1 year deal. Per his agent and Schefter Wow, our defensive line just got BETTER....and that's saying something.
Considering defense last year, especially run defense, folded at the end of the season, this should be interesting to see how the line holds up this year.
I like Johnson, but if he's now the 5th DT, he's in danger. If Phillips really shows up in TC and the preseason, we will always have two quality, rested DTs in the game.
Disgustipate has been bringing up the point and I think he's right, basically the Dolphins are making sure that they never have to throw Ndamukong Suh in at the 1-technique to occupy two blockers. They paid a sh-t ton of money for the man and they want him to produce.
Mitchell may be the one to go. I'm hoping it's a cap move to get another high caliber offensive lineman...
Could be. But, he's really the only other guy after Suh who has played 3-technique at any length. I feel like they might just keep him as a developmental guy and see what ilkind of mileage you can get out of him say next year, especially if Earl Mitchell plays/costs his way off the roster.
They don't have any shortage of options that way, IMO. First off Earl Mitchell's athleticism has intrigued them in that role since they signed him, but with Odrick and Starks around they were never going to get many opportunities to use him in that role. Second, they've got ends they like to reduce down like Derrick Shelby, perhaps Olivier Vernon (have you seen the muscle he's packed on?) and probably Terrence Fede.
Armando emphatically started that Mitchell remains the starter. But that could of course change by September.
With all that's been going on in the front seven I'd completely forgotten Fede. We have some talent and potential in that front seven. If Chris McCain somehow plays well this year, and there are no major injuries we would have a top-five front seven, I'd think.
With our depth at DT, I wonder if we might see Suh playing DE on some short yardage plays? Much better tackler there than OV, for example.
Absolutely. I like that this adds more depth that is starting calibre. And, those guys at the back end of the DT situation are going to have to really compete. We may well keep 5 DTs for depth. Great DL at this point.
Our interior is ridiculous at this point...but what about the edges? OV isn't the greatest run defender, and I love me some Cam Wake, but run defense is nowhere near a strong suit of his. Am I worrying for no reason, or is it reasonable to expect teams to have a fair bit of success running the edges?
This is also insurance in case Suh gets suspended this year. Just saying, it could happen. Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
I think it's fair to be concerned about the edges. Besides Wake and OV, there's also our LB corps. Jenkins wasn't that great against the run last season, IIRC, and we don't really know much about Chris McCain. I think the coaches are waiting to see how McCain fares against the run in training camp and the preseason games before declaring him a starter... if he doesn't show he can be at least adequate, I think they might switch Misi back to Sam and make Sheppard the Mike.
All true but I'm not too concerned about the edges because plugging the interior eliminates an entire avenue for attack. It's a lot easier to defend something when it's easier to predict. I guess we'll see in practice how things turn out, but I think our overall run D will be pretty good. Pass D not so sure though, and our LB's there could still be a concern.
Agreed. I also think our DBs are pretty good at run support (especially if Jamar Taylor gets the start) which could offset whichever problems we might have with the LBs.
Taylor was rocking the run D and was tackling well right up until D. Thomas took him out for the season. I'm not saying that one led to the other, but Taylor's injury did kinda happen at the exact same time our run defense fell apart too.
Slightly OT, but aren't you just giddy with all the moves this off-season Deej? I can't friggin WAIT for the pre-season games/scrimmages, and the season (naturally). AFCE is going to be batsh*t crazy.
Please somebody ship a truckload of these to one, Mr. Tom Brady. http://www.amazon.com/Astroglide-Pe...TF8&qid=1433982750&sr=8-2&keywords=astroglide
Not only will the run defense improve but the LBs can increase their range in pass coverage .Even the poor run stuffing LBs will be more effective in this way.
People forget how YOUNG Vernon is . Seriously , there are players coming into the league that are 24 , I've said this since we've drafted him , he is an ascending player , while run support may not ever be sterling I anticipate he improves that again this year . he has the ability to make tackles at or along or near the LOS. He's 24 . Twenty four . Let that sink in .
Psyched about the Dline. A lot of the late season collapses falls on the D, especially the run D. They would just break at the absolute worst times and Wake could only do so much as he had to deal with being double teamed, etc. This was obvious to any of us fans and it was obviously clear to the staff as well. Kudos to the staff for building a much stronger, very important part of the team. When people talk about the OL and how it all starts in the trenches, well that goes for the DL as well. It should take a lot of pressure of the secondary and also allow the LBs to roam, attack and cover a lot better. We now just have to really hope Albert can stay healthy and keep James on the right side where he belongs. Good stuff.
He's a young, ascending player, and above average DE, but I think his ceiling is limited. I still get the feeling he doesn't shed blocks that well, and so far he doesn't really have any finesse moves (though that's not a necessary ability IMO) that he can execute well consistently. I think he'll do real well with Suh + Wake, but I do hope this doesn't lead to us overpaying him because once Wake declines (and you never know when age hits) we're going to have a void at DE.
Yeah on some highlight reels. But does your memory say he can execute that effectively relatively often? It's memory vs. memory here, but I don't remember that.
Exactly, not sure why Dolfans never really warmed up to OV universally, to me he will never be a speed rusher off the edge, a Justin Tuck type more is his accomplished vet level game. PPL also seem to forget they dropped OV back in coverage irregularly
noone on the line last year besides wake garnered a double team, def not starks or odrick...thats no longer the case with Suh, this will have a trickle down affect that will be very tangible to see..if you don't double Suh he will destroy a decent part of your gameplan..really one center or a guard is no match for Suh..that sh^% is rag doll material to him.
