Full article. "So I asked Wheeler what happened to the guy everyone saw in Oakland? "I feel like I could still do that," Wheeler said. "I feel like the way they coached, they had a good linebacker coach and a coordinator that believed in me and what I could do. They started out here like that but stuff changed along the way, I'm not sure what. "But I still believe I can play that way, given the opportunity. I guess you could say they gave me the opportunity, but I don't feel like everybody was on the same page here. [In Oakland] when I was there everybody wasn't on the same page, but I was on the same page with the coaches and the scheme. I came here thinking it was going to be similar but there was a little bit different coaching." It may sound like Wheeler is putting it on the coaches, but in the same conversation he makes the point, "I don't think we have bad coaches." Well, then, how would Phillip Wheeler fix Phillip Wheeler? "I would love to play the WILL linebacker," he said. "I didn't play there this year. I played it last year and [coaches] felt there needed to be a change. And they changed it and put me at SAM. But I love to play WILL and start at WILL and play the nickel which is the dime backer. I'd play more. I'd love to do that but it is totally up to me to make them play me. That wasn't the case this year." No, that wasn't the case. Wheeler played only 384 snaps this year after being on the field for over 1,000 the past two seasons with Oakland and Miami. That suggests coaches trusted him less, thought less of him was better for the team. Wheeler doesn't see it that way. He believes he can regain his performance from his time in Oakland. "I still think I can play like that," he said. "I definitely know I can play like that. And I'm going to prove to somebody I can, whether it's here or the next place I go that I can do that.""
So Coyle didn't believe in you huh, Wheels? IMO this guy got waaaaay more playing time than he actually deserved and was a complete liability when on the field. I will blame Coyle for the last play of the Green Bay game though. For even having Wheeler in the game, much less in coverage, vs a wideout.
Anyone familiar with Wheeler's performances prior to coming to the Dolphins? The full article is talking about the Phinomenon of good players playing worse at the Dolphins and better either before or after or both. Here's the opening part: "Dallas Thomas is not a big favorite now.And neither is linebacker Phillip Wheeler. The thing I've learned, however, is that sometimes journalists and media assume players are not good players when they are performing here. To those I present players such as Wes Welker, Vontae Davis, Karlos Dansby, Rob Ninkovich, Brandon Marshall and others. All of them were not what we expected with Miami. All of them were good, no, GREAT with other teams either before or after they left the Dolphins. It is as if those guys came here and underperformed or somehow failed to reach expectations. And then they left and either regained their abilities or captured a new swag that Dolphins fans rarely if ever saw. Yeah, I blame coaching for that. And today's Dolphins roster has players like that. Look, Dannell Ellerbe was in line to be the successor to Ray Lewis in Baltimore. The only reason the Ravens let him go is they could not afford to match what the Dolphins paid. And he has been disappointing in Miami. Mike Wallace was a dynamic deep threat in Pittsburgh. He scared opposing defensive coordinators. He doesn't really scare anyone in Miami. Sure, he turned into a productive possession type receiver. He is not bad. But he was brought here to be great. He was paid to be great.And he's not great. (I have no doubt if the Dolphins cut him and Wallace goes back to Pittsburgh or somewhere like New England, he'd be great). Dion Jordan tilted the field at Oregon. He stood out and not because he's 6-6 and runs like a deer. He made plays. He was dynamic. And in Miami he cannot get on the field full time. Phillip Wheeler is on that list as well. He was an outstanding player for the Oakland Raiders in 2012. He was the No. 5 rated strongside linebacker in the entire NFL, per ProFootballFocus.com metrics. And then he came here. And he seemingly fell off the table. Wheeler is often criticized in the media. Fans joke about him on social media. I'm not certain I've ever seen a Phillip Wheeler jersey at Sun Life Stadium's stands. But what if what we're seeing is the product of the same malady that befell other fine players who produced elsewhere but were or became curiously unproductive here?"
That snippet is spot on, I've long thought that the Miami Dophins have been badly coached. Years have come and gone and we've had to watch player after player leave and become outstanding players. As the article states that's coaching. The other phenomenon that irks the sh#t out of me is opposing players alway find a way to have career performances agains Miami. I'm so tired of hearing anouncers blurt out that player "x" is haveing a career day, case in point....Geno. Silly, but I think Shula put a hex on us when he got unceremoniously dumped by that jackass Huizenga. This once proud franchise needs to be burned to the core and started over, maybe then we can exorcise our demans.
Typical Armando BS. If he is trying to prove that this coaching staff is ruing players he needs to pick a better example than Philip Wheeler. The guy had one good year with the Raiders. Prior to that his days in Indy were just meh. The other guys he mentions are either ancient history; Welker and Ninkovich or were traded before ever playing a regular season snap with this staff (Davis, Marshall). Even Dansby is a poor example because his 1 year under this staff was his best in a Phins uniform.
Hes gonna try to sell himself. Unfortunately he will be on the team next year since we save nothing by releasing him. Thanks Aponte.
Weller didn't really play any differently after leaving Miami, the difference was he caught 100+ balls a season instead of 50-70 a season. He averaged basically 10 yards a catch in Miami, just like he has in NE/Denver.
