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Ronin's Review: Carolina Panthers Game

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by RoninFin4, Aug 23, 2015.

  1. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Last night's game showcased good, bad and ugly for Miami. I'll keep it to bullet points since it's preseason. I watched it live last night and re-watched most of it this morning. Good, Bad, Ugly, and Hold Your Breath are our categories today:

    Good:
    - Ryan Tannehill - pretty nice effort for the most part. Came off a few reads too early, most notably throwing to Landry running a 2 yard crosser on 3rd & 6; Lamar Miller was open. Did a nice job in a crumbling pocket a drive later to dump it off to Miller for a big gain. His deep ball to Cameron was a beauty. Really nice read and ball placement to Damien Williams on the TD.
    - Lamar Miller - he got derailed by a Billy Turner whiff on his first carry, but he did some nice things with the limited reps he got. Really nice juke on the long pass play.
    - Damien Williams - thought this was the best we've seen of him all-around. The fumble at the goal line is a negative, for sure, but he ran well and is a threat to catch passes out of the backfield.
    - LaMichael James - thought he was decisive on his returns, punts especially. Hit holes pretty hard when he got to run the ball.
    - Ja'Wuan James - played better this week and looked good getting in space in the run game. He and Dion Sims pinballed a Panthers defender nicely on Tannehill's option keeper.
    - Matt Hazel & Gerell Robinson - Hazel probably is the best receiver after the top group of 5. It'll be interesting to see if they can stash him on the roster while Parker recovers or if they can sneak him on the PS again this year. Robinson has some intriguing speed/athleticism. Do we keep a 3rd TE from the ones on the roster though? Maybe.
    - Sam Brenner - really nice block on LaMichael James' long run. Could be an interesting battle between he and McClendon for a final OL spot. Both can play guard and center; thought McClendon did better at center this week than he did at guard last week.
    - First team defense - OV and Grimes got the night off, but the rest of the unit looked pretty good for the most part. Suh's presence was felt and Wake had a few nice pressures of Cam Newton.
    - Good Goal Line stops - Kelvin Sheppard struggles in space, but he was in on 2 nice stops on the goaline along with Michael Thomas and Walt Aikens. I can't really pick a winner in the Aikens vs. Thomas battle at safety, but given how effective Reshad Jones has been, especially attacking the LOS, I'm inclined to give a slight nod to Walt Aikens at this point just because of his range; that's subject to change though.
    - A.J. Francis - if there's a 5th DT kept this year, Francis probably leap-frogged Anthony Johnson last night.
    - Zach Vigil - he's around the ball a lot. He's going to make this team barring injury...

    Bad:
    - Quarterback play after Tannehill - Matt Moore made some awful reads and throws before he and Hazel got a drive going. MBT and Freeman probably shouldn't be on a camp roster. IMO, Miami really needs to do their due diligence with camp cuts to see if there's something worth developing. Moore is shaky at best in this offense and he costs a lot.
    - Mike Gillislee - good player at UF, but I think his days as a Dolphin are numbered.
    - Jason Fox - he struggled in pass-pro against Kony Ealy from the jump and apparently left with concussion issues. Miami's tackles after him, swing options essentially, shouldn't be rostered.
    - Billy Turner - a favorite of mine, but he struggled in run-blocking last night. His pass-pro was better than Dallas Thomas' was in my opinion.
    - Zach Vigil - rookie also shows up here; he gets false-keyed a bit in the game. Not sure if it's just him itching to make a play or he's really missing reads.
    - Jeff Luc - same as Vigil above, but worse. He also loafed on the Carolina TD run late. Did make a nice play on a tackle on punt team.
    - Mike Hull - I think this may just be a case of a guy not having enough physical gifts to make it. He seems to make the right reads most of the time; just can't get himself where he needs to go at this level.
    - Cedric Thompson - bad Cedric showed up last night on defense. Good Cedric showed up on special teams.

    Ugly:
    - Will Davis - yikes. Still missing tackles. Still poor ball awareness. Had a penalty to boot.
    - Aundrey Walker - cut.
    - Donald Hawkins - cut.
    - Matt Moore - that was pretty ugly until the nice ball to Hazel. Nearly threw a pick to A.J. Klein and did throw a pick later on a bad ball.
    - MBT and Josh Freeman - ............

    Hold Your Breath:
    - Jamar Taylor - left with a quad injury. Dude has skills but man, he's hurt almost as much as Koa Misi.
    - Bobby McCain - sounds like he'll be okay, but he left with an ankle injury.

    All in all, the starters did a really nice job again and I'm excited to see how they match up against Atlanta next week. I'm especially interested to see how Taylor, Aikens and Thomas do against Atlanta's passing game, which looked pretty sharp when I saw them a week ago. Hopefully the Taylor and McCain injuries aren't serious. Guys who need to step up next week: Billy Turner, Jamil Douglas, Anthony Johnson, Chris McCain, Walt Aikens, Michael Thomas, and Cedric Thompson. I feel like all of them can do better than they did last night. Not that all of them were bad, but I think there's more there. Also would really like to see Jay Ajayi.
     
  2. PhinFan1968

    PhinFan1968 To 2020, and BEYOND! Club Member

    Thanks Ronin...detailed and thorough as usual. I can rely on checking your post-game to find stuff I missed. Looks like my boy Michael Thomas is steadily improving...love it.
     
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  3. padre31

    padre31 Premium Member Luxury Box

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    Seems as if they want to keep LMJ, if he can take over Landry's Returner role.

    Takes Landry off of Returns, #3 Rb has to offer more then just a roster slot, Williams could be our #2 Rb, not a bad rotation though a little to "quick" and not enough power in that rotation
     
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  4. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I could see them keeping LaMichael James purely as a return specialist if Ajayi shows anything over the next two weeks. Otherwise, I agree, James is the 3rd back in the pecking order and Ajayi could be a healthy scratch for a while, much like James last year.
     
  5. Ronnie Bass

    Ronnie Bass Luxury Box Luxury Box

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    I'm a big fan of MT too, love his character.
     
  6. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Regardless if Thomas is named the starter or not, I think he's got a sizable role with the team this year. He played some slot CB last year, was the top backup safety, and plays on most special teams. He made a really nice play on the combined stop with Kelvin Sheppard on Mike Tolbert at the goal line last night.

    Aikens made a nice stop on that same series as well.
     
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  7. padre31

    padre31 Premium Member Luxury Box

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    Ajayi becomes the "new" Gillslee

    Would like a bigger Rb in that mix, Polite was what he was, if we needed a yd or a Td from the 1, he was good at picking it up, we have not had that in a long time
     
  8. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Definitely agree. Miami needs what Knowshon Moreno was in week 1 last year. I'm not sure Ajayi is that guy, but he seems a little more apt to run between the tackles than Miller and Williams.
     
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  9. padre31

    padre31 Premium Member Luxury Box

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    He won't see the field barring injuries
     
  10. thetylernator

    thetylernator You're as cold as ice, Officer Friendly.

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    Earl Mitchell. ;)
     
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  11. RoninFin4

    RoninFin4 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    No, not at this point. I'd still like to see what he's got the next two weeks.
     
  12. padre31

    padre31 Premium Member Luxury Box

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    We know how this works, gm #4 he MAY play.

    Teams have gotten a lot smarter about showcasing guys with physical talent in that meaningless 4th game or they will get practice squad poached.

    Will say, and I'll stick by this, some team will have a power back, and they will have a lot of success b/c as the league switches to flash and dash, it leaves itself vulnerable to smash and score. THAT is one of the huge differences b/t the CFL and NFL, 3 down league v 4 down league
     
  13. CitizenSnips

    CitizenSnips hmm.

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    In two games Ryan is 18 for 22 for 158 yards, two TDs and no picks, with a 126.9 rating.

    What we've been hearing is Ryan has reached a level of consistency in practice that hes never displayed before, and he's looked damn sharp in his two performances as well.
     
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  14. Alex13

    Alex13 Tua Time !!! Club Member

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    you and your strange theories
     
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  15. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I've only seen the highlights from last night but so far this offense has spread the ball around in its few drives on the field. If we include the scrimmage, we've seen nearly everyone contribute a little bit, with the emphasis being on getting the ball to the RBs fairly repeatedly. It appears as though the team wants Tannehill to be a distributor which I think bodes well. If he can shuffle around the pocket in order to avoid negative plays, shoot it to Landry and Williams on shorter routes and push the ball downfield using Stills and Jennings, this could an effective offense.

    For me, Cameron and Parker are the X-factors. I thought Cameron would be more of a weapon that he's been so far. I've been disappointed because I imagined he'd bring as much if not more to the offense than Jennings and Stills. With Parker, it's all about staying healthy. I think he's the best weapon this team has going forward. No one has a better chance to be a dominant player than he.
     
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  16. Ohio Fanatic

    Ohio Fanatic Twuaddle or bust Club Member

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    been saying for two years, Moore sucks and if we need to rely on him running this offense for a few games (heaven forbid) we're in trouble.
     
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  17. Stitches

    Stitches ThePhin's Biggest Killjoy Luxury Box

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    To be fair, he's played barely more than a quarter.
     
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  18. CitizenSnips

    CitizenSnips hmm.

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    It's also important to note, Lazors been vanilla as ****. Nothing but slants and dump offs. The fact that the offense has looked really good is a very good sign cause it's just our talent showing through, not playcalling.
     
  19. PhinFan1968

    PhinFan1968 To 2020, and BEYOND! Club Member

    Ya there's been no razzle dazzle or anything...I like. Wish Cameron would've caught that gorgeous deep pass though.

    It looked like they dialed up the deep ball 3-4 times at minimum...in just over a quarter of play...again, I like.
     
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  20. Ohio Fanatic

    Ohio Fanatic Twuaddle or bust Club Member

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    Listening to XM radio today, they were saying the same thing about Mike Shula, saying they were so vanilla on our goal line stand to explain why they couldn't convert
     
  21. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Just got done watching the first two quarters and I have to say, this wasn't the dominant offensive performance I thought I was going to see. With a 21-0 score I figured Miami's offense must've been highly successful but that's not the impression I got AT ALL. Carolina continually screwed the pooch early. Where as Miami was regularly the beneficiary of good breaks with a bad play off-setting nearly every good one they had.

    For example. Carolina gave away their first offensive possession by running on 3rd and long. If every team does that against Miami, the Dolphins will be in good shape but c'mon, that's not going to happen very often so as 3-and-outs go, that wasn't very impressive on the part of the defense. With a clean pocket from which to throw, Newton torched the defense on the second possession only to have Benjamin's replacement totally whiff on the catch. I'll admit Reshad Jones played virtually perfectly and I'm guessing Grimes will be great again but the rest of the secondary and the LBs as a whole are totally unspectacular aside from Taylor's pick but of course his injury is a reminder of what's plagued his career to this point. Point blank, one side of our defense is elite (Suh, Wake, Jenkins, Jones, Grimes) while the other is honestly not even average. I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes an issue for Miami this season.

    On offense, Miami wasn't successful on either deep throw and prior to another the QB, instead of climbing the pocket confidently, stayed back far enough for a rusher to swipe the ball out of his hands for a fumble. On the two that we saw, it was a great pass break-up by Thompson against Cameron but the over-throw of Stills was bad and as I said, in the end Miami came away having no success on any of those plays. That left the rest as mostly slants (which were only effective against the lesser of Carolina's CBs) and short dump-offs to Landry and Cameron which were nothing special--the same disappointing "we will not win doing this stuff" kind of passes we saw last year I'm afraid.

    But, I have to admit, the thing that really scares me about Tannehill as a QB is that he doesn't operate as quickly as I'd like to see considering that efficiency is supposed to be his big forte this season. The plays where he's hitting someone in the flat or throwing a quick slant just don't come off nearly as sharp or as precisely as with elite QBs who run high-volume offenses: Peyton, Brady, Brees, etc. If you're going to set Tannehill up to win by making a bunch of short, quick throws, the offense cannot continue to be this lazy and slow with its execution. They have to be those few milliseconds ahead of the defense that are required for low-risk plays and I don't see it. It wasn't there last year and it's not here this year.

    We keep hearing about Coyle simplifying the defense and I'm wondering at this point if the offense isn't trying to do too much. I see a lot of variety but I don't see anything that can be relied upon time and time again in crunch time. Just as one example, they went with the quick slant to Landry at the goal-line on 3rd down and failed because (1) it was played well by a good CB, (2) Landry isn't a big-bodied guy who reliably can block out a DB and (3) the throw wasn't great. No matter who's at fault it's a perfect example of why Miami attempts too may FGs in the red zone. The prior play to Miller running into the flat was another example as well of a play that NEEDS to be sharper--that NEEDs to unfold more quickly than it did.

    There was a really good reason Miami struggled from close in last year and it was evident in this game against Carolina. When Miami has to gain 5 yards, they don't have the big-bodied RBs for it, they don't have the big-bodied WRs for it and they don't have the quickness and precision of an elite offense.


    I know this post is really negative but sometimes you watch a game and just think to yourself, 'man, if this opponent were any good we'd be getting killed--maybe putting up a couple FGs at best' and I think that's what we saw against Carolina.

    With all the talk about how easy the first half of the schedule is and how few elite QBs Miami faces, I can tell you, this is not the kind of play that is going to win against good opponents late in the year.

    Then again, I was expecting a dominant performance and what I got was more or less an average review of what this team looked like last year. There's no harm in looking a bit average during pre-season, I'll admit that. But I really hope the teams finds a way to improve in the more explosive areas as well as those which involve the crispness of execution. Next week against the Falcons will give real indications of how sharp this offense is.
     
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  22. gandalfin

    gandalfin Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    As always, you are very astute in your analysis. I really can envision a time when Damien Williams improves his running skills, his vision and his instincts. If this happens, he could become a beast mode type of guy. He's such a fine receiver and is quite a savvy football player. If he can just develop as a runner....

    Totally agree about Moore and our backup QB's. Look at Joe Webb, Carolina's 3rd stringer. Granted he was going against our 3rd and 4th stringers, but he looked like a man among boys during most of his outing. I somewhat get the Dolphins opinion of Moore in terms of his knowledge and experience being a part of this team, but as a player, Webb looked head and shoulders better.
     
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  23. MrClean

    MrClean Inglourious Basterd Club Member

    I'm probably as big a supporter of Matt Moore as you'll find, but it appears to me that while he never had a cannon arm, his arm strength is even less than it was in 2011-2012.
     
  24. btfu149

    btfu149 Well-Known Member

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    For all the talk about how bad the backup QB's were, MBT's stat line was pretty good, 5/6 46 yards is pretty good. I haven't gotten to watch the game yet and I realize he was terrible last game, did he do anything bad?
     
  25. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    With all due respect, Matt Moore really hasn't had any playing time over the last 3 years. He's basically been holding a clip-board while 99% of the QB-development efforts have gone to Tannehill.

    The price you pay for developing your #1 is that you ignore your #2. I'm sure with 4-5 games worth of playing time, Moore would probably get back to where he was. After all, he was never that great--just someone willing to sling it around.
     
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  26. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    nfl speed, nfl body as well.
     
  27. PhinFan1968

    PhinFan1968 To 2020, and BEYOND! Club Member

    I've been thinking about possible trades the team may be making (totally fictional of course), and one guy that keeps popping into my mind is OV. It seems we have depth there with Fede and others doing well, but I don't know how much of a loss he'd be. It's a contract year and we may or may not have him in the long range plans (my inclination is they don't plan on him being here in 2016).

    So I ask this, Ronin, since Miami seems to be liking and showing the 5-2 looks a lot recently, is OV integral to that formation? Is coverage more important on that defense than a pass rush?
     
  28. Brasfin

    Brasfin Well-Known Member

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    I agree with a few of your assessments but I think you have very high expectations if you think 21-0 (yes I'm counting the goal-line fumble) by our starters in the first half isn't good enough. Yes, we need to tweak some things, but this team (1st stringers, at least) is good and has shown this in the last two games.
     
  29. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    One thing to consider is that he will probably be worth a good compensation pick as I doubt Miami is going to be really big in free agency next season. So if they do trade him, it better be for a really good linebacker or lineman.
     
  30. PhinFan1968

    PhinFan1968 To 2020, and BEYOND! Club Member

    Ya and that would be my line of thinking...good starting quality at one of those spots.
     
  31. resnor

    resnor Derp Sherpa

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    I really don't know what people are expecting to see in the preseason. The offense is running boring stuff. I never look at preseason to try to evaluate what we'll see in the regular season.
     
  32. Destroyer

    Destroyer There for every play.

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    Any word on Jamar Taylor?
     
  33. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    We hear that kind of stuff all the time. When things go well fans are predicting 13-3. When the team looks hit-or-miss, it's "just the preseason" and it's "vanilla play-calling."

    At the end of the day, the preseason serves a purpose. The time during which the starters are playing against other starters is very important.

    Do I care as much about the 2nd half? No. Do I care who wins? No.

    Do I care if some of the starters look unremarkable or if there are things which need to be improved? I have to.
     
  34. btfu149

    btfu149 Well-Known Member

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    Hopefully he's ok! Anyone watching the Packers game? Poor Jordy, maybe they could use Rishard Matthews??!
     
  35. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    There are better sets of eyes here than mine but at the worst I'll be honest with what I see. My expectation is that every play can be executed to the fullest and to me, the defense caught 2 big breaks and the offense was struggling to put multiple good plays back to back. The Panthers did a great job of convincing Tannehill to throw short.
     
  36. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    I do not agree. Great teams who have won superbowls have looked terrible in preseason with their starters. Teams that end up being terrible top 10 in the draft starters have looked great in the preseason.

    It is all grain of salt. It is best to look for no injuries, look for comfort in the offense and if they have improved physically.
     
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  37. DolphinGreg

    DolphinGreg Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I'm not projecting wins and losses for goodness sake.

    I'm just expressing my opinion on what I saw.

    If you've got evidence and see something different, speak up.


    Let's be honest here...this isn't practice or the Bears. This was probably the biggest test Miami has had, and maybe the biggest test they will have, before entering the season.

    It damn sure isn't a grain of salt. I'm not going to listen to our players being praised on all off-season and then have this be labeled a grain of salt. Fact is, this was a little disappointing and improvement is necessary. A good opponent challenged Miami and there were hiccups. That's all I'll say.
     
  38. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I thought Dallas Thomas had a nice first drive blocking, showed awreness on helping his teammates after he had his man, contained his man on the td run by williams and didnt give up any pressures.

    Wish that Tannehill would look off that tight coverage on that endzone slant, reboot.

    Ryan over Newton.

    Ryan to Rishard..two times in sync..Stills is not gonna start over Matthews imo.

    Ryan is getting better, he may give 70 percent completion a run.

    Dwill believes that he belongs, he has a sense of confidence...theres upside there..really nice stutter step at the goalline..quick read.

    Just dont understand the ruling on the fumble in the endzone, when you fumble in play and it goes out of bounds its your ball where it went out, I dont see why this play would be called differently because its in the endzone..

    Lamichael Jmaes is a legit NFL #3 running back...missed on that eval..

    Miller and Willams im good with..dont see the need for james to get to much work this year.

    Think we need to keep Landry on returns if we wanna be the best version of our team..

    Tony Lippett flashes..against scrubs but derek anderson is a former starter in this league.
     
  39. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    Preseason is mostly meaningless, but not completely. Anytime you have position battles, preseason is a good place to sort out what the pecking order should be. Otherwise, it's useful for players "gelling" under more realistic conditions. And given the high turnover on the Dolphins side (e.g. our WR/TE corps), it's useful for our players to learn each other's tendencies.

    The downside of course is the potential for injuries, which we've already seen our share of. At the end of the day, preseason exists for the NFL to make more money.
     
  40. padre31

    padre31 Premium Member Luxury Box

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    Point of the preseason, to me, is to take a gem from the Tuna:

    "If they don't bite as pups, they probably are not going to bite"

    And to see which puppy is biting
     
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