This is one of those easier said than done type things. Gase said the same things, but there were so many times that I thought to himself, "He doesn't understand his players."

There are two players in particular that will be an indicator of whether or not O'Shea can is able to do this.

The first one is Drake. I never thought Gase knew who he had with Drake. I remember 2 years ago, he continually put Drake in as a short yardage back, and he failed every time. Drake has never been nor ever will be a power back. Drake is a beast in space. I would love to see a lot of sweeps/runs outside the tackles and get him involved with screen/short passes. I sincerely think, if we just asked him to do that, we would have a star on our hands.

The other one that I would love to see him work with is Geisicki. I never understood why Gase would run sideline routes with the hope of a bigger receiving TE making a catch running toward the sidelines and hoping that he could cut back up the field with little space to do it in. Geisicki was born to work intermediate routes up the middle. Throw it in front of the safeties and above the linebackers. He is a very forgiving target.

If he passes these two tests, he is moving in the right direction for me.

 

I know they all kind of sound the same, but there were quotes in there where I believe him this time.



“Will he bring the Patriots’ consistently successful Erhardt-Perkins system with him to Miami? We’ll find out next week, but based on the way he praised it Wednesday, it’s a safe bet.

“I think we’ve been able to put players on the field that share some common traits that are very important in offensive players,” said O’Shea, 46. “Dependability, consistency, ability to adjust, whether it be a different game plan for a different opponent. Whether it be a position that they might not have played previously that we feel is the best role for them to be successful in winning the game. I think that’s something we’ve always asked our players. We’re going to ask you to be in a role that’s to try to win the game.

“It might not be a role that you’ve been best suited for in the past, but it’s a role in which we’re going to put you in because we think it’s the best thing for the team.”

But he won’t squeeze a round hole into a square peg. There’s no better example of this than Julian Edelman, who arrived in Massachusetts as a converted quarterback the same year O’Shea joined Bill Belichick’s staff. Edelman has a rare ability to get open and catch the football, but he did not necessarily fit the Patriots’ system. So New England changed its system to suit his ability..”

 

James White caught 87 passes, for 751 yards and 7 TDs last season. He has 243 receptions in the last four years, along with 26 total TDs. I would say that with the roster constructed the way that it is right now, Drake will have a good chance to set some single season Dolphins RB reception records if he can stay healthy.

 

such an indictment on Gase.....Imagine what Mcdaniels would do with Drake

 

Did ohea work with amendola? I was kind of hoping we cut his ***... useless, and his off the field soap opera with olivia culpo was annoying to listen/read about in the news.. go back to riding the brady train..

 

Yes. O'Shea was in New England from 2009-2018. Amendola was there from 2013-2017.

 

Sounds to me you might not have enough information about this topic to formulate an opini....or just forge ahead anyway.

 

One part of the "Patriot way" that I think could be easily replicated is their ability to roster RBs. They keep RBs in many different shapes, sizes, and skillsets. Ever notice how a Patriots' RB will have a monster game one week and have three touches the next week? They are essentially switching up their game plan. Perhaps they give Sony Michel 23 hard runs one week, the next week their opponent is planning for a hard nosed rushing game, and the Pats throw them off balance using short passes to White in place of a running game. Opponents go in expecting X and they give them Y.

Honestly, between Ballage and Drake, I think we are close to being able to do this already. Ballage is a big dude that can get us those hard to get yards, but fun fact, some teams worked him out at the combines as a WR. I really think that Ballage could be a huuuuge upside surprise.

 

I am personally all for cutting him, but if O'Shea wanted a guy or two who was familiar with what he wants to run, he might be worth overpaying. Maybe look to see if he is willing to restructure.

 

Restructure would involve adding years and/or guaranteed money. Right now he has neither, and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

You are probably right. I was thinking offer him something like $3 mil for the year.

I just feel like if I were running the team, I would want to heavily address oline/dline, and if the opportunity presented itself QB. I would also be looking to add another CB and a LB.

I would for sure be moving on from Parker. I guess I think that our WR corps is good enough to not warrant immediate concern.

This is all depending on O'Shea wanting him around. I find myself agreeing with you because I really don't see a big drop-off from Danny to Brice Butler.

 

My biggest concern with Amendola is that the offense would inevitably revolve around him, with him ending up with 90 catches for 700 yards, akin to his 2010 season with the Rams.

In a rebuilding year where wins don't matter, having an offense revolve around a castoff QB (whoever that ends up being) throwing short passes to a WR who isn't going to be around past next year doesn't accomplish anything.

 

It will be interesting to see if we will finally be able to successfully execute a screen on offense and stop one on defense.

 

That’s a Ryan Tannehill problem

 

I think what will be interesting is Flores and O’Shea have watched one style of QBs their whole careers.. You gotta wonder if this influences the GM.

 

No it isn't.

We've been terrible at them before him.

 

Yes, when RT17 is playing safety he always screws up his assignments on defending screen passe.

 

Do you ever think that maybe our screen game was terrible on offense because the guys we were practicing against couldn't ever stop a screen play? So when we played teams who actually could stop it, it threw everything off.

 

Dude, its been a problem since Shula was the HC. I've never seen a Miami team that was good at it on either side of the ball.

 

I've wondered for years if the two sides of the ball effect one another as far as that's concerned. Poor practice leads to poor performance? Same with defending TEs.

 

A while back I watched a documentary about Paul Brown. One of the many things he is credited with introducing to the NFL was the screen pass. After watching some examples I thought that the screen passes Paul Brown drew up in the 1950s were more effective than the ones we’ve been running. The biggest difference being that the receiver’s route was much closer to the LOS and the receiver got the ball quickly and in open stride. The slow developing throw to the outside hash marks to a receiver standing still screens we run look to my untrained eye as less sophisticated than the ones being run in the 1950s.

 

I agree. Its so weird that coaching staff and coaching staff, we keep having this same exact issue....when so much of the league, and football as a whole, have been doing a much better job of it for such a long time.

I was once told that Marino stunk at the RB screen, and since he was so good at nearly everything else, Shula basically abandoned it. But that doesn't account for every single other group we've had since that point.

 

The more you talk, the more convinced I am that you are right. My only caveat to your thesis is if we draft a QB, we might want him to stick around as a reliable guy to have coming out of the slot. I believe in putting young QBs in position to succeed.

I think Stills is good, but he disappears from games. One week, he will have an 6 rec- 110 yards - 1 TD stat line, the very next week, he will have one catch for nine yards. Wilson was pretty consistent, but that is about it.

 

I'm going to operate under the premise that we arent drafting a qb this year until I'm forced to do otherwise!