First off - thanks to Adamprez2003 for the awesome thread describing our draft picks but after reading the description about Phillip Merling, I kept thinking to myself that I had read this exact same description before about Matt Roth who in my opinion has never played like someone who was taken in the 2nd round and might not even be on our roster. Now that I think about it, the only difference between Merling and Roth is that Merling has long arms while Roth has the arms of a T-Rex. God I hope Merling really does perform as advertised. 2) OLB/DE Phillip Merling - 6’4 ¼” 276 4.85 -This pick could end up being the steal of the draft. Merling brings great size, long arms and phenomenal strength to the position. He has a non stop motor, excellent instincts and good play recognition. He is extremely tough and physical and will endear himself to Parcells by having that mean streak that Bill covets. He has excellent short area quickness which is more important that straight line speed. He will not give up on plays. If he’s down he will get up and still try to make the play. He also has the versatility that the Dolphins 3-4 schemes will require. His production increased every year at Clemson and ended with him posting 78 tackles, 17 for loss and 7 sacks. Merling can chase down runners from behind. He can protect the sideline in run support. He uses great leverage. He can stack and shed and has the ability to split double teams. He is a good tackler and plays well in space. He will get pushed back on occasion and needs to learn better hand technique but another year in the weight room and a good schooling in professional hand technique moves should improve those areas. He shows a great first step and is a good but raw pass rusher. He has ability rushing from the edge. Has one of the best inside spin moves you’re going to see. He still needs to learn a few other moves however. A good burst move to the outside with a swim and a bull rush move to offset it would be a complete repertoire. He will probably never be the type that battles for sack leader but with a few new moves he has enough ability that double digit years could become reality Bottom line here is the Dolphins got one mean, big and powerful pit bull that will be around the ball constantly. If he can learn better pass rushing techniques he has a chance to be a regular at the pro bowl. Its hard to project him this early since he can easily bulk up to 295 and play DE or stay at 270 and play OLB. The bet here is that he’ll be our Calvin Pace and play the elephant position. This was a lucky pick that really makes passing on Chris Long and Vernon Gholston brilliant in retrospect since Merling has a chance to be better than both Grade A+ (Could become steal of the draft) Prospects bypassed: CB Brandon Flowers, CB Tracy Porter, ILB Curtis Lofton, DE/OLB Quentin Groves, QB Brian Brohm, WR Limas Sweed Compares to: Trevor Pryce, Jamal Anderson, Justin Tuck
No offense dude, but that comparison loses merit because of the fact that Merling has huge potential of being a linebacker, which more than can be said about Matt Roth. Nothing against Roth, but while Merling is probably going to end up standing up eventually in our defense, Roth will always be an end.
Which, when it comes to linemen, makes all the difference in the world. Roth's struggles have a lot to do with not getting proper leverage because of his short arms. He gets pushed back too easily at the initial point of contact and has troubles to wrap up tackles. Unfortunately, he's also lacking the quickness and agility to get around the edges quickly. Merling, on the other hand, has a lot of the things that made Roth appealing to Saban (powerful guy, high motor) but none of his physical shortcomings. Incidently, Roth is a perfect example of why Parcells has always put a lot of value in the measurables. Here's a guy who does most of the small and technical things right, but is held back by his short range. I don't think you'll see Parcells going after a linemen with short arms, at least not with a high draftchoice.
You all make some great points. I'll be honest, I saw alot of Roth in Chris Long. Please dont crucify me for that comment, I just felt they were similar when I evaluated the two. Merling is completely different. As stated above, his ability to play LB in the 3-4 adds a totally different dynamic to his game. He's also ALOT more athletic than Roth. Not a knock against Matt hes a great guy, but I see little in comparison to he and Merling other than they were both 2nd round picks by the Miami Dolphins. JMO though.
You know, it's always possible. You can't think it impossible for him to end up that way. But, I think as far as physical gifts go, Merling has a lot on Matt Roth. He's just got the better body for the job.
Can somebody explain what "ability to play" OLB in a 3-4 we are talking about when referring to Merling? He has never played that position.
It actually would be nice to see us be able to trade roth for maybe a 4th rounder and recoup something. We seem to have already filled his position unless he puts on about 60 lbs for DT.
Merling has plenty of upside, physical tools, can't wait to see him play this summer & Fall. My only question is will he be fully recovered from the hernia in time to really be in "Parcells shape"?
In college football, there are two things that you can count on every year: That the teams in the Big Ten will be overwhelmingly over-ranked, but will produce very good NFL-caliber players; ...and that the teams in the SEC will be largely under-ranked, but will produce fewer NFL-caliber players than the Big Ten. Matt Roth was a typical - no, make that chronic - homer pick by Saban the Idiot. Merling is not Matt Roth.
Yea we should try Matt Roth as a line backer he could turn about to be really talented at line backer
Uh, Nabo, Roth WAS from the Big 10. He played his college ball at Iowa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Roth
I know the nock on Roth during the draft was he had short arms. If we had to do over again I much rather have kept Surtain. We picked Roth with the pick that we got from KC for Surtain.
Q: With the Dolphins adding Randy Starks and drafting two DEs fairly high for the 3-4, will Matt Roth be moved to OLB? It seems we need more depth there and he did play OLB early on at Iowa. Answered 04/30/08 14:44:58 by Jeff Darlington A: No, Rudy. The Dolphins actually like Roth at defensive end, and I'm thinking he'll be a likely starter on the left side. Roth fits this 3-4 system a bit better than last year's system, mostly because he has the motor that works well in this scheme. He doesn't have elite size, and his arm length is still an issue, but from what I understand, this team believes his energy and work ethic will help him compensate for the other set backs. We'll see. I'm not sold on Roth just yet, but I was impressed with his off-season training last year. Given this year's program is even more intense, there's a chance he could come back this season even bigger, stronger and faster than any of us anticipate. From Jeff Darlingtons blog-Miami Herald
Very interesting. Sparano listed Roth as a starter a while back, claiming he inadvertently left out Vonnie Holliday. Somebody is clearly going to end up being the odd man out in all of this. I had always figured it would be Roth.
We were all fairly high on him a couple of seasons ago, was it Kevin Carter who said Roth would push him to retirement? I don't know what happened with him last year, but I hope we aren't ready to give up on the guy already. He was a good situational pass rusher a couple of seasons back, the question is: is there a place in this defense for him?
Brother Jeff time will tell. I think Merling will be better though. Roth will be fighting for his job this year.
Matt Roth = defensive end and defensive end = Philip Merling therefore Matt Roth = Philip Merling also see... Jamar Fletcher = Drew Brees, Eddie Moore = Anquan Boldin, and AJ Feeley = Reggie Brown. And while we're at it. Chris Chambers = Chad Henne.
It does seem on the surface that the front office is planning on using Merling as a DE but we'll see. It surprises me somewhat that they also want to use Roth that way. The one thing with Roth that is important to remember is that he played the entire season last year with an injured groin so he was never 100%.
I'm really surprised that the Coaches are not trying Roth as a OLB or ILB, he can move well, why put him up against 300 pd right tackles with those proboscious sized arms of his?
By that logic, Bruce Smith = DE Eric Kumerow = DE therefore Bruce Smith = Eric Kumerow all this stuff about this guy being that guy for whatever reason is just plain silly IMO
