Just hoping to start a thread that keeps going that will actually produce names of guys who could get cut around the league that have impressed you with their preseason performance, and therefore you would like the Dolphins to get a look at them.

I'll start.

The first two games of the Saints' preseason, WR Courtney Roby was everywhere. He's very fast and athletic and he was getting open constantly, making really nice catches. He's not new in this league but perhaps something has clicked. He might be a guy to take a look at.

ANY of the Philadelphia Eagles' running backs are worth looking at. Bryce Brown this year's 7th rounder already looks better than Daniel Thomas. I do not know if they'd be silly enough to cut him however they do already have LeSean McCoy and his proven backup Dion Lewis. Bryce Brown could be the third guy behind those two. But you know who else they have? Chris Polk. I did not buy the Draft hype surrounding the guy but the hype went as far as him being a 1st round pick and the best RB in the Draft. He ended up a UDFA. Think maybe the pendulum swung a little too hard in the other direction. There have been rumors that if the Eagles try and cut Polk in favor of Brown, Polk will be claimed off waivers.

They have an interesting situation at fullback. We have Jorvorskie Lane but I think it's fair to question whether he's really doing all that well with us, or if he was just better than Ryan Mahaffey. Emil Igwenagu is a highly athletic fullback utility guy that I watched live in Shrine practice this year, and I really liked him. But last night, I was pretty impressed with what Stanley Havili showed as well. It's possible both guys are better than Lane, and maybe we ought to investigate the one that is cut.

For that matter one of my favorite underrated players in the Draft was tight end Chase Ford of University of Miami. He caught a LOT of attention early in camp for the Eagles and last night I think he played in front of Brett Brackett, who is his primary competition for a roster spot. But he dropped an easy ball. It happens. What I've been really impressed by as I've watched two Eagles preseason games now is how much more physical Ford is now that he's been coached by the Eagles. He's not absolutely consistent in blocking yet, especially pass protection, but he's out there hitting people and thudding up pretty hard, and especially fighting through physical coverage. I've been impressed with him. If they should decide to keep Brackett instead of Ford, then I would bring him home in a heartbeat. It seems the curse of University of Miami is that the players that struggled with them in college go to the pros and are A) more physical than they were at The U, and B) much better in general.

Sticking with the Eagles, who are absolutely loaded with talent, they are RIDICULOUSLY deep at defensive end and on the defensive line in general. As padre31 has talked about, Phillip Hunt has been KILLING in the preseason. They have Jason Babin, Trent Cole, Brandon Graham, Vinny Curry, Phillip Hunt and Daryl Tapp. And you know what? As a testament to their coaching and front office prowess, unknowns like Xavier Brown and Monte Taylor look pretty good to me as well. They can maybe afford to keep 5 of those defensive ends rather than 4, on account of how deep the unit is and not wanting to let good talent go to waste...but they can't keep 6 of them.

At defensive tackle they're going to keep Fletcher Cox, they're going to keep Cullen Jenkins. Mike Patterson should be safe if he doesn't go on PUP. Cedric Thornton has been a big time standout for them and it's getting to the point where I don't think he's cut. He stood out last night against the Patriots. They also really like Derek Landri. Add Antonio Dixon to the mix and they've got 6 guys they could roster at defensive tackle, so I wouldn't look for them to keep more of their ends by ditching some of their tackles.

The Dolphins are in need in this area. Talking up Derrick Shelby as I've done for months is all well and good but he's a UDFA rookie and even though I like him even he hasn't shown much in pass rush. Olivier Vernon has shown nothing in pass rush at all. Jared Odrick can't pass rush from end to save his life and is really slow off the ball. We're down to Koa Misi as a 3rd down pass rush specialist and if that doesn't tell you everything you need to know, I don't know what does.

The guys on the Eagles that I would look for should they decide to cut them would be Phillip Hunt, Daryll Tapp, Brandon Graham and perhaps even Xavier Brown or Monte Taylor. I've yet to really dig in on Tapp, Graham, Brown or Taylor...but in limited viewings they've all looked pretty good and Miami is hurting in the pass rush department.

Last year, Daryll Tapp had a nice +13.2 PFF rating in 2011 on only 302 snaps, with 3 sacks, 6 hits and 13 pressures only only 172 pass rush snaps. He also had 3 sacks, 7 hits and 19 pressures on 275 pass rush snaps in 2010. And even though Brandon Graham has spent a lot of time hurt since being drafted in 2010, he has supposedly been having a very good camp and FWIW he's had 3 sacks, 7 hits and 31 pressures on 301 pass rush snaps over the last two years. Either guy would be out second best pass rusher after Cameron Wake.

And Phillip Hunt, he's got Cameron Wake type ability. I suppose it would be a pipe dream to see them cut him.

The Dolphins are facing a conundrum at safety, in my opinion. I think they wanted Jimmy Wilson to step up and take the job but he's making too many mistakes in preseason. He had the big miscue against Tiquan Underwood which essentially gave up a touchdown instead of what should have been an interception. Then in the Panthers game he followed up by having what I felt was really a BAD game for him. Chris Clemons made a nice play with his helmet forcing that fumble, and he's done that before. But how often can you count on him to do that? He doesn't have a history of ripping the ball out of guys' hands in order to force fumbles. The way he's forced fumbles is by getting his helmet low and on the ball and that seems a little too luck-driven to me. And of course it goes without saying he's almost never in position to intercept the ball. I felt like his game against Carolina really wasn't that good, even accounting for that forced fumble. He missed tackles, he was slow to pick up guys in his zone, he took some bad angles. I don't think he locks this position up and at this point the Dolphins would do well to start opening up to the possibility of either A) having Anderson Russell compete more seriously for the job, B) picking up a reliable nickel corner and having Richard Marshall hold down the job, or C) scanning the waiver wire to see who we can pick up at the spot.

Again sticking with the Eagles you have a pretty crowded secondary here. At corner they have Nnamdi Asomugha, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie who has been KILLING IT this year, they LOVE Brandon Boykin, probably will not cut Joselio Hanson but if they do he's a consideration, they have been getting impressive play from Brandon Hughes and Curtis Marsh, and then you toss in guys like Kevin Thomas and Cliff Harris (the rookie from Oregon who starred and then was kicked off the team) for good measure. Not to mention Trevard Lindley. They will tend to keep more corners than safeties, all things considered...but that means that if they're keeping Kurt Coleman and Nate Allen, then perhaps you've got guys like Oshiomogho Atogwe or Jaiquawn Jarrett (who supposedly has been very disappointing) up for grabs.

 

Extremely. Only reason I don't mention it is because it's not going to have anything to do with what we could claim off waivers.

My HONEST opinion of how the rookie QBs have looked thus far this preseason:

1. Andrew Luck
2. Nick Foles
3. Ryan Tannehill
4. Brandon Weeden
5. Russell Wilson
6. Robert Griffin

 

He's the 3rd leading preseason receiver behind Julio Jones and Calvin Johnson, with 10 catches for 146 yards, so he's certainly giving off good signs.

 

Aldrick Robinson was a player that Simon talked about a lot because of his yearly interviews with SMU wide receivers coach Jeff Reinebold. He has 8 catches for 132 yards and 1 TD this preseason for the Washington Redskins.

Small but incredibly fast player.

 

Somehow I missed that DE/OLB Jerry Hughes has been lighting it up this preseason with 3.0 sacks. Good for him. I loved him coming out and he's probably been the most disappointing member of my 85 man 2010 Draft board, thus far.

 

Speaking of great front offices that put together an annual embarrassment of riches (many of which for some reason can never stay healthy), I remember watching DE Adewale Ojomo at The U during tape sessions looking at Olivier Vernon. Always an intriguing player with the build you want in that kind of defensive end. I watched him play the other night against the Jets and he was killing it. He has 2.0 sacks this preseason, tied for 5th best amongst defensive ends.

That's another team with a glut of players on the defensive line. They have Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul, and behind them are Ojomo, Matt Broha (who also has 2.0 sacks but I'm less familiar with him), Craig Marshall (whom I'm very familiar with) and Justin Trattou (also familiar). They also put Mathias Kiwanuka down sometimes, I believe.

Another situation worth eyeballing. That front office has a great eye for talent.

 

I suppose there's no chance of the Cleveland Browns releasing S David Sims but he was another member of my Draft board that has been doing exceptionally well, with two interceptions this preseason, one returned for a touchdown.

They seem to have an eye for secondary talent in Cleveland. I like their corners, Joe Haden, Sheldon Brown and Dimitri Patterson. Buster Skrine was pretty exceptional as a rookie coming from UT-Chattanooga. Rookie out of Arizona Trevin Wade has looked good this preseason. They're getting great play out of S T.J. Ward and it looks like they're going to start another member of my Draft board Eric Hagg at the other safety spot. Emanuel Davis has been looking good.

Another situation to keep an eye on.

 

Russell Wilson is definitely the reason Tarvaris is on the market. Wilson has a 100+ passer rating through two games. They want to see him against the starters, see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

 

Kealoha Pilares another former Draft board member of mine, have loved him for a long time. Lightning fast. Great return guy. A great run after catch guy. Former running back. He made Jimmy Wilson look like a total slapdick on one play the other night.

The chances seem low of cutting him, but the Panthers like what they've seen out of Brandon LaFell and obviously Steve Smith will be on roster, as will be David Gettis. The problem for Pilares is Joe Adams. Adams is promised for the slot receiver job, already has the punt return job, and has been encroaching Kealoha on kick return duties as well. Combine that with the acquisition of Louis Murphy, and suddenly you've got a crowded position. Between Steve Smith and Joe Adams you could argue they've already got some smaller, faster players...and Kealoha becomes redundant. They've also got Seyi Ajirotutu and Armanti Edwards (whom they've invested in heavily), and have praised the work of another rookie Jared Green.

That could be a crowded position and I could see Kealoha Pilares shaking loose off it. I would LOVE the Dolphins to take a look at him.

 

Actually the glut to me seems at DT for them. A ton of guys there, even with the injuries, which they have aplenty.

 

The Eagles can't help it if other front offices are unable to properly evaluate the talent of the players that come out of there.

When Donovan McNabb came out of there he was washed up, mentally more so than physically, but washed up all the same. Kevin Kolb NEVER looked good to me in Philadelphia. A.J. Feeley I can't speak to because I wasn't evaluating guys back then the way I do now...but I do know a simple passer rating of his work in Philly wasn't very flattering. As I recall the big hullaballoo about him was simply that he was so young and kept winning even though he wasn't performing all that well, and at that time I think standards and ways of thinking about the QB position were really not what they are now, and so that seemed good enough for the rest of the world for whatever reason.

None of it has any bearing on how good or not good Nick Foles is. The only thing that has bearing on that is a tape examination, as always.

 

I would assume so, 3-4 OLB is always how I viewed him coming out.

 

Tell him to quit being such a dick. We need a pass rusher. :)

 

Yes there have been some plays with Russell Wilson that I didn't like, plays where he made mistakes but was able to turn things into a big play whereas I felt like if he were going against 1st string it would have flipped the complete opposite direction...and been a negative play. Weeden has been prepping as a starter with an under-talented cast since day one and is facing 1st string defenses. This next game that Wilson will be starting will be a good way to calibrate Wilson against the 1st string.

If I'm to rank Wilson's performance ahead of Weeden's then I would also be forced to rank Wilson's performance ahead of Tannehill's. The difference with Nick Foles is he went against the Patriots' 1st string defense last night, and he looked even better than when he went against a backup defense last week.

 

I thought most of the guys held out were on offense. They didn't have Wilfork or Mayo out there I don't think, but I think those were the only major players on D that weren't out there.

 

It's not how I feel. That's why I didn't.