Heath Evans thinks EVERY one of our draft picks will fail! What!?!

Except he is throwing stuff against the wall.

His whole premise on Jordan in this particular interview is that while he might be a good rusher, his lightweight will leave him as a liability on all other football situations. He has no premise for that. Perhaps he could have said Jordan needs to work on other aspects outside of rushing, however he has no premise to say he will be a complete liability outside of rushing.

Also he starter the interview by saying he was OK with what the Dolphins did up until Jordan, however he later said he would not be surprised if all of Irelands moves end up failing. So which is it?

He advocates rush through the middle as the way to beat Brady, but does not like that Dolphins made moves to rush the middle using linebackers. Perhaps he wanted the Dolphins to keep their linebackers and change their DT. To whom? And would not that be the same situation as the changing of linebackers?


Finally, if this were a one time thing, the outcry perhaps would have been less. But this is a recurring thing with Evans. He is easily recognizable as someone who routinely has negative opinions about what the Dolphins do. He does not deserve rational understanding because he routinely offers no rational analysis when it pertains the Dolphins.

 

So basically we are agreeing that Wake didn't have much help so Brady just torched anyways? I didn't say Wake was a total non factor I said containable. 5 sacks over that many games isn't jaw dropping but it is good. Wake isn't really the reason the the Pats TE's run wild on our D or Welker being Welker. Not to mention the game where our special teams had a total melt down.

I'm sure there are intelligent people who think Dansby is better but there are two sides on every fence. I'm on the Ellerbe side with his Youth and potential to be a VG linebacker. To each their own. I was simply saying Evan's whole point on Ellerbe seemed odd since Dansby really hasn't been any better with the exception of making tackles, then again his whole rant seemed ridiculous when at the start of the conversation he says he is ok with all the moves besides Dion Jordan but yet starts ripping up the Ellerbe and Wallace signings later. Just doesn't add up to me sir.

 

Strictly speaking, yes. Where we're disagreeing is I'm saying that this is evidence that Heath Evans may be correct and that outside pressure really doesn't bother Brady all that much. Cam Wake WAS Cam Wake against Brady...but it didn't matter that much. Evans is postulating that if the Dolphins had more middle pressure instead of Cam Wake, it would have been more effective. Call it, Cam Wake versus Geno Atkins.

 

Or perhaps ONLY Wake performing outstanding is not enough to bother Brady? Perhaps a 2nd rusher and a set of rushing linebackers is?

 

Enter Ireland's logic of signing of more athletic and fast blitzing linebackers like Ellerbe and Wheeler to help shore up pressure in the middle. The very signing that Evans then went on to blast which to me doesn't make sense. You need pressure up the middle!...But you signed faster blitzing young guys over Dansby which is also wrong! See my point? I think Evans is forgetting about pro bowler DT Randy Starks who has shown ability to get in the other teams back field.

 

There is also the point that Evans criticizes without offering alternative. It is very easy to criticize something or someone from the outside. However put yourself in the decision making position and perhaps you realize it is not so easy after all.

He expertly avoided going there when he was asked what he would have done differently.

 

Perhaps it is. But then, the Bills had Mario Williams and Mark Anderson rushing the passer the first game they played each other this year, and Brady had a 120.1 passer rating against them. The next game, when the Bills didn't have Mark Anderson, Brady had a 96.0 passer rating.

Similarly, when Brady faced the Broncos in 2012 (Von Miller & Elvis Dumervil) he had a 104.6 passer rating against them.

Similarly, when Brady faced the Rams in 2012 (Chris Long & Robert Quinn) he had a 131.1 passer rating against them.

Similarly, when Brady faced the Colts in 2012 (Robert Mathis & Dwight Freeney) he had a 127.2 passer rating against them.

At what point do we step back and say wait a minute, maybe this guy isn't just blithering hatred at the Dolphins even though he has no reason to hate the Dolphins? At what point do we step back and say...maybe this guy doesn't say things for no reason, and actually has good reasons to say the things he said, even if we ultimately disagree with them?

 

Was it Jason Taylor who was Brady's nemesis? Or was it the tight coverage on the outsides with Madison/Surtain? Was it Zach Thomas? I know Peyton Manning noted that it was Zach Thomas, not Jason Taylor, that frustrated him the most.

 

Enter Heath Evans' (correct) logic that blitz pressure up the middle is something that guys like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers and those guys FEAST on, and that when it comes to blitz success you're not getting an upgrade in a 6'1" and 235 lbs Dannell Ellerbe versus a 6'4" and 260 lbs Karlos Dansby who literally runs the same speed despite being a lot bigger.

Do you know what Tom Brady's passer rating in 2012 was when blitzed? He had 128.9 passer rating against the blitz. He had a 85.1 passer rating when NOT blitzed.

And his point is that you need pressure up the middle that does NOT come from blitzers because when you blitz you give guys like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers easy pre-snap reads which they make with deadly regularity and precise execution. You make their jobs easy when you blitz up the middle.

 

B/c when add Jordan Wheeler and Ellerbe you've replaced the entire approach, not just added a single players as the Bills have done.

You also add better Cb's, ie Grimes and drafted 3 of them.

And the flipside to Jordan is he not only rushes the passer, he can cover well.

This was apparently lost on Mr Evans.

 

Dion Jordan was drafted as a Pass Rusher...not a base DE. If he gets 18 sacks he'll go to the Pro-Bowl and win Defensive Rookie of the Year. To state anything other than that is simply ignorant and not worthy of comment no matter how you want to analyze it. Then he goes on to see maybe its the Bill Bellicheck in him...but Bill Bellicheck drafts a 250 lb. situational pass rusher with their first pick. I mean...which one is it? I agree...everyone is entitled their opinion. But to state a guy can be a drafted as a pass rusher and get 18 sacks....is somehow not a success at what he was drafted to do? If a player is successful at what you drafted them to do, they are a success. Point blank. Period. If the New England Patriots had drafted Dion Jordan I promise this would have been a different review.

 

This was like an 8 minute interview. To expect him to lay out a full off season plan would've been ludicrous. It's a cheap shot point to make, IMO.

 

So what would be the alternative then? Draft 2 better rushing DT to replace our 2 still good DT? Would that not be same as signing 2 better rushing LBs to replace our 2 still good LBs?

Do we only plan to get players to stop Brady, without regards to the other 14 teams we face? Or is it that outside rushing is completely futile in the NFL, it does not work against anyone?

Do we also ignore other interviews Evans has made where his stance on Jordan wasn't that he would be a good rusher but a poor everything else, but that Jordan would never be a good NFL rusher? Can we not say that Evans just plainly thinks Jordan will be a bad player?

 

Perhaps New Englands line is just that good to where these guys aren't getting much pressure on him? Not just from the edge but nothing coming from the middle as well? Freeny is old and Mathis isn't quite as good with Freeny well out of his prime. From what I saw in the Rams game not a single one of the Rams DL was even getting a finger nail on Brady and he sat back and enjoyed open field all day long. I don't have all the stat lines but did anyone get pressure on Brady in these games? If the answer is no then the whole point is moot since noone was hitting Tommy.

 

If he has time to go on an interview and completely kill every off-season move done by the Dolphins, then i should think it only fair that he save a little time to offer alternative.

A cheap shot was not to do so. Anyone can criticize. To offer viable alternative takes more intelligence.

 

I think what he would say as to the alternatives are you don't necessarily NEED to focus on just getting better pass rush on Tom Brady, you can build yourself to beat the Patriots (as well as all teams with great quarterbacks) in other ways. His POINT was that Dion Jordan was not a guy you're getting the bang for your buck on, if you're trying to beat Tom Brady (and the other teams with great quarterbacks).

And I think that point stands. Disagree or not, to pretend it's ridiculous only makes the person saying that look ridiculous.

I think this is a great point. But his rebuttal to that point was also good, when he said that in order to win it all you've got to beat teams led by great passers, and that those teams share similarities in how you'd fight them as do the Patriots.

My rebuttal to THAT would be, but what about teams like the 49ers, Seahawks and Redskins, who all made a lot of noise this post season with styles that differ from the Patriots by a wide margin.

Why would we ignore them? He doesn't like Dion Jordan as a player? Is he the only one? Hell no. Is it that out of the ordinary for a fairly high draft pick to have detractors? Hell no. Does it mean they're necessarily wrong? Hell no. I hated Jamarcus Russell and thought that was a poor use of a #1 overall pick. Was I ridiculous for saying so?

 

I would argue its not inside vs outside pressure with Brady its CONSISTENT pressure like what the giants can apply....you have to screw up his clock like the giants have done and the steelers/ravens have done on occasion...and like the Dolphins used to do when Taylor always seemed to have a "decent" partner in crime.

 

Honest question here...does it matter? Either way, for whatever reason, the New England Patriots' passing attack did not seem too bothered by teams who boasted a duo of EDGE RUSHERS that prior to the year's starting, you'd have thought highly of.

 

Jamar Taylor? The rookie late 2nd rounder? He's a data point? Really? Come on, man.

He wasn't saying that outside pressure is irrelevant, he was saying the Dolphins won't be getting bang for their buck against the Patriots by spending a ton of resources (which they did, a #3 overall is a very valuable resource) on increased edge pressure. Disagree or not, it's a plausible opinion.

 

I understand this but I'm simply saying that for every point Mr. Evans made it seemed like he would follow it with something contradictary. You can't say that you are only going to generate QB pressure simply with your interior defensive lineman like Starks and Solai thats just silly. If you want more pressure straight up the middle your linebackers are going to have to rush the passer some. It just seemed to me he was as said before "throwing **** at the wall" the entire conversation.

You know for sure that Dansby runs the same speed as Ellerbe? Got stats or proof? 40 times do not translate to how they move on the field or in coverage either...

 

Did we not need another rush end? Was that not one of our needs? Is getting better rushing not a very viable way to combat great quarterbacks? If we think Jordan will not bust and live to expectations, then he will most certainly be a weapon against Brady and other great QBs.

The thing is, the plan the team followed does address that. On paper they got better at rushing from the edge and from the middle. If you think the players will not live to expectations, that is valid, however that is not what Evans is saying in that interview.

Again, that is not what he is saying in this interview. I believes that is what he thinks, because this is not the first time i've heard him speak about Jordan, and he always has something to nitpick about. However it is relevant because if he believes that Jordan is just plain bad, then his argument of him being good, but not what the Dolphins need to beat Brady, loses validity.

 

It's a plausible opinion until you say a cat with 18 sacks is a liability. You can not like Dion Jordan for what he is all you want, but don't start talking silly like 18 sacks can just be thrown by the wayside. To me that discredits the majority of your opinion that spews from your mouth. It's like when a cat who usually doesn't tell a good joke tells one...but then starts feeling himself and tells two unfunny jokes after and you gotta stop him. Heath Evans shoulda just said why he didn't like Dion Jordan and stopped.

 

In our conversation it does matter. If I saw proof that there was pressure coming from the middle without any help from blitzing and it was legitimately working then I'd agree with Evan's stance but I doubt this proof exists. The bottom line is that when Brady is being pressured FROM ALL ANGLES...he gets rattled and frustrated. CONSISTENT pressure all game is the key. The expressions on his face in the games where he is getting hit a lot tells the story. You can pull out all these ratings and stats from a few games last year but I still say the fact of the matter is that trying to say outside pass rush...the thing all teams die to get...isn't as valuable against Brady is just silly. Any pressure is good pressure when your playing against pocket friendly quarterbacks.

 

He was not asked to lay out a full off season plan he was asked what he would have done differently… He had no answer, he totally ignored the question… period…

 

When the subject of the interview agrees with the predetermined viewpoint of the vocal minority, of course.

 

Sun Tzu?

 

What about he said about Wallace:

"...would anyone had paid Hartline that much? Would anyone else pay Wallace that much? The Steelers have almost insider information and get rid of people ahead of time, Wallace has more ability then Santonio Holmes was traded and he turned into a locker room cancer"

More or less, no transcript available, ie, they overpaid Wallace and the Steelers near prescent "insider information" means they only let him walk due to it.

TBH, dude sounded like he was swimming for things to say, like when Jordan was drafted it set him off..which was odd really.

 

Dion Jordan was not a good pick if you wanna beat the patriots...really..lol

The one player who can cover more space than anyone in the draft, the one player who moves laterally, forward, and back,with grace and explosiveness, the one player who has a chance to cover, rush the passer, and remove the tight end from the equation was the wrong pick if you wanna beat Tom Brady?..Dion Jordan can chase the ball faster than anyone in the draft, that's his mentality, and that's what his skillset screams, that's the wrong guy to combat Brady huh?

Sounds like a crock a sh&$ bias opinion to me..

Whether Dion works out or not, when you have a guy # 1 on your board, and you make an aggressive move in the draft and get him on an excellent deal, you should be praised, because at this point, thats what it is, a deal in the draft, it's all speculation and opinion as to whether he will turn out to be great or a reach, bottom line we got up to the third #3rd overall pick in the draft for peanuts, the fact that he can't admit it, is quite indicting as to his preconceived notions.

 

I went to school with this guy....he seemed like a total ******* back then. Walking around cocky as **** for being a solid player in a 2A school. Blew my mind.

 

Because CK is an excellent talent evaluator doesn't mean he can read this guy..jmo, I don't think CK respects the job that the GM job did this offseason, and he's found someone who thinks the same, and is subconsciously overlooking the bias and angry nature..sorry, that's how I feel.

 

I think he has a burr under his saddle because his mom and dad named him after a candy bar, then he grew up to find he doesn't even like toffee. Who couldn't like toffee anyway? It's a very delicious form of candy.