Instead of talking about other teams and other team's players, I thought it'd be interesting to hear who on our team is your favorites before the season starts. We like everyone that puts on a Dolphins uniform on Sundays, well at least we should for the most part.. but who do you like the best? What guys do you like their skill sets, their personality, and whenever you're watching a game who do you focus on when the ball is snapped? My personal favorites: Ryan Tannehill - I feel 100% comfortable with him being under center. He's gonna make mistakes, all quarterbacks do.. but I have faith when he makes one he's gonna do what he has to, to fix the problem. For a guy who played WR most of his life, I think he's doing a damn good job. Of course there are things he needs to improve at (decision making, getting rid of the ball, etc), but as long as he keeps doing what he is doing and continuing to improve I think the sky is the limit. Brandon Gibson - When I think of him the word that comes to mind is professional. You don't worry about anything off the field happening with this guy. I like how he runs his routes and how quarterback friendly he is. Coming back from a serious injury and it doesn't look like he's missed a beat. As long as he stays healthy I think he is in for a big season because he is one of Ryan's favorite targets and he trusts him. Jared Odrick - This dude is hilarious! He just seems real. He's the kind of guy you'd want to hang out and have a discussion with. I think he's a lot smarter than people give him credit for. He's not the greatest player on the field, but that doesn't matter to me he's one of my favorites. I'll always say his sack celebration is the best too.. that's one of the things I look forward to most when watching a game. Koa Misi - I think the guy is a bull. Where his instincts are lacking right now, he makes up for with heart, effort, and toughness. I think he is extremely intelligent and puts a lot of work into his craft. I hope he can stay in the MLB position long enough as his instincts improve to show how good he can be to everyone. Well those are my favorite guys, who's yours and WHY?
Tannehill-can make all the throws and I truly think he will be our QB for a long time Wake-absolute freak Clay-exciting and very versatile player Grimes-his wifes cake? Hartline-most under appreciated Dolphin I can think of....sure he isn't great after the catch. But back to back 1000 yard seasons are nothing to be ashamed of and he seems like a really cool guy
I was kind of hoping for some reasons why you like those guys too, not just a list of names.. but I guess if most of the guys you like are the "best" players on the team that makes sense.
Fair enough: Brent Grimes - Insanely athletic, leader, motivator, teacher, straight up baller on the field. That forced fumble against TB was ridiculous. Ryan Tannehill - Took 58 sacks and kept gunnin'. Excelled in many areas found in elite QBs. Due for a break-out year with a great coach, scheme, and play-calling. Cam Wake - If he's slowing down, nobody can tell. Simple freak of a rusher. Also a strong leader by example. Single-handedly causes offenses to scheme around him. Charles Clay - Breakout 2013 was just a glimpse of his talent and value to this team and QB. I see his production increasing at least 33% across the board this year. Brandon Gibson - Reliable, QB-friendly route runner with sure hands and has AWESOME chemistry with RT. Red-zone dynamo. Michael Thomas (underdog) - Those 2 plays...
My favorites: Cam Wake - Work ethic..physicality..desire to be great Jarvis Landry - As long as injury does not cut short his career..I believe Landry will have his number in the ring if honor someday..and be remembered as a Dolphins great. I believe he is the WR equivalent to Zach Thomas.
In order: -Tannehill....I dunno I guess due to my age, and OP you can confirm, we have been through so many QBs I want to have a QB finally....****ing finally....BE THE GUY!!! I was a big Henne guy in the beginining......4 year starter, big time school, pro style....and I truly believe Sparano and Henning ruined his career, by pumping the brakes on him and making him check down, and not make mistakes. Watching Hennes college tape and pro tape is almost pathetic to see how dumbed down he was in the NFL. So stupid. Anyways.....I want to believe in Tannehill so much. I wasn't too sold on him coming out, didn't know enough and was worried. But he is calm under pressure.....one bad throw doesn't lead to another one. Hes electric. He has flair.....he has confidence and all the right stuff. I want to believe so much, and everything hinges on him. -Clay...coming out I was really intrigued by Charles Clay. Small school tweener/hybrid/H-Back type. I knew he could be explosive from the tape I saw on him, and he's honestly really fun to watch. Gritty, fast, big, strong (San Diego highlight last year, anyone?!?!!?)....dude makes you proud hes on your team. Love watching him ball. -Wake....I watch Cam Wake at the snap....every ****ING snap....I truly love watching how many bull**** holds offensive linemen struggling to stay alive get away with by having to block Wake. It's almost like they give every offensive linemen leeway against him, cause if not, he'd have 45 sacks in a season. Wake is a monster, gets so low, so fast, he's so strong...I love it! I was the same way with Jason Taylor. -Grimes.....havent had a special defensive back in a long time. Love watching him work. When he trails and shows amazing athleticism by catching up and leaping ****ing buildings. Dude is human super man. Love watching him play! So glad we resigned him. Also a side note....I haven't seen him play a lot obviously, but I noticed I key onto Landy ALOT during the preseason. I reckon Ill do the same when he's in starting Sunday as well!!! Good thread bro, can't wait till the season starts!!!!!!
I like all the guys mentioned in the above post for similar reasons. I'll also add John Denney and Brandon Fields because they have stuck around for so long and have always been great, hard working contributors to the team.
Ryan (what?): I think the fact is that we have now accepted him as our franchise QB. Will he get resigned? This season should answer that question. But regardless of that, he is our QB in the here and now and has brought some stability to that position after a decade of one-offs and experiments. He is our guy and we need to get behind him 100% this year. There was room for doubters in 2012 and 2013, but now we need the hopefuls. Wake: Our best player overall. He brings so much credibility to our defense and our team that he really is our "flagship" player. I will never forget that walk-off safety on Halloween night last year, it really was a hallmark moment to being a Dolphins fan. Thanks for that Cameron, and keep them coming. Fields: Punters don't usually get a lot of praise but when you have the best guy on the whole damn planet at the position...I think it's okay to shower him a bit. Doesn't hurt that the guy is an absolute class act. Hope to see him as a career Dolphin. Brian H: Love his guy. Always did, always will. He's a "real talker" who has been our most reliable receiver these past few years, which means a lot. He can be frustrating on his off days but the guy has heart and he can get fired up and I love that about him. Clay: Remember that game last year against the Steelers (?) where Charles caught and went on for the TD despite like 3 defensive players trying, to no avail, to drag him under? His is our battle tank and I want to see him used more and more when it comes to needing that extra little torque in the redzone.
Brent Grimes. Self made corner from the University of Podunk. Shippensburg? Slippery Rock? One of them. LOL. Goes 100% all out all the time. Insane skills and athleticism. Randy Starks. The main man since 2008 in enforcing the action in the middle of the line. I was stoked when we signed him then. I wanted us to draft him coming out of college. Was stoked again when we re-signed him. Best Dolphins DT since the heyday of one Mister Timothy Bowens. Cam Wake. No explanation needed. Matt Moore. I have liked him since his days at Oregon State. Some of ya been talking about which players would be cool to hang out with...IMHO it would be Moore. Best #2 in the league. Jordan Tripp. My favorite 2014 rookie. I'm hoping for a long productive career for him in Miami and that he'll be the next great one in the line of Buoniconti, Duhe, Offerdahl, Cox, and Thomas.
Weird. One minute this was a nice thread, and boom, all of a sudden it smells like chucklehead in here.
A random process says otherwise? By all means, feel free to share with the rest of us your findings with rigorous mathematical detail.
1) Vegas doesn't use stochastic processes to determine their lines. 2) The Pats are favored by 5 points. But you clearly don't know how spread betting works. They don't set their lines based on what they think the actual spread will be. They do so in order to ensure an equal number (approximately) of bettors on both teams. That's how they make money - they try to equalize the number of bets on each team and they make a profit based on the vig. The spread is based on the perception of who the betting public thinks will win. It's only when the sharps start to lay money (which happens in the hours leading up to a game) that the spread converges to its expected value.
Cam Wake - Because he is a monster. One of the best players I have seen in a Dolphin uniform. That might be a bit of a stretch, but at least one of the best pure pass rushers. He is also everything you want in a teammate. Hard worker, keeps in shape, and doesn't do anything stupid Brian Hartline - A player that I don't understand why he gets so much flack. He is a great route runner and has pretty good hands. He can be counted upon when times get rough. Randy Starks - A total package. If he was on a team that went to the playoffs and won superbowls people would be talking about the hall of fame. Not saying he would make it, just he would be in the conversation. Brent Grimes - He is a great corner. Someone his size shouldn't tackle as well as he does. He can hit hard. He is fun to watch and makes plays. Charles Clay - I loved him since he was drafted. I saw something special. I think the Dolphins don't use his ability to run the ball enough, as I think he would have been a better short yard runningback than Daniel Thomas. Creates mismatches. Favorite Rookie - Terrence Fede - I am excited for this guys future. His only draw back is that his game is unrefined. However it is not unrefined enough that he would be lost if called upon to actually come in the game. I think he will be active when he is healthy. Mostly because of his ability to play special teams.
My favorite non-Dolphin players include Eli Manning, David Tyree, Mario Manningham, Chase Blackburn, Justin Tuck, and Michael Strahan. Most Dolphin fans understand why these players come to mind. Other random football players who make me happy for no particular reason include Bernard Pollard and T.J. Ward. This group is totally random, so I'm sure nobody understands why I chose them. I'm not so sure myself. I know nobody asked, but I thought I'd throw that out there.
Cam Wake: I don't know if there is a more fan friendly player on the Dolphins. Attitude. Work ethic. Dominate. Repeats. It's clockwork. I love that he didn't try to break the bank when his contract came up, even though he had the right to try and do so. Randy Starks: I've always liked Starks. It bugs me when fans get on his case, like last year. Great FA pickup that has consistently preformed in every variation of our defensive scheme. Glad we re-signed him. Charles Clay: He's shown flashes of talent ever since he was a rookie. Finally put it all together and had an awesome season. I want to see him do it again before we pay him, but I'm confident he's the real deal. One of the last few true H-backs. My only fantasy player representing Miami too. Odd that this thread brought Reggie Bush to mind. Always liked him for similar reasons as Cam Wake (minus the dominate part, although Reggie did have his moments).
Dolphins: Wake. Every play is a must-watch. Grimes. Freakishly athletic. Hartline. Buckeye! Fields. Team MVP for several years running, unfortunately. Starks. Man amongst boys. Trusnik. An Ohio Northern Polar Bear in the League. I'm not going to get too attached to a quarterback until he signs his second contract, but Tannehill has shown improvement each year. I hope he's the guy.
This thread brought Reggie Bush to my mind, as well. He was exciting to watch, and that's a big part of why we buy tickets, etc.
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhut The **** up Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Interesting question, I don't think I've had any particular favourites. I've always enjoyed the whole team-work aspect of football and I guess that's how I watch it - Love it when it all comes together and/or guys do their job. Having said that, this year I'll be watching routing for a few guys: 1. The Amazing Spider-Grimes! - Seems like a nice guy, humble, but a SERIOUS work ethic and has used that to take his size and do the incredible with it. 2. Wake - Appreciate that a man with such talent and force is humble and a leader with it. Don't tend to watch for him on the field but then again, he makes often makes himself plenty visible. 3. Hartline - Got to appreciate that reliability. He also has taken and continues to take a LOT of flack on Twitter. Lot of haters, really nasty stuff. Never seems to show it though. Imagine he's the sort of guy anyone would want as a team mate. 4. Jawuan James - Dudes got a lot on his shoulders this year but has approached it with determination and hard-work (catching an important theme for me, yet?). Really hoping he succeeds beyond all expectation. 5. Chris McCain - Love the linebacker position so I'm stoked to hear the reports and excited at the possibility of seeing some dudes feel the heat and eat the grass. 6. David Hinds - Another line-backer. He may only be on the practise squad but he's another UDFA who has an incredible work ethic and is grinding his heart out. Plays with athleticism and so I'll be in his corner hoping he not only gets his chance but proves himself and ends up a starter. In fact, despite the LB woes of late, I'm quietly hoping that McCain and Hinds as well as others rise to the challenge so that by next year or after the Phins will have one of the fastest, most versatile, hardest hitting Linebacker corps in the NFL.
Same with me...just switch Vern for Starks. And I've started to develop a man crush on Gibson, Matthews, and Landry.
It's just a lack of intellect Clean, the inability to talk football with the opponents fans without being a doucherat..oh well
Vern is a true blood, local U boy, has taken his craft very serious since entering the league, he's got my respect for how he carries himself and his humility, he's a young bad ***..
Matt Moore - Like this guys attitude and ability to step in while putting up with being a backup. Grimes - Play on the field just says enough for him. Wake - Because he plays hard and works hard at being the best he can 24/7 R Starks - I feel he is underrated. Tannehill - He is learning the job every time he steps on the field and still has untapped potential. Landry - I think he will be on this liked list very soon.
