Second Impressions

Game one of the exhibition season gave Miami fans reason to smile. A new era was about to start. New players, new coaches, a new overlord gave even the most pessimistic of fans reason to hope for a return to glory. But now that the new regime and team have been unveiled its time to really start to look at what we have in store for us this year. Where are we on our road to recovery and what kind of car will we be cruising with on that road?

Game two of the exhibition season gave us just such an opportunity as the players that will be counted on to lead the resurgence of the Mighty Fin were on full display. The starting units on offense and defense are starting to come into play and we’re getting the first glimpses of what that team will look like. Since game four is really just for second stringers this is the 2nd part of our preseason trilogy.

To begin with Frodo Beck and Samwise McCown were off to Mount Doom in search of their Precious 3rd QB spot and were nowhere to be seen. This game was headed by the current king Chad Pennington and future king Chad Henne. Pennington seemed his efficient old self and we’ll have someone who’s been in the wars leading us early in the season. His arm seems decent but in the end we have to remember that he’s a limited QB talent wise and he’s going to be facing 8 men in the box all season long. Unless our receivers can get separation deep and he can hit them its going to be a rugby scrum for most of the year. The great thing that seemed to develop throughout this game is the natural connection that seemed to be apparent between him and Ginn. Its obvious that Ginn has continued his development into his second year and the glimpses we saw last year are starting to become more pronounced this year.

But as nice as that was to see, the second impressive showing by our 2nd round rookie Henne was the biggest cause for optimism. Possessing a gun for an arm, a demeanor reminiscent of Clint Eastwood and an understanding of game situation more expected out of a second or third year player, Henne’s brief tenure in Miami is giving legitimate hope to Miami fans that the QB drought experienced since the retirement of Marino may finally be coming to an end. Hitting receivers in stride on deep passes, rifling a few passes over the middle and making correct reads when the first options were covered, Henne overall did a splendid job orchestrating Miami’s offense. Still we need to understand that if he does come in and start later this season, he’s going to have trouble locking on to receivers and throwing the occasional pick as he’s still learning the speed of NFL cornerbacks and what throws he can get away with. There was at least one pass that could’ve been picked against Jacksonville and as teams start getting game tape of him expect more. Regardless of what Sparano is proclaiming to the media, it would serve Miami well to have Henne stay on the bench for most of the season in reserve and learning the game a bit more.

Looking at our receivers, Ginn’s continued development was the big story. His impressive showing running routes across the middle of the field instead of simply down the sideline shows that he’s ready to elevate his game this year. How far he goes remains to be seen but for now this progress is a positive. Phins.com fan favorite Davone Bess had a very nice game after being somewhat absent in game 1. Running very sweet routes, this rookie looks like he may be ready for the slot role. He’ll have to take it away from Camarillo who had one beautiful crack back block in the later parts of the game. Don’t discount Camarillo just yet, since his kind of lunch pail work ethic is just what Parcells loves to see. Kircus, who had a very nice game 1 was absent from this one. Games 3 and 4 will be huge for him if he wants to make the team. Wilford is having a rough time out there but showed decent animation, pumping up his teammates when the Dolphins were driving for a score in the 2nd half. Still, there has to be some concern that he could be in the doghouse even though he’s probably our 2nd or even best receiver. If Parcells goes strictly by preseason production he could get released but like most vets, the more likely scenario is he’ll be kept on based on past performance. Hagan had a very nice game but I’ve given up trying to figure out if he’ll ever be consistent. I prefer to keep my sanity then trying to figure that question out.

Fasano and Peelle. Peelle had a nice catch but honestly the Tight Ends were largely non existent in the passing game. There is no Mark Bavaro on this team. This is a position that we’ll make do with this year but definitely address next year. Start scouting those college tight ends guys. One of them will be wearing the Miami colors next year.

What is more exciting to see for Miami fans? A promising young QB or an offensive line that is massive, brutish and young? Starting two rookies and a second year player, this oline will make Henne’s career in Miami a lot more comfortable. Henne, who looks like he can knock back a few with the big uglies better keep his wallet open, because he’s going to owe this marauding line in waiting a lot of beers in the next few years. Carey and Satele are playing as well as we’ve seen them. Smiley is a nice addition. But the big story is Jake and Thomas. Thomas and Long had positioning problems a few times in the game and this will probably be something we see periodically throughout the year with them. But the bigger story is that for the most part they are able to handle the pro game right out of the gate. For the second game in a row, Thomas showed off that great punch and walled off many holes throughout the game. Jake Long exhibited a great tendency to hit people in the first and second levels. Both of them show the ability to stonewall you if they can get their hands on you. Thomas reminds me a bit of Keith Sims. Long on the other hand, really has a chance to be very, very good. The big question with him will be those feet. If he can handle speed rushers on a consistent basis he’ll be special. If not he should still be good. Still, Miami fans should expect growing pains this year. Jake will give up blown blocking assignments this year and Thomas is still awkward at times in his blocking. Overall though, the unit is much improved and should continue to improve as the season wears on and the rookies grow familiar with the NFL game. The years of having a turnstile line are officially over. Parcells has buried them next to Jimmy Hoffa in the New Jersey Meadowlands.

Now the biggest beneficiaries of the oline’s revival wont be Pennington or Henne but rather Ricky and Ronnie and Cobbs. Ricky and Cobbs had terrific games against Jacksonville and its pretty clear that Ricky will be getting the majority of the snaps over Ronnie. I continue to be impressed by Hilliard who has a nice running style, though he’s a bit of a long strider. He’s tough, can block, can catch and run. Is there room for him? Tough to say. Parmele has exhibited a very nice inside running style though I think Hilliard is looking better running outside, catching and blocking. I know how much Parcells loves to run inside so it will be interesting to see if Parcells chooses to keep either of them on our opening day roster, especially with the emergence of Cobbs, or if they’re both practice squad additions. If Hilliard can be relied on to play FB he may be kept and probably has a better shot of an opening day roster spot. The FB battle is really kind of interesting. Grigsby definitely has a better grasp of how to play FB having played it for one extra year over Muaia. But Muaia hits with such force, I really wonder who Parcells will keep. There were more than a few times that I could audibly hear Muaia’s hits on defenders whereas Grigsby is quicker to hit his defender but less likely to stop him in his tracks.

Although, as with most fans, the offense gets all the interest, the QB positon most of all, the biggest story of the year is the emergence of Phillip Merling and Kendall Langford. Defense wins championships and the Defensive line is the anchor of the defense. Phillip Merling is THE STEAL of the draft. The man is a beast! On several occasions in the game he stonewalled Khalif Barnes with his powerful arms and disengaged to make the tackle as the ball carrier came his way. Simply phenomenal performance and an improvement of his impressive debut against Tampa. He is going to go down as the best defensive lineman/ outside linebacker drafted in this past draft. Although I would still be interested in seeing him play OLB he is so impressive playing 3-4 DE that I think he may now stick there. It’s a shame somewhat since he really has great pass rushing ability that will be somewhat negated by the positional requirements of playing 3-4 DE but every 3-4 defense would kill to have a rookie play like he has at that position. At some point look for him to add some of his pass rush moves, once he gets more comfortable playing in a 3-4.

Langford is also showing great ability and our DE combination looks to be set for as long as they are signed. Two playmaking monsters flanking the outside are going to make our defense a force once we add some more playmakers to the linebacking corps. The inside is ably manned and Soliai has looked pretty good at times. Defensive Tackles often take a year to work on weight, strength, technique and conditioning before they can contribute. Solia still needs to work on conditioning and technique but he is able to be an immovable object now on more than a few plays. Our second stringers failed to impress me but they weren’t complete bums either. Just seemed like average bookends that will spell our starters.

Our line backing crew is headed by Crowder and eventually Porter but Reggie Torbor has been the most impressive of the lot so far. He is all over the place, stopping the run, defending the pass, chasing down ball carriers across the field. Not a great linebacker by any stretch but the kind of guy that could have a long and solid career here. Akin Ayodele had a nice game against Jacksonville from what I saw of him.roth had his moments but is a bit limited in change of direction. He’s a dynamo who models his playing style after the Tasmanian Devil of Bugs Bunny fame. Overall the unit is average to solid without Porter. I really want to see Porter at full health and see how the unit performs with him in before giving a final grade. Right now I would say this team desperately needs a playmaking LB. Maybe Porter can fit that role. It remains to be seen.

The secondary worries me. Our depth frightens me. Thankfully our scheme should get pressure on the QB and prevent people from beating us deep. Yeremiah Bell had a good game overall again and looks to be 100% healed. Didn’t really catch Jason Allen as much as I wanted to and when I did the ball didn’t come his way. Will Allen is solid but I have questions about him going up against the best receivers in the league. Goodman is both good and bad. He had some breakdown against Jacksonville. Travis Daniels is probably cut and deservedly so. Missing tackles and blowing coverages is not a good combination to have. Didn’t notice Lehan which is probably a good thing. Hill played well the few times I zeroed in on him. Joey Thomas has his moments but he is a big play waiting to happen (and not in a good way). Bottom line, that’s going to be the way to attack us. We better get pressure this year, because if not we’re not going to be as good a defense as we all hope we are.

Special Teams? Sorry, didn’t really pay attention. Anyway , overall this was another positive outing for our Miami faithful. The future is bright. How far away we are is still a little debatable. Six wins seems to be the type of team we have but there is definitely te possibility of a few more wins if we get extra contributions from players that havent shown it yet. Porter is really the guy to watch in upcoming games to get a sense of how the defense will be this year. If he can recapture some of his Pittsburgh effectiveness we may be a .500 team. If not, 5 or 6 wins is more likely. Still an improvement over last year and a step in the right direction

 

Yeah I agree with your oline assessment. I like Darilek and think he's pretty good for a backup. Seems like a borderline starter for some other teams. But the rest are hurting. I may have missed someone playing well but overall it looked like we'll take a steep drop if an injury occurs that Darilek cant backup. I really think Darilek is the first line of defense so to speak. Afetr him it could be rough. I wish I had seen more of Murphy but I just didnt ctach his game. Only so much you can pay attention too.

Crowder is really flying which is the good news. He's playing with more passion then Ive seen since his rookie year. He is making plays but he does get stoned more often then I would like. If he's your worst starting linebacker your team is in great shape but if you're counting on him being your best your team is in trouble. Thats kinda my take on him. He's solid but just cant seem to get to that next level. Lets see how the season goes though. Maybe he'll improve in the system as he gets to know it. His hustle si great however

 

Agree with everything you said. If we can stay injury free we'll have an enjoyable year. You would think the football gods would give us a break eventually lol

I wouldnt want to put Henne in personally if injuries occur to the oline and Pennington but he does seem to have the personality that he cvould take a beating without getting scared by it. Crowder is definitely at least the 3rd best LB and could be 2nd. Its hard to say if its scheme and where the plays end up or whether he's being outplayed by Torbor. One of those things you'll know after a few more games. Right now Torbor and Crowder are both playing solidly and I personally give Torbor the slight edge but its not by that much

 

Good point. Its great to finally see an offensive line without one of the linemen playing the position of matador

 

Yesssss