But we should keep this guy and allow him to continue to screw up with his roster management and poor player evaluations.

 

At this point the excuse that Jordan didn't start because he was bad against the run doesn't have legs to stand on. Even if he improved absoulutely nothing this offseason he could start over any one of those two and we'd getbettwr production. I think the LB swap is one of the reasons BOTH Philbin and Ireland should go, because the coaching staff definitely wanted Ellerbe and Wheeler on this team.

 

Six-time executive of the year Bill Polian was a fan of the Wheeler signing and (IIRC) recently said Wheeler had a good season this year. Seems like even former executives of the year make poor player evaluations..

 

I think the easiest answer to the linebacker situation is to dump Wheeler and then use the flexibility you have. You can move Ellerbe to WOLB, or use Jelani Jenkins to go with a 2-down specialist.

Bill Polian has been making bad personnel decisions for a long time, and he's got a vested interest in this one.

 

You got it.

 

Coyle made a mess of the LB position by not using them to their strengths. The fact Wheeler was in so much man coverage tells me Coyle has no idea what he is actually good at.

 

How long has it been since we had a luck of LB depth?? Forgetting the inept starters for a minute, it seems we have been super thin at the position for a very long time.

This team really hasn't changed much the past 10 years no matter who has the keys to the car.

We are a cursed organization

 

[FONT=Tahoma, Calibri, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]Furthermore, The reasoning behind moving on from Dansby was also partially character related, just as it was with Marshall and Vontae. This was part of the Philbin movement. I'm sure Ireland would have been happy keeping the best players he had acquired for this team, instead of taking whatever he could get for them, and trying to replace them.

Now some will say, there I go.... Being an "apologist" for the GM again....But for the record, I was the one calling for the dumping of all 3 of those guys, long before they were surprisingly traded or cut. Not my type of team player either.
[/FONT]

 

I actually agree with this. The players weren't cut because Ireland lost his fancy for them. IMO It was because the staff wanted different players at those positions for whatever reasons.

I'm honestly not sure Ireland and Philbin can coexist actually, the more I think about it. I can see why a rift may exist.

 

The run defense doesnt need to be fixed they need the scheme to be changed. Since Coyle implemented his scheme its gone from top 5 (the year before he came here) to middle of the pack to the 20s this year. Its scheme and its garbage. The personnel is fine.

 

Bottom line...

Ellerbe is a capable player who had some bad games..but overall...a decent performer.

Wheeler is terrible. Period. The guy played 2 good games all year. TWO. out of 16.

The LB swap blew up in Ireland's face..because two good ones is better than 1 good one....maybe...

 

I've watched Wheeler play in other schemes and he is a good LB when used properly.

The Wheeler issue is Coyle.

 

well...Coyle is terrible...we knew that already.

 

Vincent Rey should be a priority signing, and he'll likely be quite affordable. I'd swap him for Wheeler in a heartbeat and let him play MIKE and move Ellerbe to WILL.

 

I don't see how we're blaming Coyle for the linebackers when they did such a **** job on stuff that has nothing to do with what he asked of them. Bad tackling, bad block shedding, bad pursuit and open field play is universal, not a scheme-specific problem.

 

True he did but thats also buying players for an ill conceived scheme.

Assuming we stay with a 4-3 which we absolutely should not.

 

I thought Ellerbe was terrible all year long except for against the pass, which was a surprise, although he had limited responsibilities that way. I don't think there's anything "decent" about his performance as he is the guy that has been the most culpable in Miami's getting worse against the run. Not Wheeler.

 

If the Dolphins are convinced that Jelani Jenkins can be a nickel linebacker (I'm not) then the logical move would be to have Dion Jordan flip out to linebacker in place of a departing Wheeler.

Jordan is actually good against the run from a linebacker position. And if you undertake the arduous task of teaching him to cover better than the elementary stuff he did in college, he might be good in coverage as well. My concern is that takes his focus away from the thing he needs to do in order to really be a star in this league, which is rush the passer well.

 

I guess it was also Coyle's fault that Ellerbe and Wheeler missed so many tackles this season. I assume you are just defending Wheeler because you want to blame the DC for the fact Ireland did a lousy job as the GM when he signed Wheeler and Ellerbe and released Dansby and Burnett.

The fact Ellerbe and Wheeler are on this team is that Ireland signed them in free agency. I don't care if Coyle is fired for being an inept DC, but I certainly think Ireland needs to be the first one out the door one the firings begin.

 

Disagree.

Our scheme was getting ellerbe hit all year by o-linemen...why? Because it sucks and coyle sucks too.

 

I think Rey would fit fine in a 3-4 if we went that route.

 

I blame Coyle because I'm capable of analyzing a situation based on the past of said player, the current scheme and the players around him. Nothing else.

I bet you've never watched Wheeler play a snap outside this system fwiw.

I'm actually fine with Ireland being fired. I just think most of the people who scream until their face is red are mostly clueless and incapablr of objective analysis.

 

Then what's the deal, outside of man v. zone coverage?

 

I disagree.

Dansby and Burnett were solid here and produced even better after leaving. Ellerbe and Wheeler were solid before they came here then underperformed afterwards. If anything you have to put it on the scheme, coaches, or players themselves bc none of them seem to have trouble playing well anytime they are not in Miami.

 

Ireland almost screwed the linebacker situation up more than the offensive line. He royally screwed them bad enough to be fired. 58 sacks, bottom ranked lb performance.

 

No we shouldn't and most of we fans can see it. Ross though appears to be completely blind or apathetic toward Ireland's head scratching decisions and unfortunately his vote is all that matters. So most likely we are going to see the more of the same for at least another year. :pity::sad:

 

Did Coyle and Philbin make a strong push for them, or were they pushed on them by Ireland with the assurance that his astute evaluation acumen indicated they'd be an upgrade?

 

Wheeler needs to be in a Tampa 2 scheme to be his most effective. Both he and Ellerbe amounted to trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

 

IMO, if you separate the two LB swap mistakes, and look at them individually, replacing Dansby with Ellerbe hurt us worse than replacing Burnett with Wheeler.

 

Mr Clean hit the nail on the head.

Wheeler plays better with his eyes to the QB. He doesn't have coverage instincts to find the ball in the air, turn and make a play. That is a special skill for a LB to have. Some corners don't have it.

Wheeler is better in all phases when he can face the QB, read his eyes and disrupt passing lanes. He isn't a run stuffer, never has been. Hes a guy that can create middle pressure and play great coverage with his eyes to the QB.

For some reason we mainly asked him to do things he either never had or had previously not succeeded at doing

 

IDK.... but there's the report that Philbin was excited about the LB signings b/c he was looking forward to being a better blitzing team or something to that affect. Who knows, maybe Coyle & Philbin sold Ireland on the idea. Maybe Ireland and Coyle sold Philbin on it. Maybe Coyle & Gaine sold Ireland & Philbin on it since Gaine is mostly responsible for NFL scouting IIRC. Or maybe it was all Ireland's mastermind. :dunno:





Side note: Not sure why the fans, during their heavy persecution of Ireland, have persistently ignored Gaine's employment here and his role in constructing the team as if he's been the secretary or something. Here's the description of his job from 2008-2011 on Miami's team page:

It would seem to me that a lot of the blame given to Ireland for our poor FA signings should've fallen on Gaine's feet, so why has he gotten such a free pass? I wish they'd draw up a list and show the fans exactly who was responsible for what move the past 6 years.

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You brought up another variable. The GM relies so much on his scouts, and in the end it IS up to the GM to make the correct decision based on all input. However we never stop and question those doing the majority of scouting. Maybe THOSE heads should roll as well.

 

He's a better zone coverage guy, sure, but he isn't a better Tampa-2 guy. He wasn't all that good until he played with the Raiders as an SOLB, and the coverage stuff only encapsulates a very small portion of how incredibly awful he was this year. Part of it was him playing an on-the-line technique pretty frequently, but that doesn't totally explain it either.

 

He seemed lost...... like a waiter thrown behind the bar for the first time on a busy Friday night.