starter-quality play to his name, but he doesn't fit the blocking scheme and it seems like at least a third of the time you call his number he plays atrociously. Cutting him saves you a solid chunk of money vs. the cap, I think.

Patterson and Moore can't go without their contracts being addressed.

There needs to be some sort of movement with the Wheeler/Ellerbe situation. You need to release one of them. It would be a cap-negative move, but the Dolphins have enough space to the point where the roster spot, practice/play-time, and locker room elements outweigh it.

 

IMO, if we can get good starters at LT, LG, RG, and RT, and we retained every other starter, this could be a playoff team. I would also like to see us draft a power back like Carlos Hyde. The Bears rebuilt 4/5s of their OL last off season with pretty good results, so there is no reason we cannot do it too. It all falls on the ability to identify and accrue the right 4 by the new GM.

 

I actually agree with you there.. I highly doubt that they get rid of them.. but new GM.. so

 

Hopefully everyone who hasn't performed.

Jones, Jerry, McKinnie, Wheeler, Ellerbe, Thomas and Miller ranked in the bottom tier at their respective positions. While contracts may limit our ability to cut some, adding some healthy competition to find a replacement or to elevate their play is very necessary.

 

How sad is it that Miami needs to find good starters at 80% of the offensive line. It can't really get much worse than this year's performance.

 

No the one right after yesterday's win..I can't find linky..it's pure comedy gold.

 

I think the 4 guys on the offensive line is overblown. That probably neither needs to or is going to happen.

Dallas Thomas and/or Sam Brenner are almost certainly going to get strong consideration, and Tyson Clabo should be a possibility as well.

 

Sure, Thomas and Brenner will get a shot, but do you really want to depend on either one being good enough to start and not be a weak link? Clabo's pass blocking improved the 2nd half of the season, but his run blocking wasn't good all year. Maybe you could get another year out of him, if the other 3 spots in question are significantly upgraded. Neither he or Jerry were good fits in a zone blocking rushing attack.

I don't think getting 4 new starters is overblown at all, if the OL is singled out for being the significant weakness that it was.

 

You are probably going to have a weak link. Most teams do.

I think Clabo fits the scheme reasonably well, he's just not a particularly good run blocker. He's not going to torpedo you though. You don't need everyone to be great, you need guys to fit what you're doing.

Unlike Jerry, or Incognito, or Garner.

 

Excuse me if I don't want our weakest links to be along the OL. Clabo fits the scheme, he's just not that good at it? I'd hate to see the results if he did not fit the scheme. Even if he came back for $2.5 mil again, we need 3 more starters, and it would not be that much of a stretch to just replace all 4.

 

What would be the time frame to accomplish that task?

 

I'm not saying the offensive line should be the weakest link, I'm saying you shouldn't have to have five high quality starters.

 

I think his body is done, he can't run Pate, he doesn't have the agility to track..I don't think it would be difficult to upgrade..I would at least try..

 

Last off season the Bears signed LT Jermon Bushrod, and LG Matt Slauson in free agency. They drafted RG Kyle Long and RT Jordan Mills. They, along with holdover C Roberto Garza started every game, and none of them missed a snap until Mills got hurt in week 17. It can be done.
Mills, a 5th round rookie, struggled early in pass blocking, although improved pretty well from week 10 on.
Bears were 2nd in points and 8th in total yards offensively last season. They rushed for 1828. We rushed for 1440. They allowed 30 sacks. We allowed 58.
It's not the coaching. Bryant McKinnie loves Jim Turner. Said he's at least as good as any coach he's played for.
Turner reminds him of Art Kehoe.

The Bears OL had been a mess for a couple of years. Granted, some of that was due to guys not staying healthy.

 

Last year we only had one high quality starter. I would be nice to have like 3, and 2 more at least average. Instead we have one grade A starter and 4 grade D starters. Most of that was because Ireland couldn't identify good quality OL prospects in his evaluation process, IMO.

 

awesome I am excited then and expect the same

 

That's where the career Offensive line coach Joe Philbin should have stepped in. Ireland must have intimidated him. That's all I can come up with. I mean it was make or break right?

 

Ireland was buying the groceries. Philbin and his staff were cooking the meal with what was given. If you want the meal to be nutritious and flavorful you get better ingredients.

 

I'm a bigger fan of offensive line selections and having a dominant offensive line than most people, but I don't know if it's feasible or a reasonable goal.

With better coaching and a couple guys, you could have dramatically better results.

 

And then the coaching staff tried and failed miserably to make Coq au vin with some shady looking chicken cutlets and some 7-11 wine they swiped from a homeless person when they could have made chicken tenders work a lot easier.

 

would much rather squeeze another year out of McKinney...

 

Thank Ireland for the shady cutlets and the cheap wine. He did the buying.

 

If it comes down to keeping either McKinnie or Clabo as a veteran stopgap, I agree. McKinnie.

 

Yep and Philbin had absolutely no say

Probably due to the miscalculation, I mean alignment with Aponte

 

Don't be ridiculous. Philbin most likely offered input. The final say came down to Ireland. He was the GM, who's in charge of the pro personnel dept, who scout all the players on other teams, keep track of who is available, etc.
Philbin did not draft Martin. He also did not fail to even attempt to sign McKinnie in the off season. Had McKinnie been on the line all season, perhaps the results would have been better. Philbin knew Martin wasn't ready to be a starting LT, yet your buddy Ireland really did not give him any other option until the desperate trade for McKinnie half way through the season.

 

Did you ever think that maybe the alignment with Aponte had anything to do with the strained relationship between Ireland and Philbin.

Just curious?

I am not saying Ireland was right. I am trying to make sense of what happened to this team. It seems pretty obvious to me.

 

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/20...nd-philbin-offensive-coordinator-mike-sherman

http://mweb.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-o...hilbin-wanted-to-cut-richie-incognito-in-2012

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

If it seems obvious to you, apparently you think you have the answers already.

Remember, the "alignment" between Philbin and Aponte occurred after Aponte heard Ireland denigrating the coaching staff during the Bucs game because they didn't win with the crap OL he put together, or the LB swap out and downgrade that he orchestrated.