Our starting corners are Tony Lippett (a guy with zero experience) and Byron Maxwell (a guy who was so horrible last year that Philly was basically trying to give him away). Our backups are an injured rookie and a bunch of nobodies. Thank god we have Rashead Jones back there. Two of our three linebackers (Misi and Alonzo) are the very definition of injury-prone and we have zero depth at the position.
Man, this defense has the potential to be really bad. I am scared. Tell me I'm wrong.
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If we took that approach to everything, what would we talk about in the offseason? -
Aside from Jones, the secondary and linebackers were awful last season too. On the whole, I think that this year's unit has a lot more potential, but many have injury concerns. Our new coaching staff seems to be running a scheme that fits these players much better than the previous one used theirs, and hopefully the DL gets so much pressure that it helps hide the corners weaknesses.
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Maxwell has been doing well in camp. Lippett is improving.
Players that look interesting are Pitts, Harris and Aikens. Aikens put on weight and looked good during the preseason game. Pitts was a coverage master during his first game. Harris is a good player who has had injury problems.
Linebackers, well so far they aren't that impressive. Defensive line better be dominate.
Preseason game I am looking forward to seeing if Pitts continue to cover well, Harris still looks good, and if Lippett looks improved.P h i N s A N i T y, DolphinGreg and GARDENHEAD like this. -
Well, the defense as a whole was really the thing we all thought needed the most help. Fans expected that help to come through the draft but it didn't happen. Had Tunsil not fallen and instead Miami used the pick on Dodd, Lawson or some other young DE, I'd be more confident in saying the LB and DB categories are just simply next year's priority. But with DE (and G) still set to be needs in the short-term future it's unclear exactly what drafting Carroo, Grant and Drake got us. It was a big risk. We'll see how it pans out.
I'm confident that Maxwell will do fine as the team's primary CB. I think Bobby McCain will play well enough as the nickel. Who steps up to play the bulk of the snaps at CB2 is a question. There are several young players with potential but it's an unknown. We just have to accept that and rest on the fact that the coaches seem confident enough in some of the new guys. As far as the LBs go, it just looks like we'll have to keep our fingers crossed they stay healthy. If Phillips does well next to Suh, that'll take pressure off of Alonso and hopefully free him up to make plays with his speed and athleticism. Moreover, Vance Joseph seems to have most of the young, unproven names in pretty good positions. That says a lot about his overall ability to coordinate.
So, there are definitely upsides to go along with some of the worry but it's just year-1 of a rebuild for the unit so I don't think we should be too concerned until we see more from this group. I think next year's draft will heavily favor the defense.Pandarilla, P h i N s A N i T y and GARDENHEAD like this. -
Better than the past few years bro.... Talents gotten better at safety, with Abdul-quddus being a guy who can start like Delmas was... Thomas is growing into a role....we can wait to see how Aikens developes, but not rely on him.
LB....( I think we should be excited to add Alonso to replace Shepard. Don't you ? )
I think overall we are better at CB when you consider who's been our #2, nickel, dime in years past. That outweighs any drop off from GRimes to Maxwell this year... ( hardly any, I expect )xphinfanx, GARDENHEAD and DolphinGreg like this. -
It would also help these guys if our running game could hit its stride a bit.dolphin25 likes this. -
Our LBs have potential to be a very good unit.... Kiko *can be a game changer! You're right about the depth...and Alonso, Misi being prone to injury.... vigil is MIA, Hull and Hewitt are nice pieces but need to develope.... V.Joseph projects D.Jordan as a DE. I'm expecting us to pick up somebody here as rosters are trimmed down.
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finfansince72 Season Ticket Holder Club Member
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Defense is better than last year. We have a healthier Wake, Williams maybe Jordan. We Have Kiko and better corners, along with Howard. From a personnel standpoint we lost Vernon but the net net is better, including salary cap. NOTHING MATTERS UNLESS THEY STOP THE RUN
Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkP h i N s A N i T y likes this. -
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Our Dline is pretty nasty, though. They're counting on them being disruptive is all.
Caroo is going to Ball!
The Jakeem Grant media frenzy has begun.
We have Laremy friggin' Tunsil.
They could have offered more to trade up for Jack, but I was okay with them going offense heavy.
If we beat the Bills this year, then Super Mario was worth every penny.DolphinGreg likes this. -
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To be honest, it's not the secondary I am worried about. I think these guys are going to be fine. I have to see more from this LB corps, esp the depth. I actually think the secondary depth is pretty good. The LBs, not so much. We'll have a better gauge on the LBs tomorrow, but right now, I am not feeling them at all.
DolphinGreg likes this. -
Is Louis Delmas still looking for work?
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:dolphin: I think our defensive line is excellent & if they decide to go with Dion at LB, rather than DE, our LB woes will disappear. the secondary needs to step up their game but the talent is there to be developed. we already have three good/solid starters & several to dispute the forth defender position. I'm not to worried about our defense.
once they decide on the starters across the OL, which is really a no-brainer, and give the unit some reps to develop chemistry, the offense will take off. personally, I'm looking forward to a winning season & an exciting year. if we get out of the gate fast & get some breaks along the way: 10-6 & a post season run...
*tonight should be an interesting game, look for things to begin to come together.
"Man, this defense has the potential to be really bad. I am scared. Tell me I'm wrong." not to worry GardenHead, its going to be a very good year & the defense will do just fine ;)GARDENHEAD likes this. -
Considering the monetary & draft picks invested in the OL, I'm far more concerned why this unit continues to underperform.
Agua and Pandarilla like this. -
Coming into the year I was expecting a 6-7 win season. Nothing I've seen this preseason makes that outlook anymore positive. If anything it makes my outlook a little too optimistic. I don't put much stock into preseason but it's hard to come away feeling good when you still can't run a lick on offense and your D can't stop the run or pass. If this team stays incredibly healthy we might be able to win 8 games, assuming Thill has a big year. Hopefully I'm way off but nothing I've seen makes me think we are any better than last year. Same issues so far
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But if neither Gase nor Tannehill is up to the challenge.. OMG.. how many more years of waiting?DolphinGreg likes this. -
I find it amazing some people think Alonso is an upgrade at ML. He hasn't been an effective player in the NFL since 2013. Maxwell is mediocre at best. In fact the front office of the Eagles should win the award for Front Office of the year for being able to trade two high priced ineffective players to the Dolphins.
This is will be a bottom ten defense in 2016 and being a bottom five defense won't surprise me in the least.
At least the offense should be better than it has been in recent years. Because it appears it will be up to the offense to score enough points each game just to be competitive. I thought going into preseason this was a 6-10 team. With the porous defense they have shown so far, a 4-12 record seems more likely when you examine their schedule.GARDENHEAD likes this. -
Jordan is average at best and showed very little when he was active a few years ago. He is simply a player who was vastly overrated coming out of college. He will be lucky to make the team as a backup and he certainly isn't the answer at the LB position.
The future answers at the LB position for the Dolphins are still playing at the college level and unfortunately we won't see an upgrade at this position for at least a year.
If you aren't worried about this below average defense, perhaps it's time you take off those rose colored glasses.DolphinGreg likes this. -
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I am beginning to get the feeling we aren't quite set up for this Wide-9 deal. At least not with the LBs. I do like the aggression from the DBs, but it's looking like a feast or famine secondary. Not sure how I feel about it yet. The LBs are just, how would I describe that unit? Oh, like a rectum trying to hold in diarrhea. Just can't do it. They just let everything pass through. Number 53 hit bad holes on a couple of occasions. Dumb aggression. I do not see any real patience with that group. Just dumb aggression. -
The only positives ive seen this preseason is Thill and the passing game looked really good game 2. That is when Cameron and Landry werent dropping easy tds. Tunsil is also a big upgrade over any G we had last year. Hopefully someone steps up ar RG. The oline looks much improved pass blocking but they still cant move a dead man off the line of scrimmage on a run play. The D is terribly across the board and isnt the least bit surprising. Theres very little talent on that side of the ball and the talent we do have (Jones, Suh, Wake) are no spring chickens. The offense is both young and talented, at least in the passing game so hopefully they can pull a Marino era Dolphins team and win some shootouts and we can get some talent on D in here next year. That doesnt mean old ***, over the hill hasbeens Tannenbaum. Draft some damn linebackers and secondary guys with talent next year please!
resnor likes this. -
The defense scares me way more than anything else on this team. They were putrid against Dallas. The thing that gives me hope is I "think" they are better than what they showed Friday night. I expected the D line to put up some kind of fight and it never happened. And what the heck is wrong with Phillips? I expected him to play very well this year and he has completely disappeared.
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This defense is going to be atrocious and get no help from the offense which has a putrid line and likely no running game to eat clock. They're going to be on the field a lot. Singing Mario Williams didn't make any sense and he looks like he's already retired. Biggest bright spot is that if there is an injury at linebacker then it won't matter because the starters are already 3rd or 4th string guys.
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Honestly, after the offseason that team had in terms of losing talent he may have earned that distinction just because he is able to stand.GARDENHEAD likes this. -
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