It was jarring to me that Quentin Moses was working first-team strongside outside linebacker. Charlie Anderson was the other first-teamer at weakside. The second team was, interestingly, manned by the players who most fans and media hope and expect will actually be on the field because they seem more explosive -- Cameron Wake and second-round pick Koa Misi. There is clearly a battle brewing at center. Joe Berger, who played very well at the end of 2009, took first-team snaps ahead of Jake Grove, who worked with the second-team. Brown looks strong and healthy. He said he has not signed his restricted free agent tender but obviously will do so eventually. "I haven't signed but I pretty much have," he said with a shrug. The man working at first-team free safety was Chris Clemons. Donald Thomas, who was exclusively a right guard the last couple of years, worked with the first team at left guard today. He was first team at LG while Richie Incognito worked with the first-team at RG. Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...ota-notes-and-observations.html#ixzz0oOPhLgqn
OTA Practice Highlights - Day 1 http://www.miamidolphins.com/aquavision/video/ota-1-practice-highlights-51910 Just went up. I'll add comments later.
Two tastee OTA recapps http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...i-dolphins-ota-updates-051910,0,7506841.story And http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sport...i-dolphins-brandon-marshall-and-the-otas.html The one thing to keep in mind is Sparano's philosophy is to place the guys who need the most work as "starters' to begin the preseason in order to see where their weaknesses are and still get some work in for the soon to be "starters". Recall in 09 Shawn Murphy playing Guard to begin these things.
Patrick Turner is hurt!?!?! How is is going to repeat his sterling rookie performance? Oh wait, he's already matched it.
Not much to see really. Rookie WR Roberto Wallace looks BIG. Hope he can win a roster spot! If he can play special teams better than Turner and still show reliable hands, maybe he gets a practice squad spot. Reminds me of my high hopes for last year's rookie-hopeful, Brennan Marion. So disappointed that kid hasn't been picked up by anyone since his injury last training camp. Can't tell much from dudes just jogging around, other than their effort level and their size. Bess looks to be working hard, at least. Penny shown making a throw, rehabbing and building some strength. I think Sparano said he gets 40-55 throws per day, max.
Patrick Turner getting injured puts him behind the eight ball. Out of all the WRs that were here last year, he's under the most pressure to catch someone's eye. If he has to sit for long , he's in trouble. He'll be unable to overtake Hartline, Bess or Camarillo. And he'll get left behind by guys like Grice-Mullen, Pruitt, Johnson, Wallace and Moore.
Marshall had hip surgery btw. A "standard procedure" that should keep him from OTAs but should not keep him from camp.
-- Patrick Turner had an undisclosed surgical procedure recently and will miss all of the OTAs Ooh, did they insert a pair of hands and a brain?
Well first the FO would have to make it clear to the entire planet that they have no plans for him...
not surprising to see Moses and Anderson in there right now ... WOLB is Anderson's to lose, and its a fight for a roster position for Moses -- but he does have the most 'experience' at the position right now. If Moses is starting come week 1 - I might be concerned then. happy to see Clemons in the mix ... still have high hopes for him, especially if the light comes on. i do believe the job is his to lose much like Anderson. Thomas is in a put up or shut up position as well ... hope he pulls through, if not Jerry will get his shot along with Padre's favorite ... Tsoumpas ... Murtha is a wildcard at G/T Grove is probably getting the ... 'you know we can get by without you with Berger and Garner treatment due to his injury history' ... as I mentioned a while ago -- this could be a position to watch throught TC ... but if we have to use Garner at G - it will work in Grove's favor. what i am most intrigued to hear about is Soliai, Ivey and 'Ogh' at NT ... did something happen with 'Ogh' don't see him on the roster ... next up is to see Crowder, Torbor, Dobbins and Edds compete for 2 spots
I hope Anderson loses out because Misi should be a huge addition in many articles I've read... Wake and Misi outside and Dansby and ? inside. I can't wait to watch the battle for the second inside spot! If Crowder doesn't have a huge camp he could be replaced. Edds seems like a thinker and good in coverage, if he shows he can stop the run he might be the guy to supplant Crowder IMHO. I love Clemons speed but he looked really lost last year. I hope he can figure it out because with the confidence Jones plays with he could take the spot from him or Culver if he plays disciplined and doesn't monitor the big shot instead of making a play. Our offense is gonna be magic this year!
aah, got it ... thanks brother -- guess that helps Ivey out a great deal, possibly guarantees him a spot on the roster (PS at worst, but likely an actual spot so we don't lose him).
Anderson wasn't that bad spelling JP last year ... but yes, i do believe Misi will win a starting job at some point during the season -- even better if its in camp. Wake is still the wildcard ... can he be more than a 1 trick pony (pass rushing specialist). that's why until proven otherwise, i see Anderson at WOLB, Wake as a pass rusher, and then a contest to see who can win the SOLB spot on 1&2 down ... i just don't want to see Moses there come week 1. Depending on what Misi shows -- it will very likely be him, although he lacks a little in what we want in size there; because our only 'size' choices are Moses, Johnston and McCoy. I would give an 'outside' shot to Edds - but he just isn't strong enough right now to win a spot there, and will be forced to go inside. Agree 100% on the offense !! 2 things that would make my camp: Soliai shows up ready to go 100% every play, and Crowder gets beat out at ILB ... not a shot at Crowder -- but rather would show how much better we are at ILB !
You know, as opposed to the smarter Front Offices, who put players up for trade and don't actually tell opposing teams, the player, or the agents. It's hard the huge success rate on that one.
On his wiki page it says Vince Oghobaase is a Dolphin now. He has never been reported as officially signed or ever appeared on the roster though. It was confusing for us fans because right after the draft when the UDFA signings were announced, he was listed as one of, I think, 8 signings by us. Then later more official or reliable sources showed we only actually signed 6. They all appear on the roster today. WRs Wallace and Moore. CBs Weaver and Wallace. S Amaya and NT Ivey.
I expect us to carry 9 LBs, 9 DBs, and 7 DL. Especially with the influx of fresh young talent at LB that one would want to give enough time to see if they're worth developing. So we may keep 4 ILBs.
I think the Dolphins are realizing exactly how much they overpaid for Jake Grove. He did squat while he was in Oakland. I could easily see them dumping some payroll if Berger works out. We would have Proctor as a backup and Incognito as a backup for the backup. Last time Incognito played center was in 2006 for the Rams, Jackson set a mark for his rushing record, he made the Pro Bowl, Bulger made the Pro Bowl and Holt made the pro bowl. That was the Rams last good year at 8-8 so the kid could not have been half bad at the C position.
I don't think the starting line-ups mean a thing at this point. Some guys are there b/c they want to see something about them. Others are there as motivation for them or other players. There's probably 3 or 4 other potential reasons or combination of reasons for any given player to be starting or not starting now. IMO the OLB and pass rush concerns were way overblown this off-season. I think we will end up cutting a player or two that would/could have played at least well enough for us this year. My main defensive concern is the FS position specifically and the secondary in general. I want to see if it comes together for Clemons or if any other FS prospect becomes a true impact player. I want to see how the 2nd year CBs develop. And I want to see the secondary learn to act as a unit. That was part of what made our secondary effective two seasons ago. Hill was a below average talent, but he was good at keeping everybody on the same page. I would love to find somebody with Hill's mental game that also had the speed (range) and ball skills to really make our secondary a weapon instead of a liability.
I think that Charlie Anderson is a bit underrated, and Moses did look good in preseason last year- both have the tools but have to put it together. The clock is ticking. Clemons- good size and straight line speed, but his quicks and instincts are suspect. I wouldn't have a good feeling about it if he started the season at SS, unless he shows some significant improvement in the preseason.
While you may be somewhat correct on the starting lineups, for the most part, even in college spring ball, the guys that line up as starters the first time, are usually what the coaches have in their heads as the starting lineup. In this case, Grove did start the first day of OTAs, not that I am against Berger being the starter. There will be a few tweaks here and there on offense and defense but the first lineup out there on the first day they are permitted to lineup, is usually what the coaches deem as their starting lineup. That goes back to college and even HS coaches.
That hasn't been the track record for this coaching staff. They have shown a tendency to rotate starters during the OTAs and in TC. For example last year they started one player at G for a day or two and then started a different player the next two days. Sparano specifically said that it had nothing to do with how the G played those two days. His plan was to start the different players to see how they reacted to it. So with this FO who starts right now has little correlation with what they have in their heads in terms of the expected starters.
