where have you heard that Clabo is struggling? is it pass prot or run blocking?

 

The thing about Clabo that makes me not too worried is that they are busy moving guys around, but not him. The interior of the line is making all kinds of changes with the injury to JJ, but they aren't messing with the Ts... That makes me not too worried about Clabo aside from his experience playing the position...

I guess that JJ was pretty much cemented in at RG before the injury. If not, they'd probably have started the shuffling before this ??

 

Interesting stuff about Daniel Thomas, perhaps we are paying impatient with him....maybe we can give him one more chance

 

He is decent catching the ball out of the backfield too, lets at least take a look at him in preseason before we crucify him this year I guess

 

I'm not sure that's a factor...the fact that Martin and Clabo aren't being moved around. They have nobody who can play left tackle aside from Jon Martin. As bad as he was in 2012, if Martin goes down injured it could get real bad at that spot. So they have to get Jon Martin as much work there as possible and make him as good as they can. I suppose it's a positive for Clabo that Nate Garner hasn't been given snaps ahead of him on the 1st unit...but I don't have a high opinion of Garner at tackle so I'm not sure how much that matters either.

The one point I saw someone raise that actually did have me a little worried is that the offensive style change from Atlanta to Miami in particular as it relates to how much Miami likes to speed things up and take the snap with 17 or 18 seconds left on the play clock...could be tough on a 32 year old veteran on the downslope like Tyson Clabo. If you're noticing that Tyson Clabo is a less effective pass protector in Miami than he was in Atlanta (where I thought he was pretty effective), that could be the culprit. But, until we see signs of trouble with that, that worry has to only be on the periphery for now.

 

You've got to ask yourself, what's the end game here?

Daniel Thomas has had two years in a row running with like a 3.5 yards per carry average even though other tailbacks on the team are averaging 4.5 or even 5.0 yards per carry, two years in a row with fumble problems, two years in a row with work ethic question marks. He heads into the off season thinking Reggie Bush is gone now and my only competition is a 4th rounder, he's on his last chance and so he knuckles down.

So let's say he DOES actually play decently well now that he's knuckled down. If Lamar Miller becomes the 1200 yard back people are hoping to where it becomes obvious Daniel Thomas is just his backup again, what happens then? Does he become a consistent worker, consistent performer? Or does he go back to his old ways?

The reality is, you don't know, and that's why I question the end game...because even supposing a decent year in his limited role, you're no closer to knowing whether he's a guy you want to be around longer term.

I'd honestly rather give guys like Mike Gillislee and Jonas Gray a shot. See what they can do with actual carries and touches.

 

Agree 100%. In fact, I'd go as far as cutting or trading him right now so Gray and Gilly get the extra work.

 

Especially someone like Gray who was a monster in the redzone in college. Would be nice to have someone who can reliably put the ball in the end zone when we get down there.

 

I'm not even saying either one of those guys will be especially good. We don't know. I felt a certain way about them in college and I felt a certain way about Daniel Thomas in college, but we don't know. But how much worse could they realistically be? If they fumble a ball or two, well who is to say Daniel Thomas wouldn't have? He has had that issue in his two years in the NFL. If they gain like 3.8 yards per carry or something like that, who is to say Daniel Thomas would have done better? His career average in two years is a consistent 3.5 or 3.6.

Daniel Thomas is still cheap talent and while he's still cheap you might as well take advantage of him during what in all likelihood will probably be his peak year as far as performance goes, but I don't want to take advantage of that at the expense of getting opportunities to guys who might have brighter futures. It's a balance.

 

Daniel Thomas may be the best compliment to Miller so Lamar doesn't get worn down by obvious pass blocking situations (i.e., when defense is likely to rush 5-7 defenders) and grinding it up with up the middle. Please note, this year the Dolphins face a significant number of 3-4 defenses, which may lead the offense to attack the middle of the field with a single back and multiple TE formation. If Thomas can run as he did in his breakout game against Houston; and if the Dolphins TE receiving options are much better than what was available during that Houston game; and if Mike Wallace keeps the safeties honest, then this offensive package should be more effective than trying to run Lamar Miller off-tackle against JJ Watt and their productive OLBs.

My guess is that Sherman will use of the depth players in special packages as oppose to a true back-up. His Packers had success with Ahmad Green and William Henderson in the base and Najeh Davenport as single back 3rd down back. Gillislee might have a tough role as he has to back up Miller and Thomas.

 

Well, DT will certainly have the opportunities to show us he belongs on this team this year. No question he will be the #2 back IMO and he should get plenty of carries this year because of that. Hopefully he rises to the occasion, secures the football, and manages to average 4+ ypc.

 

agree in principle. But given that neither has made impact in the NFL, I'd keep Thomas for one more year and then jettison him unless he shows a remarkable turnaround - which I doubt. I don't see Thomas ever being a starting-caliber RB, but he could be a career backup. We need to see if either Gray or Gilly has potential.

 

They can't be worse than DT at this point, IMO.

 

I don't think you can write Daniel Thomas' role in ink yet by any means.

Have to remember this guy has shown himself to be good at doing two things that do not impress this coaching staff. They are: getting hurt, and fumbling the football. We're a week into training camp. He hasn't had much opportunity to do either of those things, and he'll have to prove he can make it through a training camp as well as preseason games without doing them before I think they're ready to trust him.

Lamar Miller himself is possibly competing to eat significantly into Daniel Thomas' role. Sandcastle mentioned Mike Sherman putting Daniel Thomas into a similar role as he did Dookie Davenport once upon a time. Well, in 2003 where Ahman Green 355 carries and 50 catches, Dookie only had 77 carries and 6 catches. And Dookie didn't receive a single red zone carry that year. So while Sandcastle could ultimately be right about Thomas' role relative to Miller...I don't know if it should be considered all that gratifying a role for Daniel Thomas to play.

 

I think John Jerry's injury coincided with planned line shuffling, which seems more dramatic as they had to shift from plan a to plan c. Garner's role complicates matters as they like as the 8th lineman who is only activated if an lineman has an injury going into a game. This method puts pressure on the top 7 linemen to have some flexibility to man another position in the event of an injury. And with Jerry as one of the top 7 lineman, he may have been expected to bounce to RT if Clabo was injured or faltered.

With Clabo, Incognito, and Jerry on expiring contracts, there's probably some behind the scenes decision making going on. I wonder if Incognito is similar situation as Clabo, where he will be evaluated on how well he plays a single position - RG.

Perhaps, Samuda may offer some insight on how an inexperience player raises into the top seven. Did he stay with the 2nd/3rd team while Steinbach was given time against the 1st team to see if he could regain past performance? As for his current situation, the team may be planning if Pouncey has a lingering injury that may affect play at center, but not guard. Or they forecast the Pouncey's skill may be wasted if the team faces lots of 3-4 defenses and Mike has less opportunities to get out into space.

 

As it stands now, Garner is likely going to be one of the two active reserves every game due to his experience at every position on the line. If Samuda does not start, I'd expect him to be the other.

 

Gratifying to whom? I think most, including Dolphins staff and Thomas, would agree with your initial assessment that Thomas would be a poor runner due to high pad level and limited vision. However, it seems this type of player is over-drafted with some between the tackles runners finding success when they landed with a team with a good OL, such as Thomas Jones (low pad level) and Tyrone Wheatley.

Lamar Miller types may be under-drafted as they considered risks to hold up against large NFL defense. However, when Curtis Martin's, Charlie Garner, Frank Gore's of world seem to have quick success and long careers as it's discover that they have great vision matched by ability to run off-tackle and side step tacklers.

Fortunately, the Dolphins have both types of RBs; and a coaching staff that's more likely to attack a defense's weaknesses. IMO, Miller will develop into a better back if he's used aggressively so his speed to the LOS makes defenders play faster and shiftiness leads to missed tackles. Likewise, Thomas 'faults' may make him well-suited to pass block; his JUCO QB experience may make him more effectively at delays, draws, and release when no pass rushers; and his jump stop running style could work better between the tackles.

 

I don't think it would be fair to reduce Thomas's playing time because you THINK he's going to return back to his practice habits.

He's working hard. He's earned it. And he will deservedly get his chance.

 

I haven't had that much of a problem with thomas. I never really felt he had good blocking in front of him for the style of runner he is. I really feel the oline is the key to everything this year. The paSsing gm and run gm

 

What I saw of him at K State wasn't Wildcat. He was just a RB, and their run blocking scheme looked zone to me. He was just about their entire offense as a senior. They work horsed him most all the time. Considering defenses keyed on him, and that he ran behind a mediocre offensive line, I thought he did really well.

 

Agreed. He's a guy you revisit when his rookie contract is up and decide if he's worth re-signing or if a younger guy has caught him, but until then he's a keeper if he's working.