After watching the Dolphins season end in 2014 – an alien needs a break. I just needed to float away among the stars. I saw black holes and quasars. I saw stars exploding in space. I floated through space and time and thought to myself…what do the Dolphins need? And then it hit me like a satellite gone rogue…
The Dolphins need tackling! What better way to address that then to draft an inside linebacker. Many scouts say Benardrick McKinney is the best inside linebacker in the draft. Many expect him to be a top 20 pick. On the other hand some scouts don’t think he is even worth a pick in the first two rounds of the draft. So what gives? Is McKinney a first rounder or not?
Well if there is one thing McKinney can do its tackle. He is a very good tackler and prone to a big hit now and then. McKinney has natural instincts and quick feet. Qualities that make a great MLB. I’ve seen him compared to a poor man’s Brian Urlacher.
One of the reasons MSU was so stingy about scoring in 2014, tied for 10th in Division 1, was McKinney’s play. He was the undeniable leader of the MSU defense. The 6’5, 250 pound junior had over 200 tackles in his college career. He also rushed the QB occasionally getting 7.5 sacks in his career at MSU.
His athleticism is something to behold. He is rumored to run a 4.5 40 with a vertical leap of over 34 inches.
If he is a freakish athlete who can stop the run and rush the passer, what’s with the skepticism about drafting McKinney in the first? Well, some scouts think he is inconsistent in space and not very good in pass defense. Some say he is a two down thumper. Even if that is true, I don’t want him thumping me. Other scouts say he is better suited as a 3-4 OLB.
I think McKinney will be an asset to any any defense. If McKinney was an Alien Weapon of Destruction, McKinney would be a Lunar Steamroller. Rolling over ballcarriers in his path!
Check him out vs LSU
Finsmob Unleashed 
I’ll say this, I don’t think Rex is a better game manager than Philbin, I think they both have their weaknesses. I do think if you asked players who they’d rather play for, they’d say Ryan, because he relates to the players better.
that’s all well and good but I think Philbin is the one extreme, like watching paint dry, and Rex is like the drunk guy at the bar jumping off the stool like he’s Jimmy Superfly Snooka. Neither have had or are having any success with their “extreme” personality type.
I agree, although Rex did go to the AFC Championship game twice, and Philbin has crashed and burned twice in a row when he got close to the playoffs, so there’s that.
he’s 46-50 as the head coach of the Jets. the boss should never be friends with the employees. Management 101.
I think Coughlin is a very good Coach. He turns teams around. He’s done it twice, in JAX and in NY.
Lou – The Jets haven’t had a QB for quite some time. I don’t want to make excuses for them, but at least he did have success at some point. Let’s see Joe take us to the Championship game. I’ll relent at that point.
Not only that, but Rex was hired almost immediately as a Head Coach. If the Dolphins don’t make the playoffs this year, how many Head Coaching jobs is Joe going to receive?
to the contrary, I don’t think Philbin gets enough credit for these past two seasons. he’s still dealing with the flippin mess Ireland left behind.
Tannehill’s gotten to the point where he may not lose a game for you anymore but he’s not going to win one either. He’s not the type of qb yet that can lead the team to a comeback victory consistently. He’s also not the type of qb who can keep a drive alive. We’ve seen enough drives die because of incomplete passes.
Think about the fact that we had all new starters on the o-line until Pouncey came back and even then he played RG because the line was still not rebuilt.
Think about a brand new starting safety in Delmas and cornerback in Finnegan.
Think about how much different the offense could have been had Moreno stayed healthy all season.
Think about Ellerbe being out most of the season.
Philbin deserves A LOT of credit getting this team as far as he did. I think a lesser coach has a losing record in 2014.
If you’re going to give him credit for all those things, then you have to tear him a new asshole for two end of year collapses. I don’t give him much credit for Tannehill, I give Tannehill credit for Tannehill. Heck, if Philbin had his druthers, Sherman would still be our offensive coordinator. Secondly, injuries happen, and Ellerbe ain’t nothing anyway. He will likely be cut, so you can’t consider him a big loss. He may be a blessing, because we got to see Jenkins play. The fact that Finnegan was our 2nd best CB kills me! No development of Taylor, Davis or Dion Jordan. Our O-line was atrocious 2 years ago, and this year we saw improvement, because we hired a very good OL coach, and improved the talent at T in FA with Albert and the draft with James. You want to give Philbin credit for that, fine. A couple of games we had in our grasp, and let go due to Philbin. We didn’t run enough this year, and we ran when we should have passed. MillerTime was underused, and just because Moreno got hurt, shouldn’t excuse that. Moreno got hurt game 1, we had plenty of time to make adjustments, and Miller did well, we just didn’t feed him enough. Not sure how much “lesser” than Philbin there is.
Philbin is succeeding despite the fact he was given a qb with very little experience coming out of college and terrible accuracy and still is getting the best out of him and it’s enough for the team to finish 8-8. The wr corps of this team isn’t the best, the offensive line is a rebuild in progress and Taylor’s development or lack thereof lands squarely in Taylor’s lap due to his inability to stay healthy. Same goes for Davis and where Jordan is concerned if he hasn’t shown the ability to do anything more than what he’s done to this point than there ain’t much there. I question whether the kids got anything in the attic or if he’s just plain dumb.
Take a look at what Ireland “built” while he was here. This team was the laughing stock of the league when the Incognito/Martin incident happened and Ireland was the guy responsible for bringing in those two clowns. We had McKinnie at LT and the swinging door Clablow at RT. Last season we had a rookie RT and a new LT, LG, C and RG. Then, when Pouncey came back we put him at RG because he was our best option there. You say Ellerbe was nothing but his 100+ tackles is still better than Misi’s 66 and he can cover a hell of a lot better than Misi. But, that still points to the fact that we need a solid MLB.
You want to point a finger at a guy who’s responsible for loses than point it at Coyle. He’s the douche that lost us 4 games with his ridiculous defensive schemes; not Philbin.
Well, Philbin HIRED Coyle, and he hired Sherman as well. Seems it’s everyone elses fault but Joe’s. He is truly teflon. lol
I don’t know where you got that he hired either because I never heard HE hired them; I heard the Fins hired them which means it was Ireland’s decision. I believe Philbin may have been responsible for throwing Sherman’s name out there or maybe they just thought it was a fit since they worked together in the past.
I don’t know why Philbin would even consider Coyle for the position to be honest with you. So, if he did HIRE Coyle as you say then it’s news to me because I have no knowledge of that.
Lou – Do you think Philbin would have done better if he had Geno Smith?
On the Fins or the Jets?
Neither the Seahawks not the Patriots have the best receiving corps. Solid qb’ing elevates an average receiving corps.
Not the- nor the
Lou – Philbin is the Head Coach, he hires his coordinators, and fires them too. That’s how it works. I mean Geno Smith on the Dolphins. You say Ryan is 46-50 as Head Coach, give Philbin credit for having Tannehill as a lead weight, but no forgiving Ryan for being saddled with Mark Sanchez and then Geno Smith. I think you need to rethink that.
This is from the Sun Sentinel when Coyle and Sherman were hired.
The Miami Dolphins named Mike Sherman their offensive coordinator and Kevin Coyle their defensive coordinator on Friday.
The two veteran NFL coaches became new coach Joe Philbin’s first hires. Both were Philbin’s long-time friends, and first choices.
“They are exactly what I am looking for in terms of leadership, character, and teaching ability,” Philbin said. “They are both very passionate about the game of football and the players they coach, and that enthusiasm is evident in the meeting rooms and on the field….I can’t wait to get started to work with them.”
Here’s the link if you don’t believe me.
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-01-27/sports/mh-miami-dolphins-sherman-coyle-coordinators-20120126_1_paul-soliai-head-coach-darren-rizzi
Some of you keep saying that we take a cap hit if we cut Wallace. It’s not true (unless I’ve completely lost my cap mojo). Look at the graph. It came from overthecap.com, not from me (though I added the text). When the players salary is higher then his dead cap hit, you can cut him and save the difference in cap space. Cutting Wallace CREATES more cap space for us.
If I’ve lost my mind, please clearly explain why I’m wrong. Otherwise, please appreciate that I downloaded annotated for clarity and reposted this image just for you guys! 🙂
http://tinypic.com/r/2h7nc7m/8
Lets try again:
Later. Cheers guys.