I put together an all time Dolphin team a while ago (my personal opinion) in looking at it I realized how really great the potential is on the current roster and where we needed immediate attention I'm sure I'll be adding a number of names by the year 2010 when I repeat a name of a past great in brackets, it's because the difference was minimal (in my mind) or in the case of a player currently on our roster, I think the player has the potential to make the list of our very best. Best of the Best Offense: QB_ Marino (Griese, Pennington) FB_ Larry Csonka RB_ Ricky Williams (Jim Kick, Ronnie Brown) OT_ Richmond Webb (Jake Long) OT_ Norm Evans (Vernon Carey) OG_ Larry Little OG_ Bob Kutchenberg C_ Dwight Stevenson (Jake Grove) WR_ Mark Clayton (GinnJr.) WR_ Paul Warfield (Mark Duper) TE_ Bruce Hardy (Anthony Fasano) Defense: DE_ Jason Taylor (Kendall Langford) DE_ Doug Betters DT_ Tim Bowens (Manny Fernandez & Jason Ferguson) DT_ Bob Baumhower MLB_ Zach Thomas OLB_ Bob Brudzinski (Joey Porter & Jason Taylor) OLB_ Bob Matheson (Bryan Cox & Cameron Wake CB_ Sam Madison CB_ Patrick Surtain S_ Jake Scott (Yeremiah Bell) S_ Dick Anderson (Gibril Wilson) Specialist: K_ Olindo Mare P_ Reggie Roby ST_ Jim Jenson all kinds of potential for greatness on the roster, these are a few among many & opinions will legitimately differ about the best of the best. by 2010 we'll have a much better idea, in terms of lasting quality what we have on the roster. what do you think?
Gake Grove can't even sniff the ability of Dwight Stevenson. Same goes with Kendall Langford and Jason Taylor. Same goes with the Safety position. Most would agree that Jim Mandich was better than Hardy...and that Keith Jackson was better than them both.
the list is not written in stone it's fun to speculate on past & present players your pick & opinion as valid as mine or any other Dolfan the purpose of the thread is to assess/consider the talent we have on the current roster & the potential for success in 2009 got a lot of bold type in the thread to consider & a few more that are just beginning their development on the roster LB's: Matt Roth, T. George & Eric Walden CB's:got six in the mix for sure QB's:the stable is good RB's: excellent OL: looks good & has depth Safties: excellent DE: Dotson, Merling, Wright, Starks NT: ? WR: who will step up?
Couple of quick changes, least of which I would drop wilson, bell, wake, langford, grove, ginn because none of them compare historically. Langer should be in there at center behind Stephenson I don't mind Bowens being on the list but Fernandez should be #1 TE - Jackson or Edmunds are both better than Fasano I guess I would have to go through and really do it as you did position by position.
Yeah, I don't think a lot of the new guys deserve to be on the list before they prove themselves on the field.
I get what you're trying to do there and I recognize the subjectivity involved. But you really should have left Dwight Stephenson alone. Most everyone points to him as the premier center of his time. And many will state he was the best ever to play center. The chance of Jake Grove filling those shoes is very, very slim. In fact IMO even mentioning the possibility at this point in Grove's career is really doing Stephenson a disservice. In addition I disagree with comparing Bell and Wilson to Jake Scott and Dick Anderson. Again that's my own opinion. However, comparing Grove to Dwight Stephenson is an insult. He was not just great. He was the best. Bear Bryant called him the best player he ever coached - regardless of position. He earned both All-Pro and All-AFC recognition five straight years from 1983 to 1987. He was named the AFC or NFL Offensive Lineman of the Year in various major polls four years. Stephenson was selected for five straight Pro Bowl games, the first four as a starter. In short the man had no peer.
Friend late again: I completely agree with you about Grove & every other bold type in brackets sported in the thread. none of them belong in the same consideration @ this point in their careers with the best of the best & even that selection is totally subjective & open to debate. about Grove: 1) he notched a POA winning percentage of 90.6% while allowing backs to gain 6.2 yards per attempt behind his blocks. And Grove didn’t need a lot of help either. The ex Raider went one on one with defenders 67.5% of the time in 2008, far more frequently then either Matt Birk (39.9%) or Jason Brown (60.3%)." 2) was an All-American Center, a high 2nd round draft pick, a team captain, had an extremely successful college career filled with accolades & promise 3) he was high on Parcells list of people to draft when he was with the Cowboys. the FrontOffice know him well. I think there is @ least the possibility that he can be one of the best of the best. We shall see. GoFish!
Wow. I didn't know that. Could anyone in any field of work receive higher praise than that? I doubt it.
the man was a legend & a football Icon having said that, things change & records are broken all the time what Stevenson did then has little to do with what Grove accomplishes now the truth will be known about Grove & the current offensive line on the playing field the jury is out. it's all speculation
Grove may turn out to be great as a Phin, with that said he has yet to play an official down as a member of the team. I think you will always solicit a response (and probably not the type you're looking for) when comparing the current squad to the "all-time" guys. We have a better roster than we have had recently, but it's just not fair to compare them to Hall of Famers and Ring of Famers.
I appreciate what you're saying. And like you, I'm hopeful Grove is going to be a beast for us. Yeah I knew he was one of only a few bright spots on the Raiders. But Stephenson was the best ever. Think about it. There have been a lot of good, really good, great and even outstanding centers over the years. But Dwight Stephenson was regarded as the best ever. In other words, a once in a life time kind of player. I'll be satisfied if Grove turns out to be one of the current best. Just my own opinion, but thinking in terms of the guy even approaching Stephenson's level of play is only setting oneself up for unrealistic expectations. Don't let my disagreeing damper your enthusiasm, though. In spite of the fact that I don't always agree with you, I generally enjoy your posts.
All right then. I would say Ronnie Brown is a definite possibility with a couple more Pro-Bowl seasons to be discussed as an all-time Halfback. Jake Long is certainly off to a good start to eventually be mentioned with the all-time Tackles (Looong way's away). Ted Ginn is a possibility although right now he is not with Chris Chambers, let alone the Warfields and Claytons. The Quarterback, Fullback and Inside Lineman would be hard to crack with the Hall of Fame players we have had there in our history (Including arguably the best Quarterback, Fullback and Center of all time). Defensively Taylor certainly compares to himself and Porter wouldn't be far from cracking a relatively weak crop of outside linebackers. Outside of that I really think it would be premature to discuss really anyone else. All of this is of course just my opinion, but I have watched a lot of Dolphin football dating back to the early 70's and there are really a lot of good to great players that have been skipped over in this list.
Grove can't be on an all time Dolphins list because he hasn't played for the Dolphins even one game. That's like if I put Trevor Hoffman as the closer on the all time Marlins list, even though he NEVER did anything here and was just a part of our orginization. Or better yet Wade Boggs going into the baseball hall of fame as a Ray when he barely played there. To use another sport, if Gary Payton went into the basketball hall of fame as a Miami Heat player. Jake Grove doesn't belong on the list because he has 0 accomplishments as a Miami Dolphin.
I thought it was understood: the 'bold print' players are future possibilies (or current players that I think are the best of the best like Williaqms & Taylor) basing their previous overall football performance & potential to grow with the franchise purely subjective & speculative. you can agree or disagree or add on to it. nothing concrete about the thread. it is an opinion.
If you're making a list of the best players, it should be the best players period is my point. Why not just add Vontae Davis and Pat White? They both have potential.
