Sonshine, Sleepers and Lollipops
by son of a son of a shula
Sleepers, to me, are the guys on the roster who don’t have expectations to either start at a position, make the team or make meaningful contributions. With such a young team the Dolphins have many candidates to consider as sleepers. I have cut my list down to my top 3 and I will explain how they make the roster, what they’ll be asked to do, how they will respond and the impact they will have. 
Sleepers don’t have to be rookies, they don’t have to be guys we haven’t heard of because I know this group here knows the entire 90 man roster. I based my 3 sleepers more on what I believe their impact will be, I picked three players that play with a certain attitude and desire while also being excellent team mates.
There are several guys who are ready, or should be ready, to blossom as they enter this season so let me get a few names out of the way that I considered but felt as if they had expectations already put on them:
Billy Turner – we hardly saw him last season but as a third round pick and the starter all through the offseason the expectation for Turner is to win the RG spot and to play well.
Jamar Taylor – Has battled through injuries but all indications are that he is healthy and the expectation for him despite the amount of competition in camp is to win the starting CB spot opposite Grimes.
DeVante Parker – clearly a top 15 draft choice isn’t a sleeper and we all have expectations of seeing Parker entering end zones frequently.
Jordan Phillips- The expectation for this big man is to occupy blockers as part of the Dline rotation. At this point he would be considered the next man off the bench to give Suh and Mitchell rest.
Ced Thompson- is a bit of a sleeper but didn’t make it because he will face a tough battle to get playing time at a crowded position behind all veteran players. Perhaps next year he’ll have a more significant impact. The expectation for him would be to make the team and play Special teams and grow.
Jay Ajayi – by no means is he a sleeper, the expectation is that he’ll make the team and be an instant part of the Offense.
Tony Lippett – was close to making it but with limited experience playing on Defense I felt he may struggle some this year and perhaps be a more solid contributor next year although he does display a lot of the qualities I see in my sleepers.
Bobby McCain -faces a tough battle for a roster spot and subsequently playing time with guys like Zack Bowman and Brice McCain and the large group at Safety.
Walt Aiken – Could do a lot of good stuff this year but we all felt that he should take the next step going into this year and although he is similar to my sleepers I feel we have expectations for him already.
There are many more to consider and they may very well be the sleeper of the year but I have made my list after weeding out the players I felt had expectations on them. I also didn’t consider fringe players for this. A bubble player who takes a roster spot is a different story that what I’m after now. I’m looking players who will impact the team with great play, a winng attitude and a spark to ignite the Dolphins to a playoff run.
My Sleepers –
Michael Thomas – Who is Jimmy Wilson? Does Thomas take a starting spot?
Anthony Johnson – In a crowded position with high priced vets and highly drafted rookies how will Johnson make noise?
Jamil Douglas – I can’t help but think this athletic freak will put pads on simply TAKE a job on the offensive line.
Alright, maybe you do have expectations for these players but to me these are three guys that will earn spots in very tough positional battles in camp. While Johnson won’t be a starter he could be a huge spark on the D-line that was turned over from a year ago. Douglas and Thomas both stand a chance of winning a starting job outright despite veterans in front of them.
We’ve seen a spark from Thomas before. He did it almost immediately after becoming a Dolphin by picking off a Tom Brady pass late to seal a victory but injuries have stood in the way of Thomas fully asserting himself. Coming in healthy to camp Thomas has sites on being the starter beside Rashad Jones while Louis Delmas battles to return from an ACL injury suffered late last season. Thomas will certainly be the next guy off the bench making us forget all of the terrible angles Jimmy Wilson took. Thomas is a hard hitter, an intense player and a team first guy.
Anthony Johnson earned a spot on last year’s Dline earning valuable playing time in the rotation with Starks, Mitchell and Odrick. However his season was cut short when he went on IR mid season unable to finish his freshman season in the pros. Now Johnson has to vie for playing time behind a guy named Suh and newly drafted second rounder named Jordan Phillips. Guess what?
Johnson will do it, hell we might even see him play some DE in certain situations. Johnson is an athletic big man who gets excellent penetration from his inside position. I see him as a valuable member of this playoff defense as the season progresses. Johnson is a hard hitter, an intense player and a team first guy.
Jamil Douglas. Just watch the tape. The bodies hit the flo’. Yeah he’s a 4th rounder, yeah we have vets in front of him, yeah Philbin has kept two prior 3rd round Oline picks as essentially redshirts the first year. So what. Sometimes you just happen to hit on the right guy. My feeling is purely that a feeling but I think Douglas settles for nothing less than a starting spot. Douglas has great athleticism to play in ZBS, tremendous power for an inside player and swag. He has the quiet do as I do kind of swag – not in your face, he just looks like controlled rage to me. He brings the attitude that dovetails with the traits we see with Turner and of course James. Suddenly the Dolphins pound the ball down your throat. Douglas is a hard hitter, an intense player and a team first guy.
My sleepers are guys you all know and we have discussed but for various reasons they will go beyond whatever expectations we may already have for them. These guys along with the solid vet core will spark this 2015 Dolphins team to new heights.
Suck it!
* No Lollipops were harmed in the making of this post.
Finsmob Unleashed 
James Walker @JamesWalkerNFL · Jun 25
It must be tough being a #Knicks fan these days. #NBADraft
Steve .. Ok ..I read up on Porzingas and it appears to me that the Knicks have drafted the next Darko Milicic ..A super soft European big man …lol
Mike come on over to the dark side, Bat get’s it 😉
Be careful what you wish for.
“An African rock python near Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa literally came up against a prickly problem after swallowing a porcupine whole. The snake died after its innards were thoroughly punctured by its dinner.”
I saw that, survival can be tough.
Sorta tells you why Man won. Don’t think any of us would pick “fresh porcupine with attached quills” off the menu. I was at Lion Country Safari a couple weeks ago and the guide explained that an ostrich’s brain is about the same size as one of his eyes.
Steve, we started to see more movement passing plays last year. I think it’s in Lazor’s best interest to utilize Tanny’s athletic ability and wheels. Tanny sells that read-option so well which is like play-action, we should do more misdirection movement in the passing game. Tanny also started to look one way and throw another. I think we’ll see more of that too. Don’t make him a sitting duck play after play, it makes no sense with his skill set.
Oh yeah did I say run the ball more? 😉
After watching RT highlights from last yr there’s lots of plays where he does good things, 100% agree on his read option he has that down, he needs to minimize his bad/negative plays.
Any QB can be sacked a lot, unless he just gets rid of the ball, but yeah, if you have issues with QB pressures, then the OC needs to help out as much as he can. Big Ben gets sacked a lot too, because he holds on to the ball a long time, but he makes lots of plays doing it. I haven’t broken down RTs holding the ball a long time, so I really don’t know if it’s a good thing or not. What I do know is he does need to throw more balls away instead of taking sacks.
Sometimes he has no chance. The pocket was collapsed before he could even set. Aaron Rodgers takes passive sacks too – he holds on as long as he can until it’s not there. It’s the nature of the game. He wants to make a play, so does RT. I’ll take that over a mouse QB who scurries away at the hint of pressure.
If the Dolphins are the last remaining undefeated team, will Shula and the boys still celebrate a loss? …just curious.
I’d say no. Keep it in the family. 🙂
He’ll lose a lot of respect, if he does. He may in private, but not in public.
To me if we went undefeated it would enhance what was done in ’72.
bat — I’m guessing there would be a lot of “that is the team we wanted to do it” comments with a lot of toasts in private………even if not quite as happy ones.
Tim .. I would hope the answer is no …I’d be very disappointed in them otherwise..
Just don’t have a Patriots fail at the end. LOL
Miami Dolphins @MiamiDolphins 1h1 hour ago
“He takes advantage of the opportunity to make plays.”
@BGrimey21: http://oak.ctx.ly/r/38zrk
Sorry thought it was a new article!
One of the reasons why I want Jamar Taylor to start opposite Grimes is, because of his ability to stop the run among other things. He reminds me of Vantae Davis.
He’s very aggressive and physical in all phases.
Dolfanatic retweeted
Jamar Taylor @JTAY22_619 Jan 25
I see u bro @BGrimey21
To bad it happened in the Pro Bowl. Did Grimes get suspended for that rape?
This is the difference between just a guy and a ball player. This is what I tried to teach my sons soccer teams when I coached them, you’re gonna get beat at times, give me the effort after you get beat and get back in the play.
bat says:
June 27, 2015 at 12:28 pm
If the Dolphins are the last remaining undefeated team, will Shula and the boys still celebrate a loss? …just curious.
even more curious is what the hell are you on that makes you think they could be the last undefeated team
Tannesuh! 😀
Must be an upper
This is why we watch this game and it’s just awesome!!! 🙂
Let’s stop trying to bring down two of the best players we have in Grimes and Wake just because they’re in their early 30’s. It’s 2015, not 1980. LOL
They’re still good at what they do.
Amen Tim!
Suh & the rest of that DL should make their jobs a bit easier.
Go Phins!