The team is barely over .500. Let's not go crazy.

 

We need help at corner, DT, DE and G to start before we should be entertaining elite status. If we can actually add someone to each of those positions that can contribute then we can move forward. Until then we are stuck where we are. We simply wont have the consistency or ability to make the plays we need.

 

Unless you have Rodgers, Brady, Manning....rosters are constantly changing so who knows.

 

I'm not sure what 'just a matter of time' in this context means. They're good, but they aren't there yet. They could become better but that is never a given.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

I mentioned this is another thread, but its relevant here. Here's what Gregg Rodenthal writes...

"Don't rule out the Dolphins' playoff chances at 6-5. This remains a balanced team that is playing well of late. They can absolutely win 10 games. This loss was on their defense, but they aren't far from the AFC elite."

My point is it's not just us homer fans thinking this way.

 

takes a while to build thru the draft..let's try that for a change, we haven't done it in decades.

 

If we have a good offseason and stay healthy we will be in the mix for best in the league next year.

 

I'm with you. We've tried many stopgaps to fill holes. Many of which, haven't panned out or had a good return on investment. We seem to have a good core of players drafted that are starting to play at a good or high level.

 

I like hickey in free agency. Think he does well there. Not sure what I think of his drafting abiity yet.

 

The team has great potential and is making the right progress.

 

I will consider them elite when they win all their home games and 1/2 their away games on a consistent basis.

It is premature to say we are even close yet. To be close they need to beat the ravens and the Vikings plus sweep either the pats or the jets. The team has improved but way to soon to say any more than that right now.

 

Elite teams are a thing of the past Imo. Every team has weaknesses, I like that ours are not the prime positions like QB, OT, CB, DE. The other positions are relatively easy & cheap to address.

 

This is why the GM has the most important role...you want elite then you find the right evaluator and let him work for three years..there are some good signs that this hickey dude has some real skill.

 

I'm good w/ his drafting ability. I think James and Landry are homeruns so far.

 

Perryman for president.

 

I agree. I'd also be cautious of his in-season moves. That CB spot was pretty grim looking against Denver once Taylor left. Rose and Aikens held their own, but I think you'd like to see better options there if Taylor misses significant time. And I think you'd certainly like to not see Jimmy Wilson at the slot CB spot much longer. Same with the OL; there's got to be a better option out there at RT if you're not going to play Jason Fox there. Dallas Thomas is not good at all.

 

I don't agree with that. Even elite teams have holes or weaknesses at a few positions. I don't really see the needs at DT or DE -- our DTs and DEs are better than those on most of the "elite" teams as it is. Some corner help would be useful, but as it is we have one of the best pass defenses in the NFL even after the Denver game. And we have several young guys who could develop there. G is a legit need, but finding a competent G (despite the Dolphins' struggles at that in recent years) is one of the cheapest and easiest position fixes there is. As it is, we have a top 10 defense, a top 10 running game, an ascending young QB and an improving passing game. A small amount of improvement in 2 of those 4 areas can put us among the elite teams as long as the coaching doesn't hold us back.

 

Last year around this time we were 8-6 (0.571) with upcoming games against the Bills (5-9) and Jets (6-8).

Within a few weeks we're hotly debating firing the head coach, and we are running the General Manager out of town.

Right now we're 6-5 (0.545) and we still have teams on the remaining schedule that are 7-4 and 9-2. So we're not even quite at the same win record as we were then, and have a tougher remaining schedule.

Think perhaps we ought to wait and see a bit more before we start talking about being on the cusp of elite.

 

I think we need to continue to build through the draft but to say we haven't done so in decades is a bit unfair. Quite a bit of the core of this team; Tannehill, Pouncey, James, Hartline, Landry, OV, Odrick, Misi; Jenkins, Miller, Jones etc... are all home grown.

 

It's pretty clear nobody is saying the Dolphins are elite now, or that 6-5 suggests they are elite. So it seems pointless to keep harping on the 6-5 record or what happened last year. We all know the record and we all know what happened last year. The question is whether we have the talent base and have demonstrated the potential to be elite in the not-too-distant future. I think we do and we have. It doesn't mean we are there yet, but we are top 10 in all the major statistical categories except passing and we are undoubtedly improving there with a young and ascending QB. We have shown that we can be right there with the currently elite teams both at home and on the road. A single play in each of those GB, Detroit and Denver games made those losses instead of wins. So I don't think the gap between where we are and where we need to be to be considered elite is that big.

 

I would submit that the team's evolution this year has been marked by having a quarterback who no longer occasionally loses games for it. The next step in its evolution will be having that quarterback win games for it in the clutch, against the better teams in the league. Only then will the team be elite in my opinion.

 

Don't look now, but that's precisely what we've been doing since Philbin came on board. Virtually every player we feel good about on the team, save for Grimes, Wake & Pouncey has been developed by Philbin and his staff.

 

We are not elite. There is nothing imminent about this team. Our Oline is barely above avg, LBS are below, all other units are just avg, except QB which has shown promise. for you that bring up that we lost a few games buy one or two plays turn that around. Even if we had won those games, which we did not and that is very important, we would be only one or two plays from being 6 and 5.we are exactly what our records as we are--above average but nothing special.