Barry Jackson Sports Buzz 11/22/12

Prepare for the onslaught of negative Jeff Ireland opinions when people click on the link and read that "everyone in the building" knows the team needs a speedy receiver, while almost no one remarks about how he appears to have potentially drafted a good receiver in the seventh round.

More reason I don't trust the coaches to make good decisions about who plays and who doesn't. Unless Smith is just talking up Matthews for the sake of talking him up, evidently he's been making plays all year in practice.

"ckparrothead wrote:

More reason I don't trust the coaches to make good decisions about who plays and who doesn't. Unless Smith is just talking up Matthews for the sake of talking him up, evidently he's been making plays all year in practice.

They haven't given us a whole lot of reason to trust them.
Keep on throwing a right tackle out there that gets the QB killed...sticking with Richie instead of giving Samuda (sp?) a shot. Complete lack of Miller despite the fact every time he carries the ball something good happens.

Some interesting off-air comments made by Bill Polian, whom Jason La Canfora reported a few weeks ago is looking to get back into the game:

ESPN analyst and former Colts general manager Bill Polian said off the air that “you look past” Tannehill’s late-game struggles “for two reasons: One -- he’s a rookie and has to learn in those situations. And two – you have to protect him.”

So when it is fair to expect him to engineer game-winning drives? “When he has a complete team,” Polian said. “When he has smooth protection and receivers who can get open and make big plays. Coaches would tell you he’s playing with a short stick at receiver. They need a speed receiver.”

Interesting indeed.

Some other interesting chatter from Barry Jackson in a Sports Buzz that I missed.

### Here’s what has changed in how teams are defending Ryan Tannehill: According to Matt Moore, he’s seeing more zone coverage and “looks that are better disguised.” Also key: Tannehill is being blitzed less; he faced only three blitzes against Buffalo and threw his only touchdown against one of them. His 2012 quarterback rating is 77.2 when blitzed, 66.5 when not blitzed.

“Teams are adjusting to what the Dolphins are doing. There’s not much separation from their receivers, so the windows are always tight that Ryan is throwing into,” ESPN’s Ron Jaworski said off air Tuesday.

### Coach Joe Philbin said Tuesday that owner Stephen Ross – who expected this team would be a playoff contender – “has been fantastic, very, very supportive” through this losing streak but “of course, I give him a 72-hour cool down period.” Ross, predictably, was down in the wake of the Bills loss, a friend said. But he likes this coaching staff.

This one is flat out scary:

### Dolphins’ local TV ratings have plunged again; the 12.3 against Buffalo (which combined the cable and non-cable audiences) was by far the lowest for any NFL home market last week and one of the team’s lowest ratings in years.

Attendance is a systemic problem across the entire NFL right now. But TV ratings are not even close to a problem across the league. If I'm Steve Ross and I see that TV rating...I'm scared.

"Now, he's getting better," Sherman said. "He's working his butt off. We're really excited about what he's going to be, but it's just harder to put him in there ahead of (Anthony) Fasano or ahead of (Charles) Clay at this juncture."

He was talking of Egnew.

Here dolphins talkin about Matthews.

"Dolphins cornerbacks say everyone will be surprised how good he is"

Not really..

It would help Ireland's case if Matthews really flashes..bottom line for me is all I want in my GM, is the ability to evaluate talent, and the last two years are on notice.

"ckparrothead wrote:

This one is flat out scary:

Attendance is a systemic problem across the entire NFL right now. But TV ratings are not even close to a problem across the league. If I'm Steve Ross and I see that TV rating...I'm scared.

Yup..

Somehow, the dolphins lifted the blackout for this weeks game, it will be on tv...

"ckparrothead wrote:

Some interesting off-air comments made by Bill Polian, whom Jason La Canfora reported a few weeks ago is looking to get back into the game:

SPN analyst and former Colts general manager Bill Polian said off the air that “you look past” Tannehill’s late-game struggles “for two reasons: One -- he’s a rookie and has to learn in those situations. And two – you have to protect him.”

So when it is fair to expect him to engineer game-winning drives? “When he has a complete team,” Polian said. “When he has smooth protection and receivers who can get open and make big plays. Coaches would tell you he’s playing with a short stick at receiver. They need a speed receiver.”

Interesting indeed.

The waiving of Clyde Gates still rubs me the wrong way. He needed some time, he was raw. And our dire need at Guard- Donald Thomas is looking pretty good now for another AFC rival, the Patriots. Both guys were unusually short on football experience and unusually long on talent and long term potential. What happened to the notion that it takes a couple of years to develop players? And that is generally referring to players with full high school and college experience, unlike these two players. I think that Ireland should have put his foot down regarding Gates, and I have no idea what happened with Donald Thomas, who went from mega prospect to waiver wire in a flash.

"jim1 wrote:

The waiving of Clyde Gates still rubs me the wrong way. He needed some time, he was raw. And our dire need at Guard- Donald Thomas is looking pretty good now for another AFC rival, the Patriots. Both guys were unusually short on football experience and unusually long on talent and long term potential. What happened to the notion that it takes a couple of years to develop players? And that is generally referring to players with full high school and college experience, unlike these two players. I think that Ireland should have put his foot down regarding Gates, and I have no idea what happened with Donald Thomas, who went from mega prospect to waiver wire in a flash.

Thomas was cut two years ago - you'd have to ask Sparano why that was.

Donald Thomas and Clyde Gates would hardly be the first or second Dolphins players we've had on roster since 2008 that have been thrown away and ended up good elsewhere.

Rob Ninkovich has been making plays for years in New England and Evan Mathis has become damn near an All Pro. And of course you can make a case for Brandon Marshall being the best WR in football this year.

"emocomputerjock wrote:

Thomas was cut two years ago - you'd have to ask Sparano why that was.

I know that he was cut two years ago, but Ireland was here then. There just seems to be a culture here of releasing players that go elsewhere and become productive NFL players- often for our division rivals. Donald Thomas had a ton of potential and very little football experience- he was effusively praised by the coaching staff and Dolphins players (heavy hands, great push, uinbelievable strength) and then we dumped him. And the Patriots, who also needed help at Guard, signed Will Shields as a low cost free agent, he then turned in an All-Pro season, and now they have Thomas, who looked outstanding last night and has been cedited with helping the Patriots to jump start their running game. That's an interesting compare/contrast on how a winning franchise goes about solving a problem and how a losing franchise tries to do the same and fails. And Gates- if the FO didn't want to give him some time to develop given how limited his football background is, then they never should have drafted him in the first place.

"ckparrothead wrote:

Donald Thomas and Clyde Gates would hardly be the first or second Dolphins players we've had on roster since 2008 that have been thrown away and ended up good elsewhere.

Rob Ninkovich has been making plays for years in New England and Evan Mathis has become damn near an All Pro. And of course you can make a case for Brandon Marshall being the best WR in football this year.

I believe we also had Marcel Reece in camp as well.

"jim1 wrote:

I know that he was cut two years ago, but Ireland was here then. There just seems to be a culture here of releasing players that go elsewhere and become productive NFL players- often for our division rivals. Donald Thomas had a ton of potential and very little football experience- he was effusively praised by the coaching staff and Dolphins players (heavy hands, great push, uinbelievable strength) and then we dumped him. And the Patriots, who also needed help at Guard, signed Will Shields as a low cost free agent, he then turned in an All-Pro season, and now they have Thomas, who looked outstanding last night and has been cedited with helping the Patriots to jump start their running game. That's an interesting compare/contrast on how a winning franchise goes about solving a problem and how a losing franchise tries to do the same and fails. And Gates- if the FO didn't want to give him some time to develop given how limited his football background is, then they never should have drafted him in the first place.

I thought about pointing out the common thread, but that just opens a can of worms.

"PhinsRDbest wrote:

I believe we also had Marcel Reece in camp as well.

We also brought the corner for the Seahawks Browner in for a tryout at the same time Wake was here, apparently they both were told before the tryout that only one would be signed, and Wake turned out to be that guy..

No idea why Browner didnt get signed as well, I'm sure the cost would of been low at the time.

"djphinfan wrote:

We also brought the corner for the Seahawks Browner in for a tryout at the same time Wake was here, apparently they both were told before the tryout that only one would be signed, and Wake turned out to be that guy..

No idea why Browner didnt get signed as well, I'm sure the cost would of been low at the time.

And there was the famous instance where the Dolphins brought Sam Shields in for a workout and dismissed him in part because when they asked him to name our DBs Coach he couldn't.

"emocomputerjock wrote:

I thought about pointing out the common thread, but that just opens a can of worms.

It's not meant to be overly negative, it's just a reflection of what's been going wrong with the Dolphins. That being said, I'm looking forward to seeing how Rishard Matthews performs. If he's a hit and we can sign Bowe or Jennings in FA that will take some pressure off in the draft. We could easily spend the first five picks on DBs and pass rushers anyway, maybe take the right WR or G if available. If Rishard works out and we sign Jennings or Bowe, maybe a D'Andre Hopkins or Da'Rick Rogers.

"ckparrothead wrote:

And there was the famous instance where the Dolphins brought Sam Shields in for a workout and dismissed him in part because when they asked him to name our DBs Coach he couldn't.

That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard, even above the infamous whore question.

There's obviously two ways to look at it. It's a positive sign for our player evaluation that we were interested in guys like Rob Ninkovich, Donald Thomas, Evan Mathis, Brandon Browner, Marcel Reese and Sam Shields.

However, it's also a negative sign for your player evaluation that you let those guys walk out of our clutches because you decided they weren't good enough.

"ckparrothead wrote:

There's obviously two ways to look at it. It's a positive sign for our player evaluation that we were interested in guys like Rob Ninkovich, Donald Thomas, Evan Mathis, Brandon Browner, Marcel Reese and Sam Shields.

However, it's also a negative sign for your player evaluation that you let those guys walk out of our clutches because you decided they weren't good enough.

That strikes me as a serious negative, something that you would expect from the Bengals not too long ago. I have to admit that the development of Evan Mathis was a complete surprise to me, but the releases of Gates,Thomas and Ninkovich aggravate me.

It would not shock me at all if Donald Thomas eventually becomes a Pro Bowl Guard. For the Patriots. Ouch.

"djphinfan wrote:

We also brought the corner for the Seahawks Browner in for a tryout at the same time Wake was here, apparently they both were told before the tryout that only one would be signed, and Wake turned out to be that guy..

No idea why Browner didnt get signed as well, I'm sure the cost would of been low at the time.

Actually Browner was first brought in 07 along with Stefan Logan who spent some time on our practice squad that yr.

I'm somewhat stunned that Ross really thought we were a playoff team this year, stunned as in not believing it.

As for ratings, we've been dreadful for years, or mediocre and as per usual we have little hope of a playoff shot before December, this is unpalatable for most fans, and having few stars on the team means very little individual player interest to attract fans.

Basically, this is a product of the Parcellian "drone player" approach imo.

"ckparrothead wrote:

There's obviously two ways to look at it. It's a positive sign for our player evaluation that we were interested in guys like Rob Ninkovich, Donald Thomas, Evan Mathis, Brandon Browner, Marcel Reese and Sam Shields.

However, it's also a negative sign for your player evaluation that you let those guys walk out of our clutches because you decided they weren't good enough.

Thomas also went through the Lions and Ninkovich went back to NOLA and along the way he had an ACL injury.

Mathis was cut quickly in 08, reasons were never given.

It took Browner years in the CFL to develop his game, his first couple of years he was more known for drawing flags then making plays.

As for Reece, Fb's are basically devalued now.

"PhinsRDbest wrote:

I believe we also had Marcel Reece in camp as well.

Yeah, Miami had first crack at him. Signed as a UDFA in 2008.

"padre31 wrote:

Thomas also went through the Lions and Ninkovich went back to NOLA and along the way he had an ACL injury.

Mathis was cut quickly in 08, reasons were never given.

It took Browner years in the CFL to develop his game, his first couple of years he was more known for drawing flags then making plays.

As for Reece, Fb's are basically devalued now.

He's not just a FB though. He could play TE or RB too. He is basically a superior version of Charles Clay.