Upon further review (mostly offense):
1. Someone got in Michael Egnew's ear in between the 1st and second quarters. He took some snaps toward the end of the 1st quarter and looked...Egnew. Not quite bad, not quite good, a little unfocused, etc. He had the ball thrown behind him that he technically could have had (although I have a still frame of it and that ball is way behind him, would've been a hell of a catch). Either someone got in his ear after that, or maybe he had a self-realization moment that his career was ticking to a close right up there on that scoreboard...because when he came back out late in the 2nd quarter the attitude was visibly different. It was the blocking where you first noticed the difference. On 1st & 5 he runs a pattern into the end zone and Bumphis catches the ball underneath, breaks some tackles and looks to try and get some more yards. Guess who saw it and came running back looking to find anyone he could to block, eventually blocking a guy into the end zone. Then on the ensuing 1st & Goal run, he crosses the backfield and cuts the hell out of George Selvie with a hard hit. Then the play that was designed to go to him but Moore got sacked, he ran that route real hard and I'm telling you, Moore could have gotten it to him. Moore was too lax. Finally they run a screen to Gillislee on 3rd & Goal from 19 and he comes back from his route and levels LB Brandon Magee. I mean the attitude is just visibly different here. Next thing you know he's running low and hard off the line on the ensuing possession with 30 seconds left, runs a crisp route and catches the underneath ball, fights hard against a three or four man gang tackle trying to get what he can. Then he lines up in the backfield and tosses a very hard hitting outside shoulder chip on Jeff Adams' blocking assignment, before getting out to his route. To start the 3rd quarter he first combos with Jeff Adams on the outside shoulder of the DE on a run and then comes out and drives DeVonte Holloman (eventually with some help from Evan Rodriguez) all the way to the outside. Next he blocks DE Montee Taylor all by himself on the backside of a run play, keeping inside position on him the whole way so that he could flow with the play but using his outside arm to fend Taylor off. He follows up by sprinting to reach DE George Selvie for a successful backside cutoff block where he eventually knocks Selvie to the ground. Next block he takes a blitzing LB Brandon Magee and bullies him around all the way to the other side of the formation, eventually getting a holding penalty not because he was being beaten by Magee but because he was just overzealous in his domination of the guy. Finally he once again successfully cuts off George Selvie. The physicality was just different from what I had seen before.
2. All of that said, I really reviewed Dion Sims pretty thoroughly, and he is indeed an impressive blocker. The best thing I can say about him is that he's CONSISTENT...which is something that he didn't have going for him in college, and it's something that eludes a lot of young NFL players. He really finds a way to get the blocking job done nearly every time. I should say every time because ultimately I didn't see him ever not get the job done. But he finds different ways to do it. He's very technically sound and he's able to stay with guys. This guy definitely has the look of the blocking specialist they want him to be. As a route runner though, I still worry about him as his change of direction skills are not good. He looks like he could find some spots between zones and catch some balls, but I wouldn't look at him to take yardage away from a defense that was trying hard not to allow it.
3. I did go ahead and re-visit Andrew McDonald because of that standout block he had on the big Jonas Gray run. That felt like a waste of time. He's got great mobility and active feet which I believe is something I noted about him last year. But he's got short arms and not a powerful punch or upper body. He's prone to being beaten to the inside and can have trouble staying engaged. Too many miscues and screwups. Turns out he just had a good play or two.
4. Once Brandon Gibson was retired from the field permanently along with most of the other 1st stringers, Chad Bumphis became the team's top slot receiver. He was already on the field before the 1st quarter was done and would have been on the field sooner except the Dolphins had been working with 2-WR personnel immediately after the 1st stringers came out.
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