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The Secondary/Cornerbacks

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Phoenician Fan, Feb 6, 2014.

  1. Phoenician Fan

    Phoenician Fan Well-Known Member

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    I think the Dolphins have good coaching when it comes to the secondary. http://coachingroots.com/football/teams/miami-dolphins

    Start with Carroll: What would you do?? I'd sign him as soon as possible. He just continues to improve. Even his tackling is getting good. He has very good size and speed, high character,smart, and the coaches like him. Signing him immediately to a long term deal gives the Dolphins a little leeway with Grimes.

    Grimes: If he is retained, I think most believe that is a very good thing. What if Hickey shuns the tag and the Dolphins get out bid?? Then what??
    .............Ugh....I don't like the options. The good young corners on the market all have some issues except Alterraun Verner, and he is going to cost a fortune.

    I think I would take a great big flier on Will Blackmon, and I would probably sign him whether Grimes returns or not. I have been researching his career and this guy is quite the enigma.

    Fourth round pick out of Boston College where he majored in English. He was BC's leading WR his senior year and he set a litany of records as a KR/PR.

    Blackmon was never a starter in the NFL and was cut by the Seahawks last camp and was playing arena league. That's tough going for a guy with a family. A long way down from winning a Super Bowl ring with the Giants in the Destiny Bowl.

    Jags picked him up and he ended up starting 8 games and he played the best football of his life, grading out solidly in coverage and making plays, getting sacks,picks,forced fumbles and 40 tackles. It appears he was a gamer all along.

    Maybe he was a one year wonder, but maybe he is ready to play some damn good football for the next 2-4 years. Another thing you get with Blackmon is his experience as a KR/PR.

    Blackmon has great size at 6'0" 210 and he is an excellent tackler. He could project well as a safety as well. A safety with exceptional ball skills.

    Jamar Taylor: What are your expectations?? Mine are still sky high, although I do believe he could use another year as a backup.

    Will Davis: What do you see for Will?? Myself, I got nothing. Wasted pick IMO.

    R.J. Stanford: FA, Inconsistent,I let him walk. You?

    Chris Owens: FA, character issues so nah.

    Don Jones: I guess we are calling him a CB. A great big Yes! Good special teamer with outstanding athleticism and tons of upside.

    So at CB I would keep Grimes,Carroll,Taylor, and sign Will Blackmon; and I would draft Ross Cockrell CB from Duke.

    Cockrell is a brilliant guy who has extraordinary leadership abilities. He is highly esteemed by the entire team as well as all the coaches. He was an elite shutdown corner at the college level who was not often thrown at. There are even some who say he is a better cover corner than Darqueze Denard. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/12/02/4514884/blue-devils-secondary-credits.html#.UvNRyvldXQD

    If the 49ers cut Carlos Rogers do the Dolphins look at signing him to a 1-2 year deal and letting Grimes move on? Roto guess's he gets a 3 mil contract. I wouldn't do it.
     
  2. Jagfish

    Jagfish Season Ticket Holder

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    Grimes was the best player on our defense imho. Can't let him walk. Carroll definitely improved but with 2nd and 3rd RDS CB's in the draft last year you might either sign him to a reasonable deal or let him walk.
     
  3. CitizenSnips

    CitizenSnips hmm.

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    We've seen absolutely nothing from Taylor and Davis to assume they're good or bad at this point. We don't need to sign anyone else, give the two a chance.
     
  4. Clark Kent

    Clark Kent Fighter of the Nightman

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    I'm all for resigning Grimes if a reasonable deal can he constructed. He's 30 years old (31 by training camp). If he wants unreasonable money and years, I'm perfectly fine with franchising him and playing him on loan for one more season.
     
  5. LI phinfan

    LI phinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I would let Davis and Taylor play....if Carroll wants back up money ,I would give it to him but not a penny more. I am surprised people think his tackling is getting good. I have yet to see him tackle anybody but the WR that catches a pass...yet to see him come up on a RB to make a tackle. In fact I have seen him do his best to avoid any contact at all.
     
  6. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    I have recently become a big fan of Ross Cockrell so you're preaching to the choir here.

    I believe the Dolphins are put in a difficult position where they have to retain Brent Grimes and while that should be a good thing because he performs well, he's getting old (will be 31 years old this year) and doesn't have a clean medical file and he's likely going to be expensive coming off a Pro Bowl year.

    Between Jamar Taylor and Will Davis I think Davis has the best chance of being something, unless his total lack of physicality in tackling starts torpedoing him. But ultimately you want these guys for coverage and Davis is the best cover man of the two.

    I like Nolan Carroll.

    This reminds me of Brian Hartline. Back when people were trying to cut Hartline because of his mysterious illness which turned out to be life-threatening complications from appendicitis, I banged the drum for Hartline and even created YouTube videos showing exactly how good he is at creating separation in man coverage. Fast-forward and he's a 1000 yard receiver with only 1 touchdown to his name and now due a $6 million per year contract...I had some mixed feelings about giving him that much money. Ultimately I felt it OK so long as you got rid of Davone Bess, which they did. Wasn't thrilled with who they replaced Bess with though.

    So now we have this thing with Carroll, whom I also banged the drum for being a lot better than people think when everyone kept trying to say he should be cut and he's a total scrub and ridiculous weakness, etc. Neither the film nor the metrics ever supported those conclusions. But at the same time he's now a free agent and given his overall combination of size and athletic ability, toss in the good metrics, there's a chance that a few other teams out there start eyeballing him and then it becomes hard to get him back here cheap. You could be looking at an either-or proposition with Carroll and Grimes and I think most people consider that an easy question.

    I think the Dolphins PROBABLY either need to move up or down from Carroll. I would pay attention closely to his market and if you get the feeling that the market is flooded with corners and nobody in particular likes Carroll then seize that opportunity and bring him back cheaply. You can't have enough corners that can get out there and play.

    But if he is being bid into the $5 million per year range then I think the team is better off either upgrading by going after a Sam Shields or trying to pick up bargains.

    One potential bargain is E.J. Biggers who made $1.5 million last year but was converted to safety and really didn't play very well. He may be in line for LOWER pay in 2014 than he got in 2013. That makes him a bargain basement guy, somewhere between veteran's minimum and $1 million a year.

    You want a real sleeper? Look at Trumaine McBride of the New York Giants. He was drafted in 2007 out of Ole Miss after measuring out 5091 and 185 lbs with 4.48 speed at his pro day. He did a 4.57 at the Combine but I'm not sure I trust that number. To the nay-sayers that would point to that number I would point to Brent Grimes having run a 4.57 at his Pro Day in 2006. So obviously the 40 time can be misleading at times if not flat out wrong. He doesn't have a lot of experience as he's bumped around here or there as mostly a special teams player. He resurfaced in New York as a starter at left cornerback.

    What impresses me about McBride? Haven't done the film study yet but the numbers are superb. He became a starter in Week 5 and was thrown at 73 times with only 32 completions for 369 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs. He knocked down 8 balls. His yards per attempt and yards per snap figures are fantastic and he's only 28 years old. He only made $630k last year so he will likely be had cheap.

    I think of McBride as another one of those guys like Anthony Collins, Geoff Schwartz and Antwan Barnes that you can pick out as having outperformed their opportunities and then you fast forward a bit and either they're producing some great numbers as Barnes did with 11 sacks in 2011, or lining up for bigger contracts like Collins and Schwartz will be this year. I still have to do the tape study on McBride of course but I'm eager to see it.
     
  7. PhinsRDbest

    PhinsRDbest Transform and Transcend

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    I'm not comfortable investing in cb high in the draft, considering who was drafted last year. Safety on the other hand, would anyone object to selecting Clinton-Dix or Pryor at 19?
     
  8. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    I might but I've yet to dig deep into those players.

    I would prefer making a run at Stevie Brown in free agency.
     
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  9. Phoenician Fan

    Phoenician Fan Well-Known Member

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    I believe there to be a devastating dearth of veteran leadership on the Dolphins defense so I am really hoping that Hickey sees this and takes some real action.

    I already gave some of my case for Ross Cockrell to be drafted, chief of which was his elite leadership qualities; but he would be a rookie and probably not even starting his first year.

    So this is why I am beating the drum for the Dolphins to acquire Charles Tillman to play safety. IMO, Tillman is a perfect candidate to become one of the best CB to safety conversions ever. Tillman is a a turnover machine and thee....Man Of The Year, according to the NFL. The Dolphins could kill several birds with one stone by acquiring Tillman.

    Taking the Dolphins defense a notch closer to becoming a truly aggressive scoring defense, at the same time dramatically improving the Dolphins character image by enlisting one of the most well respected players in the game, and adding a guy who is the quintessential mentor type for the Dolphins young secondary.

    I like Clemons. I like him more than Reshad Jones, but Jones has a contract that prohibits moving him. I would sacrifice Clemons to get all the intangibles that Tillman could bring to this team.

    I forgot to even mention Patterson. I'm surprised he hasn't already been released.

    I think we have to mention Michael Thomas with the CB's as he will surely be competing for nickel and dime duties. He is the #1 reason I would try to trade Jimmy Wilson for a late round pick.

    Spencer Long OG, and Austen Wentworth OT/OG are two OL that are being projected as late round picks. I would consider both of them excellent prospects to become starters in the future, or at the very least excellent depth. Those late round picks can be extremely valuable when you have a competent GM.
     
  10. 77FinFan

    77FinFan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Speaking of D, is there anywhere that would show how much time our D spent on the field? I think just some longer possessions by the O helps the D out instead of a quick 3 and out.
     

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