I don't know about Crowder, but I think Anderson doesn't see the regular-season roster.

 

Where are the team gossipers who say that Crowder is gone?

Honestly I haven't seen any that have said Anderson is gone.

 

Imho Anderson is being given the chance to succeed, and be a starter, or fail and be gone or traded, with Misi nipping at his heels, Anderson has to show what he can do, if not, they have no problem starting Misi imho.

 

Crowder - in the event he loses his job as a starter, I could see him staying as depth.
Anderson - while he's not much, he does at least have game experience.
I would expect we will go with 9 LBs. I also think it's a bit optimistic to believe that every LB that we drafted this year will make the team. I kind of think guys like Spitler, McCoy and Folsom are more likely to go.

 

Me too. I'd love to see Crowder/Rex part deux!

 

Them same gossipers i've seen here and at the other places, and i think it would be kind to say they are right a whopping 30 percent of the time.

Other then Wake, who is the other 3rd down pass rusher???...........Only name i can think of is Charlie Anderson! Then you toss in the fact he has about a 50% chance to land ether starting OLB spot..........That would make him look VERY safe to me.

Misi may take one of them Jobs but i don't think he's up for both as a rook.

Crowder came into the NFL with a bad leg and i think he and the Dolphins know he only has two more years to go on it.With that said Edds needs a year or two to be able to start in the NFL but he's not a bangger ILB like Crowder is..........he's a cover ILB anyways.

Tim Dobbins was a toss in a trade that any other 3-4 team would of gone and got for a late round draft pick if they thought he was worthy of starting...........but none of them did.

The odds of Tim Dobbins starting are better then a guy like Nolan Carroll's but that still doesn't make them good.

 

IMO, Crowder needs to keep his starting job to assure making the roster. He is not an experienced special teamer and having been a starter since he was a rookie, may not take a demotion very well. Anderson at least has been a core special teams player the last two seasons. I could see him sticking around as a backup merely due to his experience on special teams. Right now, I think we keep 9 LBs and likely both of them.

 

Seriously? There are OTA's where experiments happen all the time, and also this is from a fantasy football site lol

 

From what I've read and heard from Sparano in recent days, he expects Crowder to remain the starter and Dobbins to mainly play ST. It will take a lot to unseat Crowder. I would love to see a guy like Spitler or Edds come on strong though, we could really use someone inside who's a playmaker to go with Dansby!

 

This is where I disagree. I don't think it will take alot to unseat Crowder. He has not been good at all. Watch film on him during a game and you will see him trailing plays and avoiding contact. Alot of people were headhunting Ginn Jr. when he avoided contact, but because Crowder is a funny guy, didn't seem to say anything about him doing the same thing. IMO, the FO got Dobbins because he could unseat Crowder. Edds too.

 

The issue is its more obvious when a WR is playing timid, as he's the target for where all the action is (i.e the football). Sometimes LBs get lost in the shuffle and normal people don't pick up on these things.

That said, Crowder was not good last year, clearly. But before writing him off, I think he deserves at least half a season at starter to see if he can get back to his old performance level. With someone like Dansby out there it takes a lot of pressure off him to perform.

 

I agree SeanP. I don't think they get rid of either one of them. If nothing else, they stick for depth. Unless a younger guy shows promise. I was just disagreeing on it taking a lot to unseat Crowder. A few good hits by one of the new guys in practice, and both could become benchwarmers.

 

Not sure I see why this question is being asked right now, as Sparano seems to think that Charlie Anderson has the ability to be a starter, and he also pretty much dismissed the possibility of Channing Crowder losing his job to Tim Dobbins during another press conference. When healthy enough to practice, Crowder has practiced with the first team. Anderson practiced with the first team for the most part but recently in one OTA gave way to Wake for a little bit, which I think was a reward for Wake's putting his head down and working hard, not complaining about being initially second string, etc.

The Dolphins want Wake to take the starting job over Anderson, I guarantee that. When Bill Sheridan described Charlie Anderson's skill set, he was very ho-hum, the following is what he said:

When he brought up Wake, he was using words like "exceptionally dynamic", "unique" and "outstanding pass rusher" to describe him. Here is what he said:

Now you tell me, which guy they want on the field one way or another? The guy they were "pleasantly surprised" about being a "really good athlete"? Or the guy that in three or four short sentences is labeled as "dynamic", "exeptionally dynamic", a "unique talent" and an "outstanding pass rusher".

But even if Wake does end up starting, all they have behind Misi (a rookie) and Wake is Charlie Anderson and Quentin Moses, maybe Chris McCoy if he makes the cut. Charlie is the most experienced of all the OLBs on roster. I don't think he's worthy, but they want him to be their veteran that they can use in tight spots and trust to do the right thing.

Neither player, between Charlie Anderson or Channing Crowder, is in any danger whatsoever.

 

I also think we will see some solid linebacker rotation. Edds and Dobbins will shuttle in and out. Especially on downs like 3rd and 7.

 

Wait... done with what?

 

Both guys are virtual locks, for this year at least.

 

Crowder will start and Anderson will start until Misi is ready IMO.

 

Well, here's the thing. This regime dislikes the injury bug, which Crowder clearly has. Not the miss the season types, but the nagging types that keep you from being as effective as you should be. Crowders' knees are an issue here, but now he has a Lis Franc, which traditionally takes a little longer to return from. There are rumblings about his shoulders as well. None of that is good for him.

So this offseason, they trade for Dobbins (a thumper ILB like Crowder, but has arguably better coverage skills and the all important STs savvy). They get Dansby, who is arguably the top 2-3 ILBers in the league, so he'll be in there and he's a true 3 down backer. They get Edds who is going to be an ILBer at this level and his strength is in pass coverage. Add the other assorted ILBers to choose from and the the position is suddenly very crowded and very competitive. Additionally, we bring Nolan on board. Mike Nolan's is a 'situational' type D. He likes and excels at installing packages with different personnel who do certain things well and he's adept at calling those 'packages' at the right moment in the game. All this adds up to me that Crowder has to 'prove' himself as at least a 2 down guy and clearly better than any other option we have or due to his salary, he could be gone.


The OLBers are a completely different story. I believe they are banking on Misi taking the SOLB spot and holding on to it. Who has been lining up as the starters in May and June don't really mean much. Anderson is a journeyman and that could work against him since they pretty much know what he can do. He is however, one of the better STs players we have and the Lord knows we have issues there as well.

 

Fantasy Football sites have no access to OTA's or much else. They do their homework by searching the net, just like us .....

 

starters: anderson, crowder, dansby, wake

 

wake, dansby, dobbins (at least till crowder gets healthy and wins it back) and anderson

anderson & wake will battle for WOLB and I suspect the loser plays SOLB, except on 3rd down passing downs where we might put Edds or mISI IN AT solb TO ENHANCE THE PASS RUSH. JMVHO

Crowder may get his starting spot back, but only if he comes in to TC healthy and works his *** off. Otherwise IMO Dobbins could be the starter until Crowder comes in and takes it back, which IMO is the way it should be.

 

When has he lost being the starter?

He is starter in practice right now and starter according to Sparano

 

I don't think Crowder will retire a dolphin, thats for sure. But I really doubt anyone on the current roster aside from Dansby has the skillset to unseat him. When Crowder is healthy, he can play pretty well. In '08 he stepped up. And in all the seasons prior he was at least average. While I don't know much about Edds, and very little about Dobbins, I know that there isn't anyone saying that they're head and shoudlers above that.

At the end of the day I think Crowder gets, and deserves, at least the first half of the season. Unless Edds or Dobbins shows something amazing during camp, I think Crowder gets his chance to redeem himself. His injuries have only caused him to miss 9 games in the past 5 seasons. That's not incredible, but I don't think its all that awful. It's not like he's on the IR as often as Ronnie Brown or something.

 

It seems to me, and this is strictly my opinion, that the only years that Crowder has shown to be any better than mediocre was one year next to ZT (2006) when we were in the 4-3 and then his contract year (2008). Every other year he has been, at best, mediocre or worse. No doubt, last year was his worst year. Some of that could have been due to the inept rest of the middle of the D (Ayodele, Wilson) and PP's inability to adjust the D and his injury situation (has not started 16 games in his career). Is the injury issue an acceptable reason for his less than stellar performance ?? I don't look at it that way because he's been nicked up nearly his entire career. He has, imho, actually done better on the injury front than I anticipated when we drafted him, so I have to give him that.

I agree with you on one front regarding him though, and that the job is his to lose. As you said, Dobbins or Edds or whoever will have to win the job 'beyond the shadow of a doubt', but there is still that chance, with his salary (not that it's too far out of line for what you get with him, but it's certainly much more than Dobbins or Edds), that if he doesn't really shine the troika could be looking at some more cost cutting measures with him....or a trade...

The one thing that he has shown and has going for him is that it seems when he's not 'the man' or focus on the D, he seems to perform better overall. That will now be the case with Dansby aboard. Still he looks to me, in Nolan's D, to be a 2 down back. So are Dobbins and Edds, giving Crowder the benefit of the doubt if it comes to a tie...

 

That's a pretty scary OLB group, 23rd...a journeyman and a guy that hasn't learned the position yet...Wake can rush the passer, but that's it... He can't cover and he struggles against the run...Anderson has some pass rush ability as the WOLB, but 7 yrs in the league and hasn't cracked a lineup ??

 

Bro I will take Dobbins over Crowder.:yes:

 

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/20...64_1_martial-arts-dolphins-split-jared-tomich


Jared Tomich worked with all of the Dolphins in the last TC and imho it worked rather well as we were #3 in sacks even with ancient OLB's, I kinda hope they bring him back for 2010.

Chuckie Smith, head trainer at Passrushing University, my "other" favorite specialty coach was hired by University of Tennessee, otherwise:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkKRLDkjwDU"]YouTube- Pass Rush Moves.wmv[/ame]

Granted he was hired by the Jest in late 09 and eternal bust Gholston did not improve, but his teaching methods are sound.

I'd like to see Anderson receive that extra bit of training simply because if he learns just one move, he could blossom..with learning a single arm over, rip, spin, what have you.

 

I think the "push Crowder for a starting spot" part is just for motivation purposes. If Crowder is healthy, he starts over Dobbins. The main point of Sparano's statement is that Dobbins will play on four STs units. Those kinds of players are important, no doubt, but I think it's rare for a player to play on four STs units and also start. If anything Sparano's statement is about one of the reasons that Dobbins won't start.

 

depressing news for me...My offseason quest for 4 new linebackers would come to a trajic end.

 

You can always get a new quest. I mean the goal was never really about new LBs anyways. It was about improving the defense and the team and ultimately about winning. IMO most of the angst about the LBs and the pass rush was misplaced anyways. We had some speed and tackling deficiencies on the team, but our biggest problems were schematic issues and mental breakdowns. The signing of Nolan and Dansby solved much of it. Finding a FS and a SOLB would solve most of the rest of it. There was no need to replace all four LBs.

 

No way is Crowder head and shoulders above Dobbins. Dobbins should be a starter in this league, and if Crowder is going to beat him out, he will have to bring his A-game.

 

Crowder hasn't shown he is worth the money we are paying him. I can only remember one big play he has ever made in a Phin's uni (an INT to end a game...I think it may have been against Tom Brady???). Crowder just doesn't seem to have a nose for the ball and isn't much of a tackler.

 

Bring on training camp.:up: