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Dolphins 2022 Offseason

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Galant, Mar 8, 2022.

  1. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    I've shared this here before, but the champagne toast is not a real thing- never was the way the media makes it out.

    Was there a toast among a few players one year? Yes. Did the entire team crack open a bottle after the last remaining undefeated lost? Nope. That came more from the media than anything. And the fun part is, it pisses off just about everyone as announcers bring it up each year. The actual toast is more urban legend than anything though; I know that from being at Manny Fernandez's house as a kid. He was a neighbor known for his parties and the alcohol was flowing whether an undefeated team lost or not, LOL.
     
  2. The_Dark_Knight

    The_Dark_Knight Defender of the Truth

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    The Raging Bull!!
     
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  3. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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  4. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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  5. Fishhead

    Fishhead Well-Known Member

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    I remember you posting that here before, as well as having heard that elsewhere. It’s not realistic to assume that 50+ guys get together every year (especially before Zoom was a thing, lol) and toast something they did 30, 40 and now 50 years ago. I meant that it was one thing that, for whatever reason, creates a a definite bias against the Dolphins in the media.

    And for decades, we’ve all been waiting for a team to ram that bias down their collective throats, lol.
     
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  6. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    Manny moved to our neighborhood in 1977 (I think). I was 4 at the time and have no memory of it, but my dad was over there often having a beer, shooting pool, or whatever. It was pretty much an open invite anytime Manny had parties (which was around every other weekend) and all the neighborhood dads got to know those 70's players and some of the coaches. And Manny was a true party animal- loved to host, loved to make people feel welcome, and definitely loved to drink socially. He was almost always happy, loud, and loving life.

    So a lot of this I'm relaying secondhand through my dad, but I still remember many parties when I was a little older. I think Manny moved away around 81 or 82? So I was 8 or 9 at the time and there were definitely no team champagne celebrations. Even at nine I can't tell you how many players would show on weekends, but they were huge parties with a good part of the team there. There were also countless pickup football games with the neighborhood kids in Manny's backyard where the adults would join in...I'd be lying if I told you who though. I was just too young to realize it was special.

    Back to the topic though- if the toast was happening, my dad would have seen it and I was likely there too. And my dad said it was never actually a thing since they were too busy drinking and laughing to have a specific toast centered around the streak.

    Oh, and this was Manny's house. He had it custom built on the back end of our neighborhood- https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/10701-SW-30th-Pl-Davie-FL-33328/43177760_zpid/
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2022
  7. Pennington's Limp Arm

    Pennington's Limp Arm Well-Known Member

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    Tua under the weather.
     
  8. plc001

    plc001 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    People always take this "champagne toast" thing so literal. I always took it to mean all the team mates, where-ever they were at the time, took a second and celebrated that their record stands. I never pictured them all together is the same room every game waiting for the last undefeated to lose. That's why I was never offended by this idea of a toast.
     
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  9. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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    A little long (apologies):
    Do 1972 Miami Dolphins Toast First Losses of Undefeated Teams?
    The Dolphins' perfect record that season inspired a lasting legend.
    • Published 18 December 2005

    [​IMG]
    Image via Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

    Claim
    Every season, whenever the last remaining undefeated NFL team lost its first game, all the surviving members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins opened bottles of champagne in celebration.
    Rating
    [​IMG]
    False
    About this rating
    Origin


    In 1972, the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins breezed through fourteen regular-season games undefeated, then won two playoff matches and Super Bowl VII to accomplish what no other NFL team had achieved before: a perfect season.

    The uniqueness and longevity of the 1972 Dolphins’ perfect record has led to the legend of the champagne celebration: That each surviving member of that 1972 squad puts away a bottle of bubbly at the beginning of every NFL season, which they all open in simultaneous toasts the moment the last remaining undefeated team loses its first game of the season.

    Lesser versions of the legend have only some of the players reuniting with their former head coach, the Don Shula, later in the day to engage in a celebratory toast to the continuation of their record:

    By now you know the petty little tradition. On the day the NFL’s last remaining unbeaten goes down to defeat, a handful of ’72 Dolphins, led by their head coach Don Shula, get together to toast their 17-0 perfect season and thank the football gods that their unique claim to fame has lasted yet another year.

    But, according to the late Don Shula himself, no such organized celebrations ever took place:

    That’s probably the most-talked-about thing that just doesn’t happen. We’ve got players scattered all across the country. Nick Buoniconti, Bob Griese and Dick Anderson all live in Coral Gables, and they’ll go to a parking lot and open a bottle of champagne, but those three are too cheap to invite the rest of us down there.


    Jim Riley, a defensive end on the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins, also noted that the champagne toast rumor merely referenced a one-time gathering of three of his former teammates:

    Riley, a member of that unbeaten Miami team, said the toast to perfection never occurs.

    “That all got started by three guys, Garo Yepremian, Nick Buonticonti and Dick Anderson,” said Riley. “And they only did it one time.”

    Despite the urban legend to the contrary, the 1972 ‘Phins do not gather as a team, but Riley said the players continue to wish for the last-standing undefeated team to go down.

    One of the greatest threats to the Dolphins’ perfect record came in 2005, when the Indianapolis Colts won their first thirteen games of the season (the NFL having expanded from a 14-game season to a 16-game season in 1978) before dropping their next two contests to finish 14-2. Were all the 1972 Miami Dolphins planning to celebrate the Colts’ first loss of 2005 with champagne? Again, not according to Shula:

    We’ve been accused of being angry, old men and just hoping and praying that the last team would lose, and that’s not true. If the Colts do it, I’d be the first guy to call [Colts head Coach Tony] Dungy and congratulate him, and I’m sure our players would congratulate their players.

    When the Green Bay Packers opened their 2011 season by going 13-0 before losing their fourteenth game, former Dolphins Marv Fleming and Paul Warfield again addressed the legend, reiterating that reports of a yearly champagne toast were false rumors based on a one-time event:

    “Records are made to be broken,” Fleming said. “I told my players, we celebrate our victory, not the person’s defeat when someone gets beat. It’s not a matter of them getting beat. We have kept it so long. We’ve kept it long enough, probably.”

    Fleming and Warfield went out of their way to note they’re not a group of bitter retirees reveling in an achievement from nearly 40 years ago. They called reports of a yearly champagne toast a fabrication — something that happened once.

    “If you’re going to drink it, drink it in the closet,” Fleming said. “It was a great feat that we did. For it to last so long is cause for celebration. You celebrate in the closet. And we only did that one time. C’mon, we don’t do that anymore. Did it once and it took off. Everybody thinks we do it now.

    “We’re not a bunch of old men thinking the record should not be broken. It can’t be broken. Whoever gets there will be a tie. They’ll be the second team that’s become undefeated.”

    The New England Patriots matched the Dolphins’ achievement of a perfect regular season by winning all sixteen of their games in 2007. But the Patriots faltered in their pursuit of maintaining an unblemished record all the way through the post-season when they lost Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants.

    Featured image caption: President Barack Obama delivers remarks during a ceremony honoring the 1972 Super Bowl Champion Miami Dolphins in the East Room of the White House, Aug. 20, 2013.

    • Published 18 December 2005
    https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/miami-dolphins-undefeated-champagne/
     
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  10. plc001

    plc001 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Man, I used to use Snopes on a daily basis when forwards were a problem. Like some dude was under your car waiting to slice your tendons. Or if you flashed your lights fast like an ambulance the street light would turn green. I was my own personsal crusade to stamp out forwards and make people aware that you can't trust something just cause it's on the internet.
     
  11. dolphin25

    dolphin25 Well-Known Member

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    I would not find it petty if it was celebrated. I think it would be cool
     
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  12. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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    My big brother is kind of new to social media. He's a retired Airman. When he posted an article on FB that said a drill sergeant was sacked for praying in uniform, I told him it was BS. He asked how I knew (common sense was my real answer), so I first went to Snopes to look it up. I didn't forward the Snopes page that debunked it, I forwarded the actual sources that Snopes cited. He was surprised. He could easily have done the research himself but was willing to accept something that one of his friends forwarded as truth without questioning. Social media is a dangerous tool for people with nefarious purposes.

    I've been saying for years that critical thinking should be taught in elementary school with the same focus as we give reading, writing and arithmetic.
     
  13. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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    Transcript | Mike McDaniel's Media Availability - May 24 (miamidolphins.com)

    (On LB Melvin Ingram) – "He's a veteran player that has been very productive in this league. In conjunction with the scouting department – Chris (Grier), myself and the rest of the scouting department and the coaching staff felt very excited to have the opportunity to add him to the team. He's a veteran presence, a guy who has been in big games, a guy that for a young team can be very impressionable and a playmaker to boot."

    (Where does that stuff show up? Does it show up early … or is it always there?) – "I think that shows up – one of the great things about football is that nothing you see on Sundays just comes out of nowhere. This is a very practiced and well-orchestrated game that you don't just all of a sudden have production out of nowhere. It's how you carry yourself on a day-to-day basis, especially people that are able to be productive for several years at a time. That's a day-in, day-out process and we have coaches and players that have been on teams with (Ingram) that were able to kind of give us a glimpse of what we'd be getting. And that type of person first is the reason why the player exists."

    (The orange jersey and practice player of the day, was it your idea? Tell us how you came up with it and what's your process for selecting who earns that practice player of the day?) – "This offseason, we were spit balling various things. Coach Jon Embree brought up the idea of – there was a lot of talk about my DJ skills pre-team meetings. So to kind of put that to bed and say, 'Hey, if you're so great, why don't you show yourself?' He floated the idea of having a practice player – organically as a staff we came up with selecting a particular person that would not only be represented as the best player on the field from the practice before but also take all accountability for DJ selections from the head coach and make sure everyone knows it's the person with the orange jersey that's making those calls."

    (Did anybody have a playlist that was not well received?) – "That was another learning opportunity for the team because I think the first day, Jaelan Phillips received some flak just for some particular selections. Everyone has an opinion, especially when it comes to things like that. But we talked about it as a team. Since then, there's been no grumblings because the whole point is if you have any comments or critiques over the DJ list, become the DJ."

    (So this basically takes the heat off yourself?) – "I mean an unintended consequence. I think there's multiple winners in the whole process. I think the guys, they definitely respect the players that have been given it and you can tell this team is full of competitors because even within one's position group, the second one guy receives it, it seems to lift up the level of play from that group."


    (QB Tua Tagovailoa won it one of the days. What have you seen from him and what do you want to see out of Tua?) – "He earned it. I think his teammates acknowledged that. What have I seen from him? I've seen a guy that's attacking the moment, a guy that really likes to play football. In the process of college evaluations, you're in the National Football League in a different conference and you hear people describe a quarterback's instinctiveness. It's kind of probably how it hits your ear that it hit mine, where that's intriguing, but I didn't quite know what that meant. Now I have a better idea of what that meant but I still don't have a better way to describe it besides instinctiveness. But you can tell the player has played the position for a long time and that he thinks about the game of football through the lens of the quarterback position. I've been very excited about his development as far as the offensive plan and being the starting quarterback for the Miami Dolphins."

    (What specifically during OTAs are the two or three things you've really wanted to achieve?) – "You're first trying to identify a standard with which you play and a standard with which you practice. Within that, that's where your camaraderie and that's where your relationships are built. They're blood, sweat and tears that are earned over hard work and you're trying to get a team to decide what their standard of play is going to be and then you want to uphold that standard because that's the way that you operate and function as a football team. So that identity, it's a tackle sport but the way we look at it is you can start that identity by the way you practice without tackling."

    (When you worked with Kyle Shanahan and obviously his dad, what was the significance of the fullback to that offense and what impact has that had on your coaching philosophy?) – "It's been extremely impactful. I've been fortunate enough since the year 2005 to be in the same structure of offense and this will be my seventh team. From the starting point of Day 1 installation, I've had a fullback involved. One of the advantages of a fullback is that you have a backfield player that can give you different numbers on each side of the center depending on the direction he goes. If you're in just a normal dot formation, you have two eligibles on each side and then the halfback at home. When you're in the I-formation, is it 3×1 or is it 2×2? That's a starting point. It doesn't hurt that a lot of offenses have gone away from that only because with the historical experience that our staff has had, myself included, defenses aren't as adept at fitting those types of plays, whether they're runs or passes, and defending against it, which is a competitive advantage when you're able to find a fullback that – it's just not any ordinary human being or you must play with a fullback. You have to have an athletic player that is smart, can understand a lot of schemes and can read on the fly. When that position player plays fast, it can be pretty disruptive to teams that are not used to going against it."

    (You drafted a quarterback this year. Every team has a different evaluation for collegiate quarterbacks when they're going through the process. What are the pitfalls teams need to avoid when going through the evaluation process? We have all of this information – more information than ever – on these college kids but teams still make mistakes. So what are the biggest challenges?) – "I think it's paramount that you just get good quarterbacks and avoid the bad ones. (laughter) It's like any other position. That's the hardest part of football is when you're selecting players to play in a game that's slightly different. There's compounding variables for success. Does your quarterback benefit from having a fast-paced, very fast highly-skilled group of eligibles? What kind of situations is the existing coaching staff that he's playing in, what is the scheme like? What is he being coached? There are so many layers which makes this game beautiful, which makes scouting departments extremely relevant and makes it very tough. That's why you're not 100 percent on any position ever because it's an inexact science because you're dealing with human beings that are a product of their environment and you're forecasting what they're going to be in a completely different environment. There's like a laundry list of different things that can create success or failure in NFL games, so you just try to project what the things are that an NFL quarterback is going to be asked to do. I'm not sure when you watch NFL games but the pockets aren't huge. There's a lot of congestion, there's a lot of traffic going in and around quarterbacks. Can they play the position in high duress? Are they tough? Can they anticipate? Those types of things, you're looking at the college game that they're playing and try to extrapolate to an unforeseen future."

    (I wanted to ask you about OL Connor Williams. We saw him working inside. Is that more of everybody cross-training or is that a realistic option for him? And how much of that experience was part of the reason why you guys explored signing him?) – "When you're training a player, specifically one that has inside flexibility – he's played center in preseason games – and you're trying to train and you have a multitude of linemen that have position versatility, there's not a greater way to learn intricacies of the offense than by starting with different alignments and assignments. Namely the center position, you have to make a bunch of calls so you have to really know what everyone is doing. So it doesn't hurt to – you don't ever want to put a ceiling on and decide before you see them play within your system exactly where – you want players to decide that for you. It's something that an offensive line, you guys have been around the NFL game long enough, there's so many things that can happen and you're only as good as your versatility within the NFL framework of a season. It only benefits the Miami Dolphins if you're able to play a multitude of positions. We felt one of those positions for Connor would be center."

    (You guys brought in a handful of receivers this offseason in kind of the same vein of guys that can play multiple positions – the X, the Z and the slot. Is that kind of the same idea at the receiver position, how they see the game from different spots and their flexibility at those positions?) – "Primarily, first and foremost, we're looking for good football players. I know our coaching staff has learned over the course of their careers and I have extensive experience in the fact that the more you know, the more versatility that you have and the more that you can isolate and take advantage of matchups in a given week. I think Chris (Grier) shares the same view as I have, where there's a degree or allure or attractiveness to football players that can do a multitude of things. That makes them – remember, they're a cog in a wheel of efficiency, that you're trying to create on both sides of the ball. It's the ultimate team sport in that you have the most players working in unison at the same time, as well as it's a game of inches, as we know, where the most minute shortcoming of technique or the best execution of technique can be the difference between winning and losing games."
     
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  14. The_Dark_Knight

    The_Dark_Knight Defender of the Truth

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    I remember being taught HOW to think…not WHAT to think which is too prevalent in schools today.
     
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  15. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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  16. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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  17. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]
     
  18. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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    Rook needs to figure it out...
     
  19. The_Dark_Knight

    The_Dark_Knight Defender of the Truth

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    I have about a half hour drive to and from work every day. To kill some time, I’ve been pulling up YouTube videos and watching all of the Dolphins chatter. I’ve not seen it mentioned here (if I missed it, apologies), but I’ve seen quite a few videos discussing the possibility of going after JC Tretter.

    Curious if anyone has any thoughts on the subject.
     
  20. Fishhead

    Fishhead Well-Known Member

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    It has been brought up here a couple of times. The conversation centers around the fact that while he hasn’t missed a game in a couple of seasons, he hasn’t been able to practice much in that time (and apparently not at all last year). The prevailing opinion is that either his health must be precluding a signing, or his salary demands are out of line with his health, otherwise you’d think such a valuable OL would have been signed by now.


    With that being said, a third proven addition to the line would be most welcome.
     
  21. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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  22. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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  23. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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  24. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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  25. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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    Hmmm...
     
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  26. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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    Last edited: May 30, 2022
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  27. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    That's great news! Not sure he ultimately makes the team, but a rookie QB showing out is always a great problem to have.
     
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  28. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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  29. dolphin25

    dolphin25 Well-Known Member

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    practice squad
     
  30. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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    First mini-camp practice was said to be good for the D, bad for the O.
     
  31. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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    Most likely. For him to make the 53, let alone the 47, would be the longest of long shots. But if he can force a tough decision, it can only help the team.

    From Barry Jackson's article today:
    "Rookie quarterback Thompson looked good; he completed the only two 11 on 11 passes for touchdowns - one to Waddle and one to Trent Sherfield, which was threaded between defenders. Both were short TD throws…"
    https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article260825242.html
     
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  32. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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  33. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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  34. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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    Last edited: Jun 1, 2022
  35. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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  36. Ronnie Bass

    Ronnie Bass Luxury Box Luxury Box

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    I'm not sure he'll make it to PS, someone will swoop in and pluck him from us. Crazy talk I know for a 7th rounder but if I found out anything about him after the draft is this kid as a lot of supporters.
     
  37. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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    LOL. Why is Mina Kimes asking Cam Hayward about us (and why should I care)?
    [​IMG]

    "When the Dolphins face the Steelers in late October the game was already going to get a lot of attention as it is the return of Brian Flores to Hard Rock Stadium. Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward gave the Dolphins some bulletin board material this week though with his appearance on The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny. Heyward questioned Miami’s handling of Tua and says people are overestimating the Dolphins heading into 2022.

    Regarding trying to trade Tua and now believing in him: “They were so ready to trade Tua, now it’s turned into, oh he can lead the franchise. I don’t know how that works.” Cam went on to say, “Doesn’t sound like that’s going pretty good.”

    Regarding the Dolphins heading into the 2022 season, Cam believes people are overestimating the Dolphins.

    Regarding the Dolphins’ defense: “I like their Defense, Christian Wilkins, (and) they have a really good secondary”
     
  38. OwesOwn614

    OwesOwn614 Well-Known Member

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  39. KeyFin

    KeyFin Well-Known Member

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    I read an interesting tidbit on him the other day- Skylar Thompson was not expected to be drafted because he's already 24 years old. We drafted him because it was expected he'd get a ton of interest as a UFDA since a lot of teams were high on him. We bypassed that by spending the 7th rounder, but if he goes to the practice squad then he's probably getting poached...unless there's protected practice squad players still? I'm not sure.

    He looks a lot more polished than the typical rookie QB though and a prior coach made a comment that he's NFL-ready today (which is what a former coach is supposed to say). Scouting reports say that he's very mature though, a great leader, and able to process the field quickly with confidence.

    So I don't know- he sounds like he could be legit competition for Bridgewater if he makes the roster. It's a great position to be in as well, which is why I think drafting a quarterback every season (or every other season) is a sound investment. I have a good feeling about this kid though!
     
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  40. dolphin25

    dolphin25 Well-Known Member

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    New coaches, new scheme. Not that hard to figure out. People just like to spread hate.
     
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