PFF Article/Ellerbe A Colossal Fail

Another Ireland gem. Who needs Karlos Dansby or Kevin Burnett when we have Ellerbe and Wheeler? Of course the younger player is always better. :sigh:

The guy has been horse **** all year. He's made a couple of plays but I'd gladly give those up if the guy could diagnose one ****ing run play correctly. He's honestly, a total moron.

"Boik14 wrote:

Another Ireland gem. Who needs Karlos Dansby or Kevin Burnett when we have Ellerbe and Wheeler? Of course the younger player is always better. :sigh:

I doubt Dansby would be doing any better here for various reasons.

How has Jelani Jenkins been?

ah yes...people long for Fat Man Dansby to be here...

"Philbinfan wrote:

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2013/12/23/refo-dolphins-bills-week-16/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=refo-dolphins-bills-week-16

I guess this is what happens when a team has no depth. They have to play overpriced free agents who shouldn't even be starting on any team.

What can be done in the future?

Fire Jeff Ireland.

It's really not that hard to find a ILB and a WLB in the draft. I don't see why spending inordinate amounts of money on LBs in this day and age is of any benefit.

"Alex44 wrote:

I doubt Dansby would be doing any better here for various reasons.

Fat or not he was better then Ellerbe. And Wheeler. And he had a higher upside, played hurt (tricep) and made more big plays. So all in all we took a cap hit to release the better player and we're still paying Dansby as well as the worse player of the two in Ellerbe.

"Jaj wrote:

How has Jelani Jenkins been?

Pretty good in coverage, hasn't played many running downs to tell

"Boik14 wrote:

Fat or not he was better then Ellerbe. And Wheeler. And he had a higher upside, played hurt (tricep) and made more big plays. So all in all we took a cap hit to release the better player and we're still paying Dansby as well as the worse player of the two in Ellerbe.

I just mean the way we play our LB's in this scheme, I have a hard time seeing anyone minus elite players really having success. We set them up to fail IMO

Among other things.

"Alex44 wrote:

I just mean the way we play our LB's in this scheme, I have a hard time seeing anyone minus elite players really having success. We set them up to fail IMO

Among other things.

We definitely misuse them but we also misevaluate them. We misuse them in that Coyles scheme is a double a gap blitz scheme. We've blitzed the a gap less then 30% of the time so yes the things Ellerbe does well he's not being asked to do. But is he better at that then Dansby? No. Dansbys been a guy who gets pressure through his career when asked to pass rush. He's not Cam Wake or anything close to that but he's a much better overall player then Ellerbe. I had a problem when it was done. Seeing the results I have a bigger problem with the scheme and the personnel.

"Jaj wrote:

It's really not that hard to find a ILB and a WLB in the draft. I don't see why spending inordinate amounts of money on LBs in this day and age is of any benefit.

Which translates into, "It will take the Miami Dolphins 10 years to find a ILB/WLB." We said the same thing about, "Oh...you can find a guard in the later rounds of the draft." Yet....here we are.

"unifiedtheory wrote:

The guy has been horse **** all year. He's made a couple of plays but I'd gladly give those up if the guy could diagnose one ****ing run play correctly. He's honestly, a total moron.

If anybody had told me Ellerbe had Ray Lewis to watch and learn from then i'd say Ellerbe has a short term memory.

"KingMotion wrote:

If somebody doesn't get an extension after this I won't know what to think.

Are you talking about a Moderator again Mo?

Because I think they all get extended and given a handsome boost in salary.

"Alex44 wrote:

I doubt Dansby would be doing any better here for various reasons.

Why? He did better last year than Ellerbe has done this year.

"Boik14 wrote:

Fat or not he was better then Ellerbe. And Wheeler. And he had a higher upside, played hurt (tricep) and made more big plays. So all in all we took a cap hit to release the better player and we're still paying Dansby as well as the worse player of the two in Ellerbe.

Such an example of brilliant General Managing. :pity: Yet, if anyone here disparages Ireland, his loyal supporters will call them anything from cultists to misguided, uniformed, or whatever.

"KingMotion wrote:

If somebody doesn't get an extension after this I won't know what to think.

You're just an anti-Ireland cultist. :wink2:

to anyone who thinks LBs don't matter ... look at Kuechle and Carolina ....

put that kid in the middle of this defense and it would be top 3 immediately ... and isn't easy to find -- about as hard to find as a 'franchise QB' ....

i'll give Ellerbe another year, but Wheeler has been a waste .....

I don't think enough can be said about losing a leader as well. This off season, we lost 3 leaders(Long, Bush and Dansby). Factor that in with having 11 new starters(50% of our team), one of the youngest teams in the NFL, a 2nd year QB and that explains a lot.

Love the passion guys :yes:

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

"Alex44 wrote:

I just mean the way we play our LB's in this scheme, I have a hard time seeing anyone minus elite players really having success. We set them up to fail IMO

Among other things.

that's the problem i think with ellerbe. wheeler i'm not a fan of but with ellerbe it just seems he cant play in our scheme. i think we have to decide if we give him another year or trade him to a traditional 3-4 defense where he will play well again

Wheeler imo

Philbinfan [B wrote:

What can be done in the future?

I think you draft a linebacker that can beat him out and let him play out his contract. I don't know how the cap/money works in the NFL. I'm fairly understandable of how the NBA situation works but not on the NFL. Basically if we are forced to keep him because we have to pay him then we should draft a mainstay at that position. Let it be an open competition in camp with the idea that the rookie we drafted will eventually be the guy. If Ellerbe wins the job then it's a one year audition for another team. He's been a failure at the position and not the player we need at that spot.
I'd think long and hard about drafting a MLB with our first or second round pick this year. I know we need offensive line help but linebacker at this point is a priority as well. Look at what Luke Kuechly has done for Carolina on the defensive side? We need a linebacker like that on this defense. We haven't had that since Zach Thomas left.

"adamprez2003 wrote:

that's the problem i think with ellerbe. wheeler i'm not a fan of but with ellerbe it just seems he cant play in our scheme. i think we have to decide if we give him another year or trade him to a traditional 3-4 defense where he will play well again

We run a similar hybrid a gap blitz scheme as the Ravens ran last year. They actually blitzed Ellerbe through the A gap but the biggest difference is we dont have Ray Lewis. We dont have anyone with that type of skill passion or leadership. Like him or not, and I get why some dont, that dude was a GREAT player and an even better leader. Id be ok with Ellerbe in a true 3-4 next to a really good player but hes not someone you center a defense around which, Im afraid, is what Ireland, Coyle, and Philbin have done.

Wheeler should be relegated to backup or pass coverage roles only.