From Ken

 

Q – Who is QB Aaron Corp and why did we sign him?

 

Aaron Corp played for two different colleges, he went to USC first, and then transferred to Richmond.  Yes, the awesome Richmond Spiders!  Below are Corp’s college stats, which amount to about 1 games worth of stats.

 

http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/stats/_/id/236574/aaron-corp

 

As to why we signed him, I have no idea.  He was signed by the Cowboys this year, and then released a week later.  Didn’t take the Cowboys long to get rid of him, we’ll see what happens here.  The company line here is he was signed to compete with 3rd stringer Pat Devlin.

 

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From Tim

 

Q – Hey bro, hope you’re on the wellness trail.

 

Physical specimens with his attitude don’t come around often. 6-6+ 250 and 4.5 speed is very rare. His agility is the thing that blows my mind. I didn’t have him on our radar as a prospect because I thought we had no shot at him, so I ignored him. Then boom!, we trade up for him. LOL

 

What kind of impact do you think we get from Dion Jordan in his rookie season?

 

I think the most interesting thing with Jordan is in how many different capacities he will be used, and how effective he is at each one.  From what we’ve all heard, Jordan is the RDE.  He will also gets snaps standing up at OLB, and will be a cover guy, one who may be the vaunted TE killer we have been looking for.

 

If you think about it, a 6’6” 250 guy who can cover a 6’6” 250 guy sounds like a dream matchup for us. Given the fact that Jordan has extremely long arms doesn’t hurt either.

 

Most of us want to see Jordan pinning his ears back and rushing the passer opposite Wake.  I do to, believe me, but if he can do more than that, I’ll take it all.  At this point, none of us really know how much time Jordan will play at RE with his hand on the ground, and how much he will play standing up at OLB, or even playing the slot.  I can’t wait to see one of the guys like Gronkowski try and escape Jordan who can run stride for stride, and physically matches up.  Great stuff!

 

I expect Jordan to have about 10 sacks in part time duty at DE.  I expect him to get plenty of 3rd down pass rushing opportunities, even if he does play LB, or even guard the slot receiving TE’s.  I’ll add in 2 INT’s, and a couple of FF’s and FR’s.  No one would be disappointed with those stats!

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From Ryan F.

 

Q -What do you make of the current Tackle situation? Is Jonathan Martin so scary at LT that we’re looking to upgrade that position, or are we just playing games to lower Eric Winston’s terms?

 

I guess it depends on who you talk to.  I think Jonathan Martin will be just fine this year.  He was a highly rated player with 4 years of  experience at LT at Stanford.  He has proven he is dedicated to getting better.  He spent 10 weeks in a strength program, and apparently looks the part, coming in much bigger.  I also don’t think you need to have the best LT in the NFL to be effective with the zone blocking scheme we use here.  Martin will be average or better this year, and that should suffice.

 

We signed Tyson Clabo to play RT on May 6th, so he is going to be our RT this season.  Eric Winston is not part of the plan.  I actually believe that Martin and Clabo will be better than Long and Martin were last year.  Long was playing hurt, and was not great, while Martin struggled out of position in his rookie year at RT.  I expect our entire O-line to be significantly better this season.

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From Stanger

 

Q – Can we just count the games against the Jets and Bills as 4-0 right now?  Certainly would give some cushion against the rest of the tough schedule.

 

Stanger

 

I think we can.  I expect us to sweep both teams this season.  If we want to be up with the big boys, you beat the teams you should beat.  Each game will be a battle, as divisional games always are due to the familiarity, but I think we should sweep.

 

We play the Jests on Dec. 1st and 29th, the last game of the season.  The Dec. 1st game in NJ, the last game is home.  Weather shouldn’t be a major factor, either in their favor or ours, for that matter.

 

We play the Bills home Oct. 20, and then play the Bills in Buffalo Dec. 22.  The Dec. 22 game could pose a weather problem, but I think we can play them in any weather.  Our defense is going to be tough this year, no matter where we play, or what the weather is like.  If passing is tough due to snow or wind or both, I think we have the horses in the backfield in MillerTime, DT and Gillislee to handle a run heavy offense if necessary.

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From UKfinfan

 

Q – Hey MikeE

 

Keep up ALL the good work you do in all aspects of your life, and kudos to you for keeping Ask MikeE going in the face of adversity.

 

We added some pieces in FA and the draft this year. We’re getting younger AND faster and I suspect more aggressive in all three phases of the game. Whilst a great D and special teams carries you so far, let’s face the reality of today’s NFL – most teams go as their starting QB goes. So, what can we expect of Tanny in year 2? I’ve heard 3 promising snippets from OTAs already. The first is that in year 1, Tanny went down every other snap – in year 2 he’s staying on his feet making reads and plays. The second is that his deep ball is much improved. The last is that Wallace likes him and the balls he throws (or at least he says so, but how could he say any different 😉 ).

 

Also curious on your views on exploiting the middle this year. I’m sure I read Tanny doesn’t go there very often by one commentator. With the addition of Keller and with Wallace and Hartline clearing the middle out more, can we finally have a mid range passing attack featuring TEs, WRs and backs to kill other teams like they’ve killed us for the last seems like forever?

 

Thanks for sending in a question, and for your kind thoughts!

 

I don’t expect Tannehill to go crazy this year, and I’m sticking to my prediction of about 25 TD’s and 15 INT’s, with about 3500-3800 yards passing, completing just above 60% of his passes.  That 10 TD differential in itself wins us a few more games, so saying it’s on Tannehill is NOT far fetched.

 

I think the lack of the middle of the field stuff was due to not really having opportunities to throw there.  Fasano was once again “babysitting” the RT, last year it was Martin, the year before it was Colombo.  Fasano isn’t exactly the seam threat type anyway, so I think with Keller, we’ll see a lot more throws in the seam.  I’m also hoping either Egnew or new TE Dion Sims also becomes a receiving threat as well, as 2 TE’s who can catch in the middle is difficult to defend, especially with Wallace on the outside.

 

I think we go 10-6, maybe 11-5, and yes I agree, that we go as far as Tannehill takes us.  I also like our defense better, we will be harder to figure out, with multiple looks.  It’s great to keep the opposing offenses guessing where Jordan will be, and what his assignment is.

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From OD (Old Dolfan)

 

Q – In your opinion, what is the best single game performance ever by a Dolphins QB?

 

I guess I’m going to have to pick one of my favorite games ever for this question.  Call it “The Return of Dan the Man” on opening day, Sunday, Sept 4, 1994.

 

New England Patriots @ Miami Dolphins

 

Dan Marino returns from his achilles tendon injury.  Dan Marino brought his six guns for this shootout with divisional foe Drew Bledsoe.  A shootout it was!

 

Patriots took a 7-0 lead on a 1 YD rushing TD by Kevin Turner.   Dolphins tie it in the 2nd QTR, with a 64 YD strike from Marino to WR Mark Ingram.  Dolphins add 3 with a 42 yard Stoyanovich FG.  Bledsoe strikes back with a 16 YD TD to TE Ben Coates, to give the Pats a 14-10 halftime lead.

 

Bledsoe once again draws blood, hitting Ben Coates again for a big 63 YD TD, to give the Patriots a 21-10 lead.  The Dolphins then closed the gap with a 26 YD pass from Marino to TE Keith Jackson, followed by a successful 2 PT conversion run by RB Terry Kirby, to make it 21-18 Patriots.

 

Bledsoe again widens the gap, by hitting WR Michael Timpson with a 5 YD pass to make it 28-18 Patriots.

 

Marino then closed the distance, by hitting WR Irving Fryar with a 54 YD bomb to make it 28-25 Patriots, and close to within a FG.

 

The 4th QTR started MIA down 3.  Marino again hits Fryar for a 50 YD bomb, and puts the Dolphins ahead for the first time in the game, and the season, 32-28.

 

The Patriots battled back, and Bledsoe found WR Ray Crittenden for a 23 YD TD, to once again, claim a 3 point lead, 35-32.

 

Did Dan the Man have a 4th QTR comeback in his damaged body?  You BETCHA!

 

Marino once again found former Patriots WR Irving Fryar for Fryar’s 3rd TD catch of the day, to give the Dolphins a 39-35 lead, and the victory!

 

That was a sweet victory for me, watched the game with a New England Patriots fan I used to work with,  Lobster Fisherman, who liked like the Gortons Fisherman.  We were killing each other with as the game went back and forth, but my hero, Dan Marino would NOT be denied.

 

That was a great game, not knowing how Marino would come back and play after such a devastating injury (achilles rupture)

 

It may not have been Dans best statistical game, or his most important victory as a Dolphins QB, but to me, it was the most heroic.

 

BTW, for stat geeks, Dan did this . . .

 

23-42, 473 yards, 5 TD’s, 1 INT

 

Bledsoe

 

32-51, 421 yards, 4 TD’s, 2 INT’s

 

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Now for our babe of the week . . .She’s for the good Cap’t Stubbs – Maybe a new 1st mate.  🙂