Football Gameplan's 2014 NFL Team Preview - Miami Dolphins

4th in the division? oh well, you had the friggin' bills finishing 1st in the division last year so I guess it's a good sign for us.

Just messing with you, thanks for the vid Em.

 

Nice breakdown of the roster and I agree that this once again looks like another 8-8 team. Unfortunately with the likely loss of Pouncey early in the season, I think it is going to have a huge impact on how quickly this OL is able to come together and perform at a high level.

I agree that Tannehill remains a HUGE question mark at QB.

On defense, I think right now the LB corp of the Dolphins has to be seen around the league as one of the worst starting LB units on any team. Hopefully the younger LB's on the team can be as productive as you think they can be.

I am not as high on the secondary as you are. I think Finnegan's best years are well behind him and the play of Jones last year wasn't nearly up to the playing level he showed in 2012. Delmas is also a big question mark based on his injury status the past few years. Hopefully some of the young secondary players can step up and compete for starting jobs this year. The only player I have any confident in at this time is Grimes and he isn't getting any younger.

I think based on all your positive comments, many fans will be surprised that you actually picked the Dolphins to finish last in the AFC East. I agree that the Dolphins have talent at certain positions and they have a very solid special teams unit. Yet I also agree that they will probably finish last in the AFC this coming season.

The one thing you failed to comment on was the coaching of Philbin. Personally I think he is over his head as an NFL head coach and this team really won't go anywhere in the future until a quality head coach is hired to turn this organization around. I see 2014 as his last year as the Dolphins head coach.

 

The same with any young quarterback with little experience. He needs more consistency. That was the big difference between 2012 and 2013. He is a quarterback on the rise.

 

" not being used properly"..is a serious understatement Em.

I'm sure folks are tired of me talking about it, but when your equally deft going to your right or left on the run, ( I mean this dude can really throw on the run)you don't go 2 game stretches without that type of Qb rolling out to both sides, I think the average was a little more than 1 a game.

This is a Qb that needs to use his entire Repertoire to reach max team success, I thought it was a fireable offense and it came true.

His biggest issue is pressure awareness and knowing when to escape, he doesn't feel the rush very well or quickly, nor when to tuck it and run, his play speed is slow ( he's been transforming his body to get lighter and quicker), and his touch is not very good..

How to improve these depts, well, if he's late reading the rush, if he doesn't know when to take off innately, then get his *** on the move 7, 8 times a game, between multiple plays going to both sides, read option, effective conscious scrambles, his legs should be part of the gameplan about 8 times a game.

 

Tired of you talking about it? When have you ever talked about it...

 

Everything I mentioned in the post I've talked about specifically dozens of times over the last two years.

 

Sarcasm, dj, sarcasm.

 

1) I appreciate the effort. 10 minutes is a nice in-depth look! Thanks!

2) Agree Tanny's pocket awareness and other issues compunded the O-line issues.

3) Glad you think Daniel Thomas is the odd man out

4) Chris Chambers comparison for Landry is interesting. Don't think he's atheletic as Chambers and think Landry's hands are more consistent.

5) Disagree that Sims is solid at TE... he was supposed to be, and has the skills, but didn't perform to expectations. Also, Lynch is not a move TE imo.

6) Yes, talent looks better along the line, but I expect disorganization and lack of chemistry and leadership on that line. Thanks Pouncey.

7) "Perennial Pro-Bowler" Cam Wake. God, that sounded beautiful to my ears.

8) Thanks for teaching me it's pronounced Fe-DAY. Not Feed.

9) You aren't concerned about Soliai's loss vs the run?

10) Nice use of pics... up to date mini-camp pics and college pics! Esp. in Tripp scouting report.

11) to be continued... gotta go watch Argentina-Holland

 

Hold on a minute I have some serious questions about this video.
You said Miami will finish last in their division at 8-8 barely missing the playoffs. Are you saying Nobody in Afc will have a losing record and all of them besides Miami will make the playoffs?
You also said Miami could potentially win more games this year than last year, which means you believe every team in the Afc besides Miami will win 10 games or more each. Let's not forget these teams do play each other 6 times per year but lets not let that interfere in this fuzzy math. Dude Im calling you and your logic out.

 

Can't really argue.

 

Don't really agree about your assessment of Tannehill. Certainly he needs to improve his pocket awareness and throw with anticipation a bit more. But the sack stats don't back up the comments that he is a bigger issue than the oline.

http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2014/2013-quarterbacks-true-sack-rate

by Scott Kacsmar.


Ryan has issues and he's got to improve. However, it's not all on him. Not even by a longshot.

- 43/58 sacks by way of blown assignments/blocks
- 6/58 coverage sacks
- 6/58 Rusher untouched sacks
- 2/58 other pressure sacks
- 1/58 failed scramble sack
- 0 sacks QB fault.

Basically, only 6 times did Tannehill get sacked when he had sufficient time to throw. And this is only sacks, not even including pressures.

 

His view is that the Dolphins are an 8-8 team. He obviously feels that the other teams in the AFC East will finish with a better record than the Dolphins and that is why he sees the Dolphins finishing fourth in their division. There are a lot more teams in the AFC than the four teams in the AFC East, so obviously he must feel that several AFC teams will finish with a record worse than 8-8, if he thinks the Dolphins will just miss the playoffs if they go 8-8.

I think the Patriots will probably go at least 12-4 this season and the Jets could win 9-10 games. So really it all comes down to the Bills and Dolphins to determine which one will finish last in the division. The Bills appear to be the better team at this time and I could see both the Dolphins and Bills finishing 8-8, but the Bills finishing ahead of the Dolphins in the standing based on head to head competition.

As far as the Dolphins winning ten games is concerned. I believe his prediction of the Dolphins just missing the playoffs is based on his prediction they will finish 8-8. I have to think that if they should win the 10 games he feels is possible, he would probably think the Dolphins would make the playoffs in that scenario. Obviously I am only guessing that would be his thinking, but when I listened to his prediction, I came away with the understanding that if they go 8-8, they would finish fourth in their division and barely miss the playoffs.