http://phinphanatic.com/2015/11/10/miami-dolphins-need-to-choose-wisely/ I say that despite Miller playing very very well, we need to start splitting the carries down the stretch. Makes Lamar cheaper and puts our rookie on display. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'd have to agree, I'd also be playing Williams more as well, throw him in the fire and see whats what, find out who is who now that you have a chance, at LB as well. But that's speaking in a perfect world bubble, you could only do that if you were a secure HC not playing for your job, Cambo doesn't have the Luxury of evaluating young players or benching better players for cap reasons, he's trying to win every game to try and keep this job
Williams needs to be on the field as little as possible. 75/25 split between Miller and Ajayi and let them make plays. I want both of them making plays for us into the future.
15 carries for Miller 10 Carries for Ajayi would make me happy. I don't have any faith in Damien Williams as a RB.
Just posted this on the Ajayi thread, but I think we should split it 60-40, or close to it. I'm in favor of re-signing Miller next season, depending on how much of a hometown discount he would be willing to give us. Miller + Ajayi will be a very good combo in the near future.
I like the Tannehill contract. I think we give him one more year and attempt to put together, at the very least a decent offensive line, to see what he's capable of when he's not getting crushed by ole blocks by Fox, Douglas and Thomas. If he can't put it together between now and the end of 2016, it's time to look in a new direction. I'm torn on Miller. The guy has unbelievable speed and we saw what he can do when used appropriately on Sunday. Furthermore, he's consistently had terrible OL to run behind. The idea of Miller and Ajayi in the same backfield is exciting. That's assuming Ajayi lives up to the hype and to the brief productivity we saw on Sunday. Dion Jordan, I'm done with him. He's just a remnant of the train wreck that was Jeff Ireland. The kid is a waste of space and maybe a change of scenery can help him. He will go down in a long line of horrible 1st round picks by the Dolphins. The Parker thing is perplexing. When we first drafted him I was excited to see how someone who is tall with great ball skills would help our offense in the red zone. I know he has been dealing with post surgery issues but I don't understand the reluctance to start getting him reps. I agree with the writer that Matthews is gone and we probably can't afford him anyways. In hindsight, I wish we would have used this pick to address any number of glaring holes on our team but then again, hindsight is 20/20.
If Tannebaum is actually the ultimate decider for this football team, he needs to go to Campbell and tell him it is time to start playing the younger players so the organization can see what these players have to offer for the future. I agree Matthews will not be a Dolphin next year, so for the rest of the year Parker needs to be playing instead. It is obvious some of the veteran players like Wake, Grimes, and Misi are likely to be released because of their high salaries and lack of production. In Wakes case, an injury which will probably take at least a year for recovery and at his age, an injury which will likely limit his effectiveness going forward. They need to see if any of the young players on the roster can step in and be players to build this team around. As as far as Tannehill is concerned. I expect him to be the starter in 2016 because there just isn't another option at this time. I suspect that by the end of next season, the new coaching staff, along with the new GM and Tannebaum will have realized that Tannehill is not the long term solution at QB for the team and they will use their first round selection in the 2017 to draft their new QB of the future.
Both are luxuries, at this point. Lamar is more crucial to the offense moving forward, literally. But if Ajayi flashes over the course of the rest of the season, it will make not re-signing Lamar hurt less. Rishard is easily replaced (in theory) with Devante Parker. However, something about letting Rishard walk after years of developing him into a good receiver, is very off putting.
Yeah, but that's not really the question given that Parker should assume Matthews responsibilities (and be better when he comes on). Would you rather have Matthews, Parker, Landry and Stills all at WR and bank on Ajayi knowing his health concerns or would you rather have Parker, Landry and Stills at WR with both Ajayi and Miller in the backfield? To me, the second option sounds smarter.
According to Football Outsiders metrics Matthews is the 3rd best WR in the league this seasons and Miller is the 4th best RB. Matthews is quietly having a great season despite Tannehill not playing well and Miller is having a great season despite a poor o-line. I get he feeling that neither player is appreciated to the extent they should be for the numbers being put up, and I get it because I don't see them as superstars of the league either, but statistically they are both putting up superstar type numbers. I predict we lose both and we'll probably regret losing both more than any free agent we've let walk in a long while.
I disagree. Lamar is crucial to our success on offense. Rishard is a luxury, especially with Parker waiting in the shadows. Miller and Ajayi can be a dominant duo. You'd also still have Landry, Stills and Parker as the main receivers. I like Rishard, but this is a no-brainer in my opinion.
We wont be able to afford Rishard if we are going to try to upgrade in free agency where we potentially missed in the draft. There are some interesting names in free agency i'd rather see us pursue as opposed to re signing Matthews, Especially with Parker in waiting. As for Miller, I think he needs to be brought back on a nice contract. You get the feeling that he is only going to get better, and if he can eclipse 1,000 yards behind this atrocious line yet again, then he is certainly worth bringing back. In fact I'd almost deem it a must that we retain him at seasons end. He is way too important to this team right now to just let go.
they have produced pretty good numbers in the running game, we just need to get rid of these timely **** up plays, mostly in the 2nd half
I would have no problem keeping Matthews at the right price. I just think that he will probably be too expensive for the Dolphins to keep after this season. If they hadn't wasted a first round pick on Parker, signing Matthews would make sense. But with Landry, Stills, and Parker under contract for next year and all the other needs for this team, overpaying to keep Matthews doesn't seem like a good move financially for a team with little money to spend this off season. I think trying to resign Miller is more important, but I just wonder if his asking price is going to be too high for the Dolphins in the long run.
I don't think Miller's price will be that high. The only thing he's got is his relatively high YPC and I suspect that's because of the big ones he rips off here and there. In other words, he's not consistent, which in my view is more valuable. He's not a big back. He's more about straight-line speed than agility or strength which are both more appealing in terms of "wowing" someone on tape. I just don't see many teams going after Lamar Miller with big money. I think Miami can definitely have a reasonable discussion about keeping Miller at a price that's acceptable. He'll get paid, but he's not going to break the bank anywhere. He's not that good in my opinion.
Are you factoring in that Stills is only under contact for 2016 then he too is a free agent? Couple that with Parker's foot issue that's not an issue, but really is an issue, and I think it makes sense to re-sign Matthews.
Personally, I think it's better to be way above average in a few categories and below average in the others than average everywhere because average everywhere gives you an average team (and note that many successful teams of the past were asymmetrical in their strengths/weaknesses). Matthews, Parker, Landry and Stills is what I'd choose because it's a lot easier to draft another Miller than another Matthews. And that's exactly what I'd do: draft a mid-round RB. We need to use the 1st/2nd on some key skill positions like DE, maybe CB/LB, then use mid-rounders on RB and OL (possibly multiple OL picks). But strategy-wise, I'd try to create asymmetrical strengths, specifically with WR/TE (given that this is a passing league.. naturally big question is whether Tannehill is up to the task, but this whole thing is thinking more long term anyway) and the DL (already have Suh.. just need a solid run defense and a good pass rusher).
I would love to re-sign Matthews, but if it's an either or scenario, I'm still taking Miller everyday and twice on Sundays.
I don't think it would be. I think of the primary free agents Miami's set to have, Olivier Vernon is the guy you don't re-sign. He's been very poor this season, is likely to ask for a top-dollar contract (undeserved) and doesn't really fit as a base end if Miami continues to run a 4-3 and doesn't really fit a 3-4 IMO.
Miami will be better off without Bill Lazor next season. And, at this point, what's the big deal with having the patience to wait until next year? It's what we do as Dolphins fans.
You think we go conservative or Tanny goes conservative? If Stills is running a deep route, that means the coaches called an aggressive route, it's up to the QB to pull the trigger vs dumping it off. I'ts not like Lazor goes 3 wide and they all run 10 yard routes, is it? Miller. Are we going to resign this guy? Should have done it earlier so it's cheaper.
Not resigning Matthews would be a big mistake. As if the passing game wasn't bad enough. Matthews is more than just a solid WR2. He has been a legitimate WR1 this year and is not being thrown to enough. Good things happen when the ball is thrown to him. Tannehill numbers this year: 192 of 299 (64.2%), 2,237 yards (11.65 YPC, 7.48 YPA), 13 TD, 9 int = 88.7 QB rating Tannehill numbers throwing to Matthews: 37 of 51 (72.5%), 554 yards (15.0 YPC, 10.86 YPA), 4 TD, 1 int = 125.78 QB rating Tannehill numbers throwing to everyone not named Matthews: 158 of 248 (63.7%), 1683 yards (10.65 YPC, 6.7 YPA), 9 TD, 8 int = 81.09 QB rating Personally, I would want to resign the guy that has a higher YPA than rest of the teams total YPC. In addition Miami's may be the worst team in the league at making big plays in the passing game and Matthews has 3 (48, 46TD, 50TD) of the 6, 40+ yard completions (Stills, Landry, Miller each has one). As for Parker...who's not telling the real story? As for Jordan, if Miami can salvage a 7th round pick for him I would say "do it" even if it is only swapping with a team in the 7th round to move up one draft spot that round.
Given the relative ease with which a team can find a competent back, and the little Parker has been playing; it would be more of a sound move. However, if we lose both Lamar and Damien Williams, leaving only Ajayi on the roster, that's not good. You don't want two unknowns at a position like that. Having one guy you can groom for a year before moving on is better than having to trust two unproven players.
I don't disagree. I do in fact like Matthews more than I do Miller for whatever reason. However, we're not talking about elite players. I think your point holds true for teams which feature great players. Having a Demaryius Thomas or a Dez Bryant or a Calvin Johnson or a Rob Gronkowski can be a wonderful thing, particularly with a great QB. Those things can turn out to be nearly unstoppable and quite valuable come Play-off time. I suspect however, that Matthews is not an elite WR (regardless of the rankings) and that he and Parker would be competing for the same targets given Landry and the TE will be featured as well. So it may boil down to whether or not you feel you're really getting all you pay for when Parker and Matthews wind up splitting time. Now if Landry wasn't in the picture or if Miami ran something more similar to Green Bay wherein the TE is not featured quite as much as the 3rd WR, I'd agree that Parker, Matthews and Landry as a trio would make more sense. If Miami keeps Matthews, he and Parker will split time which seems like a waste, IMO, when the alternative is to stick with 1 of those guys play full-time and have Miller paired alongside Ajayi. That's why re-signing Miller seems like a wiser decision to me. I do think that Miller and Ajayi (based on what we saw last week) could be formidable however as I said, I would personally rather root for Matthews. If Stills is out of the picture, maybe this changes. I can imagine Parker, Landry and Matthews being a great WR group. If the team indeed wants to throw it around it'd be hard to make excuses for the QB at that point. I would happily let Miller go if I knew Ajayi could stay healthy and that Miami could find some reasonably talented RBs and Gs to support the cause. So in reality, I'm all for Matthews staying, I just don't think he's really as good as the rankings indicate so we need to be careful not to over-value him, particularly when his leaving may not change anything at all given Parker's potential. In my view, the picture of Matthews leaving is made a lot more bearable when you consider that we haven't seen Miami's #1 pick WR play AT ALL. I'm fairly sure Parker will do everything that Matthews is doing now once he's healthy and up-to-speed with the plays.
Id be very tempted to do this: Keep Tannehill as your QB. He is what he is. Find someone who knows what the hell they are doing when evaluating offensive line talent. Then I build a team around my offensive line, and Miller and Ajayi. In two years the Salary cap goes up by 20 mil. In two years, Tannehills contract will actually be very affordable in relation to the other QBs who will be getting their contracts. I think a bunch of defenses have built themselves to defend against the Pass to the extent that a team who can dominate on the ground can have a pretty good competitive advantage. I think Tannehill is clearly a good enough QB to be able to take advantage of the fact teams will have to pile 8 in the box to stop the run.
What I don't like about this strategy: it hasn't been very successful for winning a Super Bowl. Since the merger of the leagues only 5 times out of 45 have the Super Bowl winners finished in the top 10 in rushing while he QB was out of the top 10 in passer rating...Steelers 1973, Raiders 1980, Giants 1986, Ravens 2000, Giants 2005. What I like about this strategy: If Tannehill does remain QB I definitely think this would be our best chance at making the playoffs.
If it came to a choice between the two i rather have miller over mathews. Although mathews has been good this year, he still runs bad routes leading to INTS and seems to check out leading to drop balls that hit him right in the hands.
I think they can keep both. Wake will be released that is 6-8 million. Jennings will be gone that is 1-2 million. They can move money around to sign them both. I believe they both could be elite, can you imagine them with the pats? Miller would have 2000 yards with that OL. Those 2 would be free agents that go somewhere and make plays for another team.
True, no need to dump Stills, I wouldn't mind him being the #4 WR/deep threat, just need Parker to get up to speed and become the other starter.
Well, Jennings is gone. Don't worry about that, because its been a no brainer since he was signed. Stills will be back. Regardless of him being underused so far this season, as was said, he's on a dirt cheap rookie contract. I'm very happy with a Landry/Parker/Stills trio in 2016. Hopefully everyone stays healthy, and then we have a descesion to make on Stills in 2017.
I'm just fine with almost never throwing deep, personally. We just need to be smart about how we move the ball between 5-15 yards. There are too many plays that take too long to develop and the other team is through our line before the guys get open.
I disagree with Stills being under utilized, he is a 1 trick pony, people said that about Wallace but it wasn't true, it is true of Stills though, he should not be starting because he ends up being a decoy for the most part.
