This is the last unit of the team to look at, after covering the defense and the offense, and this year, we seem to have really tried to upgrade the special teams, especially the return game. Shockingly, we’ve even brought in competition for long time long snapper John Denney. There will also be competition for the place kicker spot as well, but the real competition will be for punt returner and/or kick returner. Special teams aren’t just the specialists, such as the K, P, KR/PR, there the guys who fly down the field with abandon, and sacrifice their bodies in violent collisions either blocking the pursuit, or trying to race past and disengage blocks to make the tackle.
Let’s take a look at who we’ve brought in this season, both from the draft, and as UDFA’s.
Kenyan Drake
Jakeem Grant
RB Kenyan Drake will not only be in the mix at RB, but he will also provide the team with some special teams help. Drake was the gunner at Alabama, and that’s a very important cog in the special teams coverage. WR Leonte Carroo will be in the mix at WR, but also will be in competition for KR/PR with incumbent returner Jarvis Landry. Shifty, blazing fast WR Jakeem Grant also will be heavily involved in the competition for return man, with Landry and Carroo. Landry would play every down and do every return, but that’s too much of a drain, so the Dolphins are looking to give him some help, to keep him fresh during the game. I’m excited to see if these guys can upgrade our return unit, which was pretty solid already with Landry.
K Marshall Koehn
Long Snapper Ryan DiSalvo
Punter Matt Darr
K Andrew Franks
Punter Matt Darr has proved his mettle, and will be unchallenged for the punter spot. Last years kicker Andrew Franks, who was solid last season, especially on kickoffs, now faces another contender, rookie K Marshall Koehn. Rumor has it Diggs put in a good word for Koehn and got him the in, but I can neither verify nor dispute that. Koehn (pronounced Cane) is a very versatile athlete, who also played WR and DB, as well as playing baseball, soccer and for Stanger, lettered twice as wrestler in High School. This is no ordinary kicker! Very strong leg, and regularly placed kickoffs in the end zone, he should make the challenge fun to watch this preseason.
Besides the regular position battles, I’m definitely looking forward to see how our return game shakes out, because now, my thought is Damien Williams will step aside and let the new talent juice up our return game. They are called the “hidden yards” in a game, but as we all know, strong special teams can really help out the team, both with strong coverage on kicks and punts, and electric returns, long punts, ALL play a crucial part in the battle for field position.
Go DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
Our special teams were actually pretty good last year. I’m excited to see what the new blood brings to the team. We have a very good special teams coach so I have high hopes for this unit.
Oh first
I’ll run down kicks…put me in coach!
LOL yeah like once a game. The rest of the game you would be sitting on the bench sucking oxygen old man.
Now don’t take offense I would get half way down the field before I had to stop to get some oxygen
I’m excited to see the first time Grant returns 1 by running through the legs of one of the gunners
Do you get excited every time the wind blows Paper/Scissors 😉
On the radio this morning, they were saying I don’t get the home vs road disparity. How can GSW win by 32 at home, then lose by 30 on the road? Really, they can’t see the Homerism displayed by the zebras, SMFH. I turned it off in the 1st half, because I knew the outcome.
https://twitter.com/MDCheer/status/740869792073015296
Very nice, but the Dolphin Dolls of the 70s ruled 😉
They talk about the sky being the limit for the O and D, it would be less far fetched, if our ST were the best in the league. We should see ST TDs, and the coverage units could be really special. Add to that physical specimens like Dion Jordan and Fede, and it’s easy to see why. I don’t ever remember this much on ST before.
Fuck off WY, but that’s funny as hell.
The Dolls made Marcia Brady look like Cindy.
They talk about the sky being the limit for the O and D, it would be less far fetched, if our ST were the best in the league. We should see ST TDs, and the coverage units could be really special. Add to that physical specimens like Dion Jordan and Fede, and it’s easy to see why. I don’t ever remember this much on ST before.
Maybe we can get some more tidbits to argue about? 😉
James Walker @JamesWalkerNFL 1m1 minute ago
The #Dolphins have OTAs open to the media today. Practice tweets upcoming within the hour.
Count on it, especially if the bald headed coconut has input.
I’v actually blocked him on Twitter!
So I don’t have to know what kind of shoes to buy?
He’s good during camp scrimmages, but that’s about it.
Wyoming, you ever go to the famous Wyoming hot springs.
My Dad is from Thermopolis!
So ya I’ve been the many times
Any good?
Smell like sulpher and it’s hotter the hell!
There is some interesting stuff to do around there though
Go see the buffalo
Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter 14m14 minutes ago
No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff is expected to sign four-year contract with Rams today, per sources. Deal will be worth about $28 million.
MLB Draft is today . . . Anyone here care in the least?
No
I do. Mets need to find David Wright’s replacement, and stock up on pitching again.
So that’s what’s up with the special teams. I only asked several days ago.
Patience my friend, patience . . .
James Walker @JamesWalkerNFL 2m2 minutes ago
#Dolphins DT Ndamukong Suh made another play to blow up the O-line. LB Koa Misi cleans up the run play for minus yards.
So they don’t know what’s going on with Parker, yet they say it’s an injury. Using social media gives these hacks a place to spew anything they like fact or not. I too think Parker is hurt, but it’s most likely minor.
It could be a hammy or something as simple as that. Guys get dinged up playing this sport.
If you didn’t read the article
You will never guess who started the speculation!
Nice job Mike E
I am looking forward to some competition for Franks. I still don’t trust him. He missed a couple of xps last year and I don’t care that they moved the xp back, they are still chip shots
Thanks Ken
That Koehn is a pretty good athlete, although I have no idea if he’s a better kicker than Franks.
You might get Randy to talk about something beside QB now?
I heard he has a very strong leg.
Mike E — great breakdown. And I am so with you on getting Landry out of the return game. His energy should be spent as a wideout option. And he’s become important enough that the injury risk isn;t worth it. Only way I could see him is as the “hands” guys in situations where the punt will be short.
I’d still use him as a return man in big spots.
In big spots when we have the lead, but when a play needs to be made I want Grant back there. Now if our O looks great and I don’t need a big return and just want the ball, then I’ll want Landry back there.
In any big spot I’d put him out there, he’s good at.
Rams playing against the Saints in the playoffs, with the greatest show on turf, trailing all game, but we’re getting the ball back with a couple of minutes left fumbled the punt and lost the game.
And Mike E — great game last night. You guys broke the recent Buc’s curse.
Yeah and look at what it came down to. Familia is very good but man he can test your nerves. LOL
Mike E, good write up. We have a lot more options in the return game than I can remember.
Andrew Abramson @AbramsonPBP 26m26 minutes ago
Gase says DeVante Parker injury is not foot related
That’s good.
Wyoming,
I am deeply hurt. I have refrained from talking about QBs for quite some time. I even spoke positively about our QB just a few weeks ago. It’s almost like you haven’t noticed my efforts, and all my tongue-biting has been for naught!
steveccnv says:
June 9, 2016 at 1:11 pm
Rams playing against the Saints in the playoffs, with the greatest show on turf, trailing all game, but we’re getting the ball back with a couple of minutes left fumbled the punt and lost the game.
Not following ya?
In that situation in the Rams game their O was rolling, if they hadn’t fumbled the punt, their chances of winning were very good. They didn’t need a big return, just the ball. In that type of situation I want Landry returning the punt, trailing, but in control.
Ignore the rumors
I spoke with the Sweet Screw and he thinks Parker will be fine
He always says he wants to hug you all
which I found to be a bit awkward
steveccnv says:
June 9, 2016 at 9:30 am
Very nice, but the Dolphin Dolls of the 70s ruled😉
Wyoming, Steve said the Dolphin Dolls OF the 70s. NOT Dolphin Dolls IN their 70’s!
And Steve, no, no they did not. LOL
Bengals Buzztap @bengalsbuzztap 10m10 minutes ago
foxsports.com >> Former Browns teammate says pressure Johnny Manziel faced would’ve driven him to suicide http://buzztap.com/-I1Vy1b
0 retweets 0 likes
—————————–
Man doesnt take muh to drive people to suicide these days…OMG i got to live my life right and stop partying and only caring about getting high and hangin with the boys….gotta blow my brains out….
Right!?? Ohhh boooooo hoooooooo the pressure of making $5,533,916.00 in two years for doing NOTHING.
Where is Johnny’s great defender these days anyway? Too busy brewing beer to stop in anymore?
Pat White Part deux. (except Pat White had his shit together)
Bucs coach Dirk Koetter removed Austin Seferian-Jenkins from practice on Thursday.
While practice was still going on, Seferian-Jenkins posted a tweet which read, “MOVING ON!!!!” That tweet has since been deleted, but a post saying he cannot “let the negative stuff get to” him remains.
Koetter said afterward he sent ASJ off for not “knowing what he was doing,” but cautioned not to make too much of the situation. A second-round pick in 2014, Seferian-Jenkins has played in just 16 games in two seasons. It is not out of the question he loses his job to Cameron Brate.
Wow.
D — seems that after benching a guy, the greatest power a coach has these days is putting a quote on a guy when he hits free agency. And that is a serious leverage move…..least their agents will know that.
Thanks Stanger, Tim
I was thinking Familia was gonna blow it, he tried really hard to! Like either Gary Cohen or Ron Darling said, the Pirates match up very well against the Mets, they’re very much like the KC Royals, they pitch, they hit for average, they run the bases well, and they play good defense.
Yep! The Mets struggle to manufacture runs and if they don’t hit HRs they struggle to score runs. Both teams had chances to blow the game open but couldn’t. The Mets had 2nd and 3rd and nobody out and don’t score. Ugh!
Sorta of the smart game plan for a team that doesn’t have money enough to buy the latest superstar flavor of the year. 🙂
Tim
They can be a very frustrating team to watch. They’re definitely a station to station team, no base stealing, no hit and run, nothing. That’s why I wanted us to get Gerardo Parra. He can bat leadoff, play any OF spot, hits for average, and can steal bases. Instead, we picked up De’Aza
Why don’t you guys go and set up a Met’s blog…….?
It’s not like we’re posting nonstop about it. Sheesh!
LOL I didn’t tell you to stop. I ASKED why don’t you. LOL
Tim & Mike E. — hope on that Mets blog Rock wants you to set up you mention Jameson Taillon’s curveball.
Yeah I hated losing the game, but very few people on the planet have one like that. And you guys are going to see that one for years and years to come.
Really liked my first look at him.
OL depth chart currently.
LT Albert
LG Tunsil probably
C Pouncey
RG Douglas maybe
RT James
Then we have a bunch of guys competing at various positions. Douglas has been working at C and both G spots, lol. He’s got a good chance to start or be one of the 7 that go to the game because he can play every interior position. So even if he doesn’t start I think he’ll make the team. That’s 5 OL. We’ll likely keep 3 or 4 more.
Front runners based on experience are Bushrod and Urbik. Bushrod is going to be asked to play inside but can also provide depth at tackle. Urbik can play all the positions, maybe not at the highest levels, but he’s very versatile.
The next two I’m not so sure about. Turner if he steps up his overall game. Maybe there’s a sleeper in the group. A bunch of guys who have a lot to prove whether just starting, 2nd year or even a 4th year like Thomas. McClendon and Young are still trying to make teams in their 6th seasons.
What say you?
Stanger
Yeah man, Taillon looks real good, and that was his debut, so you couldn’t have asked for more than that. He’s going to be a good one for a long time
Maybe, if you’re lucky, Ross will buy the Pirates. 🙂
LOL – would love an owner more interested in winning than the payroll.
Tim
Not sure who ends up at RG, but I do think Tunsil will play LG. I think Bushrod will be our swingman if there’s an injury at T
I agree and I think that will help his development for when he moves to LT and eventually replaces Albert. Knowing what the guy at LG is doing will be valuable experience. He already has the feet and ability to play out in space. Learning guard will make him a better player.
Céspedes!
Stanger
The disparity between the Mets and Pirates payroll is not as much as you would think. Pirates is $105M, Mets is $132M. That’s not all that much, considering the Dodgers payroll is $243M
I’ll trust you on those figures, but then I do know where the Mets were before and our owner has popped up a but. So if anything maybe we are getting closer, even as I note we let Walker walk to you guys cause we couldn’t pay him. You guys in our club now?
—————-
“The Pirates finished the 2015 season with a record payroll of $95,889,960, surpassing their previous record by roughly $17.5 million.
Despite the increase, the Pirates ranked 24th in payroll among the 30 MLB teams. They ranked 27th in 2014.”
is anyone here into women’s lacrosse? Let’s talk about that!
Do you guys see Madison Cyr got the nod for first team in the women’s lacrosse all star team?
stangerx says:
June 9, 2016 at 3:42 pm
LOL – would love an owner more interested in winning than the payroll.
—–
Yep. They sent Taillon back to the minors to avoid Super 2 status.
No shit? The Mets would have, and have done that as well
Did they really? Know you hate Loria, but can’t even hate the Bucs’ front office staff at least on that one.
Rock
I like women’s softball. I can watch that and enjoy it.
Especially when the P has a nice
assfastball. lolhttp://www.spotrac.com/mlb/new-york-mets/payroll/
http://www.spotrac.com/mlb/pittsburgh-pirates/payroll/
I completely believed you on that.
My best advice is to get OD interested in the Mets and sick him on the team. I know how much tickets cost both in the stadium and in their huge market. Would be different if I though the metskies were rebuilding.
LOL – OD would be killing the Wilpons daily
http://www.bucsdugout.com/2016/6/9/11895274/pirates-option-jameson-taillon-to-indianapolis
Well, on second thought, they want to limit his innings. I didn’t realize he missed about 2 years of baseball due to injury.
Saw him pitch last night. The innings were ones we want against the count in the MLB. He’d push our #4 and #5 starters to the bullpen in a second.
Al — didn’t doubt you….and am not surprised. Guess the bean counters figured out what they did……they actually had him skip a start at AAA for the same reason by reports.
You ever watch Lobstein pitch? No mystery on why the move was done.
Is Lobstein a Jewish Lobster? lol
Yes he is — what gonna make a crack about who wants a a jewish pitcher with “Lob” in the name, but then realized what you come back would be.
How about Curling? Anyone want to talk about sliding a stone across the ice and chasing it with brooms? Anyone? anyone? It would be more interesting that this talk about the freaking mets!!!!
I guess I’ll check back in with you guys in July when there is football stuff to discuss. LOL 😉
Hey man, I put the article out there, discuss special teams dammit! 😉
I just posted about the OL and you ignored it. LOL
Yeah Rock, yeah!!!!!! lol
Why call him Rock, why not paper-scissors
Curling is a bizarre sport
if it could even be considered a sport……Even so, it is more entertaining than baseball. Hell Sleeping on the couch “watching” golf is more entertaining than baseball. HELL! getting a colon / rectal exam is more entertaining than baseball.
I am just bustin balls. I DESPISE baseball. The most boring sport ever invented. Besides don’t you guys know that the purpose of your whole existence is to entertain me when I am bored at work???? Now someone write something about the Dolphins for me to read pronto!
Oh I guess the whole OL discussion is just too boring. LOL
Even better, here’s pictures
http://prod.www.dolphins.clubs.nfl.com/multimedia/photo-gallery/DOLPHINS-DARKROOM-Dolphins-Continue-Work-During-Week-Three-Of-OTAs/45fa90a3-bd33-4a1b-a969-238206532208
Sorry Tim, I see now that you did post something about the O line. I must have been scrolling past all the baseball crap so fast that I missed the ONE Dolphins post in the last 2 hours……
I think the O line will be much better this year. With Albert, James and Pouncey healthy we have a very good foundation (cross fingers that they stay healthy) I expect our young guards to develop some more this year and with the addition of the competition from some vets hopefully the position get’s straightened out.
Although I did hear that Tunsil got beat by Suh today.. Oh the humanity!
Oh crap, he’s a bust.
Smalls!
LOL@Tim. Christensen said something earlier in the week praising Tunsil, but tempered it a little by saying something along the lines of don’t make a bust for him yet. (meaning a hall of fame bust) but I read it as “Bust” as in draft bust and was like WTF Coach? Damn, it’s just OTA’s. Then I read it again and shook my head at myself.
Mike E, I think the performance of special teams this year will be a good indicator on the quality of our depth on the team. There is a direct correlation between the quality of depth and the performance of special teams in my opinion.
That’s true Rock, and I think the quality we have at returner is pretty impressive.
Maybe, but it generally says nothing about your core players. The teams that suck that get the best talent from the draft can be pretty good on ST, but still sucks overall.
Ok, carry on with your Mets talk. I’m out for the evening.
Nogtih Rock
Love ya Rock…..but you can put out whatever you want to to get going. 🙂
Mets talk? Hi, goodbye……
Now you’re talking Tim….I’ll be mesmerized the rest of the evening staring at those brutes.
LMAO!!!
GDP
Do you think you guys picked up Kelly Johnson just in case we wanted him again?
LOL, seems like it….but the way the Braves are playing, I think they’d pick up Ham Porter, Tommy Repeat, or Michael Squints if they thought any one of them could pitch or hit better better than their major league crew of misfits in Atlanta.
Sooo glad to read that Gase is saying that the minor Parker injury is NOT his repaired foot….
He’ll be fine. He’s going to be a beast this season
It could be as simple as a hammy or groin and he needs to cut back is all. Most of what this new coaching staff has stressed has been getting guys ready to go for TC. Mentally and physically.
Parker could be a beast this season. I expect it. 🙂
ATL is on the on the clock, if you’re interested GDP
The Braves draft Jethro Tull, Ian Anderson
And his flute.
It was either a pitcher, or flautist, they went with the flautist
Mets are supposed to be hot and heavy for 3B Will Craig, Wake Forest
I said earlier that I thought we had pretty decent special teams last year……after further review I would like to retract that statement.
Let me tell you whats up with our special teams;
2015 stats
Field goals made – 13 – 32nd in the league
Field goal percentage – 81.3% – 25th in the league
Extra Point made – 33 – 18th
Extra Point percentage – 91.7% – 23rd
Our kicking was not good
Punt yards – 4380 – 3rd (Dar has a big leg)
Long Punt – 70 yds – 4th (Dar has a big leg)
Punt ave – 47.6 – 3rd (Dar has a big leg)
Net ave – 41.9 – 10th (our coverage team could be better)
Punts Blocked – 0 – tied for best with 22 other teams. LOL
Inside 20 – 30 – 8th
Touch backs – 10 – 31st in the league (maybe Dar’s leg is too big?)
Fair Caught – 15 – Returned – 50 (2nd worst in the league)
Return Yds – 526 – 3rd worst in the league
Return Ave – 10.5 yds – 6th worst in the league
Dar is good, needs to work on accuracy, our coverage teams were BAD
Kick off return ave – 22.3 – 21st
Punt return ave – 10.3 – 6th
Return game Meh I think it had to do with blocking from the gunners
Oh, sorry Mets
Its also rumored that Lippett has watched the Mets play before…
Zach Jackson on PFT is dumb. He wrote that article and said Lippett had a three Int practice, and then embedded a link to the story…….The three Int practice was last year under Philben…….
One time, in summer camp…Lippett got three Int’s in a practice…
METS-METS-METS-METS-METS-METS-METS-METS-METS-METS-METS-METS-METS
Is this code for something?
It’s his way of trying to rally that sad ass offense.
https://twitter.com/MDCheer/status/740961723805487105
Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter 10h10 hours ago
Buccaneers’ HC Dirk Koetter dismissed TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins from practice during practice today….
Smart dude.
http://www.miamidolphins.com/multimedia/videos/Adam-Gase-Analyzes-Dolphins-2016-OTAs/8c7e1027-5f0f-4536-aa19-7e79c1906c0b
Yeah, I sense he’s got more of a clue, then what we’ve had since Shula.
Hmmmmm….
He said some positive things about Kenny Stills
Singling him out
Hmmmmmm……
Wyo,
Austin Seferian-Jenkins was responding to people trolling him on Twitter last night with stuff like “I heard your momma sucked my d*cK” kind of stuff.”.
Nice to hear that Lippett is really fighting for a starting job, and so far at least, looks pretty good.
Mike E,
In the event Reshad follows through with a hold out, who gets reps at SS?
Al, we better look elsewhere, because I don’t want Shamiel Schlamazel. Maybe they move Isis over and give Aikens another shot
Piggy
They’re obviously trying to pump Stills up
You got an agenda Mike?
Agenda? No, because what would my agenda amount to? I have an opinion though. The guy did nothing last year, they’d like him to do something this year.
Mike E,
Speaking of the Mets, saw this the other day on Twitter
Elias Sports Bureau @EliasSports Jun 7
No team since 1915 Phillies finished season 1st in NL in HR & last in hits. #Mets are currently in that position.
7 pm ET vs #Pirates
@ESPN
Walker talking about growing pains, because of a new coach and system. Wouldn’t growing pains require actually taking a step back from success? All this talk a team needs to jelly, anger get comfortable in a system can be over blown. They’re playing football, most rookies need a little time, but it’s not rocket science.
Jelly anger, auto correct must’ve thought this was an NBA post. Flopping on the court like a fish😀Sponge Bob jellyfish…
I didn’t realize the NFL had taken away OTA from Ravens over the John Harbaugh thing where he had players wear pads for some drills.
Sounds pretty stupid to punish an ownership/management group by taking away activities that help guys trying to make the roster.
They should have just left it as a fine but I guess the union likes agendas.
http://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/article-1/NFL-Ruling-Ravens-Lose-One-Week-Of-Organized-Team-Activities-Fined/2fb695d0-cde3-42a8-88d0-80bab5df8f93
It’s in the CBA that you can’t do it, if they just make it a fine owners may be happy to pay it to get an advantage. With the Brady appeal BS they’re also trying to keep the penalties consistent.
Steve,
Agreed on your last comment. These guys have played football for years and many of the rookie to 2nd year players have played for big time college programs and have been involved in big time games. NFL experience is all they are lacking which involves not only a faster game but smarter players who better attack weaknesses.
Steve,
I think Gase in his last presser talked about the game experience of this year’s rookie class…he mentioned how many had played in big games back in college and the importance of game experience as a player.
I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be able to go 11-5. Look at the mess of an organization we’ve been for a while now, and have been real close to the playoffs several times. You can’t tell me, because they need time to adjust there’s going to be growing pains, just for the sake of it.
Of course there’s going to be growing pains, but it doesn’t have to be season long, and affect wins and loses. I see it more like the 49ers with Harbaugh, he took over a talented team that was a mess on top, we could be like that. I expect us to be like that. Getting everyone on the same page with morale up is more important.
Steve,
I think the important change at least with respect with the defense is the experience that was added. Gase mentioned how young this group is (said most guys are 25 or under) but the Fins at least have added veterans to both OL-DL in hopes of finding better trench play (which in theory should lead to better results).
I agree, trench play I believe is better manned by experienced players. Proven by OL playing well into their 30s, OL play longer than DL, because they don’t have to be as athletic.
By the way, classes end today at UCLA.
Duarte now has the full go to play with the Dolphins 🙂
How ridiculous is that?
For real. You mean a player can’t just stop going to classes and blow off an entire semester the minute he gets drafted and signs a contract? lol.
You go to college to get a job, he’s got a job, college is now holding him back from succeeding in it. These players should be taking BS classes their last semesters anyways. If I’m a recruiter like Saban, and a top recruit wants to go to a Pac10 school I’m telling him the disadvantages of late semesters. When the Pac10 gets wind of it after losing players, they’ll change.
Mike E. says:
June 10, 2016 at 9:42 am (Edit)
Piggy
They’re obviously trying to pump Stills up
*********************
Reply
steveccnv says:
June 10, 2016 at 9:46 am (Edit)
You got an agenda Mike?
********************
Reply
Mike E. says:
June 10, 2016 at 10:12 am (Edit)
Agenda? No, because what would my agenda amount to? I have an opinion though. The guy did nothing last year, they’d like him to do something this year.
Not sure why you keep bashing. I’ll bash players I want to be cut, if I don’t like their performance from one year, but still feel they have something to offer I’ll just wait and give them some time. Do you feel he has nothing to offer?
Steve,
I’m just looking forward to the situation football stuff improving with the addition of those vets.
How may times did we see stupid fouls called during games? False starts on 1st downs. Even with the more talented guys such as Vernon killed the Fins with dumb personal fouls on 3rd downs that cost the Fins possessions.
Mike E,
The only solace you can find in Gase’s words is that while he praised Stills knowledge of the offense and his leadership skills in showing others how to understand those concepts, Adam still said “Stills focus is smaller ( than Landry’s)” thus admitting that he’s not going to be asked to do much relative to other guys at the position.
Al
The Mets need to improve their situational hitting an awful lot if they want to go far this season. They’re the NL worst with RISP. It can’t stay that way all season long.
Al
I have nothing against Stills except his lack of production last season. I hope does well for us, but I think he’s going to have to work real hard to stay ahead of Carroo, and possibly even Grant
Tim,
One thing I did enjoy hearing from Gase in his presser was the discussion about Lippett/Howard is that aside from the starting job situation, these guys are being used against different type of receivers to see what they can handle vs other teams. And, in perhaps a captain obvious way, it also lets Vance know what the team can realistically go with in terms of defensive strategy vs opposing WR.
Mike E,
You are always going to have savvy veterans who are not as talented as the rookies or 1st year players behind them but they win on experience and consistency. You see this in all sports which is what I was getting at talking with Steve about the addition of veterans on both sides of the ball and the theoretical bump up in situation football IQ.
Steve
It’s the same thing with High School. You go to High School to get into a good college. Once you’re accepted into that college, it seems like a waste to have to continue to do schoolwork at the end of the semester.
Not quite
It would not surprise me if Tunsil didn’t start game one. If Bushrod shows he’s completely healthy and can play guard, they may want to put him at LG and continue to play Turner at RG(although he struggled there last year) until they feel like Tunsil is ready to play inside. All we’ve really heard from coaches and players so far is that he’s athletic and has great feet. We already knew that. We aren’t hearing that he’s holding his own on the interior. But, it’s just OTA’s, so I really don’t listen to much of anything at this point. We’ll know more when real contact practices start.
***
First time HC…brand new regime…they may want to go with as many veterans as possible, so they can limit the mistakes early on. There’s no rush to get Tunsil in there immediately if one of our veteran OL can hold down a spot. They have some potentially ok options this year where as we didn’t last year. Not saying that’s the way it’ll happen…just that we have some options that make it possible to give Tunsil time to break into the lineup.
Best players should play, veteran or rookie, I don’t care
Mike E,
I don’t see how any comparison exists between Grant & Stills.
Kenny played the X receiver position at OU and in the NFL as well (and Z).
Grant is almost exclusively a Y with some Z utilization.
Not direct competition, but there are only so many opportunities on offense, and if Grant is able to work himself into the offense, he could take opportunities away from Stills.
Randy,
What if is lets say, during shuffling of OL, Tunsil plays better OT than James?
I would want the best OT out there and don’t care much for feelings being hurt.
I too want the best starters out there and if Tunsil has to come off the bench then so be it. I think Collins did that with the Cowboys no? After a month he was starting.
Lol @ the compliment of stills being perceived by Mike as an attempt to pump him up
He doesn’t have to work hard to be ahead of Caroo and Grant
They have to work hard to get ahead of Stills
That is had you build a team
By making the young guys work hard to get ahead the guys who have been here
Not just discarding the guys we get tired of
Like I said I before
I fully expect Stills to be the 2016 whipping boy
If he is singled out by the coach – can’t he just be singled out by the coach
I guess this is how Mike E sees Stills
LOL Al – That’s not too far from the truth! That’s certainly how he played for us last season
MikeE/Al,
It all depends on what the coaches want. “Best player” may be the veteran they trust more than a rookie…even if the rookie is a better athlete or is a presumptive future starter. I think folks are too quick to throw rookies out there. If you have a good, solid veteran option, why throw a rookie in there if he’s not ready….especially with a situation where he may have to play a brand new position. It’s tough enough for a rookie to come in and start…harder yet when they are learning a new position. We’ll have to wait and see, of course, but I don’t think it’s a big deal if Tunsil doesn’t start right out of the gate. That’s all.
Piggy
If you think Stills doesn’t have to work hard to STAY ahead of Carroo, you’re delusional
Just like Rishard Matthews passed by Stills, Carroo will do the very same thing if Stills doesn’t start making an impact
Caroo and Grant are rookies
They have the heavy weight to pull to get up to speed and get ahead of anyone on the depth chart
Obviously you are out to get Stills
Your logic makes no sense
The new guys have to get ahead of the guys who have been here
Obviously has the ability to pass Stills on the depth chart
he has the ability to pass Landry and Parker too
but that is his climb to make
not Stills climb to make
Really the players broing different things to the table
but I expect Stills to be productive early
based on what Gase highlighted
his familiarity
whether he stays that way is another story
It probably depends more on whather the team values the speed he brings than his actual production
I think the issue with Stills is that he isn’t a guy you can move around and do a lot of different things with. He’s mainly a deep, speed threat. So, how do you use him if you’re Gase? Especially if you have 3 other guys who can move around the formation? Stills will need to develop his repertoire, or he may end up being a situational sub. Gase wants guys who can do multiple things and create mismatches.
Stills stretches the field, stats don’t show that.
I think Stills is a good deep threat who will make some big plays. Landry and Parker along with another one of Mike’s favorite players in Cameron will be the main targets and we’ll see if Carroo, Grant and Duarte can earn touches. The backs are also going to get some catches.
If our OL plays at a solid level our offense should be good. We have a lot of weapons. I think RT will up his game as well.
Steve
Stats don’t show anything, ever. Says you
That’s not quite what I said, but…
steve,
Stretching the field only works when the defense actually fears that you can throw it deep….that hasn’t been a part of our offense for awhile. Just having a guy run deep doesn’t free up anybody when it doesn’t draw safety help.
We were hitting more deep throws the 2nd half of the season especially when Parker got going. Gase has said this offense is going to go over the top, that’s what they do.
it was an areas we improved on last year
Even if your offense doesn’t use the ball so much
the threat can’t be ignored
speed or having at least one speed guy, is really valuable to an offense
It keeps defenses honest
even if its not used
I don’t see a defense letting a guy run free b/c they don’t think the QB will throw it deep
the threat is there, even if its not used so much
That’s not true, if it were every D would have 8 men in the box all the time against us. Of course just having a guy run deep does nothing, but that isn’t what happened last year.
Tim,
I didn’t see an offense that put pressure on defenses to defend the deep ball with safety help last year. Those numbers do not represent what was going on on the field.
2 years ago
I would have agreed
last year
I don’t think the deep ball was a huge issue
we don’t use it like Pittsburgh
but we use it enough
the midrange stuff was a bigger problem
the failure to hit/recognize open guys anywhere on the field
the peculiar playcalling most of the time also a big issue
the abandonment of the running game
I think the deep ball was pretty low on the flaws of the offense in 2015
Wow
Not all the time but it did go up. I can’t remember who posted it or where to find it but we were one of the top teams in passes over 20 yards in the air, RT’s YPA went over 7 for the first time in his career and look at the YPCA of 3 of our WRs – Parker 19.0, Stills 16.3 and Matthews 15.4. Those are high numbers for today’s game where teams throw so much and a lot of short stuff.
The problem with our offense was it was very inconsistent. Let’s hope the new coaching staff gets them going early on and we bring it every week. I think we have the playmakers to be a very good offense.
Randy
Besides being able to throw it deep, you have to be able to catch it too.
Wow wow
you have to throw it to begin with
Still had a pretty low target rate
and a low drop rate
He wasn’t targeted
Look at his target %
http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/drops/2015/
But keep up the campaign against a guy who’s numbers dropped when he switched QBs
Not sure what catching a deep ball has to do with stretching the field, but I’ve seen…
It doesn’t
the threat stretches the field
not the execution
traditionally even when it doesn’t work
it opens up the filed
unless it doesn’t work at all
Piggy
I’m not out to get Stills, he did it all by himself. I had nothing to do with Matthews starting ahead of Stills, he did. Is there some rule that you have to kiss every players ass on this team, or is OK to be down a player? I mean WTF, that’s what this blog is all about. I think Stills was a disappointment last season, and not sure how you can see it any differently. You want to think he changes that this season, that’s great, I hope does, but I’m not betting on it.
Why is what you’re doing any different than me writing Parker, Parker, Parker over and over? We all agree Stills wasn’t good last year. We all know he needs to be better. Do you think it does any good to keep repeating yourself, when no one disagrees with your evaluation of his 2015 play? What is it that drives you to do this?
Stills has said he wasn’t overly happy with his performance last year. I’m hoping he has a much better year because he’s a good guy and his speed can help us. I see us spreading the ball around a lot more this year rather than one guy (Landry) getting the bulk of it.
Look at the breakdown of receptions. I expect Parker’s numbers to go way up and I think Cameron’s could as well. Then we’ll see how everyone else falls into place or which guy is the other to step up like Matthews did last year. Carroo could be that guy.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/stats/_/name/mia
The fact that the start is this conversation
is your interpretation of Coach Gase’s compliment of him
is evidence enough that you are ready to pounce on the guy this season
That was just an unreasonable interpretation of what Gase said
When a coach singles out a guy in a positive way (he wasn’t even asked about him specifically)
it should not lead to a conversation of how he is going to be beat out on the depth chart if he doesn’t improve
it makes no sense to think like that
unless you have already targeted the guy as your GOAT
when a guy gets a compliment
let it be a compliment – that’s all
its not kissing his ass
its just not coming to a conclusion no matter what the facts say
MikeE,
I’m feeling like I’m being tugged into a QB conversation, and I don’t wanna! Lol
It’s not hard to look at the entire offense without ragging on the QB, it really isn’t. There were so many factors in their inconsistency last year. Piggy just mentioned a few of them. There was a lot of blame to go around.
Let’s see in a new offense with more freedom as a QB if RT can take his game to another level. I think he can but he has to do it. I think Parker is going to be a big part of that because he has the size and skills we haven’t had for a long time. Actually I’m not even sure if we’ve had a WR like Parker in the recent past.
Piggy,
Defenses weren’t worried about us throwing deep. They constantly played their strong safeties close to the line of scrimmage and crowded the box. We rarely backed defenses off. Yes, I agree we did it a little more as the year went on last year, but it wasn’t like defenses worried about our deep passing game. It’s also part of why our running game struggled. Teams consistently played us close to the LOS, and we were always blocking with a man short. If we could actually back teams off, it would help our running game too. We didn’t do that last year with any consistency. Sure, we hit some. hopefully we’ll hit more this year.
Piggy,
Also, it’s not about the WR running free. It’s whether or not they are able to draw that extra defender/safety over the top or draw the SS deeper to open up the underneath stuff. Teams have shown that they’re okay playing that one-on-one. That doesn’t help if you’re able to cover the WR with just a CB. You need to be able to manipulate the safeties too.
Teams started doubling Parker and he still caught it. Now let’s double his production this season and see how teams start playing us. I think we have more YAC ability at WR now so that could help us make more big plays and break games open instead of idling all game.
Steve
So if we’re discussing Stills, I can’t discuss it because you know I don’t like the way he played last year?
You guys are slobbering over a compliment from our HC about a WR in OTA’s ferchrissake, and all I said was Gase is pumping Stills up. Oh lord, the vicious bashing.
You can discuss Stills all you want, just dont get why you feel the need to keep putti g out the backhanded comments. Based on your recent opinion of Stills the meaning of your comment goes deeper than some random person saying Gase is pumping Stills. Don’t see anyone slobbering, we know Gase talks up his players, and don’t take it at face value.
Stills had to play with a different QB??? Oh the horror! No WR should ever have to experience that.
the point is the other QB was better than the current one
not that its harder for stills
its not like we gave up a 1st rounder for Still or are paying him some crazy cap amount
there is no reason for him to be under so much scrutiny
just let him paly his part as our deep threat guy
that is what he is
he’s not going to put up great numbers
but he should not be blamed or left on the side of the curb b/c he is not as productive as he was in New Orleans
the guy is not a probowler
he is just a piece of the offense
that should make the whole thing work together
I try to look at the offense as a whole and how all the pieces can make it work. I think we’re going to see a lot more chunk yardage in the passing game this year.
It’s starts will solid OL play, then better QB play and then the skill guys making more individual big plays – a great catch, breaking a tackle and taking it to the house, stuff like that. That’s how we’ll become a much better offense.