Just a little blurb on Ireland, but it's interesting to see the perceived change in perception to the positive side.
The naysayers have been quiet lately. Having most of us all on one side Of the fence is nice for a change
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82930f06/article/poll-dolphins-fans-now-crazy-for-gm-ireland?module=HP11_headline_stack
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Personally I thinK Ireland drafting a QB with our first round pick was a no brainer for him.
Not only did he quiet the fan base but he almost guaranteed himself a 3 yr extension while we all wait to see if Tanny makes it .
If Tanny makes it Ireland will be a genius and he will be considered to be in the top echelon of GMs.
If he doesnt Ireland will be out of a job....after 3 yrs.
IMO the jury is still out on Ireland.We need at least 3 drafts to get a proper evaluation of his skills.
I think we are still in the quieting the fan base stage.CashInFist likes this. -
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Even if Tannehill doesn't pan out (which I think he will). we'll at least get the 2 years of optimism that was completely absent last season.
IMO, all we need is one of the WRs or Egnew to breakthrough and we could have some fun this season. -
Well I have flip-flopped on Ireland. I started off liking him because he seemed to have a decent rebuild plan and was following the Parcells model for rebuilding which is getting some vets and drafting well. Then he ignored the obvious needs at QB for too long and didnt really seem to be capable of fixing it. Now that he has drafted the QB we needed and hopefully the answer to our problems since Marino, he is back in my good graces. The fact that he pretty much KILLED this draft doesnt hurt. I didnt really want a RT at 42 but Jon Martin was a great value. Olivier Vernon is said by Al Golden to have been about a year away from being a first round pick....and if thats true it just makes the drafting of another potential 1st round talent, Lamar Miller all the sweeter. Egnew is the stretch TE this team has needed forever as well. If he hits on 1 or 2 of these late round/FA WR's (Moye, Fuller, Cunningham, Matthews) and maybe 1 from Wallace or Moore we will have made a nice roster overhaul in one offseason that started extremely poorly in missing on Manning and Flynn. So hopefully El Jefe did as well as he thought he did in his post draft interview with The Finsiders
Killer Bees, smahtaz and Ohio Fanatic like this. -
I think the poll was skewed. IMO, there's a measurable gap between 'vision has the team headed in the right direction' and 'he's made some good moves, but the future is no brighter.' There should have been a 'he finally picked a real QB prospect, so, I'll wait and see' option. If you ask me, whether the future is 'brighter' or not depends more upon Philbin and his staff than it does Jeff Ireland. Ireland just finally had a QB fall in his lap.
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So I'm neutral toward Ireland, have to see how things work out. -
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Poor record of our 3rd/2nd rd picks panning out, if Merling had developed no need to draft Vernon etc.Larry Little likes this. -
and I thought we were only cap-strapped for this season, with much more room next season when we'll hopefully be ready for a run to the playoffs. -
Ireland is much better than he's getting credit for, and both him becoming unpopular and fixing his image has been based on the wrong stuff. An increase in popularity based primarily on a draft with no actual production at this point is silly. He had a good draft from a standpoint of popular concepts of value and what positions we needed, which means sweet ****-all when it comes down to actually coming up with quality players.
Stringer Bell, RevRick and slickj101 like this. -
My view about this being a right now league has not changed OF, we've forever been doing so since Wanny.
Merling was basically a first rd pick, he showed well as a Rook, did alright in 09, then vanished.
One of the problems we face in the AFCE is the patsies mtn of draft choices, we have not kept up in the talent race with them due to far to many high picks not panning out. Now here we are seriously hoping this yr's UDFA/late rd pick class does something.
Tactically, this puts us in a bad position, a part of that was Sparano stopped giving such players opportunites due to fear of being fired (imo), now we sort of back to square one. -
I don't think the overall view of Ireland has changed much at all. The reality is that the owner of the team made the decision to keep Ireland and fire Sparano, instead of firing both of them.
Season tickets sales are the lowest they have been in decades and I think this says a lot about how the local fans feel about Ireland and the rest of the FO at this time. Ireland has been given one more opportunity to turn this team around by bringing in better talent. If the Dolphins win in 2012, Ireland will get a lot of the credit. If they once again fail to put winning product on the field, the call to fire Ireland will be louder than ever.
So basically the, "fire Ireland" demands by many of us was ignored by the owner and now we just have to wait and see if Ireland is as good as Ross seems to think he is or, if Ireland is as bad a GM as many of us still believe he is.Larry Little likes this. -
I'm happy that Ireland finally made the QB position a top priority. I'm also happy he took a gamble on a playmaker like Lamar Miller and a potential playmaker in Egnew. Maybe he's turning the corner. -
However, I think you have to take Ireland's entire body of work into account, and he has his blemishes. His record in the 2nd round alone is highly, highly questionable. -
That is, unless Moore or Garrard just have great yrs, imo that would take tremendous pressure off of the franchise. -
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Now what I do hope is the Wr from the old regime, Wallace, Moore, Pruitt, and the newbs, that we find 2-3 Wr's in there who can ball a bit.
IMO, huge holes at #1 Wr and #4 wr, Hartline and Bess are more like #2 or #3 types. -
EDIT: In fact... I can only think of one great player Ireland has drafted. Jake Long. With the #1 overall pick. He's been in Miami for 5 drafts, and all he has to show for it is one 'great' player... that he selected with a #1 overall that Cam Cameron wrapped in a bow for him. Sheesh... -
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Saying his title was GM is not proof though. His title could have been El Presidente, but Parcells was still in charge. I just don't see how any reasonable person can lay blame at Ireland's feet without knowing if he made the calls everyone faults him for.Mcduffie81 and djphinfan like this. -
Fin D likes this.
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You, I, and everyone can speculate all we want. You might even be correct by stating that the Tuna actually made all the final personnel decisions until the day he waddled out of the building. However, Ireland was the GM then, he is the GM now, and he has had final authority since the day he signed a deal to move from Dallas to Miami. Therefore, he is ultimately responsible for every player drafted, and every player signed. -
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Ohio Fanatic, Mcduffie81 and djphinfan like this.
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However... speaking of overpaying... do I really need to mention Earnest Wilford? Gibril Wilson? -
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If you have info to the contrary, I'd like to see it. Or, you can just continue with the 'nuh-uh' argument.
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