Cameron Wake’s comeback from last year’s torn Achilles is coming along fine, but he’s not going to be a starter this year. That’s not a reflection of the long-term pass-rusher’s ability, but the fact the Dolphins want to maximize it.
Via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said he planned to have veteran Jason Jones start at end in their base defense, allowing Wake to concentrate his efforts on passing downs.
Wake has started the past 54 regular-season games he’s played for the Dolphins, but that streak apparently ends this week against the Seahawks.
“In our first- and second-down package, which is obviously more run and mixed play-action pass, Jason Jones will be the starting end along with Mario Williams,” Joseph said. “Cam will be used some on first and second down but mostly in pass-rush situations.”
That’s a reasonable expectation for the 34-year-old Wake, but Joseph was the first to say it out loud. But he was also careful to add that it wasn’t their way of saying Wake wasn’t capable. “I think if we chose to, he could be a starter on every down,” Joseph said. “But I think, just keeping him healthy and allowing him to be a dominant pass rusher — taking some downs off of him — makes us better and allows him to be fresher for 16 weeks. . . . So Cameron, not playing a lot of first- and second-down reps, when the game is on the line, he can finish it for us.” The Dolphins extended Wake’s contract this offseason, and by managing his snap counts now, hope to extend his shelf life as a dominant pass-rusher after he had 7.0 sacks in seven games before the injury last year.
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Whether or not it pans out, I like the take-away that the coaches are thinking long term over the season, are planning to win and even dominate in close situations, and also, they're already thinking 'situationally' instead of using a pre-defined approach every time.
DolphinGreg likes this. -
The Arizona Cardinals did this last year with Dwight Freeney and it worked out great. He had 8 sacks with 3 forced fumbles in 11 games. A few were game-changingif I remember correctly. Looking at his stats, ALL of his 2015 tackles were sacks!!!
Unlucky 13, DolphinGreg, FasanoPaisano and 1 other person like this. -
Never thought for one second he would start.
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going into that NE game he was in beast mode. Yes we had a coaching change, but after that NE game, we lost Wake and I believe James and that was all she wrote. Brady is out and that OL in NE is makeshift.
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Hopefully this staff will be smart enough to get the right players onto the field in those situations and try and predict when it will happen. I would expect that if the other team has the ball at the end of the half or game, then Wake will likely be out on the field, regardless of down and distance.LiferYank likes this.
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so if NE runs a no huddle, they essentially can keep wake off the field, couldn't they? -
They have to eventually throw an incomplete pass or run our of bounds. In cases like that, the team might put Wake on the field every other series, or something along those lines. I'm interested to find out.
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This is the wise thing to do. We want Cam Wake fresh for the 4th quarter so he can do Cam Wake things.
I just hope Jason Jones is up to the challenge. I'm not so sure yet. -
Jones, Fede and Branch and Mario. Miami took a huge risk, not franchising Vernon and going with this lineup. No doubt next year this is a position to draft and go after in FA.
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Its not a risk, its a short term fix while they put more emphasis on other positions. I'm sure they plan to bring in long term options at DE and LB in future offseasons.
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Could Miami have used the money (in addition) and franchised Vernon still? -
It would have been a one year deal, and we can roll over the money that we didnt spend on him into the 2017 cap. I'm very good with letting him go and having the NYG pay him all of that cash. We have the opprotunity to be a better team in 2017 and going forward because we didn't foolishly overpay for Vernon. That may mean that we aren't as good in 2016, but thats how it works.
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I agree, but what I am suggesting is all the money would have hit this year. was that possible? we still could have let him walk next year. I know this is moot, but the cupboard is bare at DE -
I don't see the point in keeping Vernon for one season on a huge contract. We aren't a Super Bowl contending team in need of a pretty good, but not great pass rusher. We didn't commit long term to any of the player's on the DL we've brought in aside from Suh. They'll all be gone by the start of the 2018 season, and we won't suffer dead money hits over it. Most of the defense seems to be a two year band aid, with hopes that a few of them pan out long term, and I'm ok with it. You can't fix everything in one offseason, and the defense was badly broken last year.
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strong point about not being a SB team, my thought process was if the money was available to spend it. there are other values, because if they ended going to the playoffs and making some noise, they could excite the fanbase and also attract some FA's. It is obvious that personnel and money will be dedicated to this side of the ball over the next few seasons