Miami Dolphins will consider moving Dion Jordan to linebacker

I'd like to see your proof of any of that about the vetting and them not testing him at LB at all.

Also, let's say you're right and all of the vetting happened....so? You're basically saying as long as you vet enough the draft pick will be perfect.

For all any of us know, he struggled last year with the speed of the game and picking up advanced concepts he wasn't used too, so they tried to ease him in by just pass rushing and slowly brought up the workload and assignments form there. Then his suspension happened and that set him back. I'm not saying that's what happened, but that sounds more reasonable then "Coyle and Philbin are just stupid".

 

hey lookie here, they finally got the memo..

jesus, this has been the longest most frustrating topic ever for me..

to reiterate from two and a half years ago..This is a freestyler player who needs to see it in front of him and chase it..he can explode laterally unlike any man you've ever seen at that size, precision corner movement at 6'7.

If you watch Dion in isolation when he's at end you will see a player concerned with watching and beating his opponent instead of watching the play unfold while defeating his opponent.

but we should never question pro coaches, for it is not our place to do so with such limited access...

yeah blow it out your ***.

Fin this post was not in response to your above post, just something I needed to get off my chest.

 

Me too. Sounds a bit strange they would sign Ellerbe and Wheeler to big deals, trade up (basically) in the 4th for Jenkins, and grab DJ to play OLB (another trade up) for the express purpose of OLB, only to have the coaches foil the plans. They also had Misi (OLB at the time) too and he was extended by Ireland, right?

I feel like they saw a kid with elite physical ability, enticing size, and figured they would use him as a Joker type. Sometimes in coverage, sometimes rushing the passer. TBH, I'm a little disappointed he hasn't developed as a pass rusher. I feel like it's more valuable than an OLB. With LB being such a huge need now, I guess it kind of works out. I think Ross once said that Jordan was the consensus BPA and when they had the option to trade up for cheap, they took it. Outside of that, I've never heard confirmation one way or another.

 

Walter football, oh Charlie and Walt when will you end your mockery?

Dion covered Megatron, Gronkowski, Gates... let that sink in.

We'd probably never get beaten by the screen pass to his side ever. If Dion can teach coverage successfully to McCain we would really have something, imo.

 

I think it was CK who suggest McCain pass rush. I'm open minded.

 

How dare you, sir

Kid is another good pass rusher who could easily cover the sweep or screen pass from the olb.

I wish I knew the extent of his struggles throughout the year.

 

Trusnik is a backup, so he only needs to be better than Wheeler. But we play 3 LBs at once about a third of the snaps. Wheeler has less than 400 snaps. So if the 3 starters are Jenkins, Jordan and Misi, which one does to the bench when the nickel back comes in, which is 2/3s of the snaps? I'd put the green dot on Jenkins' helmet and he'd never leave the field. Same for Jordan if he shows what I think he will as a OLB. That leaves Misi as the odd man out in the nickel, and he'd be a well paid part timer.

 

Rex could probably make a Pro Bowl LB out of Jordan.

 

If he played Sam he would have Wake in front of him, and the thought of him blitzing off the same side as Wake is rushing from is intriguing to me.

 

This guy is who Jordan can be.

 

No he is not.

Covering and tackling in space is his forte.

 

Those look like some pretty old photos. Who is the player?

 

IMO, that is the primary reason.

 

Ellerbe was originally signed to replace Dansby at MLB. The first of many mistakes involving the LB position and this staff.

 

If it would have been Jordan rather than Wheeler in coverage on that last pass in the GB game, I'd have liked our chances of an incompletion a helluva lot better.

 

The Mad Stork, Ted Hendricks.
http://www.hurricanesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205819632

 

McCain - Weakside
Jordan - Strongside
Misi and Tripp fight for the middle. Or some rookie.

 

What do you plan to do with Jenkins?

 

Dolphins DE Dion Jordan was key to game-winning blocked punt vs. VikingsChris Perkins









Jordan makes big plays when he's on the field. You just have to get him more than 20-30% snaps. Wheeler should be cut and Ellerbe should be camp fodder.

 

If we're real lucky, it won't be Coyle making that move next season....

 

I don't remember him playing for Baltimore. Was that before Oakland?

I'm not sure Dion will ever be the sweetheart that Ted was. Today's NFL would throw a flag on Ted for stepping onto the field.

 

Hendricks began his pro football career as a second-round pick of the Baltimore Colts in the 1969 AFL-NFL Draft. He was initially listed as a defensive end, which is why he had the unusual number (for a linebacker) of 83. After coach Don Shula converted him to linebacker, he entered the starting lineup halfway through his rookie 1969 season. He made 32 tackles and 2 sacks on the quarterback and knocked down 2 passes and blocked a field goal (the first of 25 blocked kicks in his career).

 

Thanks for bringing me up to speed.

I thought he was a 34 OLB prospect, which is of course an entirely different position than what Philip Wheeler plays for us.

 

I thought he was a 34 OLB prospect. I totally agree that his pass rushing highlights while at Oregon do not show a #3 overall type of player.

But again, I would think that at the NFL level you'd have him as a stand up rusher and a drop-back cover guy, two things that would scream 34 OLB.

But we're a 43 and the OLB position in our defense doesn't rush the passer. It's purely run support and coverage. So while I agree that he's not a 43 DE, I wouldn't think a sane person would want to stick him at 43 OLB either. He's somewhere in between which indicates he a 34 prospect.

I have said several times that I did not like the selection. I don't think it makes any sense, particularly when you consider that we were solid at the DE position anyway, even if that's where he was mistakenly projected.

 

Let's all say it together: "Ireland refused to accept that Philbin wanted a 4-3. He kept on acquiring 3-4 players right till the end".

Its a shame too bc prior to Soliai leaving we really did have the personnel to be a dominant 3-4. Spilled milk at this point though...

 

Jordan can play OLB in either a 4-3 or a 3-4. He does those things well, and can also blitz, which our LBs do too.

 

Jordan looked so much more comfortable playing some 4-3 olb against the Vikings they have do it permanently. They should have done it a lot sooner in his career though.

 

I still contend that that draft was ripe for us to draft some stud O-Linemen. But Ireland got cute and tried to load up on a position we were already stocked at. We're still building the O-Line when Ireland should have had it shored up by then. Jordan would've made sense if we were still running the 3-4 that we ran before. As you said, most 4-3s including ours don't call for LBs to blitz much. He wasn't built as a 43 end and even now after bulking up, you're still asking a square peg to fit into a round hole.

 

Because the DC (or insert name here) is a dumbass or stubborn.

 

I was blown away when we didn't pick an OT with that pick.

When we traded up I thought, 'wow, that took some guts and I guess we're finally going to address the O-line with some serious upgrades.'

I am happy to root for Dion Jordan, but it was a horrible selection for the Dolphins at that particular time.

I try to avoid saying this because I don't think it does anyone any good and I don't want to become one of those cynics who goes on and on about past mistakes, but I honestly thought Dion Jordan was WAY overrated as a prospect.

I try not to think about that.

 

With Ted, ya kinda gotta say decade and a half, because he played 15 years and was an All Pro 2x in the 80s as well as the 70s. He was still on top of his game when he retired since he made the Pro Bowl in his last season. He was a kick blocking machine. One year, when with the Packers he blocked 3 FGs, 3 punts, and an extra point. 5 ints, and a safety too.

He is the type of player Jordan should strive to be, an all around LB who fit in either a 4-3 or 3-4, and made a variety of different kinds of big plays. The idea of him being mostly a DE and pass rushing really negates most of his overall skills. Put him at the Sam and leave him there, and we may see him as a poor man's Hendricks in a few years. I would not want to predict he'll have a total career equal to Ted. That maybe asking too much, but just a similar type of player.

 

They drafted him to play a Jason Taylor type role but the problem was he had very little pass rush skills coming out of Oregon. He still hasn't developed those skills. Yea, you can play him as a SAM but he's still got to be an effective blitzer/pass rusher to even come close to living up to his draft position. He's an amazing athlete for his size but he's not really an amazing athlete when you factor in his lack of pass rush ability and start comparing him to other 4-3 NFL linebackers. He's just a really tall SAM.

 

My Wife is friends with Ted from back in his playing days. Great player and was very personable when I met him myself.

 

I don't remember that draft, maybe because I was 3.

 

He's a 3-4 linebacker who is athletically gifted enough to be a 4-3 linebacker. His cover skills are sweet.

I remember what Bobby Knight told the coach from Portland when pondering who to draft.

"Take Jordan"

"But we need a center"

"Take Jordan and play him at center..."

 

Jordan is athletically able to play this position if that is where Coyle wants to put him. That's all I really need to know. If Jordan gets a full time opportunity in our defense, he's going to make strides. This should have happened a lot earlier, but oh well. This last game against the Jets will answer some questions hopefully.