Is it possible that our greatest need going into the draft is RB? I guess that would depend on who you talk to, but even if it’s not the most glaring need, if we intend on running the ball considerably more than we did last season, we’re going to need an infusion of talent and numbers in our RB stable.
Jay Ajayi RB 6’0″ 221
As it stands now, the feature back would be 2nd year RB Jay Ajayi. Ajayi, who played his college ball at Boise St., was considered by many to be a 2nd RD talent. Medical news day of the draft circulated like wildfire and the red flags went up immediately. Apparently, the news was Ajayi had so little cartilage remaining in his knee that he was basically almost bone on bone, at which point it becomes so painful, it’s career ending. Ajayi tore his ACL in 2011, his redshirt season at Boise St. In 2012, Ajay came back slowly from his injury, garnering only 82 carries for 548 yards, 6.7 YPC and 4 TD’s. in 2013, Ajayi figured more prominently, getting 249 carries for 1425 yards, 18 TD’s, along with 22 receptions for 222 yards and 1 TD. Obviously, Ajayi was back and healthy. 2013 cemented that Ajayi was not only back, but he could be a workhorse back. Ajayi carried the ball an astounding 347 times for 1823 yards, and an unbelievable 28 rushing TD’s. He also caught 50 passes for 535 yards and 4 TD’s. OK, so just how much was Ajayi the Boise St. offense??? 2378 total yards, and 32 TD’s! Incredible!
Ajayi performed well at the NFL combine. While not a speedster, he ran 4.57, but as important for a RB, is that quick burst. Ajayi ran 4,10 20 YD shuttle (top performer), a 39 ” vertical (tp), 121 broad jump (tp), and 11.60 60 YD shuttle (tp). OK, so Ajayi is an athlete, a former soccer player with very good feet, and we can see from the drills, lots of explosion.
Who can we draft to be part of an effective rushing attack in 2016? Let’s take a look!
______________________________________________________________
Ezekiel “Zeke” Elliott RB Ohio St. 6’0″ 225
The clear cut best RB available in this draft will most likely not be available to the Dolphins if we stay at #13, but if somehow Ezekiel “Zeke” Elliott makes it to our pick at #13, it will give the Dolphins a very difficult choice. Elliott has been compared to former Colts and Cards RB Edgerrin James. Elliott was a great back for Ohio St., a true 3 down RB. Elliott topped 1800 yards in both his sophomore and junior seasons, 1878 and 1821 respectively. Elliott averaged 6.9 YPC his sophomore year and 6.3 YPC in his junior, along with scoring 18 TD’s and 23 TD’s respectively. He’s the real deal, and while he may not be a prospect of Adrien Peterson’s ilk, he is a great prospect, quite worthy of an early first pick. In 592 carries, Zeke has a fumble rate of 162.5, which means he fumbles once per 162.5 carries, very solid. Fumbling is clearly not an issue. Again, odds are, Zeke is gone by pick #13, so although he would be a great addition to our rushing attack, let’s look at some RB’s who have a better chance of being available to us after our 1st pick.
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Derrick Henry RB Alabama 6’2″ 247
Derrick Henry is the big boy of the group, at 6’2″ 247, Henry is reminiscent of former NY Giants RB Brandon Jacobs. Not quite as big as Jacobs who was 6’4″ 264, he’s certainly big enough. A physical RB who is fast for his size, Henry ran a 4.54 40, along with a 37″ vertical, and 11.50 60 yard shuttle, which shows he’s athletic for his size. One of the negatives with Henry is he tends to run more upright, partly due to his size, and that opens him up for more hits and punishment from defenders, despite the fact that Henry delivers his fair share of punishment too. If we’re looking to really become a run heavy team, or at least closer to a 50/50 ratio of run to pass, we could do worse having a tandem of Ajayi and Henry. We could then pick up a change of pace back later on, one that’s faster and smaller, as we don’t have that type of back at the moment. Henry rushed for 2219 yards on 395 carries last season (junior year) for 5.6 YPC average along with a college football leading 28 TD’s. Henry doesn’t offer much as a receiver, logging only 17 total receptions in 3 years at Alabama. He is, however, a workhorse who finds his way into the endzone, and lord knows, the Dolphins could stand to score more of those.
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Keith Marshall RB Georgia 5’11” 219
Keith Marshall is about the same size as former Dolphins RB Lamar Miller. He’s actually a bit faster too, running the 40 at a blazing 4.31, and may be an intriguing choice for the Dolphins later in the draft. Marshall chose to play all 4 years at Georgia. In his sophomore year, Marshall suffered a torn right ACL. Due to that injury, Marshall has a very small body of work, only 253 total carries, 117 of which were in his freshman year. Marshall appears to be very healthy, and could be a steal in mid to later RD’s. Marshall also has good ball security, so he has low mileage, speed and agility, and holds on to the football. He could be that change of pace type back for us initially.
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Kenyan Drake RB Alabama 6’1″ 210
Kenyan Drake is Derrick Henry’s RB mate at Alabama. Drake was the change of pace for the workhorse Henry. Drake had a total of 233 carries in 4 years at Alabama for 1495 yards, for a nice 6.4 YPC. Drake finished with a total of 18 TD rushing TD’s in his college career, but understandably a low figure, considering he took the backseat to Henry who scored 28 TD’s in his senior year. He’s a potential mid to late RD pick for Miami.
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There are quite a few other prospects that the Dolphins will be looking at, especially if we don’t pick up a solid veteran RB to compliment what we already have. Last week we picked up two former 2nd RD picks, Isaiah Pead from the Rams and former Dolphins 2nd RD pick, yes, the infamous “DT 3”, Daniel Thomas, who rejoins the team. Can either of those 2 recapture what made them 2nd RD prospects in the first place? Not likely, but I think there is a chance Daniel Thomas can stick on the roster, because one thing Thomas excels at is pass protection as a RB.
Piggy/Wedge have already gone into depth with many of the RB’s, and will likely continue to do so, so I won’t tread on “their” territory, and leave that to them. If there are RB’s that you think we should be interested, bring them up on the blog and we’ll discuss them!
Finsmob Unleashed 
A lot of people think the Eagles are targeting a qb with the #8 pick they acquired from us
Let’s say the Browns take a qb
Them the Eagles take one at 8
Does a qb hungry team trade up to 13 for a qb
I don’t think Philly does that. They redid the deal with Bradford & then went out to sign Chase Daniels. They will go Zeke, Stanley, or Hargreaves…IMO.
I do t know
Do Bradford or Daniels sound like players your mortgage your future on?
People love to hear this
Bc they want to hear criticism hurled at Dolphins when they lose
But I’m not getting what he wants
Armando, take your bra off and go watch some sports you old bag. LOL
Omar Kelly
✔
@OmarKelly
I figured the Patience Brigade would eat that up. But remember the 147 rushing yards per game with the unicorns.
Hey! Omar mentioned me! LOL
What is he talking about?
“Of course, that might make it a little awkward for Thomas, since last year’s interim defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is back as secondary coach this year. But the Dolphins were really bad at defense last year, finishing 25th in yards allowed.”
***
This is so bogus. Our defense ranked 14th in scoring defense. They were average in points allowed…not “really bad”. Who cares how many yards they gave up? Our offense also put our defense in bad positions all year long with way too many failures on third down.
Giving up a lot of yards eats clock & limits the opportunities on offense. It all adds up.
19th at 24.3 PPG. Not a big difference between 19th and 25th at 25.5 PPG either. That’s not good enough.
It’s kind of a – let me bitch about the Dolphins piece
All the coaches were fired
And they deserved that
Now everyone from the organization has to publicly admit fault to everyone and beg for forgiveness
Accountability is worth something but it only goes so far
You don’t endlessly claim that you fucked up
You try to correct mistakes
The Dolphins clearly identified coaching issues and addressed
I get that they may not be all the problems
But I don’t need everyone to constantly admit mistakes
The Flying Pig says:
April 6, 2016 at 1:29 pm
I do t know
Do Bradford or Daniels sound like players your mortgage your future on?
__________________________
Well, Philly gave Bradford $22M guaranteed & made Chase the highest paid back up QB in FA. So……
Omar does not understand that the patience brigade (and I think Bat coined that term) is kind of a Henne esque term
Is no one ever to be patience with anyone ever again
I think those arguments were all about Henne
Omar still uses it
Omar has a goofy noggin.
You have to be patient with young players. So if Jordan Phillips doesn’t play at an elite level this year and is only solid at best, do we move on from him as a player because maybe he won’t be great?
The Flying Pig says:
April 6, 2016 at 1:29 pm
I do t know
Do Bradford or Daniels sound like players your mortgage your future on?
———————————
No but they do sound like guys you could roll with until you get a guy you really feel good about. The thing about drafting a QB is the more desperate you feel you are the more likely you WILL get a dud. There should never be a severe overpay at that position because you wind up with a guy who is a career backup and just pressing the reset button in a few years. The smart way to roll, if you are Philly is take a guy 2-3rd round that has upside, and if it works out you got your guy and you got him at a value, they still hold a clipboard for a year, but gives you the ability to move on from Bradford in 2017. If you wind up not getting that guy you see if a guy in 2017 draft really peaks your interest and you try again. There will be a year they will find their guy, they may actually reach a year where they HAVE to find that guy THAT year, i dont think they are in a bad enough position to HAVE to find him this year.
I really dont think Philly is targeting a QB.
Bucky Brooks has us taking Elliot
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/mock-drafts/bucky-brooks/305660
Bucky Brooks always ridge the coattails of other mocksters. There has been a trend towards Elliot recently he is just jumping on the bandwagon.
I also take all this crap we keep hearing about our previous coaches/coordinators as just the current regime trying to feed the fans a line of bull, so we have hope for this season. I don’t believe for one second all the stuff we keep hearing about Philbin. And, he was right. We should have drafted Carr….but hey…don’t let that get on the way of the crap we keep hearing. Lol
***
And, does anybody stop to think that they might have had very good reasons for coaching the team and specific players the way they did? We’re supposed to believe that Ross, tannenbaum and anybody else in the front office knows better how to coach than actual coaches? I don’t trust this FO at all. They’ll say whatever they wanna say and “leak” information to the press that distances them from the past failures. I ain’t buying it. They’re trying their best to spin shit in a way that allowed them to sell hope, that things will be different this time around. Blah blah blah.
I dunno what the real story is but the team play like there was a real disharmony between the players and coaches. I do also realy belive Lazor and Coyle were two of the most inept coordinators i have ever seen. I really dont know how i feel about Philbin but to me as captain of the ship things can only continue to go on so long before you step in and right them, so in a sense he was to blame whether or not he was part of the disharmony or not. I do feel though if the coach is coming to them requesting a new QB the FO should have made the decision right then and there who they were going to back, as the result of them forcing the two together was destructive and may well take Gase a year just to get it straightened out.
I think it’s hard to argue that the coaches were good
I don’t know what is going on
I don’t need to spend an offseason hearing everyone admit fault, apologize or give excuses
Either we win or we don’t
The team was 6-10, looked like shit and they made a lot of changes.
Go Gase and staff!
piggy,
we are all fans of this team, i think that means every one of us fit into that patience brigade some way or another
Not the masochists
They get what they want now
Game of Thrones is back on 4/24
So that’s
4/24 Game of Thrones 18 days
4/28 – draft 22 days
What do we do for the next 2 1/2 weeks
Assholes!
I guess I can clean my apt or something
Fear the Walking Dead just started back up…
I don’t really like it
I don’t know why
This is interesting because a few years ago when lots of folks were okay with giving up yards and being a “bend but don’t break” defense…everyone cited how it didn’t matter because we were like top 5 in points allowed. Now, it’s flipped and somehow yards given up defines the defense’s success. It’s just stat chasing. Yes, you’d like to give up as few yards as possible, but it’s not the most important thing. We were an average defense that was put in bad situations a lot by a putrid offense.
We were bad or sun par in every phase on defense, not one or two areas.
Bend dont break is a dangerous game to play because someone eventually figures out how to get you past your break point and then its a flood gate of scoring. Im a fan of just fucking play defense, primary goal, 1 and out, secondary goal 2 and out, 3rd…. 3 and out…so on and so forth. You should play each snap trying to give them nothing and take everything. Last year was pure crap, containment defense, with not upfield presence so even basic plays were netting 4 yards. Last time i checked 4-5 yards a play means you arent stopping them at all.
Philbin was right, we should have drafted Carr….how hilarious. 🙄
D,
If players decide they’re gonna revolt, there’s nothing a head coach can do about it. Warranted or not. And, if you have a FO that doesn’t support the coaching staff, players know it, and they will exploit that schism. The disharmony seemed to originate between coaches and FO….and it trickled down to the players. That would be my best guess. I also think Suh was an instigator and contributed to a culture that made players think of themselves instead of the team. Some of the things he did when he first got here, and the way he played were a big middle finger to the coaching staff. Just my read on the situation. I may be way off, but everyone else is throwing shit against the wall….figured I could too. Lol
GDP,
This regime should have fixed the OL as well.
Regardless of what kind of QB the Raiders got in Carr, they went out and fixed the OL in about 2 years.
Correction, the pervious regime(s) should have fixed the OL as well.
This regime has to fix it fast and not wiff like the last two guys.
Their OL graded out better than the Cowboys. So you’re correct.
D,
I’m not a believer in bend don’t break. But, that was exactly what folks around here were using as an excuse when we were highly ranked in points allowed and giving up yardage. We weren’t a great defense, but we were 14th in points allowed. How is that anything but average? Not really bad or horrible. Points wise, this defense played well enough to win games. It was our offense that didn’t hold up their end of the scoring.
gdp
Carr is already a better QB than Tannehill. Just my opinion…I assume you feel differently. Lol
Carr has shown well so far & some good potential….so has Tannehill. McKenzie is a solid GM & Del Rio is a good coach. They’re working a plan to fill needs and build a good team.
We’ll see if we got it right with Tbomb/Grier & Gase soon.
Al,
And Carr didn’t have anything to do with the improvement of Oakland’s OL? I just shake my head sometimes about how folks seem to be oblivious as to how much impact a QB has on an OL’s performance. Marino, for instance, didn’t play behind 5 HOFers his whole career, but he often made them look like it. It’s a symbiotic relationship.
Tim Knight says:
April 6, 2016 at 1:32 pm
What is he talking about?
It was a response on twitter to someone thanking him for the Tannehill article. LOL
gdp
I’m not gonna say anything else about Tannehill, I’m not up for the shit storm! Lol
Ok kool beans. BTW, Oakland did finish 7-9, wasn’t like they made a playoff run.
The Flying Pig says:
April 6, 2016 at 1:47 pm
I don’t really like it
I don’t know why
Well, for me, it’s because I don’t like the characters / actors. The drug addict son, the over protective mom, the dad of the two families. I just don’t like them. I’m gonna give it another season to see if I catch on, then I’m done with FTWD.
Your score is: 8279 (GRADE: B)
Your Picks:
Round 1 Pick 13: Shaq Lawson, DE/OLB, Clemson (A)
Round 2 Pick 11: Jason Spriggs, OT, Indiana (A)
Round 3 Pick 10: Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama (A+)
Round 4 Pick 9: Miles Killebrew, SS, Southern Utah (A)
Round 5 Pick 8: Harlan Miller, CB, Southeastern Louisiana (A+)
Round 6 Pick 11: Brandon Doughty, QB, Western Kentucky (B+)
Round 7 Pick 6: Demarcus Robinson, WR, Florida (A+)
Round 7 Pick 10: Antonio Morrison, ILB, Florida (B+)
Also how the fuck did i get a B with every pick grading out B+ or better lol.
Because you didn’t wash your hands after wiping your ass😁
He went right to licking the last few morsels off his fingers. LOL
A couple of names in there I like.
I would’ve liked to see a CB higher though.
I may be way off, but everyone else is throwing shit against the wall….figured I could too. Lol
I just came back and found the whole place covered in shit! WTF?? who does that? What is wrong with you people??
gdp
I’m not gonna say anything else about Tannehill, I’m not up for the shit storm! Lol
Randy, I think you are too late. I came in and there is shit all over the walls. I was wondering what the hell happened, but I guess it was a shit storm that hit while I was at lunch. Where is that hazmat team when you need them for a clean up.
Lou is a spider monkey.
Carr and Tannehill’s production is basically the same. Carr had 32 TDs last year and RT 27 in 2014. Other than that they’re very similar. Sure you can argue Carr emerged faster and that’s fair.
Carr is better. I read it.
Your score is: 8279 (GRADE: B+)
There I fixed it for you. Feel better now?
I for one never referred to our defense as bend but don’t break. I thought we blitzed too often to consider it a bend but don’t break defense. I think poor tackling at times made us look like bend but don’t break. LOL
getterdone says:
April 6, 2016 at 2:19 pm
A couple of names in there I like.
I would’ve liked to see a CB higher though.
——————————
All my drafts i do modifications of BPA, draft breakdown didnt work right for me to get one higher but i start out looking for CB.
I’ve always liked Football Outsider’s analytics.
If you want to see how they measured all teams, and specifically, Miami on defense in terms of efficiency, then here it is:
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef
Their DVOA statistics in short is this -> DVOA measures a team’s efficiency by comparing success on every single play to a league average based on situation and opponent.
The rankings reflect the differences in DVOA from the NFL mean for each team.
In short, Miami finished 29th in Pass Defense and 20th in Rush Defense (25th overall in Defense Efficiency Total)
You can look at any year and compare if you wish from that weblink (use the drop down menu above); Miami last year ranked 16th in Pass Defense and 18th in Rush Defense (17th overall in Defense Efficiency Total).
What is interesting to note is that on a NON-ADJUSTED basis (w/o adjustments for situation/strength of opponent), the team defensive rank in 2014 & 2015 both was 28th overall with the Pass Defense a hair better in the raw data and Rush Defense slightly worse in the raw data in both 2014/15
Does it take into account allowing 3rd and 17s to go for 1st downs in crucial times in a game?
Tim,
I was speaking about a few years back when we were in the top 5-10, I think, in points allowed but giving up yards. Folks said we were bend but don’t break. I didn’t mean last year. My point was, nobody really cared if we gave up a bunch of yards when we were also not giving up a bunch of points. But, now that our scoring defense has slipped, people want to point out how many yards we give up. Lol
I don’t remember it being very divided like that. Not saying it wasn’t, I just don’t remember it. All I know is I was always accused of defending the defense. LOL
I was never one happy with the bend don’t break D’s.
I’ve seen a few mocks now that have 3 qbs going in top 15.
Cool, let them goooo…lol
I wouldn’t be surprised. That happens often because teams are always looking for QBs.
Al,
Did all those numbers mean we were basically an average defense? Analytics make my brain hurt. Lol
Crap, Merle Haggard died. RIP
Ah that sucks. RIP Merle. Even though Okie From Muskogee was a dorky song. LOL
MIAMI DOLPHINS
YOUR PICKS
1: R1P13 QB JARED GOFF CALIFORNIA
2: R2P11 ILB REGGIE RAGLAND ALABAMA
3: R3P10 G JOSHUA GARNETT STANFORD
4: R4P9 RB DEVONTAE BOOKER UTAH
5: R5P8 CB CYRUS JONES ALABAMA
6: R6P11 CB ANTHONY BROWN PURDUE
7: R7P6 S ELIJAH SHUMATE NOTRE DAME
8: R7P10 WR MICHAEL THOMAS SOUTHERN MISS
I did this Mock with the people on this blog in mind. LOL
Silly, but hey. It’s fun being silly sometimes.
Tim, I didn’t see it as a bend don’t break defense either. I saw it more as a horribly ran D.
The secondary constantly giving so much cushion was driving me nuts, and there just wasn’t the type of pass rush threat we’re accustomed to either. Couple that with a weak LB corp & injuries in too many places, no wonder we saw a defense that seemed to never CLOSE the deal when we had a lead in games.
Speaking of Football Outsiders, ESPN wrote this a couple of days ago (ESPN did a partnership with Football Outsiders starting last year).
http://espn.go.com/blog/cleveland-browns/post/_/id/18496/study-from-football-outsiders-calls-jared-goff-best-qb-prospect
Tim,
I don’t like a bend but don’t break defensive philosophy, but, for me, it always comes down to whether or not they keep them out of the end zone. Of course you want your defense to work efficiently and get off the field quickly, but they don’t put yards given up on the scoreboard. Lol
Yeah I agree. But you don’t want to be one of those defenses that gets the ball controlled on you all day either.
gdp
There were lots of times when the offense had the chance to seal a win or close out a game, and they didn’t. Way to many times our offense went limp when it counted. Lol
Yep, it was both sides of the ball….LOL
I often complained about the systems & play calling on both sides. Now we see the players coming out & saying so….lol
Here’s a question? So, much talk about the D but how many times did our O manage to score more than 20 pts in a game? How many times did the offense fail to move the ball down the field and get into scoring position; even for a FG?
Game 1, WSH has ball over 7 min first drive kicks FG. Still in game! We get the ball and have it for a little more than a minute. WSH gets it back and misses FG. Still down by only 3. We get it back and have it for a little over a minute again. Punt.
Our defense was on the field way too much. Sometimes it was because they couldn’t make the stop but when your O can’t move the ball and the D has to keep going out there it’s a bit ridiculous.
Dallas game. 1st possession have the ball less than 3 minutes. Punt. 2nd possession. Have ball 1:18, Punt. 3rd possession, Tannehill throws pick 6. 3 offensive possessions and nothing to show for it. But, it’s all on the defense and the o-line right?
WSH had the ball 15 minutes longer than we did and Dallas had it 17 minutes longer. Why? Because the D was on the field too long? Definitely. Because the offense couldn’t move the ball.
Boy, it must’ve been Walker, Ocala and MF13 who I had all those discussions with about our bend but don’t break defense’s back then. Lol
M13 refers to us as a soft zone bend but don’t break defense. Not sure about Walker and Ocala.
Nobody is saying the offense had a good season because it didn’t. We can have a conversation about one side without defending or trashing the other. This conversation started based on what Michael Thomas said. Gee I wonder where this wants to go, hmmmmm…. LOL
gdp
The players can go suck an egg. I watched them not execute all year long. They need to step up and take responsibility for not performing. It was not just a coaching thing, by a long stretch. Coaches don’t miss tackles, miss blocks, drop balls, run crappy routes, or throw shitty passes. These players did not perform last year. They need to admit that…at least to themselves…if they’re gonna get better. Stop blaming coaching.
That’s also why we moved on from some of those players. When you’re bad changes have to be made, especially with a new coaching staff.
Tim Knight says:
April 6, 2016 at 2:36 pm
Does it take into account allowing 3rd and 17s to go for 1st downs in crucial times in a game?
———–
They weight the value of yardage gained differently for down and distance.
For example, a 4 yard run on 3rd and 5 is weighted more heavily than a run of 4 yards on 3rd and 17.
Tim,
I agree. Both sides of the ball underperformed. I just think the defense is getting a little too much of the blame given they were right in the middle of the pack in scoring. Both sides of the ball need to improve, for sure.
It’s mostly based on what Thomas said about using basically only 10 calls.
I always use complimentary football. We weren’t good at it.
Tim Knight says:
April 6, 2016 at 2:37 pm
Ah that sucks. RIP Merle. Even though Okie From Muskogee was a dorky song. LOL
———————————-
My favorite from him was Mamma Tried. He was really core to the honky tonk country movement, which is really well before my years but i really dig songs from that era of country music. I like a good bit of bluegrass too.
My Mom and one of my uncles are big country fans. I like the older haunting sounding stuff. I also dig bluegrass. Whenever I use my daughter’s car she has Sirius, I put on the bluegrass station.
Randy says:
April 6, 2016 at 2:02 pm
Al,
And Carr didn’t have anything to do with the improvement of Oakland’s OL? I just shake my head sometimes about how folks seem to be oblivious as to how much impact a QB has on an OL’s performance. Marino, for instance, didn’t play behind 5 HOFers his whole career, but he often made them look like it. It’s a symbiotic relationship.
—
In terms of OL improvement, I’m just going by PFF’s analysis which takes out the QB factor in their analysis (or at least claim they judge guys on an individual basis based on their play to play performance).
Randy says:
April 6, 2016 at 2:55 pm
gdp
The players can go suck an egg. I watched them not execute all year long. They need to step up and take responsibility for not performing. It was not just a coaching thing, by a long stretch. Coaches don’t miss tackles, miss blocks, drop balls, run crappy routes, or throw shitty passes. These players did not perform last year. They need to admit that…at least to themselves…if they’re gonna get better. Stop blaming coaching.
Reply
Yet coaches are a big part of that. Their teams are either disciplined or sloppy! BTW, the FO got rid of the coaches during & after the season. They saw the writing on the wall. It was way overdue with the Philbin regime.
gdp
Basically the same FO that stood behind those coaches and hired them in the first place. And now we’re supposed to trust their judgement? Lol
***
And ask any player, and I would bet they’ll tell you it’s on them to perform. Blaming coaches for poor execution is bush league. Poor pla design? Bad playcalling? Sure…that’s on coaches. But, we saw these players screwing up every week with the basics of football. That’s on them.
***
Gotta run…good discussion.
Randy says:
April 6, 2016 at 1:57 pm
gdp
Carr is already a better QB than Tannehill. Just my opinion…I assume you feel differently. Lol
—–
I feel Carr is a better QB myself but just because I feel Carr is a better QB than RT, it doesn’t mean that it makes RT a bad QB or a non-suitable QB.
I think the defense needs a major improvement and the OL needs a step up in improvement.
QB is a very difficult position to address and it’s my opinion that everything else should be shored up before the QB position is addressed (as Seattle & Denver did to get to the top). Seattle’s current FO had the benefit of inheriting Hasselback who was good enough and that kept them focused on fixing everything on D and the skill positions on offense around the QB.
They drafted Wilson of course outside of RD 1 AFTER taking Bruce Irvin in RD 1 & Bobby Wagner in RD 2; attempting to fortify defense. How good would that D have been without Wagner? Who knows, that guy is so fast he can play S on many WR routes (and Seattle’s D disguises him as one at times by matching him up on deep routes off the snap). Seattle lucked out with the Wilson situation and they drafted him in a non-starter RD (RD 3 and below are not consider starter ready draft positions). They signed Matt Flynn to cover for Hasselbeck and the risk that a QB wouldn’t be had in the draft or that the drafted QB wouldn’t pan out. Wilson exceeded expectations and they got great returns (cut Flynn who wasn’t needed).
Denver dealt with QB such as Jay Cutler, Kyle Orton, & Tim Tebow while they drafted skill position players on offense around the QB position and pretty much made trades/FA acquisiton and drafted quality defensive players. They lucked into the Manning situation but the team effort and calculus all came together because of their focus AWAY from a low success position.
Al, Carr had the experience of 4 college seasons @ QB for about 44 games. Tannehill had 19 I believe. So naturally Carr is a lil ahead in some ways when he came in to the NFL. But Tannehill has done everything that’s asked of him, even when being handcuffed…lol…and he has shown improvement from year each year in some way, and has taken an NFL leading beating over 4 years, yet is still standing tall.
I look forward to what Gase & Co. can offer, and the new personnel as they continue to build around their ‘franchise’ (like it or not) QB.
Carr has done a very well in his first 2yrs in the league & has shown nice growth. Reggie did a good job making sure he was well protected and this has allowed him to really show off his God given talent.
Carr is an excellent young QB.
Yep. The OL graded out as the best in the league. The running games helps, as did the reemergence of Crabtree & drafting Amari Cooper too.
Yep.
GDP,
Oakland did a very nice job of building that team.
Now they need to get over the hump on defense, much like Miami does. But we still need to come together on the OL & running game as well.
I wonder if Denver might go in another direction since Colin situation is not getting any better concerning salary demands. Might a trade up in upcoming draft be in the works since they can control salaries for 4-5 years with QB’s.
Your Picks:
Round 1 Pick 13: Vernon Hargreaves III, CB, Florida (A)
Round 2 Pick 11: Vernon Butler, DT/DE, Louisiana Tech (A-)
Round 3 Pick 10: Kenneth Dixon, RB, Louisiana Tech (A)
Round 4 Pick 9: Keanu Neal, FS/SS, Florida (A-)
Round 5 Pick 8: Kelvin Taylor, RB, Florida (A-)
Round 6 Pick 11: Demarcus Robinson, WR, Florida (A-)
Round 7 Pick 6: Jeff Driskel, QB, Louisiana Tech (D)
Round 7 Pick 10: Antonio Morrison, ILB, Florida (B+)
LOL @ Florida
Why are you laughing at Florida? Other than the fact we can’t vote without fucking it up and are the depository for every old / retired fuck from NE, NJ & NY how cannot drive?
**who not how
So are you saying MikeE should have already moved to Florida?
Im mean that draft is impressive right, i got us a whole draft of players from two schools lol.
Rock, D is a Gator fan and we bust him about his Gator bias. LOL
I did that one on purpose though lol.
No worries, they do produce good prospects. I like Hargreaves and Bullard for us.
Lou
That’s such crap about the defense. If the defense plays well, they get off the field. Sure, it’s nice when your offense lets you stay off the field, but the defense operates on it’s own, and just like the opposing defense shuts u down, they can do the same. They couldn’t because they weren’t good enough, couldn’t tackle, and couldn’t stop anyone’s receivers.
Yeah they were really disappointing last year. The offense wasn’t any better. We were highly inconsistent and sub par too often. Poor complimentary football overall. Our STs were the best unit.
The whole team sucked, period.
I’ll buy that.
Went to Philly today to visit Drexel for my younger son. I think he likes it, but we’re going to visit Delaware Saturday, and then he has to make up his mind.
Did you get a cheese steak?
We didn’t. We weren’t that close to Pat’s or Geno’s, so we just ate at one o the restaurants near where we were.
What kind of food, Lithuanian or Arabic?
D
I can drive very well! 🙂
just stay off the sidewalk when Mike is driving by
I didn’t say where I drive well . . .
Mike E, send your kid to Villanova, they’ll be partying for the rest of the summer. 😉
LOL, that’s exactly how he wants hos son to start his college career.
LOL, my coworkers kid starts at Villanova next year. He told his kid, you started classes there a year too late kid.
I’m part Lithuanian, on my mother’s side. My grandmother. I’m like a Russian/Lithuanian mutt. Maybe a 1/4 English, my grandfather was English.
Boooo!!! LOL
Wrong spot! LOL
So your dog was Arabic?
Tim said
“Yeah they were really disappointing last year. The offense wasn’t any better. We were highly inconsistent and sub par too often. Poor complimentary football overall. Our STs were the best unit.”
This is what happens when you keep a coach that should have been fired too long. Ross made the same mistake with sparano then with philbin and I bet he’ll make it again with Gase.
Boo!!!! LOL
Positive outlook on the new coaching staff much? LOL
I was not a fan of the Gase hire. (quarterback whisperer my ass) no experience as a HC again. But I am in a wait and see mode.
By that logic you hate all draft picks too.
Has he decided what career path he is looking for Mike?
Business and Engineering
Have ya looked at Hofstra? Im assuming you are tyring to stay somewhere near where you are?
Drexel has an excellent co-op program where you go to school 5 years, and do 18 months of co-ops, where you work in your field for 6 month intervals, and actually get paid pretty well, about $17K each co-op. You also get to interview each co-op period, so you get great experience with each interview, and each co-op work period.
Mike E, if you are over 50 and from one of the three states I mentioned I assure you, YOU CANNOT DRIVE no matter how good you think you are. LOL
LOL – Is that right? Who says?
I read it on the internet…..Wait, I wrote it on the internet and then read it. Does that still make it true?
Yes
Boulder, Ross said he learned his lesson. As soon as Gase losses his first game he’ll be fired.
I haven’t seen it in person, but do you guys remember “Logan’s Run” where everyone had a jewel in their hand that changed colors when the “death clock” was up for them? They have something similar on the drivers licenses in NE, NJ & NY. It turns clear and they ship the SOB’s off to Florida to ruin our traffic.
Mike E. says:
April 6, 2016 at 4:48 pm
I didn’t say where I drive well . . .
good 1
Hofstra has a really solid business program and in the top 50 in engineering. I was going to attend there and had invitation to try out for the football program for possible scholarship (walk on invite) way back in the day of course lol.
My parents kinda shot it down though. I graduated at age 17 and they werent comfortable with me being so far from home.
Especially up in Yankee territory. 😉
Mike E. says:
April 6, 2016 at 4:53 pm
Drexel has an excellent co-op program where you go to school 5 years, and do 18 months of co-ops, where you work in your field for 6 month intervals, and actually get paid pretty well, about $17K each co-op. You also get to interview each co-op period, so you get great experience with each interview, and each co-op work period.
——————————-
Oh yeah that is really nice.
^^^ THIS!!!!
Mike, the only proof I have for my position that old drivers from NE, NJ & NY cannot drive is that when you are driving on I95 in Broward / Palm Beach counties and you come upon a clusterfuck of traffic and everyone is losing their minds changing lanes trying to get around the slow down, you always come up on a car with plates from…you guessed it. NE, NJ or NY. 20 miles under the speed limit in the center or left lane!
I have screamed 95 north until you smell NJ and then make a right 10000 times. LOL
D
Hofstra is a very good school, my wife actually took a course there. I met her once in the library to study, we were both taking math courses, she was talking Calc, I was taking Trig and Physics.
That was when we both lived in Brooklyn.
And before Tim get’s his dancing tights all in a bunch. I have seen upstate NJ and it is very pretty. Just the area around NYC has a stink to it….
Kind of like a combination of cat piss and petroleum byproducts.
LMAO!!!!
Rock, it’s around the industrial areas that smell and then if you’re by the meadowlands it can stink but some of that is the natural smell of the marshes. Driving on the Turnpike you get all kinds of shit smells along the way.
I’m pretty courteous as a driver. I like to drive fast, but if I’m with my wife, (she doesn’t like me driving fast), I’ll get out of the left lane when someone wants to get by. I wouldn’t be one of those drivers you can’t stand, at least not yet, maybe in another 10-20 years. lol
I am too and I’ve mellowed a bit over the years. I’m a defensive driver where I’m always looking out for idiots so I can avoid them.
It’s tough when you have to get out of the left emergency lane when someone wants to pass.Don’t they know you have places to be also
rock,
I’m not saying gase won’t work out. I hope he does. All I’m saying if he isn’t working out Ross will keep him an extra couple of years before actually firing him. 🙂
People are allowed to change and learn from their mistakes. What if we’re 7-9 for the next 2 yrs, while Gase figures it out, then Ross cuts him loose like Clev. did with Belicheat, and Gase becomes the next great coach for another team?
Tim Knight says:
April 6, 2016 at 1:31 pm
Armando, take your bra off and go watch some sports you old bag. LOL
——————————————–
When Suh and Jennings said something similar, it was like Ok, they get a pass, because of what they’ve accomplished in their careers, but Thomas talking about the vanilla schemes and the coaches not letting them play is out of line. Young players that haven’t accomplished anything don’t get to bitch.
What was said, was said, now be accountable for your own play and getter done.
How do you know he was bitching? Maybe he was asked about last season and he spoke candidly. Thomas is a good guy, I’ve heard him speak before and he’s a cool dude, not an asshole. His role would be better suited as a slot DB and dime Safety. He was kept around to play the same role as Jimmy Wilson but got thrown in at S out of necessity.
Ok, maybe not bitching, but he didn’t have to say anything about the situation, and he did, to me that’s wrong, and might get him booted.
I drive like a maniac
and that’s just the way it is fuckfaces!
You sons of bitches are lucky to share a road with me!!!
I have no problem with the aggressive drivers, as long as they give me a chance to get out of the way. Don’t ride up on my ass when I have no place to go.
On the other hand, and LV is horrible for people driving slow in the fast lane, get your candy ass out of the fast lane when you’re going too slow. Too slow here is less than 75 in a 65, and 80 in the carpool lane.
there is only one rule that matters
THE ROAD IS MINE!
Pig’s future:
Mike E,
It’s only crap about the defense because nobody wants to admit the reason why the offense couldn’t move the ball is because the qb couldn’t do the job
Getter is the only one here saying that RT can do no wrong, everyone else that backs RT knows he has faults, and for this team to make the playoffs he needs to improve in several areas.
What’s crap is to blame the defense when our offense scored more than 20 pts 3 times all season long. Yeah, the defense didn’t do it’s job because it didn’t hold every team to less than 20 pts. The offense get’s the ball multiple times in a game and can’t get into scoring position, many times for 3 and out’s, and it’s the defense that didn’t do their jobs. What a crock of bullshit.
Neither side did the job. The systems were crap, so was the play calling.
It’s a team game and they didn’t play complimentary football. To blame one guy is getting really old. How about the OC making the offense one dimensional with an OL that struggles in pass pro but keep doing it every week. We were dead last in rushing attempts last year at 21.5 PG and RT and Landry accounted for some of them. Absurd.
steve,
yea the old belicheat example.
In today’s NFL a coach gets 3 years to make the playoffs. Anything more usually spells disaster because the players lose confidence in the coach. That’s a big reason our season sucked last year. Just hear the players right now. They all say we hated the coaching last year. Why? It was the same coaches as 2 years ago and 3 years ago.
It was apparent against Wash. there was a problem, the players came out flat, like they didn’t want to play for Joe, and I said as much that day. The first teams looked great in preseason, then laid an egg to start the season, it didn’t add up.
Agreed.
It’s really not about making the playoffs for Gase to be kept after 2 yrs, it’s about how the team is playing and the mood of the team (dysfunctional?). Do you really think they’d let him walk, if he had 2 10-6 seasons and we didn’t make the playoffs? The other big sign is the play of RT, if he doesn’t improve enough under Gase that could be his undoing.
RT can do no wrong. He’s perfect. I kneel before his holiness.
You guys are lugnuts! smh…lol
Right on cue Squiggy!
Or should I say Tannehill’s pissboy 😉
apparently you haven’t read my posts since you usually come on late.
I’ve now built an alter & shine to the Tanny god.
A friend of mine in Tahoe had a Jerry Rice shrine, and he’d rub it when Jerry did something noteworthy.
I think Ross has learned from his give an extension to the coach, when things aren’t going well.
2015 can be summed up as dysfunctional and a smokescreen. That’s why I give some players a free pass for last yr, but Taylor isn’t one of them, nor were the OGs and LBs and S.
“and he’d rub it when Jerry did something noteworthy”
Anywhere? Anytime? He didn’t care who saw it or where he was he just rubbed it?
Congrats to Piggylaw.com, helluva start counselor.
good for you piggy. you are the man
Lou
I can admit that Ryan Tannehill didn’t play as well as he should have, or even as well he thinks he should have. On the other hand, he’s one guy, albeit an important on an offense that didn’t execute well in general, putting too much emphasis on the passing game when the team couldn’t adequately pass protect. Usually when you don’t do something well, even if it was Ryan Tannehill solely responsible for why it wasn’t doing well, why ask him to throw more? That’s a coaching failure if ever there was one, both by the OC and the Head Coach.
Your fix, short of replacing Tannehill is to run the ball more. Why didn’t we do that last year? We had more success run blocking than pass protecting, yet we threw way more than we ran. Failure, no?
Because Lazor was overmatched and arrogant.
Steve
He, he, he, he , he , he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he
Randy,
Our QB only made one 4th qtr TD pass when we were within 7 points – for the entire season!
(Eagles game very early 4th qtr, mostly a 3rd qtr drive, and it was all we scored the rest of the way but the D held it.)
As well our kicker, and this is off memory, only kicked one 4th qtr FG of any importance and it was in one of the last 2 games.
Our O just doesn’t produce crap late in games and it costs us a lot of wins.
Son, that seemed when the coaching / play calling broke down the worse. They’d go away from Miller in the 2nd half and especially in 4th qtr, & got conservative on defense. Can’t win that way.
The 4th quarter, we’d go away from Miller in the 2nd quarter.
How many times did we trail by only 7 in the 4th quarter? I’m just asking, I don’t know. I agree it’s an area that needs to improve. But we were trailing in a quite a few games by more than that.
The new chef might be a Cook
let’s hope its a sous chef.
You’re probably going to be disappointed.
We’d be stupid to leave Shaq Lawson on the board. Fired up mofo such as he is then put along side Suh and Williams.
Him, Dodd, or Ogbah and I’d be a happy camper. Down goes Brady!
I like them too
BPA on our board. That’s what we should do.
This is now considered a fact!
No that’s still quite the opinion. 🙂
Love River Monsters…makes you think twice about any body of water😂
Just stay away from far away jungles. LOL
I was just speaking of Oakland needing to fix their defense too.
Raiders signed S Reggie Nelson to a two-year contract.
Nelson’s market was slow to develop, but he was easily the top safety remaining after leading the NFL with 8 interceptions last year. It’s an impact signing for an Oakland secondary that ranked in the bottom-half of the league. Nelson will replace Charles Woodson’s role as a ballhawking safety in DC Ken Norton’s scheme.
We had an in with Nelson with VJ and we didn’t pursue him. Makes you wonder what was up?
His age is what was up I guess. He’ll be 33 in Sept.
How many teams can sport the Isa-Ifo defense? lol
The encouraging thing is that Reggie Nelson had a career year under VJ. Let’s hope he can get success out of the secondary that we finally employ.
I like Lawson
but everytime I select a DE in a mock
I have a hard time addressing other needs
And I personally think Williams + Wake as bookend DEs might work out nicely
we have a lot of depth at DE
But if Williams and Wake do not work out as starters together with Suh – then we have a bit of a hole at DE
BPA, try one strictly based on that instead of saying okay now I need a RB and another LB. LOL
I like BPA
but if we go strictly BPA and end up not selecting a player at a particular position (for example CB or RB) it can really end up being an Achilles heal
Al things being equal
if the choice was between a CB or DE
lets say a player like Hargreaves or Lawson
I take the CB everytime
of course Hargreaves may be off the board while Lawson stays on
I’m just not sure we go DE early even if the talent is there
Ifoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Ifooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Piggy, just try it. I will too.
Cassanova McKinzy