If we have an elite line this year then we're all good! Keep in mind they lost Peters for the whole year, Herremans (8 games) and Kelce (14 games) to injuries that year. So I dunno if it would have been ****ty if they had them all for the year.
Is it sick that one of the trends I'll be keeping an eye out for (and is looking VERY true right now) is the Ireland Double Down theory? ie: When Ireland doubles down in the draft...the lower prospect turns into the better one during their time with the Dolphins. Will Davis > Jamar Taylor.
Not that great. Looks like he'll be stuck as a backup this year. Actually, James is performing the best of any rookie tackle so far I'd say. By far the best in pass pro, as most of his peers seem to be better at the run than pass.
The tape I've seen has been good and he's got a positive (+1.4) PFF grade, consisting of positive marks in both run blocking (+0.3) and pass pro (+0.5). For reference, PFF has given JaWuan James a -2.7 grade, with a +1.1 in pass pro and -4.3 in run blocking. I don't know what Washington plans to do with Moses, though I'm not really sure it matters. Jacksonville is starting Chad Henne over Blake Bortles for crying out loud. Miami continues to work Dallas Thomas equally with Shelley Smith on the first string offensive line. Teams do what they do for their own reasons.
With Albert and James I think the Dolphins have upgraded the tackle position as much if not more than any team has upgraded any position. We went from terrible pass protection to really good pass protection. Maybe even from the worst to top 3 pass blocking from the Tackles. No more excuses for Tannehill. Time for him to become more than an average starting QB.
There's no formula for a receiver to be a man to man specialist. They could be smaller and faster, or bigger and physically dominant. My personal speculation has been along those lines, sort of. If the current coaching staff is kept (at least Lazor) then they're going to need a tailback that can weave EVERYTHING together. He's got to be a guy that can run inside zone which requires vision and cutback ability, but he also has to be a guy that can run power because in this offense the power works off of inside zone. As an inside zone guy in an offense that utilizes zone-read, he needs to have the vision and agility to at times cut completely to the backside of the blocking when the defense is over-playing the front side of the inside zone while keeping a defender at home to watch the quarterback keeper. But that same guy also has to be able to buck it straight through a hole behind a lead blocker. He's also got to have the ability to work outside zone which means speed and cutting ability. He's got to have the ability to catch a lot of balls in different situations, too. And of course every team wants their tailback to be able to block when he has to. The offense thrives off ambiguity so the skill set at that position needs to be diverse. If quarterback doesn't become a priority by next draft I should think tailback will be a fairly high priority.
Will be very interesting to watch the RBs from next years draft.......anyone you think fits that bill worth watching more then others?
Ameer Abdullah really worth keeping an eye on. He probably won't rate as high as a Melvin Gordon or Todd Gurley.
I think I was suggesting James as our possible pick at 19 earlier than anyone else around here, so can't really second guess it too much now.
Man to man specialist is all about being able to create separation in man coverage, no matter how you are able to do it.
An abundance of caution. It's confusing because Bradley was in Seattle when the coaches showed they weren't afraid to make Russell Wilson the starter right away. Everything I've heard has pointed to Bortles taking hold of the locker room, huddle and offense the same way Wilson did.
IMO the primary question is, did we cost ourselves Brandin Cooks by jumping on James at 19, in the sense that "could we have gotten BOTH players had we gone with Cooks first and then patiently waited for an opportunity to trade up for James"? What's the value of the 32nd pick?... our 2nd this year and 2nd next year? We could've spent that much to trade up for James and had it present much better value than taking him at 19. Meanwhile, Cooks presented great value at #19, hence the Saints trying to trade up to get him there. Unfortunately we'll never know the answer since Hickey dodged the BPA route and reached for a tackle. When we look at the teams that kill it in any particular draft, we typically see a common theme- they display patience, let the talent fall to them, and then gobble it up.
Seahawks are a team that draft players who they want. They overdrafted Bruce Irvin, Paul Richardson, Christine Michael, and John Carpenter. They average one in every first two rounds in the draft since Carroll took over
No, Seattle didn't overdraft Bruce Irvin at 15. Chicago was ready to take Irvin at 19 but had to settle for McClellin instead. No, Seattle didn't overdraft Michael. They TRADED BACK their 2nd rounder to take him at 62, netting additional 5th & 6th rounders in the process, so thank you for reemphasizing my point. They got their guy plus 2 extra draft picks. No, Seattle didn't overdraft Richardson. They TRADED BACK their 1st rounder [twice] and took him at 45 instead, netting more draft picks..... so again you're doing more to support my point, thank you. Yes, James Carpenter was a reach, and it didn't benefit Seattle to do so, which yet again supports my argument, thanks. Seattle patiently waited on Russell Wilson rather than reaching for him in round 2 like they were tempted. This allowed them to acquire a key piece of their defense in round 2- Bobby Wagner. Seattle wanted John Moffit in 2011, and rather than reaching for him at 57, they traded back and still got him. By doing so they netted RICHARD SHERMAN. Seattle owes much of their defensive success to not reaching for players at their original draft spots.
This only works if you believe Cooks will be great. He may be...I'm not sure he would be here. Also we've traded back a lot recently and had it amount to very little. The key isnt trading back IMO it is taking the right player when your card is in. FWIW I wanted nothing to do with Cooks.
That's close to what you and others were saying about him as I recall (significantly better at pass pro than run blocking). What do you think is the problem with the run blocking? And what can he do to improve? Is it technique? A lack of strength? Desire?
Someone else said this and I agree. He doesnt seem to find someone to block well in space in the run game. However since he does this well in the pass game I think he can improve.
Jacksonville's philosophy is that Blake made a huge jump during his redshirt season at UCF. I've heard a couple reports that alluded to the fact that if UCF hadn't redshirted him his first year at UCF he likely wouldn't even be in the NFL; that's the type of improvement in his game we are talking about. He is the type of player and guy that can and will learn along the sidelines. They were/are hoping to sit him most of the year and get another huge jump out of him again in the pros, the problem is he is clearly outplaying Henne already.
We can argue all day if he was a reach and the hypotheticals of trading back, but I'm happy James is playing the way he is thus far. In 71 pass pro snaps he has allowed 0 sacks, hits or hurries. Granted the defenses aren't very complex quite yet, but everything I've read says intelligence is one of his better traits. We may have hit well on a need in a draft in which about half of your picks amount to nothing. Not ready to give Dennis a gold star quite yet, but the arrow is pointing up.
Any comments on this "huge reach"? Any comments on Kouandjio? the player you had rated higher than James, you know, the guy who's looking worse than Martin and is being labeled a bust by bills fans? "what a bad pick" huh?
