Mmmmm!
So what’s happening with our Miami Dolphins?
RFA MLB Kiko Alonso has stated he doesn’t want to be moved to outside LB. He did say he will do whatever is best for the team, but he feels like he’s best suited to be the teams MLB, and would prefer to stay there.
Rumors are flying around that 1 year wonder WR Kenny Stills is going to get paid, and get paid BIG TIME! Supposedly, he will be seeing upwards of $12M annually. After year 1 with Miami, you all know I wanted to cut him. His 2nd year (contract year) started out rocky with a kneel and a drop, but he won me over as he finished the year with a team leading 9 TD’s, which is way better than any of his other 3 years in the league. It would be nice to keep him, but if the money gets to that point, I’ll wish him the best, unless he’s playing against us.
I keep hearing Dont’a Hightower associated with MIA interest, and frankly, I don’t get it. Guy can’t tackle, he doesn’t run especially well either. As Lou and I have both pointed out, the guy just doesn’t make tackles on his own, as evidenced by the fact that out of his 404 total tackles in 5 seasons, only 251 are solo. No thanks!
Stephen Ross took 16 Miami Dolphins players to NYC for a week long business seminar. I think that’s awesome, and a very cool thing for our team’s owner to do. GOOD ON STEPHEN ROSS! BTW, Tannehill was there (not limping) and so was Cam Wake. Excellent experience for these young men as football is a relatively short lived career.
-The NFL combine workouts begin in 2 days, on Friday March 3rd. I’m really looking forward to it. As much as people say, and by people I mean fans, front office people, coaches, and basically anyone associated with the sport says don’t put too much into combine numbers, well, they do, so it’s a bunch of baloney I say! No, you’re not going to change a LB’s pre combine grade from a 5.8 to 6.8 because he ran a 4.4 instead of a 4.55, but if the whole package impresses, meaning he runs a 4.4, runs 4.1 20 yard shuttle, puts up 25 reps, does a 35” vertical and 12’ broad jump, well maybe he increases half a point.
Certain things just matter. If you know an OL needs to hit the weight room before he performs at the combine, that’s fine, but if the OG you had your eye on puts up 15 reps, that just ain’t gonna cut it. If GM’s see CB’s have trouble flipping their hips in the backpedal drills, that’s a downer too. There are many things you can find out from the combine, and while many poo-poo it, I for one do not. OK, I admit, it completely intrigues me, it really does. I can’t wait to devour all the numbers, and I will have positional comparisons for you guys starting next week. I’ll do one position a week, so I’ll have some good stuff for you people week after week.
Enjoy the combine, and GO DOLPHINS!
Finsmob Unleashed 
Cunningham wasn’t slow son, he was sub 4.7 which is really good. There were a bunch around same times. Anything sub 4.7 is good, anything sub 4.8 is still solid
I was surprised in only Raekwon had a faster 40.
A lot of the lbs last year were 4.9s and 5+’s this is a really good class.
There are definitely some good prospects but I would not be shocked to see a lot of them fall to the 3rd rd and day 3. The reason being is there is more talent at other positions that will push them down. Teams don’t value LBs the way they used too unless they’re really good. DT, edge, OL, this year a good TE and WR class, RBs, they could all push those LBs down.
Watt tested out really well.
Ja’grill Peppers?
I’m watching him now
He’s fun to listen too
Jabril “Absolutely” Peppers
I’m not sure why they have “CHOP” working with the DL. That boy is a Linebacker
From what I read is he rushed the passer a lot in college. Some scouts don’t feel he’ll be able to live on that at the NFL level. But maybe they want to see how he matches up in that capacity at the combine.
You get him and go win games.
Young fire with Wake, Suh and Jones
That sucks about Isa. If he is forced to retire due to the injury, do we get his full contract in cap space back?
Retirement ends the contract
There might be some I jury settlement but he wouldn’t count against the cap
I believe so. There is usually an injury settlement where insurance picks up his money and the team gets most of it back but probably not all. I don’t know the in-depth details though.
It is a great Q and one I don’t know the answer too. My guess though is we would be for sure on the hook for pro-rated bonus left and may be for any guaranteed money not used up. But might be some special cap rule that comes into play on the 2nd of those.
Still not feeling Reddick in the first but I admit I’m warming up to it. I still feel I’d rather have Anzalone in the second or third than Reddick in the first. I think Anzalone in the second or especially third is way better value pick and I think both of the would really up the quality of our LB corps.
Great thing us I thing we have a lot of flexibility in this draft. We could go in so many different directions in each round and I feel we could come away with 3-4 starters and upgrades to different units on the team.
That’s the way I think the team is looking at – upgrade the team what they deem to be the BPAs in both FA and the draft. Not just go all out on the OL, DE and LB like most people keep saying. I’m sure we’re going to target those areas but not in some linear need order. I think value is the top priority. FA will open up our draft.
Around Draft time each year I’m reminded that the greatest O-Line in Dolphins’ history (the 1972-’73 versions) was built using NO DRAFT CHOICES!! – – Those guys took on an even more important role when a potential catastrophe befell the mighty Undefeated Dolphins during Game 5 of the Perfect Season!
Game 5 of “Absolute Perfection” will be coming soon at a Dolphin web site near YOU!!
Thanks guys. I was pretty sure the settlement doesn’t count against the cap, but couldn’t remember for sure. So if we have a mind to, we could sign one of the top FA safeties without hurting our cap number since Isa is due 5 mil this year.
I think Kpassagnon earned himself some money today. One of my personal favorites if Miami goes big DE. I like him better than 🌮
Anthony Walker and Duke Riley with some good scores today
I’d like to see us add a JT clone at DE, someone that is 6’6″ or 6’7″ that can run, to cut down on some of the easy dump off stuff the Cheats use.
You can also help your team by acquiring Andre Branch level talents at different positions. Not everyone has to be a top dog. I’m sure we’ll add 2-3 significant players in FA and then a bunch of those “your film was solid” type guys entering their prime where there may be some upside. Add some impact guys in both FA and the draft and up the TC competition where a lot of guys aren’t safe because of some new additions.
This is phase 2 of this new regime. Gase is still building his team. We already know that he’s willing to bench or cut guys who aren’t up to par. I’m hoping for a really competitive TC this year and hopefully we make the playoffs again and maybe even win a game. But unless a lot of stuff goes really well which is possible, we might be a year away from legitimately competing for a title.
My main objectives other than the draft going into training camp are a starting guard, Landry and Jones. And take care of the last two and a year from now our 2018 FA class looks real manageable.
That might be the plan, Stanger. When Grier says they want to build the team the right way, what do we think he means? I think he means responsibly based on what is available, not based on wishes that aren’t really there. We’re not a team with no talent, we have plenty of good talent. We need to add more throughout the team though and let competition sort it out. Build a long lasting core so you’re not turning it over every 2 years in too many areas.
They gave us the playoffs this past season. We need to have a little patience for the big step. I’ll take baby steps while making the playoffs for a few years. We’ve only had two playoff appearances the last 9 seasons. Let’s not be greedy! LOL
I’m getting they want to build with their guys, and think both Landry and Jones are two of them. And don’t think Stills is, unless he comes back after other teams won’t pay him what he wants. And yeah — think they are looking way far more ahead than next season. Wouldn’t shocked if they burn cap on re-signs or FAs this year on contracts rather than bring in an extra player or two. That would go in the cap bank.
Mayock says what name don’t you want in football?
Big Pussy?
Or any sport, or that name in general. Male or female 😛
Bowser & Watt each were an inch off from Peppers broad jump👀
Pig,
Definitely like Walker. If he plays at a natural weight he can be an excellent LB.
Really like Daeshon Hall as a target for Miami.
Hall to me is only slightly off the potential of Garrett. I really like him too
Mmm smells good Ja’grill Peppers?
Way better than the ’72 Browns Fair Hooker, who REALLY WAS a WIDE RECEIVER!
He should’ve been named D’Grill’d Peppers.
Good thing with our teams as the last group that the trio picked was solid. 2 contributors from the trade which only cost us a slide back in the first and still landed a top OL, a CB who showed the starter ability, a RB with homerun potential and ST ace, and a WR set to take a starting role this year. Branch, on the cheap who really gave us good productivity, bushrod who could have been better but settled in and stabilized the OL, something we haven’t had in a while, again value pickup.
In general they built a lot of confidence with me last year. I didn’t agree with everything they did, but it was a very good offseason overall
Good positives to build off of, and some will still bring up the picks traded for Carroo, SMFH. Also why we made the playoffs.
Tyus Bowser could be a nice later round pickup. He was OLB at Houston but I could see him at DE for us if he puts on a couple more pounds of muscle.
With Garcon and Desean Jackson both FAs I expect Cousins to fall back to an average QB, wouldn’t mind having either of those WRs.
Rather have desean Jackson on a short term reasonable number contract than Stills on a big number multiple year one
We might go with something like that. A one year speedster for this year as we continue to develop the offense.
Garrett said “Tom Brady is the QB, I’d most like to sack”. Well Mr Garrett get you a gas mask and come on down to Miami where you get the chance to do it twice a year!
Kpassagnon is an interesting prospect too. Lots of real potential studs in this draft from DE as well
You know how last year everyone was complaining that we took too many offensive players…. Now we know why lol, they already had this year planned out then
I missed this post, this is one of the guys I want to look at, never heard of him before today.
Ok D (Mel Kiper Jr, Jr), what say you about tall DEs in this draft? Who is good that might be a JT type of player, that can you his size to bother a QB and his speed to get to the QB quick?
HERE’s a late round/potential FA guy the Dolphins may want to take a look at: Trey Hendrickson, sack artist from my alma mater, Florida Atlantic University. This gut is FAU’s all-time sack leader, and by quite a margin! Made all-conference two times, I believe, despite being double teamed most of his career. (That’s “this GUY, not “this gut.” –LOL!) He’s NOT the best work-out guy. He just gets it done on the field.
From Andre branch:
“It’s probably the most fun season I’ve had in the NFL,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of brothers now that I didn’t have last year. I’m gonna cherish this moment. The brotherhood and camaraderie we had–there’s something there that you don’t run across too much. It felt like family. That’s what (Adam) Gase has brought here. That’s his culture. I hadn’t experienced that before.”
That is fucking awesome to hear. Other players hear this shit and they pay attention. It means a lot. Now if we can keep winning it will mean more. GO DOLPHINS! GO GASE!!
Andre, “I’ve got a lot of brothers now, don’t let you brothers down.
He makes it seem like re-signing won’t be difficult. He’s not going to get big money from any team. He’s a solid player, not special. If he really likes it in Miami, it’s up to him to be realistic.
D
You’re not worried about Anzalone’s injury history?
Stanger, Gase loves Stills but knows the market for him plays a role in it. I think Stills’ high end market value might be very overblown right now. If a team blows it out of the water for him so be it. He’s not the key to this team long-term. He’d be a great other piece though.
The Eagles have a woody for Stills.
And like $6M in cap space.
Right — but that all goes with Stills not being one of Gase’s guys. Adam might like him very much, but don’t think he is doing that long-range planning around him. Guessing who he is will get signed before they hit FA.
At the right price I think they’d love to make Stills a part of it.
D, any of these guys worth drafting?
Taco Charlton, DE, Michigan
Height: 6-6. Weight: 272.
Projected 40 Time: 4.84.
Read more at http://walterfootball.com/draft2017DE.php#v2okLbfWsP73Ed7b.99
Tanoh Kpassagnon, DE, Villanova
Height: 6-6. Weight: 280. Arm: 34.75. Hand: 10.88.
Projected 40 Time: 4.72.
Read more at http://walterfootball.com/draft2017DE.php#v2okLbfWsP73Ed7b.99
Deatrich Wise Jr., DE, Arkansas
Height: 6-6. Weight: 271.
Projected 40 Time: 4.82
Read more at http://walterfootball.com/draft2017DE.php#v2okLbfWsP73Ed7b.99
Darius English, DE, South Carolina
Height: 6-6. Weight: 238.
Projected 40 Time: 4.63.
Read more at http://walterfootball.com/draft2017DE.php#v2okLbfWsP73Ed7b.99
I cannot wait until OD is praising today’s team instead of the team from 40 years ago
And I think he would agree because if that is the case today’s team would have to be pretty fucking awesome
OD — has already said he likes the direction the team is heading and that is huge…..little steps Rock.
Any of you guys watch Connor Harris play? Man, that dude has some tree trunks for legs! He’s like Zach Thomas build wise.
Yeah, but it’s been said on this board that, if he’s under 6′ tall he can’t be an NFL LB 😛
No question he’s at a disadvantage. He has short arms, and he’s not super fast, but if Zach didn’t disprove that theory, no one did. He’s probably not a 3 down player, so we likely won’t be looking at him, but I’m curious to see if this kid can be an NFL player.
If Jimmy Johnson was our HC, he’d be looking for him in the later RD’s.
He’s 240 lbs. though. He played for Lindenwood. Where do you take him?
It’s not so much height as weight if you were referring to my Peppers comments. He doesn’t look like a LB. Nickel at best. He’s either a safety or a jack of all trades. Where do you take him?
I’m just bustin’ bawls Tim 🙂
Just took a look at Kpassagnon, he seems like a Fede clone. He should’ve dominated more against that weak competition. 4th rd + I’d take a flyer on him, but not in the first 3 rounds. I see no quick twitch and not a lot of power.
His Senior Bowl interview is impressive:
10 yard split is more important for DTs and DEs
Willis had a phenomenal 10 yard split
LOL @ Steve, I’m trying to have a serious discussion here. 🙂
Well, knock that shit off.
Steve pretty much all of those lol. All of those guys are solid picks and you could get them in different rounds. In fact if Wise Jr put on a little weight, I could see him as a pass rush DT. Calais Campbell type, he also is tall enough that he could really disrupt passing lanes
That’s what I want, a DE that can disrupt passing lanes. Calais used to be a DE and did plenty of disrupting there.
Kpassagnon I think has a lot to work with. I don’t see him as a polished product but he has some pretty nice athletic skills. I think Fede is not bad to where he currently is but I think he has a higher ceiling than that
I enjoy post draft more than pre in recent years. We now know who we added and then you can really look into who they are. It was like that with me with guys like Clay and Landry etc., prospects I don’t remember being on the radar. I have found recent drafts to be really unpredictable for the most part and realized teams view prospects very different than the mocksters and popular opinion. All I hope for is whoever we draft I hope they pan out. LOL
I knew about Landry but with the erratic nature of why and who they took in the past I wasn’t 100% sure Landry was someone they would be interested in even though I knew he was a great receiver at LSU
I think clay was actually a surprise to everyone including the front office and the coaches
Mike, no it’s not as big a deal as people make it out. The injuries weren’t to ligaments or other areas when chance or reaggrivating is high. Shoulder was the big one but they eased him back into it and he hasn’t had any issues with it since. People make a big deal as to number of games missed. But the bulk of the was from the shoulder 2 years ago, and last year it was a broken arm so just a freakish kinda injury unrelated to anything previous and unlikely to be part of anything in the future. Bones heal fully.
That’s 18 of the 20 in those two. His history really isn’t any more than any other player, they just didn’t have to risk bringing him back too soon because UF has plenty of depth at the position.
He passes medical at combine and I think the concern should go away, which I didn’t hear anything about him being flagged.
After the combine I’m not even sweating the de position. There are tons of quality candidates scattered around multiple different round evaluations. We could also wanted up getting two very quality players at that position this draft. I’ll admit though it’ll be nice to get taco Charlton or some other very elite level guy but it’s not going to be as crucial for us to reach for one
Wind up getting
Steve I think with all these all you have to be concerned with is whether or not they have the right form and technique to stay low. Being a little tall gives them a disadvantage in The Leverage battle but they can easily make up for that if they have good technique and good strength.
All these tall Des
Thanks, and I knew what you were talking about.
I could see us taking a speed rush de someone like Charlton in the first and putting him in rotation with weight on the left. Later we would take a guy like wise Jr and play him at right defensive end possibly rotating with branch and maybe even slide him inside on passing Downs at DT
Wake not weight
I think charlton will be gone. But I agree. I think we go pass rush with 1st pick
Seems LBs aren’t quite a 1st Rd necessity as a DE, so I agree with taking a DE in the 1st. Take Timmons in FA and that reduces the need for an LB. Seems to be a good year for DEs, good thing some teams won’t want to take one in the 1st.
Tim
I would think Harris will go late RD’s, maybe 5-7. Since we have 3 5th RDers, maybe one of them for Harris. He’s got a great motor too, they say the kid never stops, so in a lot of ways, he’s like Zach Thomas
Would be nice to get a starter from the 5th. We don’t need 2 great LBs, but we do need one good enough to give some support to Kiko.
So this is my new plan
1. Draft Peppers (as a safety)
2. draft Duke Riley or TJ Watt
3 Draft Anthony Walker as our new MLB
That way I get my fill of LBs…lol
Kiko won’t make as many plays at OLB, but he won’t miss as many either.
I thought Keith Kelsey and Tyis Bowser looked pretty good in the drills too
Kyle Long is the only guy I can remember looking at, at the combine, that I’d never seen before, that I thought would be great. Since OL isn’t a skilled position I guess it’s easier to judge from just the combine.
Well
I think if you’ve seen them before it helps to watch them in drills
Last year when I watched Scooby Wright in drills my dreams died a little
I on the other hand never fell in love with Scooby, after all the hoopla here I watched his tape, and I knew he wouldn’t make it 😛
I was the hoopla generator on Scooby
If we draft Jayon Brown or Duke Riley they have to wear helmets in all interviews
Do they have Rickeyitis 😛 They could play for the LV Raiders with moto now legal here, even though the NFL doesn’t approve of it.
Last year we pulled a lot of rabbits out of the hat, Kiko, Maxwell, Tunsil, Branch, Bushrod… This year we seemed to have started where we left off with JT. Let’s hope it continues. I think it has more to do with how Gase operates, than what anyone else has done. In Gase we trust.
My problem with Stills is too many drops and disappears too often when we need him. How can a guy be worth $10M, if he can’t get open enough against a teams 3rd best CB?
Taco might be there at #22 . . .
Not my favorite pick
But I get it
I’m going to take a look.
Taco looks like he could be really dominant, but he seems to lack interest, doesn’t always hustle. Reminds me of OV without the non-stop motor.
He had like 3 sacks against Mich., but still doesn’t look like a first round pick, that’s how good he can be. I’m watching this game and thinking he sucks, then he gets a sack, then another, then another, a few tackles for a loss. He could’ve had 5 or 6 sacks and about 12-15 tackles, he left a lot of plays out there.
I would take him if he’s there. I bet the ravens will take him. He seems like a Ozzie type of pick
Piggy,
If peppers is there at 22 we have to take him imo
He’s pretty impressive
One of the impact players in this draft
The Abdul injury is what really makes him a good pick for us
I bet he is pretty high on our board
He covers ok, but tackles like Dion Sandcastle, and looks pretty good on offense and PR.
EDGE TAKKARIST MCKINLEY
UCLA
54: R2P22
S JUSTIN EVANS
TEXAS A&M
97: R3P33
LB TYUS BOWSER
HOUSTON
166: R5P22
G ISAAC ASIATA
UTAH
178: R5P34
LB JALEN REEVES-MAYBIN
TENNESSEE
184: R5P40
LB KEITH KELSEY
LOUISVILLE
206: R6P22
WR K.D. CANNON
Some guys with good combines here
TAKKARIST MCKINLEY is not too impressive here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xGDMuO7c3M
He looks better here lol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOjRzOjsDg8
Steve,
If anyone can motivate him it’s Burke
Ok, then lets take him 😛
Maybe Kiko is also feeling he can get better at MLB with a year under his belt and wants to build on it in the same system. Just upgrade the LB corps. I don’t think we need fabulous. LOL
I like our young Guys as well
I still think Hewitt could end up as a starter at OLB and be a pretty good player.
The org still has Misi in their plans if healthy. How many more regimes/coaches do we need to value him as a solid player? His issue is durability. Not sure how that’s going to go down.
Kiko would’ve looked all world this year, if he had some help at the other 2 LB spots.
BTW
Watching the combine today, and they were flashing team needs. LB nowhere to be found on that list oddly enough. DE/CB/S, I think, definitely the first 2, not sure about S
The LB class ain’t that good from what I’m seeing. It’s okay after maybe a few guys. Lot’s of questions about space LBs. I see FA as a LB target, guys who already know how to play. Then one or two along the way in the draft.
The new thing is LBs that can play in space the hybrid safety type. DE Jordan should be able to play a mean OLB with his speed, but he’s got a hole between his ears.
Anything Jordan does in a productive way would be a positive. I have reservations with a few guys like him on the team. We’ll see how it pans out.
Jordan’t cap last year was $5.18M, so maybe that’s why he sat out all year. This year it’s only $3.225, so if healthy I expect him to be on the field in a bigly way 😛
Something didn’t smell kind of right with Dion Jordan this year. I wonder if he didn’t play, after having the pre-season injury, because of some stipulation in his contract. He seemed very good on STs and in coverage, not so much as an Edge when he played, so not sure why they didn’t have him on the team at any point during the year, unless it was contract related.
We have $41.05M in cap space with BA on the books at $10.6, so once that trade goes through and we lose BA, but gain JT we’ll get a few $M more. BA has a $3.4M dead space number, making our cap savings from him at $7.2M. JT should come in around $4M, because they said he agreed to reduce the base, but have the full amount of $7M available in bonuses. That should put us at $44.25M
Incentives are usually designed to be classified as not likely to be earned (NLTBE) so that they will not count against the salary cap when a deal is signed. Generally, any incentives with higher thresholds than the player or team’s statistical performance in the prior season qualify as NLTBE.
Deatrich Wise Jr, he’s so bad I’m not even going to post the link.
English had 3 sacks a 1 FF, and a couple of more tackles, but he sucks, was blocked by the TE a lot of the time. Maybe I’m used to watching too much of the speed NFL rushers, but these 6’6″ DEs all seem to be no twitch.
Comments at the Combine today, “if TJ Watt’s last name was Watson we wouldn’t be talking about him nearly as much”.
He looked pretty good to me
Well, they didn’t say he had a bad day but they were saying his performance wasn’t anything great either. They also said he’s got a long way to go. His play on the field was good but they though he should have gone back to school for one more year but as for right now people pay more attention to him because of his last name more than anything.
Yes, His hype is all potential, based on his name.
If Jags decide to cut Sen’Derrick Marks I think he’s definitely in play for Phins.