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Salguero: Five issues the Miami Dolphins must address

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by jinx, Jan 2, 2015.

  1. jinx

    jinx Well-Known Member

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    1. Get a new defensive coordinator. It has been five days since the Dolphins completed an epic defensive collapse to finish this season. They allowed 28, 41, 35 and 37 points in the final four games, thus losing three of those. The defense gave up last-minute or fourth-quarter leads in losses to Green Bay, Denver and Detroit. It doesn't end there. Two years after drafting him with the No. 3 overall pick, the Dolphins still don't have a solid plan for using Dion Jordan that everyone is confident about. The linebacker experiments from last year failed because Koa Misi proved incapable of staying in the lineup, Phillip Wheeler didn't settle in or improve as a weakside linebacker and, it turns out, backup Jelani Jenkins was good as a starter but the only reason anyone found out is because the decision to play him was taken out of the coaching staff's hands when Dannell Ellerbe went out for the season. This unit is rudderless. That must change.

    [...]

    4. Address other bad contracts. The Dolphins have half-a-dozen contracts that are head scratchers in that they pay high but the return on the investment is not good enough. So capologist Dawn Aponte, empowered by the plans of GM Dennis Hickey, must get busy on correcting these bad contracts. Which ones? Well, the cap hit for Dannell Ellerbe is scheduled to be $9.85 million. Sir, take a pay cut or you are cut. The cap hit for Randy Starks is $6 million. Pay cut, please. The cap hit for Brian Hartline is $7.35 million. That needs renegotiation because it's too high. Nate Garner is at $1.85 million. He's a third-string backup. We don't pay $2 million for third string. Brandon Fields's cap number is at $3.9 million in 2015. He's a punter. Coming off a subpar year. Much work to be done on this front.

    http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...e-issues-the-miami-dolphins-must-address.html
     
  2. Clark Kent

    Clark Kent Fighter of the Nightman

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    Agreed with all 5 points. Especially #2.

    Miami must continue to make investments into the offensive line. I want Miami to draft a LT @14, kick him inside to G and sign a priority FA to fill the other G spot. Enough is enough already. At some point soon, we have to make a decision about Ryan Tannehill's future. It would be nice if we could make this decision without the caveat of, "Yeah, but his line still sucks and has for 4 straight years..." No more buts. Let's protect him and figure out his real value to this team.
     
  3. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    #2 really hits home as I don't think you can honestly say Ryan Tannehill's been playing with a full deck.

    As a rookie, his best receiver was Brian Hartline with Davone Bess a close second. In 2013 the O-line was a disaster from a talent perspective. In 2014 the O-line became a disaster due to the Branden Albert injury, coaches poorly fitting pieces together and all-around bad decisions with respect to personnel. You can also say that the receiving corps didn't fit the offense overarching principles either.

    That's not to say Ryan Tannehill doesn't need work, he does. His deep ball accuracy can be better as can his overall accuracy. Yes, I know his overall completion percentage took a nice jump in the right direction, but I think he can take his accuracy further. For example, being able to put passes on the correct shoulder of receivers, especially those crossing the field, as opposed to just throwing a catchable pass, will help a lot. His pocket presence can also be better.

    But, he's been sacked more in the past two years than any other QB. His receiving corps hasn't been up to snuff and unfortunately Charles Clay played a good portion of 2014 banged up.
     
  4. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I'm with you on all of that but the issues on the interior of the O-line effect the running game just as much as they do Ryan Tannehill and to me, that's almost more important if we're talking wins and losses.

    The truth is that we don't run the ball well between the tackles as it is. Yet we all know that being a physically assertive team that can do just that is what wins the 4th quarter. Moreover, our RB is a small guy who's best asset in his speed and acceleration. He could be a lethal weapon if he didn't have to spend all his energy in the 1st and 2nd quarter running off-tackle. Do you notice how even when it wasn't working, we continued to run Lamar Miller behind Ju'wann James in that final game against the Jets? The coaches just have no confidence in the ability of the O-line to open up holes for Miller inside--and it's completely justified if you ask me. The truth is that Miller put up almost 1100 yards this season behind a bad O-line that could execute a few types of plays with any semblance of success.

    The ability to run up the middle would do everything to open up this offense. All of a sudden we wouldn't be asking our defense to bail us out in the 4th quarter. We'd see play-action become a big part of Ryan Tannehill's game, too. It would allow Mike Wallace to get even more open that he does now, which would make Tannehill's windows down the field big enough that we'd start to see more reliability on those throws.

    This team really needs to find two Guards.
     
  5. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Very well-reasoned.

    The problem is that this coaching staff can't be trusted to put players in positions where they may do very well, and to keep players out of positions where they are likely to fail.

    Mike Pouncey was always likely to fail as a right guard as opposed to a center. I just don't know where the logic was on that. Go back to when he came out of college, the only reason some evaluators considered him a guard was because of a few infamous bad shotgun snaps. Otherwise it was clear this was a rabbit-quick guy who was a little light in the pants and needed to be playing center where most of his blocks are either double-teams or second level. So fast-forward, any REAL evaluation of him at the pro level should have identified that he has been as a pro exactly what you'd have thought coming out in those terms (quick versus not powerful)...so you're gonna put him at a brute force position like right guard with a bum hip (and therefore diminished core strength)? Really? What?

    But this staff under Philbin has been doing stuff like this all along.

    It's no different from having Jared Odrick play defensive end in 2012, which turned him into a sub-par player whereas now he's a guy that will ask for (and probably get) $8 million a year.

    It's no different from taking a guy with raw pass rush skills like Olivier Vernon had coming out of Miami and making him a pass rush SPECIALIST on third downs in his rookie year.

    It's no different from changing how Reshad Jones played in 2012 to how he played in 2013 when he had such a bad year.

    It's no different from hilariously trying to turn Michael Egnew into a blocking tight end and then fullback.

    It's no different from engaging some half-assed experiment with Shelley Smith at center for all of a week, not even giving him the opportunity to work through the snap issues that a monkey could have predicted in his first week of practice as a center ever. If you're not going to even bare minimum commitment to an experiment, don't do it! Otherwise you're just wasting valuable time.

    It's no different from later going on to have Shelley Smith, Dallas Thomas and Daryn Colledge rotate series at the guard spots, not allowing anyone to get into rhythm because the coaches are paralyzed with indecision.

    It's no different than having a rookie left tackle from an FCS school move from left tackle to left guard to right guard to right tackle over the course of a season.

    It's no different from taking a 3-4 outside linebacker from Oregon, whose PASS RUSH was his biggest question mark for those that actually paid attention to him, beefing him up and making him exclusively a down defensive end. Oh, that is until it's clear after 1.5 years that isn't working and so suddenly we're going to toss the 290 pounder into MAN COVERAGE on the best wide receiver in football (Calvin Johnson no less) during key moments in the red zone. Awesome work.

    It's no different from basically taking away all of the routes at which Brian Hartline had become an expert getting open versus man coverage.

    It's no different from never having decided whether Jimmy Wilson is a corner or safety. You would think after three years they could make a decision as to what he is that way, but nope.

    And Walt Aikens (predictably) suffered the same fate as a rookie from Liberty College. He spent as much time at corner as he did safety this year and they still don't know which one he is.

    Nor do they really know what Chris McCain is, even after he was quite arguably the BEST outside linebacker in the entire NFL during the preseason. And that's not an exaggeration. I wasn't the only one who thought so. PFF graded him the highest of all linebackers in preseason. They gave him a +11.4 grade. The next best OLB had a +6.5. And the coaches not only couldn't find a way to get him on the field consistently, they pretty much stopped putting him at linebacker altogether.

    I can't blame them for wanting to see JaWuan James at left tackle even though he hadn't played the spot since high school. But at some point that experiment clearly went on too long.

    Oh and that's not even getting into DEPTH CHART decisions. Woo boy. Yeah let's keep messing around with Jeron Mastrud instead of finding out what Michael Egnew the 3rd rounder with 4.5 speed has in the passing game at tight end. Let's make Legedu Naanee the third wide receiver, awesome! Let's keep putting Daniel Thomas on the field ahead of Lamar Miller! Let's keep putting Dallas Thomas out at right tackle instead of Jason Fox or Billy Turner! Let's keep Dannell Ellerbe ahead of Jelani Jenkins on the depth chart because of his contract, even though he's done nothing but suck here. Let's keep Wheeler ahead of McCain AND Jordan!

    Seriously. This coaching staff just needs to go.
     
  6. VanDolPhan

    VanDolPhan Club member Club Member

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    But hey CK. Egnew became a pretty darn good blocker........just in time to be cut ;p
     
  7. dolphin25

    dolphin25 Well-Known Member

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    yeah, I think it is issues on both offense and defense.

    scary and sad

    on the chemistry thing isn't it the QB's job to get the receiver the ball? I've not heard anything about Wallace running wrong routes or anything. Cant ask him to run slower, that is not logical.
     
  8. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    This is just me looking at it rationally, but because of everything you said, I'm leaning towards drafting a "no fail" kind of player in round 1 that isn't scheme specific.

    You pointed out several issues with DTs, DEs, OLBs and MLBs that have all been the product of not knowing which guys to draft, which guys to make starters and where to put them in our front.

    Now, by contrast, if you draft a Guard high, there's really no way Philbin & Co can screw that up, nor will it be a pick that "doesn't fit" whatever scheme our future HC/OC run.

    One problem I see with going D-line or LB in the first round is that (1) we don't know whether we'll be 34 or 43 moving forward, (2) whatever DC we have next year may wind up getting flushed out with Philbin, and (3) our coaching staff has a history of BADLY mismanaging that kind of talent.

    This is another problem with chasing after some expensive DT or LB in free agency. For one, they will be highly priced and virtually certain not to live up to their contract value, but in addition to that, they lock you into a certain scheme and at the moment we're so uncertain of who our coaches/schemes will be that it's dangerous to make moves that only make sense for one type of scheme rather than another.


    In my eyes, the Dolphins would do best drafting the least scheme-specific positions position which would put G, WR and FS at the top of my board going into April.

    If we draft a LB, DT or CB, things could go the way of Dion Jordan once the franchise moves on from Philbin--in other words, good player, horrible fit.
     
    resnor likes this.
  9. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    with our linebacking situation {trunsik/wheeeler/ getting lots of reps}, {Ellerbe/Misi hurt}, and after the preseason Mccain flashed, {we all saw it with our eyes, your pff numbers proved} him not getting his shot?, that seems real strange, and of course the dion jordan stuff..
     
  10. Pennington's Limp Arm

    Pennington's Limp Arm Well-Known Member

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    I know Mike Wallace isn't popular amongst the fan base at this point, but isn't it just a pipe dream for fans/writers that he will be anything except a Miami Dolphin next year?

    I mean am I missing something? Aren't the cap savings only 2.5M if he is cut?

    Surely Salguero knows Wallace IS worth 2.5M, but it's not likely any teams are going to be interested in him at 12.5M.
    I'd be shocked by anything other than status quo.

    Add a corner, cut dead weight, improve the line, fire Coyle.... yeah his other points seem pretty obvious.
     
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  11. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    I think you're exactly right if you are thinking about all of this from Dennis Hickey's standpoint to where you can't trust the coaching staff to share your vision on a player. You have to basically make it so that they have no choice.

    But even that can be dicey.

    I mean, look at JaWuan James. This guy has been a right tackle since high school. He was a pretty rare animal in that he was 1st round worthy AND he was a right tackle all through college, which is exactly what you need. But they suffer an injury and instead of plugging in the backup swing tackle you signed from Detroit (Jason Fox), instead they moved JaWuan James over from right tackle to left tackle where he hadn't played since high school. Then they plug in Dallas Thomas in his place at right tackle. So instead of a downgrade at one position you've got a downgrade at two positions, because the coaching staff sucks at this stuff.

    Yet if you go back to when Dennis Hickey drafted JaWuan James, I mean it would have to be literally impossible to get more straight forward than drafting JaWuan James at 19th overall. You need a right tackle, he's a career right tackle, you take him 1st round, BAM...DONE. Except, nope.

    And then you look at Billy Turner. Not all THAT complicated to draft a college left tackle expecting he'll be moved to another spot. Shouldn't be rocket science to figure that spot out. But it was like watching my 13 month old daughter play with mega blocks.
     
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  12. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Absolutely. You knew heading in with Ellerbe and Wheeler having been disappointing, there was opportunity to get young promising guys playing time. But the only reason Jenkins did what he did is Ellerbe got hurt, McCain never found his way out there as a LB, and Jordan kept being an exclusive DL until all the sudden he's a 290 lbs corner.

    And considering all the knowhow we supposedly have with out OL coaching (Philbin former OL coach, Benton a well-regarded one)...the OL decisions should have been easier than they were.
     
  13. FinSane

    FinSane Cynical Dolphins Fan

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    I'm in the camp where I think we just have too many needs and there's no way we'll be able to fix them all in one offseason. I predict we'll have another season where we'll fair no better than around .500 or worse.
     
  14. Serpico Jones

    Serpico Jones Well-Known Member

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    Something tells me you don't like this coaching staff very much.
     
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  15. padre31

    padre31 Premium Member Luxury Box

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    Coyle's seat should be very hot atm, two straight yrs, two epic collapses to end the yr by the Defense, and Jenkins can play Lb...who knew.

    I still liked the flip of Pouncey to G, the problem was Colledge was just bad, and Thomas started fine, then just fell apart..and of course in true Dolphins fashion after the season was out of hand they stick Jason Fox out there who did fine..when it did not matter.
     
  16. FinSane

    FinSane Cynical Dolphins Fan

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    I was one of the proponents of moving Pouncey to G to keep the stability of the line going since Satele was solid early on. But I admit it didn't work as visioned. Pouncey is just not a good G anymore, he's a C through and through. And I didn't account for the fact that coming back from that hip injury only further weakened him which affected his play (as CK pointed out). Still I think it was worth investigating but after a couple games where Pouncey was clearly struggling in his blocking assignments the staff should've reconsidered.
     
  17. Disgustipate

    Disgustipate Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    If you make him a June 1st designation, you save $6.9 million against the cap this year but you've got dead cap hits the next two years(you save $9.3 instead of $13.7 in '16, and $11.5 instead of $13.7 in '17). There's also the possibility of trading him, and there's an added benefit of saving substantial non-cap money from contract off-sets.

    Mike Wallace isn't going to perform like he did in 2011. Not here, not back in Pittsburgh, not with 90% of the league. Stop putting up with bull**** to chase that. You're risking having to pull him off the field, or results that essentially would be less preferable to him being on the field(His 2013 season). Do you think Mike Wallace is going to act like an adult if you find a real #1 receiver, or a real deep threat?

    All for what? Quality red zone production? Get a specialist.
     
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  18. Tannephins

    Tannephins Banned

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    I think Wallace definitely has to go at this point. You can't claim to be building a team while devoting such a large percentage of your salary cap to a player who's providing a return that's so inconsistent with it. I was at the New Orleans game last year where Mike Wallace was playing in his hometown, where players are normally highly motivated to play very well, and he finished with 3 catches for 24 yards on 8 targets, or an unbelievably low 3 yards per target, and dropped a perfectly placed longball by Tannehill that was put right in his breadbasket. That game told me a lot about Mike Wallace's mentality as a player, and his overall level of play -- as well as the antics he pulled in the last game this year -- is consistent with it.
     
  19. resnor

    resnor Derp Sherpa

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    Shouldn't it tell us something that pretty much no other team would be willing to take Wallace off our hands?
     

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