I think Crowder is bitter. And that Odrick will be remembered in Miami as a playmaker and a force...Especially if these team becomes competitive again.

 

Couldn't agree more with Channing. Ireland is a fool.

 

I think Crowder has a valid point about Jeff Ireland. His moves, especially in the draft, weren't half bad when evaluated in a vacuum. But he completely failed to build a good football team. Odrick, I think, serves as a pretty good example to that extend. He wasn't a bad pick as far as value, talent and potential goes but he was a bad pick in terms of improving the football team as a whole. Even though he's experiencing somewhat of a sophomore slump, I remain certain that Earl Thomas would have provided more impact to this particular team than Odrick and Misi combined.

Jeff Ireland has all the qualities of a good director of college scouting. He hasn't shown much in terms of a good GM.

 

Say what you will about Crowder, but his points are more than valid.

 

Remember..Channing Crowder is a member of the media now. You can't just attack his playing days.

You have to attack what he says.

Everything he said is right on. He is right. Ireland is a moron.

 

No, imo Crowder is spot on, especially about "dlinemen after dlinemen", we needed playmakers and Irish barely addressed that need, adding Brandon Marshall was not a magic bullet so he could call the offense "done".

John Jerry over Jimmy Graham or Maoeki still kills me.

 

I agree with Section126. Channing was DEAD ON.

And don't think for a second that he didn't express these views while he was on the team -or- that he's the only one in the locker room who feels this way. The coaches and front office have lost the locker room. This team is crap.

 

Ive really got to agree with Crowder here... On all his points.

 

First off, I am NOT saying this is the case, I am just throwing this out there.
It sounds like Ireland was trying to take the best player available in the draft, according to their board, instead of taking a player in an area in more of a NEED. I have read that on here over and over as the PROPER way to handle the draft. Remember, they only have around 100 players on their draft board.

 

Fixed

 

This a million times THIS !!!!

 

It's the Marc Columbo signing that has done it for me; he showed nothing last season in Dallas to get picked up, yet here he is, starting on the right side of our line and getting our QBs routinely destroyed. This, more than anything, displays a lack of confidence by Ireland to evaluate players outside those previously signed by Bill Parcells. It's clear Ireland's strategy is to pick up Cowboys castoffs and hope that they work out.

The fact that Columbo is still starting for this team, despite his abject failure to do anything other than allow sacks, is an indictment on Coach Sparano, who, as an "offensive line guru", should be able to see the clear flaws - and there are plenty of 'em - in Columbo's game. He should have never been in the starting lineup to begin with. Yet here he is, week after week, like some damned All Pro, out there allowing our QBs to be essentially raped and pillaged - and I'm a Viking, I like raping and pillaging. But enough is enough.

Marc Columbo is a microcosm of everything that is wrong with this franchise from the GM down.

 

Crowder was correct on what he said.He should probabley shut mouth and tell us something that we don't know though.He never seems to at a loss for words so go ahead and spill the good tabloid news.That's what he has become,tabloid reporter who would fit right in with The National Enquirer.

 

What we have to remember -- and I think this gets lost sometimes -- is the reason they went d-line with that pick.

They had no faith left in Paul Soliai, who had underwhelmed his entire career, had been suspended (again) the previous season for being overweight and was in the final year of his contract. Jason Ferguson had landed on IR with a torn quad in 2009 and was to be suspended by the NFL for 8 games if/when he returned for his 14th season. Tony McDaniel was also entering in the final year of his contract. Phillip Merling was a bust. Starks and Langford were the only guys they could count on beyond 2010. And they still had a hole at NT.

If they didn't get NT Dan Williams (who was rumored to have been Parcells' target at #28), Randy Starks would move to NT and they'd take Odrick, who would start or be the top (only?) guy off the bench.

The move looks more egregious now because Odrick got hurt early, Soliai came on like gangbusters, the team was great up front and McDaniel re-signed. And then they fell off in 2011.

Now, we can debate whether they should have stayed at 12 and/or selected a skill player. That is certainly up for discussion.

 

I think with Crowder, we have the first REAL honest "insider" on the Dolphins.

The other day he said something, that I thought was profound. he said "There is no such thing as being good between the twenties, This league is setup as a redzone league."

Basically, being good in the red zone is what separates the terrible from the mediocre, the mediocre from the good, the good from the great.

 

I think that may be marginalizing Crowder a bit here.

He's not some unnamed source for some truthless gossip mag. Or even a Bill Parcells, who famously complained about the media being 'subversive from within' yet continually leaked harmful information to ESPN -- most notably criticism of Chad Henne a week before the kid was to take over as the team's starting QB -- while on the Miami payroll.

No, Crowder's a guy that lived and breathed this regime all the way up until a few months ago. He's no longer on the payroll and, true to form, is uncommonly and refreshingly honest when asked his opinion on team-related matters. As Section noted above, he's an actual Insider. And he's putting his name on it and owning what he says. That's something fans CRAVE.

Just my opinion. :)

 

If that is true, then why not just stay at #12 and take Dan Williams? Why trade down and risk missing out on the guy, just to pick up a second round pick?

 

a lot of former players aspire to be analysts and media personalities. i admire his honest and educated opinion. few are this daring and open.

 

Because it would of been a huge reach... why do that when u can get a #2 and the Guy you want or someo.e of equal talent...

Still should of taken Dez with the pick IMO. So its all moot for me.

 

Obviously we should have taken Dez or earl Thomas, but Williams wasn;t a huge reach at 12 at the time. He was projected in the top 15 by plenty of analysts

 

Everything he says is 100% correct

 

Actually, I think Ireland was more interested in taking the highest rated safe player rather than the best player on the board, period.

 

Mainly because Bill Parcells told Jeff Ireland that if he traded a 2nd round pick for Marshall, he better get it back in another trade. I remember reading that shortly after that deal was made. To me, it's obvious now that Ireland paid through the nose to get Marshall, and he is simply not worth it.

 

You're right. This is why I've always argued that this "BPA" phenomenon, as it's come to be everyone's answer for who the Dolphins should draft, is over-simplified and inappropriate.

 

Wow, not 1 post on how crappy Channing was as a player. Well done!


And he's right. It's been said a million times by fans, but he's right.

 

Here's the thing with your statement. If Channing was so crappy as a player, why is the defense SIGNIFICANTLY worse without him than it was with him? You can see that this year, and you could see that when he missed time when he was playing. There has been a CLEAR drop off in the play of the linebackers in his absence. He may not have made game changing plays, but he got the defense lined up right and anticipated plays very well. This idea that Channing was a crappy player can't be further from the truth. Right now, neither Kevin Burnett nor Karlos Dansby are better than Channing.

 

I've been hard on Channing, but that is a 100% correct statement. I guess as fan's sometimes you miss the little things a player brings, and Crowder is def missed out there.

Another clear misstep by this FO.

 

And this is why Sparano will be fired, but also why the players are telling Ross they like playing for him.

 

Some of my thoughts....

People thought Channing was a poor MLB....or ILB...but...the man knew football. The players all say Channing was the one to get them set up...make the correct defensive reads. He may sound street urban at times...but I dont question his intelligence. And I certainly dont question his football intelligence. We are a much better defense against the run with Channing on the field.

I actually think he would make an excellent coach to be honest.

I also think everything he said was almost spot on....to the dotted i. I like Channing.....he tells is like it is. He doesnt spew bs.

 

i won't say its oversimplified .... but it is inordinately 'safe' ...

as most have said -- what we are missing are playmakers on this team. Ireland did make an attempt at that this year (less the Reggie Bush ill advised signing).

it was relatively easy to predict the Odrick and every #1 pick this team has made since Parcells ... however, specifically regardinig Williams -- would we really be any better right now if we had chosen him and not Odrick/Misi ?? Odrick is going to be a good player, and if Misi is moved inside - i think he carves himself a new home there as well.

I did not like the Misi pick at OLB, and still don't ... because we still need help there across from Wake as i banged all off season and into the draft. Say what you will about our secondary - but it remains our LBing corps that is dictating the success and failure of the D, even if we had a playmaker at S.

I said it at the beginning of the year ... the biggest challenge on this team is a derth of coaching (much less a belief in that coaching by the players).

'a' 1st step is to cut Colombo, put Garner in at RT and bring Kopa back from the PATSIES PS ... at least there might be a future there. Get Gates and Moore on the field as often as possible, and do we really need Vernon at G? Let Jerry win the spot and bring Padre's boy Fienga up if needed. I used to think it'd be Carroll, but get Wilson in at CB and move Smith to nickel where he is better suited with his size. Just need to get rid of folks that aren't part of the future. Everyone wants to win 1 game ... but beyond that - does it matter at this point?? Let's see what we have for next year.

 

What I highlighted here is your best point, IMO.

The entire incident highlights at the very best them having zero clue what is already on their roster, and developing ineffective plans for how to deal with that, and is also a good example of making bad decisions trying to bail out previous bad decisions.

They had Paul Soliai on roster, and they didn't know how good he was. Anyone can excuse that all they want, but I knew how good he was, and if I knew, they could've known.

They convinced themselves that Randy Starks could play the nose. We all did. Because we're homers. But as we look back at that, do we really believe that was a good idea in retrospect?

Why did they NEED another Defensive End in the first place, even if they're moving Starks over to nose? Because #32 overall pick Phil Merling was a total waste of time and resources, which could be seen prior to 2010, but hasn't been acknowledged by the staff until very recently. They spend a #32 overall on Merling, a high 3rd rounder on Langford, and they trade for Tony McDaniel...and yet the Defensive End position is still in such disarray with the absence of Randy Starks that they need to use a 1st rounder on it?

It just highlights the PREVIOUS bad decisions that snowball into more bad decisions.

And let's be honest for a second here. They SUCK at figuring out which defensive players in the Draft translate to a 3-4 defense. Can we acknowledge that? Even if Jeff Ireland would be, as I've said myself many times, a good Director of College Scouting, when has he shown any talent whatsoever for picking players in college that make good players in a 3-4 defense?

Kendall Langford is really the only one, and let's be honest he's been mediocre since he got here. Phil Merling was NEVER meant to be a 3-4 Defensive End and I was shocked as hell when it turned out that was what they had in mind for him. Jared Odrick looks to me like he'd be best served being a penetrating 1-gap Defensive Tackle like he was in college. A.J. Edds was a disaster trying to convert from Sam in a strict 4-3 into an inside backer in a 3-4. Koa Misi played defensive end in college but it's starting to look like his best position could be Sam in a 4-3. Chris McCoy or Austin Spitler doing anything for our 3-4 defense lately? How about J.D. Folsom, who was so convinced the NFL wouldn't want him that he was on track to go to vet school, until the Dolphins called? Lionel Dotson, anyone?

So he didn't know what he had in Paul Soliai, he developed a misguided plan to use Randy Starks at nose, he gives big money to Karlos Dansby, he gives a pretty big contract to Kevin Burnett, a mid-sized contract to Reggie Torbor, drafts Phil Merling to play DE, drafts Jared Odrick to play DE, drafts A.J. Edds and Austin Spitler to be ILBs, Chris McCoy and Koa Misi to be OLBs, dumps Channing Crowder, signs Jason Taylor to play 3-4 OLB (twice), trades for and keeps Akin Ayodele for two years...do the presence of Cam Wake (who is really just a fantastic 4-3 DE playing 3-4 OLB), Randy Starks and Kendall Langford, and trading for Jason Ferguson who had already long been established as a nose in a 3-4...really outweigh all that?

It's no wonder Cowher wants him gone. How can he have any faith that Jeff Ireland is going to find him players that fit the defense?

 

Both sides of the argument hold some truth, I think. I don't blame Ireland for trying to upgrade over Channing Crowder, inside linebacker. As a player, he simply wasn't particularly good. What one can blame Ireland for, however, is failing to recognize the value of Channing Crowder, high football IQ guy. I totally get why they signed Kevin Burnett; in San Diego, Burnett was everything that Crowder is not. I totally don't get why they cut Crowder, on the other hand; he was everything that Kevin Burnett is not.

 

Double-fist-pump, CK!

 

The thing is, they had Burnett in Dallas. Ireland was part of the team that drafted him. He should have known that Burnett's one season in SD was not a typical season for him. He should have known that Burnett is nothing more than a coverage linebacker who should be playing weakside linebacker in a 4-3.

I think what is at play here is that Jeff Ireland has no confidence in his ability to evaluate players that he is not familiar with.

 

You made a lot of very valid points, but I'm not sure I can actually blame them on the Paul Soliai issue. Yes, it was apparent that the guy had talent. It was also apparent that he only showed up when he felt like it. If they had counted on Soliai to start at nose and play consistently well there and Soliai had been his usual, pre contract season self, we'd prolly lament about how they counted on Paul bloody Soliai. Heck, they counted on him this season and he's back to hot and cold with franchise tag money in his pocket.

 

What it was, was a failure stacked on another failure.

They gave obscene money to Karlos Dansby without knowing whether or not he could be the vocal leader of the defense, the guy with the football IQ that recognizes everything and points it out to the rest of the defense.

I thought he was a good signing but even I never wanted him in that role, because I'd never gotten a sense from watching him play that he was a high football IQ guy.

But at some point after they gave him the money, the money itself dictated things. If you tried to say in that meeting room, I don't think we can cut Crowder because we need him to be the high football IQ guy that points everything out and communicates it to the defense, there's going to be someone else that says well then what the hell are we paying Karlos Dansby $8 million a year for? You paid Dansby the money and so that created the necessity of pretending he's fully cut out for a role that he isn't.

In San Diego, it was clear as day that Stephen Cooper was the brains of the LBs outfit, not Kevin Burnett. Anyone could watch the film and see that. But it became OK to sign a Kevin Burnett rather than a Nick Barnett, because the money you paid Dansby forced you to pretend he could take over Channing's role.

Making bad decisions throws you into bad situations from which you make more bad decisions. That's what has been going on with this franchise the last four years.

 

Even in hindsight, I don't think drafting Odrick was a bad move. He is a pass rusher at the position he plays. You can't have too many pass rushers.

 

I disagree with that statement. I disagreed with it back in 2009, and I disagree with it now. It was CLEAR to me that Paul Soliai was making progress every single year, both in his technique and in his stamina. And, I think I've been shown to be correct.

I don't think Soliai has been more hot/cold this year than most Nose Tackles in the league, even the best ones. What he's been, is put on the bench by offenses that have game planned specifically to attack Miami with more pass-oriented personnel so that Miami will voluntarily take one of its best players off the field. Look at his snap participation this year. It's at a mere 45%. If you exclude the Week 1 game in 2010 where Odrick started at DE and Starks played NT...Soliai participated in 55% of game snaps a year ago. Opposing offenses are finding ways to get us to voluntarily take him off the field, and that is hurting our defense.

Last year he had a +17.7 PFF rating on 554 snaps. That's a +1 point for every 31.3 snaps. This year he's got a +5.4 on 189 snaps. That's a +1 point for every 35.0 snaps. That's pretty darn close. If he were participating in 55% of snaps like he was a year ago, he'd have a +6.6 right now instead of a +5.4, and that would put him on pace for +17.6 over 16 games...versus +17.7 a year ago.

Paul Soliai is giving us what he gave us last year, even though the entire defense is playing worse.

 

Which, at the heart of it, comes down to a blown assessment of Big Paul Soliai, and an admission that Merling was a bust.

"If" they had been right about either, trading out of the #12 would not have been needed, instead we could have had say..Earl Thomas?

Ah, but safeties are not that highly rated by them, you can have late rd picks and marginal free agents fill that role.

I sense what is going on this yr has very much to do with an outdated template being used, one that values DL's too much, and Safeties and Te's to little.

And THAT falls on Parcells.