If you’re a Dolphins fan, you’re well aware of the move that sent Jay Ajayi to the Philadelphia Eagles in return for a 4th RD draft pick in 2018. Rather than dwell on the “why” this move was made, let’s look at what we can do going forward without Ajayi. Let’s face it, just looking at our team with what we do know, our starting QB is playing with a few cracked ribs, our backup QB was shell shocked last week in one of the most demoralizing losses in Dolphins history. Anthony Steen, who was the starting LG is now on IR, along with our starting safety Nate Allen. Ted Larsen will be practicing, and there’s a chance he can play Sunday night, but it’s unlikely, which would mean Jesse Davis would start at LG. Our starting RB, whoever it is, either Kenyan Drake or Damien Williams. Damien Williams is now our leading rusher with 32 yards (12 carries), and Drake is right behind him with 25 yards (10 carries). None of this means neither back is capable, just that their opportunities have been quite limited this season.
There may be some good news for Sunday night, Devante Parker may be able to return to the lineup to provide Jay Cutler with a much needed receiving threat. Without Parker, the offense has been stagnant, or against the Ravens, non-existent. Going forward now without Ajayi, Adam Gase is going to be scrutinized as to what this offense can do since he jettisoned arguably his best offensive player. It’s difficult to know exactly how we proceed from here on in, but if I had to guess, we’re not going to be relying on 1 RB to carry the team, but use a combination of the two backs, Drake and Williams, somewhat similarly to the way the Atlanta Falcons used Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman last season. Not saying we’ll be as good as they were, but I think we may see a system similar to that. We have enough receiver talent to threaten opposing defenses, especially with Parker on the field, with Stills and Landry. Of course, we need to pass protect well enough to keep Cutler upright and give him enough time to make strong throws from the pocket. Maybe “the message” will inspire some better play from this group, and things turn for the better.
The defense has been solid, and though the Ravens scored 40 points, our inept offense enabled the Ravens all night, giving them excellent field position almost every possession. Michael Thomas takes over for Nate Allen at S, and while he’s not T.J. McDonald, I think he brings more to the defense than Allen does. The Raiders have had a rough season so far, Derek Carr was injured for a couple of games, but I’m sure they’re looking at this game as a chance to rebound, and I’m sure they’re thrilled they don’t have to face Ajayi. I know it seems silly, but I think we have a bit of an advantage with the element of surprise. How can the Raiders know what we plan to do on offense when we’re probably still trying to figure that ourselves?
The Raiders come in 19th in the league in scoring offense averaging 21.1 points per game, while the Dolphins, as we know are a LEAGUE WORST at 13.1 points per game. On defense, the Dolphins are 15th allowing 21.7 points per game, while the Raiders defense is 23rd, allowing 23.8 points per game. The big question here, is which teams show up in Miami at Hard Rock, and that goes for both teams. The Raiders have shown they can put points on the board, beating the jets 45-20, and winning a last second thriller against the Kansas City Chiefs 31-30. Regarding the Dolphins, will the team that was inspired by Adam Gase’s message last year that went on to win 9 of 11 games show up, or will the same Dolphins that have somehow miraculously won 4 games while scoring only 13 points per game show up?
The rest of this season, Head Coach Adam Gase will be under the microscope. Again, I’m not speculating on what happened with Ajayi, but we undoubtedly traded one of our best offensive players away for a draft pick, and have seemingly left the cupboard somewhat bare at RB. I say that not to demean the talent we currently have, but we just haven’t seen a whole lot of Kenyan Drake. Damien Williams we have seen in passing situations, and at least last season, he really thrived as a receiver out of the backfield, and did a pretty good job pass blocking as well. Kenyan Drake is the bigger question mark. Can he handle a load of say 15 carries per game? Keep in mind he was always behind Derrick Henry at Alabama, so he wasn’t the feature back there, and here in MIA, he has a total of 46 carries in 1 1/2 seasons. We’ve heard about his abilities as a receiver, but we just haven’t seen it. One thing Gase was correct about, and of course, this is on him as much as it’s on the players, we were the WORST offense in the NFL, so we couldn’t be worse than the worst. Is it possible we go even further backwards? I don’t think so. Sometimes, players need a fire lit underneath them, and Gase probably thinks sending Ajayi packing will be the tinderbox that does it this season. Hell, I miss Ajayi already man, he was a lot of fun to watch, and it was fun to root for the J-Train, but as Jerry Seinfeld put it so well, we cheer for the laundry so #26 and #32 better step up and make Gase look good, as well as the rest of the team, or we’ll all be questioning our Head Coach, and folks, that’s not something I look forward to in the least.
GO DOLPHINS! Zero in!
Finsmob Unleashed 
Seinfeld actually said we cheer for laundry not uniforms, but good article Mike 😉
As a matter of fact, he did. You get the gist of it. I’ll change it though, so I have it right.
# 32 had a couple of nice runs at Ravens
From what i read in one of the wins aftermath Ajayi exploded and walked out on a team meeting because he felt he wasn’t getting enough touches
Yeah, I mentioned that yesterday. That’s unacceptable. Winning is all that counts, and when personal goals get in the way of that, it’s an issue. At this point, we don’t know if any of that is true, it’s hearsay, but the trade itself makes you think there has to be some truth to it.
From Yahoo Sports
The reason Ajayi was traded has to do with team culture and locker room chemistry and player buy-in.
And the Dolphins weren’t liking what Ajayi was doing on those fronts. Yes, he was missing holes and assignments on occasions, too. He was among the players coach Adam Gase was referencing when he said players don’t take work home with them.
“At the end of the day, guys have got to actually take this stuff home and study it,” Gase said a few days ago. “They’re not going to just learn it all in meetings. We’ve got to find guys that will actually put forth effort to actually remember this stuff and really, it starts with our best players.”
Yes, like Ajayi.
That’s a little vague, but it gets worse – and more tangible.
He complained bitterly about not getting the football. He stormed out of the locker room – get this, after wins – because he hadn’t gotten what he deemed to be enough carries. And, oh yes, he didn’t exactly light it up on the field.
And here’s the thing: All this was done undercover. Ajayi complained to his position coach. And he carried around an attitude around other teammates. But he never took his concerns to the only voice that matters and that’s Gase.
“How can the Raiders know what we plan to do on offense when we’re probably still trying to figure that ourselves?”…..so right Mike E. And am sure that frustrated Gase has been rolling around on that at night.
Think he turns to a version of the greatest show on turf (and no not saying Cutler is Kurt Warner). Starts with Ajayi was our btwn the tackles guy. Drake is a guy who can run outside and man do you want him open in space. Williams can catch. Parker should be back….and we know what Landry and Stills can do. So I’m guessing we see a lot of pass to run, outside runs and play action. And long as the ball is coming out quick, that actually takes some pressure of Cutler.
That’s what I think Stanger, pass to run, but I actually thought we would have been doing that earlier this season, even with Ajayi. Problem is, I don’t think Gase trusts the O-line, and from what we’ve seen, it’s understandable.
I think Kaepernick might be signed by the cheats soon.
Just a conversation starter, but
Why?
Because Kaepernick is the best QB available.
Brady is 40 years old, and Garrapolo is now in SF.
The cheats players and fans are bellicheat puppets, they will do whatever bellicheat says, so will accept Kaepernick.
Kaepernick will be cheap, beggars can’t be choosy.
Kraft is pissed his donations to the campaign didn’t get him expected value, this is a middle finger of sorts.
Pats will be signing Brian Hoyer if they’re signing any QB, to be Brady’s backup. They will draft another QB next year, to replace Jimmy G
That’s looking likely, but Hoyer sucks, lmao, he won’t be helping them if Brady goes down.
Pats will sign Tannehill after we release him. He’ll win 8 out of the next 6 Super Bowls.
😀
That’s after this year, when the Ajayi led Eagles win it of course
Some sources are claiming Eagles got a draft deadline steal. Others talk of how physical their run game will be with 2 bruisers in there, and Wentz drawing a lot of pass coverages the physical backs can exploit.
Eagles were number one in the power rankings, before the Ajayi trade.
Eagles haven’t won it yet, lol but adding in Ajayi only makes the rich richer
I haven’t seen a lot of why did the Dolphins get rid of Ajayi?
It’s mostly the Dolphins got ripped off with only a fourth round pick.
I’m going to defend the FO for a minute if that’s ok, lol
I believe that the trade deadline came soon after the Ajayi contentiousness reached its peak .
Other teams knew that Ajayi could be had for relatively cheap, because Fins were in a predicament of sorts with the deadline approaching.
Of course, our FO wanted the highest compensation possible, who wouldn’t?
It only stand to reason, when a team doesn’t have sufficient leverage in a negotiation, it’s far more difficult to get what is felt to be fair compensation.
Bottom line, it sucks we only got a fourth, but don’t think We didn’t want more, We had to have expected more.
A fourth, is ALL we could get, OR of course we would have went with a hypothetical higher pick offer elsewhere.
There wasn’t any higher offers.
I’m not sweating the Ajayi trade. I didn’t have much expectation for this year anyway. If we don’t do well for the rest of the year, this isn’t the thing that causes it. It’ll just be a line item in a list of many. Addition by subtraction though. Would have liked to keep him but it’s not like Gase didn’t try to work with the guy.
take away the 200 yard games from last year and Ajayi is pretty average maybe even below average.
Oh…that had been taken away….lol
LOL – That’s like saying take away 4 of our wins last season and we were 6-6. 😉
I liked the way Ajayi plays the game
I like watching him run
Sometimes even when we suck I take enjoyment out of the way some players play on an individual level and Ajayi was definately one of those guys – so I’m upset about it
Philosophically, I think it’s wise to hang on to you most talented players too, so I don’t like the trade for that reason either
But I don’t think we are going to be worse off without him – how can we be any worse
I do think any RB can achieve what he achieved so far in 17
that’s what I was trying to say earlier. Without his 200 yard games (like this year) he’s pretty average. 🙂
He really has been brutally inconsistent. So many games he was completely shut down, but when he got rolling, he just got better and better. Problem is, those games were far and few between, so in that regard, I agree with you.
Important question – Anyone know when we finally wear our throwback jerseys? That’s when we got rolling last year, so I hope it’s this week!
I’m not marginalizing Ajayi’s talent, but if a player has talent and no head to go with it, then what is the point? Also, don’t get me wrong. Gase has a lot of blame for the state of the team as well. I’ve stated my grievances previously. Usually when news stories like this hit, it creates another us vs them mentality and you either have to side with Ajayi or side with Gase and that’s not the case. Both have their separate failures in this team, but it so happens that Gase is the boss and he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
That was the case with Brandon Marshall, and to a degree, Mike Wallace as well. If they can’t follow the program, I think at some point, the HC has no choice but to get rid of that player, if they undermine what they’re trying to accomplish.
Lol @ Kapernick is best available. He got beat out by Gabbert.
Bye J-train. Next!
but in Your opinion, who are some better than Kaepernick QB available now?
Guys actually in football. There are better PS And out there.
These guys can take their team they never played on yet, to the super bowl?
Inexperienced PS guys are Not better, they are trying to earn a spot on a roster, they have never won playoff games before, and most will never even get a starters position
I get it, You don’t like Kaepernick, but that doesn’t mean there are a bunch of QB that are better.
I don’t see any names or body of work suggesting they are better
Good write up, Mike!
As for us getting ripped off for only getting a 4th rd pick for Ajayi, we didn’t have to accept that deal but we did. We didn’t have to trade him at all. The fact that we did speaks volumes about how much the team wanted him gone. It’s unfortunate it came down to that.
Oh yeah.
Another great job Mike E!
Thanks Tim, ER!
Dec. 11 vs. New England: Aqua throwbacks
Dec. 31 vs. Buffalo: Aqua throwbacks
Thanks Rob! I was hoping it was Sunday night. Not that I’m superstitious or anything. lol
Wow. Ajayi is gone. Shows we don’t know everything going on and our speculation is just that.
This has been the worst week. Had to say goodbye to our dog yesterday. 💔
Ugh, sorry to hear that. It’s so hard to say goodbye.
Very Sad..
Sorry for your loss Herd. That’s terrible.
Breaks my heart Herd….dogs just love. Have one that is 13 now.
David.
Hoyer is now available. Better
Even Doughty could be good in NE. Lol
Heck….id take Kaaya over him too
David – Why stress over Kaepernick? NFL teams don’t want to deal with the circus that will come with him. He’s probably more talented than at least 3-4 starters out there, maybe more, but his actions make him just about untouchable. It is what it is. After he filed that grievance with the league, he basically signed his own NFL death sentence.
I agree, and for the record, I’m not stressed over him, lol
the best available FA. QB talent wise was the discussion, and it’s only opinions.
Some may think plucking Cutler from the broadcast booth was our best option this year, others don’t, all opinions though 😎
“It’s no secret we’ve got some guys coming up contract-wise and we’ve got some guys contract-wise that it’s going to be a lot of money,. And you’re trying to figure out how do you put the puzzle together?”
— Gase on trading Ajayi…..but yeah he threw in “It was just time for us to kind of go separate ways” as well.
From Leiser — “Defensive end Williams Hayes was not on the field during the portion open to the media.” Don’t think he is hurt, so not a good sign.
Maybe personal reasons.
Perhaps Tim, but NFL has already said Suh and Alonso will not be suspended….no word on Hayes yet.
Oh okay. Isn’t he also one of the vets who gets a day off from practice?
Stanger – Maybe Hayes injured his finger while it was in Austin Howard’s eye. lol
LOL — Or maybe he just missed and wasn’t available cause he did. 🙂
Almost looks like Baldi, except w/Baldi, it’s his pinky
Hey Rock – Good to see ya back man! How was Mexico?
LeSean McCoy stated the Kaepernick situation perfectly. If he was a great QB, if he helped a team win, he would be signed, because the NFL doesn’t care about any of that when it comes to a player with talent. When the player’s talent doesnt justify the Circus, thats when they dont get picked up. Kaepernick isnt good enough to start for anyt eam that has any other option, and that includes trading for someone. Pats picked up Hoyer btw, so obviously they know that Kaepernick was not the best option available.
That’s his opinion. I think Kaepernick has more talent than Hoyer, Beathard, Hogan, Manuel, and Savage, although being out of football so long now might definitely have eroded his skills. It would probably take him a fair amount of time to get back into football shape.
Hoyer is a drop back pure passing QB, Kape isn’t, he’s more of an option/wildcat type of guy, if you’re a team what are you looking for in your QB? are you willing to change your offense to accommodate an unconventional style QB, i believe that is the dilemma.
I thought McCoy stated it perfectly. If Hoyer or any other backup/marginal starter had the same circus as Kaep, they wouldn’t have a job either.
I can’t wait for this stupid collusion thing to run its course. That should be the end the talk mixing Kaep and football.
Ah, OK, I thought the words “when the talent doesn’t justify the circus” were D’s words, not McCoy’s. If it was McCoy’s, then I agree as well, and that’s what I stated earlier to David.
I don’t know if “when the talent doesn’t justify the circus” is verbatim, but that is the essence of what McCoy said.
Tim Knight says:
November 1, 2017 at 2:59 pm
Oh okay. Isn’t he also one of the vets who gets a day off from practice?
————————————–
He might be, Gase seems to let those that generally dont need extra prep have an extra day off from time to time, maybe even weekly, though im not really sure how often.
Looking forward to seeing what Drake can do
Me too, but more importantly, i want to see how the whole team responds, even the guys on defense. This is a watershed moment. I hope everyone steps up for Gase.
Funny thing about the Ajayi situation is he wasn’t sat once in 7 wks because of his “attitude”. Martavis Bryant is publicly being a cancer in Pittsburgh but he’s still on the team. Sounds like Gase needs to grow a pair. He sounds like Philbin 2.0.
You’re pretty much happy to be a troll these days eh?
Kong – Gotcha, but if that’s what he meant, then I’m completely in agreement with him. I practically said the same thing above.
Yeah, I think most rational thinking people would agree, if he was a stud QB, he’d have a job.
.
Ha! I usually have to type something, then go back and refresh to post. This time it just went through the first time.
Tim – I thought that’s just how you felt, period. lol
LOL, I rebooted and had to sign back in and it went through the first time which it never does.
William Hayes had a hamstring issue today and that’s why he didn’t practice.
Mike E. says:
November 1, 2017 at 3:22 pm
Ah, OK, I thought the words “when the talent doesn’t justify the circus” were D’s words, not McCoy’s. If it was McCoy’s, then I agree as well, and that’s what I stated earlier to David.
—————————————–
Yeah like Cav said, not verbatim but its a really close generalization. Glad to know though you agree with it if shady says it….but me….
and thats JBB
LOL – The important part was if he left that out, I wouldn’t have agreed with him, it had nothing to do with you at all.
On Kaep…I agree with a lot of what has been said. Do I think he’s being blackballed? That’s a different question, and yes, I think he probably is.
Fact is though, you either think he’s your starter and build your offense around him (too late for that for any team in 2017), or you don’t sign him. He’s not a backup that you can just plug and play. He needs a specific offense and nobody in the NFL currently runs it (that I can think of), thus, he doesn’t have a job, because he’s not a viable backup.
It’s a very old lesson that Kaep learned –
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
He’s the one who opted out of his contract.
Yeah, that was dumb ass move on his part, although all signs pointed to him getting released anyway, but yeah, he shouldn’t have done that. He still would have been owed some part of his contract, not sure how much.
bird clichés go over my head. A pig can only fly so high…
A pig in hand is worth two in the mud
that is a good one. But its “worth 4”
don’t undervalue pigs…
Hey Mike E great job once again
Thanks Sonny!
I don’t think Kaep was blackballed if you think blackballed means teams organizing to result in him not playing today. That is a little too conspiritol (I think I made up that word or spelled it way off) for my taste.
I do think he was blackballed if it means individual teams looked past him because of the circus around him.
Him not playing today is about his political stance and I think its hard to argue otherwise.
but any discussion of Kaep need to discuss his talent level to be accurate. If the talent is there teams sometimes take a chance even when controversy follows – remember Vick with the Eagles
but Kaep is sort of a fringe starter v backup. He’s right on the edge in terms of football skill so that is a big investment for teams to make for some one who may not contribute. That’s not blackballed to me – that’s kind of a smart business decision for a team.
I would have favored signing Kaep up and through say September of this year. I almost or may have called for it after the saints shutout – but with 8-9 games left, its a lot to ask a guy to learn the offense or the coaches to change the offense. I think that ship sailed weeks ago and isn’t really worth discussing. And its not like the 49ers were kicking ass with Kaep last year – so I don’t really view it as a mistake to miss out on him.
I also agree with Son (even though he used a bird cliché) that it was pretty dub and risky to opt out of his contract. But I insist, no more bird clichés.
Is Kaepernick affected by the media hooplah that is following him after all this, sure, but its really no different than the same thing that Tebow got, even though the reasons they were affected was a different source. The scenarios are almost identical. Standing up for what you believe in generally comes with persecution of some sort.
Both players are/were viable, they have to have the right system and you have to commit to their play style, neither player was particularly great overall, nor could they integrate into just any system. Both of them would still be playing IF they were capable of helping a team win, and likely both would still be playing if they switched positions because both are great athletes, just not great QB’s.
I think Kaepernik and Tebows skillsets are light years apart. Tebow never had an NFL arm in my mind, Kaepernik did. Yeah, they both are well suited to offenses that encourage them to run, but Kaep in his prime was way way better then Tebow was. Thats my opinion of course, but I’d bet a lot of money it’s not a minority opinion….
Interesting point on your last sentence btw…I wonder if Kaep didn’t merit a look at receiver somewhere….Terrell Pryor hasn’t done much this year, but was pretty damn good as a receiver last year. IIRC, Denver did play Tebow at TE before he was forced into action at QB..but that’s a really big I at the beginning of IIRC…..
Maybe it’s somewhere in between Piggy. Team owners talk all the time. It doesn’t take a grand conspiracy to blackball someone, it takes a couple influential people advocating a certain thing. It can be subtle, but the effect can be distinct.
I don’t think there’s a highly secret memorandum circling about or anything, but I also don’t really think his lack of employment means that teams all through complete coincidence and no undue influence came to the exact same conclusion on the skillset/circus ratio.
I actually agree with your post on the whole fwiw, this is just editorializing on the blackball/not blackball discussion.
Don’t underestimate your flying ability btw, I ate a bird for lunch today that you could fly circles around…..
NFL teams don’t want a lightning rod as their QB. They want guys who can lead and even in the case of backups, guys who are focused on football, not making social statements and drawing attention to themselves. Also many NFL people think Kaepernick is limited in certain areas of the game as a QB. He’s a pistol QB, not a rhythm passer. Most teams don’t run that offense. His accusation against the NFL owners accusing them of collusion also sealed his fate.
Ian RapoportVerified account @RapSheet 5m5 minutes ago
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Commissioner Roger Goodell notified #Browns WR Josh Gordon today that he will be reinstated to the NFL on a conditional basis. He’s back.
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Notable NFL players drafted by MLB:
Deion
Marino
Elway
Bo Jackson
Brady
R. Wilson
J. Winston
D. Culpepper
Kaepernick
G. Tate
E. Decker
great list … very interesting
I thought so too!
Kaepernick is clearly being blackballed. He clearly can play in the NFL. Last season he threw 16 TDs to just 4 interceptions. Anyone who can do that can play in this league and not just as a backup which no one has even offered him to be that
I think he blackballed himself.
Plenty of players have done far worse things than Kaepernick and were not blackballed
True but does that even matter? Any team he goes to, he will be the story. Would you want that for your team? I wouldn’t. It goes against the “do your job” mentality. It would be about what did Colin say or do this week. It’s too much drama. The team would be secondary. He did this to himself.
Also anyone saying it’s about him being black is ignorant. Did him being black mean anything when he was the 49ers starter? That’s simply leftwing BS.
ElephantRider says:
October 31, 2017 at 11:25 pm
Come on Lou.
If Wentz was a mid round pick it would be one thing. He was a top rated draft pick. He was supposed to be good. Easy to blow your horn on that.
Pick a guy like Case Keenum! Lol
———–
MY man! And it’s my honor and privilege to tell ya that Case is currently (tied with Mariota: 5) the least sacked QB in the NFL right now. Case IS #1 in least sack%: 2.1%. #2 is Drew Brees @ 2.7%.
And don’t look now(!), but the Case Keenum-led Vikings are currently the #2 seed in the NFC and have the second-best record in the NFL @ 6-2… and that’s WITHOUT Dalvin Cook (out for the year in week 1) and Michael Floyd’s 4-game suspension.
GO CASE!!! 😀
Not to take anything away from Keenum but their defense is what is leading them. They have a very good roster despite their losses. The Vikings have done a great job acquiring talent. That said Case has done a nice job.
Yeah, man, I can’t deny that the Vikings Defense has been NICE this year. I’m just really proud of Kid Keenum! He’s gone through a LOT in his young NFL career. He’s done a nice job this year is right, Bro!
I don’t own a football team, so I can’t speak for the Kreepernick.
I would like Gase to get everything out of the way so I can figure out what’s real or not.
Bird analogies are prettier than the porcine kind.
Back to the regularly scheduled
Tanny sucks
Keap is a hero
trade Landry
discussions! 😉
Pouncey said today that the locker room understands Gase means business, and players who want to remain in Miami had better buy in to what he’s doing.
“He said, ‘This is where we’re at, this is where we’re going to go; if you’re not on board, you’re going to be the hell out of there,’” Pouncey said, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
https://sports.yahoo.com/mike-pouncey-says-dolphins-got-211638204.html
I like Gase’s approach.
Just say no to Kaepernick.
Looking forward to Sunday night.
100% on Kaepernick.
Go Papa John’s
^^^
We have problems, but the Raiders are currently 3-5. To get to a reasonable shot at the playoffs at 10-6, they need to go 7-1 from here on out. I wold not want my team to be facing that.
We have a better record than 18 teams, that’s more than half the league.
We are a tie-breaker away from being in the playoffs.
Our record is the same as defending Super Bowl team Atlanta, a Packers team that has lost Aaron Rodgers, and Dallas, who is fighting in the courts to keep a thug RB on the field.
We beat Atlanta, lost our QB (Tannehill) and traded our RB problem to try to eliminate the distraction which Dallas is still enduring.
Hush….You know the sky is falling. BarcaLounger Lou says so, too.
We’ll see if things change and the offense can at least be consistently competitive if not capable of being really good. I’ll take that right now. But we’re setting up to go heavy offense again in 2018 just like in 2016. I believe there are 23-25 new players on the team this year from last year. New HCs and team direction means lots of turnover. Gase is still looking for his guys and winning along the way.
He’s not into drama or lack of focus though so the team he wants is, do your job and use your skills to make plays. We’re not a SB team this year and the entire org knows it, so they will try to compete as they build the team for the future.
Troy Drayton?
Don’t know, but that is a receiver no one wants to tackle.
Jahndoh30 says:
November 1, 2017 at 4:49 pm
…Fact is though, you either think he’s your starter and build your offense around him (too late for that for any team in 2017), or you don’t sign him. He’s not a backup that you can just plug and play. He needs a specific offense and nobody in the NFL currently runs it (that I can think of), thus, he doesn’t have a job, because he’s not a viable backup.
———
+1000000000
And if my memory serves correctly, I’m pretty sure that Chris Ault helped Jim Harbaugh install the ‘Pistol Offense’ in San Francisco for Kaep to run. Ault wasn’t on the 49ers staff, but I’m pretty sure I remember that Ault helped Harbaugh out in some capacity over the 2013 offseason (after they drafted Kaep).
Good post, Jahndoh.
Might have only been some consulting but I do recall Ault’s involvement.
I’m happy for your boy Case he’s playing good. Sam who?
Thanks, Bro. Sam and Teddy who? 😀
Oh and Jahn’s point about having to build an offense around him is a good one. Had he remained under contract he would have had all of the offseason exposure to the training faculty, ota’s, and camp likely before he was released or traded or whatever but he had no one to blame but himself for being out of the league. And that’s not injustice it’s just justice.
100% correct, Son.
Game 7.. GO DOYERS 😎 Even my neighbors that are die hard Angels fans are flying a Doyer pennant . Too funny.
Either way a National league team is winning tonight
It’s simple, Kaepernick isn’t even in the league and he’s still a big story. Imagine what happens when he’s on a team. Will he start, he’s better than the other guy, what did he say, what did he do, he plays and makes a play – see told ya he was great. Yeah that’s what I want on my team. Not!
^^^^^
You’ve got it!
Michael Vick came back and was the story after the dog fighting conviction. The same arguments were raised about him. People shut up and didn’t care about that stuff once he started playing at a pro bowl level again.
That was then, this is now. And what’s now? Kaep filed a lawsuit against the NFL, citing collusion.
He’s done, bud.
That’s exactly my point. It is not about his play. It is about matters not related to the game. That is the very essence of blackballing someone. You can argue about whether or not he brought it on himself or not but there is no denying he is good enough to play in this league
At the owners meeting one owner said, “I’m not signing Kaep” other owners heard him and one by one they all proceeded to say –
Dilly Dilly
Ken, Vick did something off the field that was horrible being involved in dog fighting. Kaepernick uses the NFL to make social statements and draw attention to himself. Apples and Poisonous Mushrooms. 😉
+100000000000000
And Vick was a much better quarterback
Mr. TVerified account @MrT 4h4 hours ago
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Game 7 prediction PAIN! May the Best Team Win. #WorldSeriesGame7 #DodgersVsAstros
SPRINGER!!!
Kaepernick will be 30 in a couple of days. He’s no longer an investment a team wants to make as their starting QB but also as a backup – the drama that comes with him will hurt the team. It’s over. He’s done.
Go Phins!!!
Correct, Brother. It’s no longer even a question about his talent (which needs to be catered to… ie: have to build AROUND him), politics (ie: kneeling movement), or even second chances (ie: Michael Vick).
Kaep struck himself out when he sued the NFL for alleged ‘collusion’. Period, stop, the END.
Where’s the white privileged QB Johnny Manziel? Same thing, football is not his passion. Done!
Pretty sure that was Drayton – He’s a big mofo now. He was a big dude back then, but not quite THAT big. Looks like he ate Eric Green
LOL
Tim Knight says:
November 1, 2017 at 9:36 pm
Where’s the white privileged QB Johnny Manziel? Same thing, football is not his passion. Done!
———
OH, MAN! I’m not going to get political on this, just as I didn’t want to get political last night, Bro. But for what it’s worth… I HEAR ya! 😉
To me it’s not political, it’s what’s happening. Current events matter. I’m no fan of the right, but the left is now the aggressor because they lost the presidency. So it’s an all out shit show and too many people ignore it.
Left/right is bad for the country and I have never seen this country more divided in my lifetime. We always had different opinions. Now it’s all out one side or the other, not good.
I’m neither left or right so I don’t worry about what I type because it’s a reaction to what I see happening. Life doesn’t work one side or the other. We’re more complex than that.
Inside info says Ajayi missed curfew in London and really showed his ass last game.
Tim Knight says:
November 1, 2017 at 10:01 pm
To me it’s not political, it’s what’s happening…
———-
When you use a term such as “white-privileged” (even in reference to the dunce Johnny Manziel), you just made it political/racial, my man.
I realize that’s NOT your intention, but you inadvertently did as much. I will NOT engage in racial and/or political hatred any longer on this board.
I was misunderstood in my intent last evening. And PC will NOT be a one-way street.
Reality isn’t political to me. People make it that way. I point out hypocrisies. Maybe it’s the initial reaction to technology moving at the speed of sound. We’re not ready for it yet but we will adapt and evolve. We always do.
The PC police are a big problem in our society. It’s amazing to me what’s happening. It’s not accomplishing anything, people are going to believe and behave as they wish, but it’s just censorship. I think it’s absurd what’s happening, but it’s happening. There is definitely a big divide, and way too much labeling and side picking. As Tim said, you’re either all the way to the right, or all the way to the left, when in reality, I’d like to believe, maybe wrongly, that we’re all a lot closer to the middle. It’s a damn shame.
WOOOOOOOO!
GREAT POST, Miguel de la E!
+100000000000000000000
Thanks M, it’s been driving me crazy for years. I’m a bit of a comedian, and I have to be so careful with the things that I say, things that would be completely acceptable not too long ago, but now I feel like I can’t say much of anything. It’s pretty sad.
Most of them need to meet in the middle! 😉
^
Until they tear the party lines down, it’s going to be difficult to enact any real change with this. I wish I had the answer, I don’t. I speak to people at work, and I know the liberals, some who are mostly left, and I know the conservatives, some who are mostly to the right, and when discussing things with the ones that are too far either way, it’s like talking to myself. They usually cut me off before I finish a sentence, and it’s frustrating as hell, because until we respect each other enough to listen to each other, and not just listen, but have an open dialogue and be willing to give a little, it won’t and can’t change.
And on that note, time for the ancient one to turn in. Goodnight!
I must bail as well. Good convos here this evening!
GO PHINS!!!
HELL YEAH!!!
M
Yes that Case Keenum reference was for you. Lol
Congrats Astros! You earned it.
Ken is right about kaepernick’s numbers last year
16/4 is pretty impressive
16 set’s of knee pads VS 4 wins?
Lol
Jahn,
you want to call it being a troll that’s fine. I understand people want to be optimistic about their team and live in a fantasy land because of the 4-3 record of the team that’s setting new NFL records for offensive performance but I choose not to and I call it as I see it.
I’m not going to sit here and agree with a trade which made no sense. Bryant is publicly being an ass in Pittsburgh but he’s still with the team. Our coach goes in front of the media and publicly pouts about his players not doing their job and then trades away one player. What about the other guys not doing their jobs on the offense? All this bad offensive performance isn’t the fault of just one guy.
Gase showed his lack of character on that move. Now he’s changed some things grasping at straws; hoping it will work. If it doesn’t he’s probably going to be gone just like the last two head coaches we’ve had and then hit the reset button again.
This move with Ajayi wasn’t about sending a guy packing who didn’t fit or didn’t want to do his job. It wasn’t about everyone’s favorite term “culture change”. It was about a head coach trying to cover up for his own ineffective coaching and trying to save his own skin.
That’s my opinion and just because you don’t like it, it doesn’t make me a troll.
Not liking your opinion has nothing to do with you being a troll
It has a lot more to do with your lack of credibility
Walk like a troll, talk like a troll, smell like a troll….must be a troll.
Hey Mike E, thank you for the welcome back. I still don’t know why I could not post for almost a month but it’s working now. Mexico was great the resort was fabulous beautiful beaches beautiful pool lots of beautiful women the restaurants were fantastic and the alcohol was free. it was really nice to spend a week with my Brother. we only got in one fist fight and made up fairly quickly. The best part was my phone would not work and the office could not get a hold of me.
Great post by the way you’re getting very good at this. Your article was better than most that I read on newspaper sites. I’m sorry I missed you guys at the Fest
Now I am hoping that Gase will get the offense going finally. And we can stay above 500 for the rest of the year and hopefully make the playoffs. 🙆
GO DOLPHINS!
In closing Professor Lou is a troll
Lou, I think you’re speculating a little there, Do you actually know what went on behind closed doors in Davie FL?
What choice do fans have but to support who’s left when the dust settles.
You’re calling out Gase prematurely, I know his win/loss record means little to you but i look at it as the elephant in the room is regards to your opinion.
before you put Gase in the dumpster you should wait until he earns it because so far he’s been very good for Miami.
“in regards”
Speculating “a little”? He portrays everything he says about this as if he’s in the locker room and knows everything, while in the world of reality, he knows no more than anyone else here. He obviously has some agenda to disparage the Dolphins. Let him have at it. We ALL know it’s garbage.
Ajayi did not run the routes he was supposed to, block who he was supposed to, go to the gaps the play called for, always trying to do his own thing
Parker and Cutler went through full practices wed
Rock
Glad you had a great time in Mexico. LMAO @ only one fistfight! Not sure why you’re having any trouble getting on to the blog, but if you need any evidence that we don’t ban anyone, Lou is still here littering the blog. lol
Let’s face it RB’s are a dime a dozen, I think Ajayi may have been a little more physical than drake however drake can be physical, also Ajayi doesn’t have the break away speed of Drake, that said Drake may be the better option.
we spent a 5th on Ajayi and returned him to the store for a 4th, What happens when that time bomb in his knee goes off? then Gase will look like a genius.
if ajayi was not hitting the gaps he was suppose to that creates a mess. the ol is blocking one way and the rb is going another. i can see why a coach would be frustrated with that. it looks like a cluster f@#k. and who gets the blame for that confusion?
A= the HC
i think philly and miami have a mutual respect for one another, they seem to always be communicating with potential trades like the philly move up to get wentz, what we got out of that deal also sending ajayi there for a 4th.
Definitely seems like our favorite new trading partner
Its the new Dallas pipeline
I still see Kaepernicks situation similar to Tebows. I also think if a team had put anywhere as much energy into developing Tebow as they did Kaepernick, Tebow probably would have turned out much like Kaepernick which is limited but viable to an extent. I don’t at all think Kaepernick is a backup, he us either your starter and you make your offense around him or he is a backup to a QB that’s just like him and the offense is already tailored for him.
As far as blackballed I don’t see it and yet I do see it. Like McCoy said, if he was as good enough he would play. Even before the protests he had lost it as a QB. He wasn’t even good enough for his own team, that was tailored to fit him, he was a QB who was consistently losing. Let’s not make like that didn’t happen and happen before any of the so called blackballing. He isn’t good enough for a team to completely restructure their offense just to put him in, and definitely not good enough to do that while dealing with the circus around him.
It’s more like Tim said, he blackballed himself by adding another reason not to pick him up, but that is not the only reason and there is no collusion to keep him out
He definitely blackballed himself, but losing was far from just his fault, the team was terrible. I can’t remember his receivers last year, any of them, because it was that bad.
Not only that, they’re 0-8 this year without him, so blaming him just doesn’t cut it.
technically I don’t think you can blackball yourself but you can certainly make yourself less desirable
course I don’t know anything about that
I like that we have a trading partner. All those years we never made a trade drive me crazy.
Did I see correct that the Pats signed Hoyer to a 3 yr deal?
And trading Ajayi was pure Belichek. You play the game his way or you play it somewhere else. And that’s why Landry wasn’t traded. He is willing to buy in. Notwithstanding BarcaLounger Lou’s ill-firmormed opinion.
Ill-informed…fucking Mimosas. You have no idea how many tries it took me to type this.
phish — have long been hoping that Gase would turn out the “good genius.” So many similarities.
You aren’t going to be Belicheat just because you wear the same hoodie
If the Dolphins are not successful it really doesn’t matter if the coach does something that we all think Belicheat would have done too. The results matter at the end of the day
frankly I don’t see how our offense can get any worse with or without Ajayi so I don’t know that we should be crushed (other than wasting money on a jersey)
But I’m not giving Gase credit for anything until I know it worked. Just like any player, Gase is accountable to produce. So don’t cape him yet as the next coaching super hero
Plus, Piggy just bought an Ajayi jersey last week, so there’s that too . . . 🙂
The FF world has spoken about which of our RBs have the most potential going forward. On Yahoo at this point, Kenyan Drake went up from 0.3% ownership to 42.6%. He’s the top add in the NFL on Yahoo so far this week and he’ll be owned a lot more come Sunday (thanks to Ken for pointing out he was a guy to take).
Only 16% have grabbed Williams so far. And that makes sense…they could just keep Williams as 3rd-down/spell series back and put Drake in Ajayi’s role mostly. And no doubt who the game breaker is even if the snaps are equally split.
Jahn
late reply to your post but it is probably in between. The term blackball is a term of art, so I think it probably means different things to other people
but I tend to lean towards thinking of it as an internal memo like you said or an email. I think of it in this setting as team owners coordinating with each other. I don’t really think that happened here. Team owners wanting to stay away from him is logical given what else it brings to the team and (despite his good numbers last year) his fringe starter status.
Do I think owners talked to each other about the situation and may have influenced one another – yes, that makes sense to me. But I’m not calling that blackballed.
Agree — literally blackball would mean one owner could say, “you will never play in this league again”….but that is not what happened. They are just business guys who decided that what he brings is not worth the headaches. If he played like Aaron Rodgers or at one point Vick….he’d be behind center on Sunday.
I mean I get frustration because he’s talented and more talented and skilled than a lot of guys on NFL rosters right now
But “blackballed” is kind of a high threshold to me
I would need to see soemthing like an email or memo that was circulated rather than just the results or the inference of influence to beleive it is a coordinated effort
The Flying Pig says:
November 2, 2017 at 10:58 am
But I’m not giving Gase credit for anything until I know it worked. Just like any player, Gase is accountable to produce. So don’t cape him yet as the next coaching super hero
__________________________________________________________________
cough…choke… clearing throat…..10-6….4-3…..best i’ve seen in a while
Let’s watch it play out first. Sparano was 11-5 in his first year. This might help….:)
LOL
I’m not siding with anyone because we don’t truly know what happened…and it’s pointless anyway. But, this sort of behavior from players…and it’s not just one player but at least several…should never have been allowed to go on for as long as it did. Either the leaders in the locker room or the coaches should have taken care of it long ago. Fail.
Mike E. says:
November 2, 2017 at 10:10 am
Not only that, they’re 0-8 this year without him, so blaming him just doesn’t cut it.
——————————————-
I dont disagree the team is awful Mike, and i also agree that a QB is not always the reason teams win or lose, though most the rest of the NFL fans would disagree, look who gets credit for winning and credit for losing on a regular basis. Still, just to be fair.
8-8 in 2014 with Harbaugh as the coach, and with a stacked out offense and defense. Most people put it on Kaepernick that year because he would make 5 good plays and then 5 bad ons, most of which ended drives and cost them games. He had Gore, Vernon Davis in his prime, Anquan Boldin, Michael Crabtree, 3 pro-bowl OL in Boone, Iupati and Staley. Their defense was ungodly sick, all for DB’s were at 4+ picks and a sick front 7. 8-8.
He never passed for more than 3400 yards in a season, when most QB’s were passing for 4k+, including Tanny. His comp percentage was never more than 60.5 in a full season, most of the time it was under 60%. He has always had a pretty good TD to int ratio, because when pressured would opt to run instead of throw, but he also never had a year with more than 21 TD passes, which is low.
I know you liked him, even coming out of college, but his stats, do not reflect a player who made a team better. He did look like a player that in his best year, possibly prior to signing his big contact, looked like a guy who could help oyu win, but he is a long way from that person. 2014 was his last “good” year, and again, look at what he had around him. The year before that when they had a really good record, to go with the players on defense he had previously, he also still had Patrick Willis, Aldon Smith, and a healthy and in his prime Navarro Bowman.
His last year before getting benched he was 6 TD’s to 5 ints. averaging just over 6.5 yards a pass, at a 59% comp. rate. 2013 was his only “good” year, and it was pretty middle ground, he just meshed really well with that already loaded ass team that was perfect for his play-style, and even that didnt last because pretty much the same team the very next year, 8-8. Which is what we were with Philbin and a helluva lot less talented team.
I think he was a lot like Cam Newton to be honest, who I don’t think a lot of either. He was never the physical presence cam was, but he was a dual threat player, who was somewhat inaccurate. I don’t really have an overinflated view of what he is, I said yesterday he may be better than about 4-5 current starters, and they were the bottom feeders. He’s not a great QB, but he’s god enough to have a job, but not with what he created socially, and then filing a grievance against the league. That was the killer.
Piggy, you can say he is talented, and athletically, id completely agree. He motors when he gets going. He has some really natural talent with the ball in his hand, but so does Tebow. So do a lot of players who are continually called “not a QB” and not able to be a QB in the NFL. Id be a little more inclinde to think he was blackballed IF there were no people who were even considering him, but you hear about a bunch that this team or that team were considering him with other candidates.
Does a team have to hire him just to prove he isnt being blackballed, because sometimes people go years between jobs even though they go on interviews or put in applications with businesses. Are they blackballed because someone picked up the damn resume and went, nah, dont think ill interview this guy, or after the interview go nah, dont think ill hire this guy. He has had looks, he just isnt getting hired, he has had teams who have admitted he was in their consideration pool, and they went with someone else because they thought it was a better fit. I dont think its blackballed as much as its a think on his resume that might have been factored in with all the other stuff, to come up with a no on the hire.
it is a thing (the circus around him)….
I saw him play in the playoffs, he did some pretty impressive things, and by that I mean throwing the ball. He has a great arm, and some of the throws he made were brilliant. He’s just not an accurate passer on the whole of his career, but he was great in some big games.
I don’t think he is blackballed and frankly I wouldn’t have signed him unless I was desperate at qb (there were times this year when it felt like we were desperate).
But Kaepnerick isn’t just talented, he’s a proven commodity and came very close to be the qb on a championship team vs the Ravens
As far as Tebow goes I can’t even utter his name in the same breath as Kaepnerick. I think Tebow is out of football for football reasons, same with a host of other guys – but Kaepernick probably is out of football prematurely (relative to his football skills only)
I don’t think this situation in analogous to situations we have seen before. I think it’s unique.
Whether he brought it on himself is a different can of worms
Still talking about Kaepernick I see. LOL
D – Also, Tim Tebow just couldn’t throw a football. He may have thrown one of the worst balls an NFL QB ever threw. He couldn’t even complete half his passes. While Kaepernick wasn’t the most accurate, he definitely had an NFL arm
There were a ton of plays where you ould see the OG turning his guy inside, the OT turning his guy outside, and then Ajayi went outside….right where James’s guy was waiting…..because he was getting blocked out. Right inbetween them was a crease, not always a great one but if Ajayi hits it like he normally does, accelerating through that point, he gets a minimum of 5 years, he migth also have broke what would have had to be an arm tackle by the LB since he committed to the 1 gap and had to try to get back into position when he say Ajayi initially break right. That actually cost us a bunch of yards. He likely would have been on the safety and who knows after that, safeties dont normally bring him down once he has a head of steam.
You can say its the OL not doing their part, but Gase, who drew up the play says it wasnt, he said they werent making great big holes like you would want, but they were at least doing their assignments. A lot of it though wasnt just hitting the wrong holes, it was not picking up blitzers, slipping out as an outlet receiver when his assignment was to stay home and block. There is no way it was just an occasional bad decision bouncing it out, though he did very specifically call him out for not taking the play he had, and trying to homerun it every time.
I know he was a fan favorite, but a lot of you are trying to act like Gase just threw him away because he didnt like him. 2 years of trying to fix it, sometimes you have to accept, they either aren’t going to pick it up, ot they just dont give a shit. Ajayi strikes me as too smart football wise for it to be the former.
It’s funny when looking for Phins info. I keep seeing reporters writing about our offense’s rankings and how we’re the worst in this and that. Yes we know, we’ve watched the games. It’s not even worth it because everyone knows it’s been historically bad. LOL
yea they think they’re so clever telling us we suck LOL
It’s like they don’t understand that anyone reading anything about the Dolphins have also watched the games
Sometimes I want to grab people and scream “know your audience!”
Dolfans are reading them to smear salt in their wounds. Don’t feed people shit they already know.
There’s only a “circus” around Kaep because of the media and fans. Love him or hate him though, he got people to actually pay attention to the National anthem.
Whatever the cause of it is – its still a headache for an owner
then again, he sold a lot of jerseys last year, so you would think some would welcome a headache like that in exchange for $$$ – but it didn’t work out that way
I agree with piggy regarding the Ajayi trade. It’s on Gase.
So it looks like Jesse Davis is going to start at LG this week
Trading Ajayi really doesn’t worry me one way or another. I do believe you can find productive RB in several ways, but I also think Ajayi was a talented back. All of our backs need to press the LOS harder and be more decisive taking a lane or cut back. That said, we have gotten poor performances up front. I doubt Ajayi’s departure makes our OL better players. Tunsil does appear to be hurt though. He’s just not moving laterally like he used to. It’s too bad we don’t get a bi week to heal up.
***
I’m really hoping we see a team on Sunday night that comes out and just wants to beat somebody’s ass after getting embarrassed in the game and in the media all week. There should not be a listless or lackadaisical effort from the first kickoff.
me too Randy – Seeing Oakland kick our ass will be a tremendous disappointment, and will have me worried as to what the rest of the season is going to be like, and all the questions surrounding the trade and Gase etc. I really don’t want any part of that
LA, not Oakland. 😛
The way things have been going I could handle a tough loss to Oakland as long as the game was competitive. If we lose something like 24-3 because the offense still can’t do anything it will get to the point where it’s not worth watching because it’s not fun. It’s also tough watching good defensive performances wasted.
Oh yeah, LA not OAK. LOL
MikeE,
It would tell me the players are not buying into Gase, and his methods….whatever they are…aren’t working. If trading away your best or second best offensive player doesn’t work, there’s really nowhere else to go. I’m not worried about the defense so much. I have a feeling Jones and Suh may be looking to send a message, but I am really hoping we see an offense that comes out with their hair on fire. I’d even be okay with a well-timed personal…which I typically hate. The ultimate goal is to win, of course, but sometimes you need to set a certain tone that says you’re willing to punch somebody in the teeth to get that win. We took a 0-40 kick in the sack…time to hit back.
No doubt, and I really, really don’t want to revisit that shit. We can lose the game in a tough fought battle, but to look completely inept on offense, and just in general not show fire and desire would be crushing to me.