This season, and seasons to come depend on Tanny having that 'breakout' 3rd season. With the 'improved' OL, perhaps an ability to run the ball a bit (assuming that OL is actually improved) and the redesign of the O by Lazor, at least on paper, he has all he needs to take the next step towards being that franchise guy...
Odd to put Finnegan on a "break out" list. He should be on a "come back" list. I'd replace CF with Taylor on the potential break out list. I would argue there are three that have the most potential: 1) Jordan; 2) Misi (in the switch to ILB) and 3) Tannehill. I think they need to stop moving Jordan around and focus him on DE, personally. Though Vernon had 11.5 sacks, he does not have the suddenness or length to disrupt the passing attack the way Jordan does. Misi, imo, could really become a stellar MLB. He's close to 260 and could easily play there. He's tough at the point and can really be the best at clogging the middle in a while. And, Tannehill, for the obvious reasons of the revamped OL and Lazor could also become a much improved QB.
Wake Starks Vernon Jordan Misi Ellerbe/Jenkins Grimes Finnegan Wilson Delmas Jones I can ride with that on 3rd down. Taylor and/or Davis can get on there too.
Even if there's not dramatic improvement for our key players like Tannehill, Wallace, etc.. I still believe that incremental improvement on the Oline, as well as Tannehill, WRs, RBs, O-coordinator and key guys in the secondary like J Taylor will - together - have a significant impact and give us a better shot at the wild card spot.
With Finnegan ranking 109th out of 110 corners last year per PFF, I guess there's no where to go but up.....
I semi expect Eggnog to turn the corner this season as I expect a lot of spraying the ball around the field and he is physically talented and this O fits what he can do.
I know the O line should be much improved and Lazor came from Philly, but come on, this is optimism at it's finest! Even though Matthews is 'out of the doghouse'. I don't see him breaking out. A big game here or there, sure. But with Landry in the mix and Gibson coming back, I don't think Matthew will get consistent high volume targets. Agree with the Earl Mitchell write up. Probably my favorite signing. Stops the run and athletic enough to get after the QB. Opposition QBs are going to be under attack this year.
I don't know why the article or people in general bring up the 4-3 vs. 3-4 thing for Earl Mitchell, he's not playing a radically different positioning or role in the base defense.
Agreed, completely. But, the point is, it would be a "come back" not a "break out" season. A 'break out' is when a player hasn't ever peaked, comes into his own and becomes a solid starter at least.
I think the point that was trying to be made was that he played the nose in a 3-4 so he should be stout against the run in a 4-3.
I think if Gibson doesn't come into camp healthy he is gonna have a hard time getting his job back. Matthews is on the upswing. That being said, we are so loaded at receiver this season I'm not sure what could happen! I don't remember EVER being this deep at receiver... Wallace, Hartline, Matthews, Gibson, Binns, Landry, Williams, Hazel. Even if the OL is only 10% better, Tanny will benefit greatly. Whatever the problems with he and Wallace last year (personally I think it was mainly Wallace not timing his routes properly) I believe should be gone. I mean he never seems to have a problem hitting Clay, or Hartline on deep passes! Not to mention Wallace moving around this season. I think Misi could be a good fit at MLB. They should have Zach Thomas give him some coaching like JT/Jordan...
It's going to be close to the exact same role and positioning. He was OK in the role with the Texans and he'll probably be OK here, you shouldn't expect some sort of added improvement from him being asked to do something differently.
I'm not sure about that at all. At the time he signed, Mitchell made a big deal about the fact that he wanted to play in a 4-3 and it was one of the major reasons he signed here. http://espn.go.com/blog/miami-dolphins/post/_/id/6163/will-4-3-defense-best-suit-earl-mitchell http://msn.foxsports.com/florida/st...to-miami-switch-to-dolphins-4-3-scheme-031214 So he certainly thought there would be a change. If that was such a big issue for him, I'd be surprised if the Dolphins didn't make that a big part of their sales pitch to him. Maybe it was just a bait and switch by the Dolphins, but I see no reason to assume that.
One of those things that sounds nice but I'm not sure it's going to work out the way it sounds especially with both Odrick and Starks still here. If Starks had left then perhaps.
As for Michael Egnew, he only breaks out if Charles Clay gets hurt like Dustin Keller did. Bottom line is in this league there's just not much room for your #2 tight end to "break out". If Clay gets hurt the whole year like Keller did, absolutely Egnew is a breakout candidate. As I've said before, those uber-athletic pass catching types at the position that were written off for one reason or another have a way of turning up like a bad penny in the NFL once they get a sizable opportunity put in front of them. It looks like they're taking Brandon Gibson's recovery slowly and that could open the door for Jarvis Landry. In this offense, the #3 wide receiver will have a lot of opportunity to "break out" I think. Gibson's slow recovery could be enough for Landry to get his foot in the door and if he's a legit prospect as many believe that may be all he needs. To me the primary guy I'd look for a breakout from would be Lamar Miller. The other players are probably a bit of a stretch but Lamar Miller has a number of classical things going in his favor. First off he's not a rookie. Looking for rookie breakouts...be prepared to be disappointed. Every year I think people generally overvalue rookies. New system is a good thing for him in a number of ways. There's rumor that the new coordinator wants to call more run plays. That's a positive for him. The new coordinator's previous experience was in an offense that called for much more route running and pass catching from the tailback as opposed to pass protection. That's a positive for Miller. The new coordinator also coached for a shotgun-based running attack which is another positive for Miller as he's shown more from the shotgun than from plays with the QB lined up under center. The new coordinator is installing option stuff, again good for the running back. Finally the guy they got to compete with him for the start came to OTAs a little out of shape by his own admission and by the admission of the coaching staff, and in the end he's just not all that great a player I don't think. There may be something to be said for a "breakout" from Shelley Smith given that he's really only got a handful of starts in his career thus far yet Miami is definitely pegging him as a starter. I just wonder if they would've covered up his weaknesses in pass protection to his left shoulder better if they put him at left guard. We're already hearing in OTAs about defensive tackles beating him to his inside (left) shoulder to pressure or sack the quarterback. By all means a #3 overall pick that has not already broken out could be primed for a "breakout" any given year...so Dion Jordan belongs. I would look toward Phillip Wheeler as a potential breakout player. The guy has the skillset they hoped he would have. The problem is he wasn't all that comfortable with the new position and he had bad help at the mike position from Dannell Ellerbe. Koa Misi is going to be more aggressive and that could help Phillip Wheeler make more plays. There's a chance Jimmy Wilson could be the breakout guy. They moved him to safety but still have him playing slot corner in the nickel package. Louis Delmas has a thick medical file and we could be a likely injury away from Murder Wilson playing a role similar to what Richard Marshall played in Arizona during some of his good years. For that matter, Michael Thomas could be a guy to watch for in that scenario as well because it may mean that he would be the guy to come on the field as the fifth defensive back in nickel packages, the way Tyrone Culver used to.
He was a 1-gap, 1-technique in Houston, and that's almost certainly what he'll continue to be here. There's variability in how guys lined up there play from team to team, but it's not really applicable in these circumstances, I don't think. He's coming from a Wade Phillips coached defense, he knows how to utilize undersized, active Nose Tackles just as well as he does gigantic meat-shields. If he were coming from a 3-4 where he was 2-gapping, or asked to crash into the gap he was lined up over and over it'd be a bit different, but he was more Jay Ratliff than Vince Wilfork. They did apparently tell Mitchell that he'll get a chance to compete in the Nickel package, which the Texans didn't really let him do, but I'm not sure he's going to get a huge expansion in that regard- There's guys who are going to get priority already on the team for that.