It doesn’t really matter who we are playing, when in reality, we’re just playing against ourselves. Mistakes, penalties, miscommunications, all of the above, is what we’ve been seeing the entire season. We can blame a lot of extenuating circumstances on these problems, Tannehill going down before the season, Lippett going down before the season, Raekwon going down just as the season began, the hurricane postponing our first home game, and rendering us “BYE-less”, Cutler not having enough time to get in sync after “retiring”, but despite all those negative things, it’s on the Head Coach, Adam Gase, to have his team prepared, right from the start of the season, right out of the gate. Well, that’s something young Mr. Gase has a helluva lot of work to do on my fellow Dolphins fans and friends. Last year, through 5 games, we were 1-4 scoring 14.2 points per game. This year we were worse, scoring 12.2 points per game, but miraculously, managed a 3-2 record. Yes, I’m only looking at a small sliver of each season, but every “quarter” of the season counts, and Gase hasn’t managed to get our team off to a good start yet.
Just for comparison, the Indianapolis Colts desperate for a QB after starter Andrew Luck wasn’t responding to treatment and was therefore unable to play, traded for Patriots backup QB Jacoby Brissett on September 2nd, and Brissett came in relief for QB Scott Tolzien in Game 1, and never looked back, keeping the starting job for the rest of the season, and managed to score 97 points in the first 5 games for a 19.4 point average. How is it the Colts can muster a full TD per game better than our team, when Jay Cutler already was familiar with the offense, and had better talent around him on offense? I understand no comparison is perfect, but Adam Gase hasn’t gotten the preparation job done well enough to start the season. He’s learning, this is only his 2nd year as a Head Coach, but I hope he looks long and hard at that, as well as the team in general being extremely undisciplined and sloppy the entire season. We’re averaging 8.5 penalties for 72.7 yards per game, 128 penalties in 15 games for 1090 yards. Not to get OD any more riled up than he already is, but Don Shula had the Dolphins for decades as one of the least penalized teams. To be fair, Shula was also head of the officiating committee for the NFL, which undoubtedly paid dividends in that regard.
More disturbing things. Getting blown out in games. Losing 20-6 to the Jets (Last second TD made it 6 for us), and then 20-0 against the Saints, which in essence has us losing 40-0 save for a last second garbage time TD to Devante Parker A.K.A. The Invisible Man. 40-0 to the Ravens, 45-21 to the Panthers. No question Gase has work to do, and I hope he studies these games where our team looked like it didn’t belong on the same field with our opponent. It wasn’t always necessarily from start to finish in a game, but there were breakdowns that snowballed to eventually take us completely out of contention. Gase is the Head Coach, and he must get a handle on these things. Every team has a bad game, but we have had multiple bad games this season. The Cleveland Browns for instance, have had 1 game this season of a 20 point or more loss, a 31-7 loss to the Bengals. For all intents and purposes, we had 4.
I didn’t write this to tear up Adam Gase, but the truth is, he deserves criticism, and I have hope he will be able to correct these shortcomings. Getting the O-line corrected has to be a high priority, and adding a dangerous pass catching TE should be as well. We’ll also need to add another RB to our stable to go along with Kenyan Drake and possibly Damien Williams. Beyond that, there a few places where an upgrade of depth would be welcome, such as the D-line, specifically DE, where we’re a little long in the tooth, and maybe an upgrade at LB as well. I would like it if we draft a young QB to groom, and compete for a job, but it doesn’t have to be in RD 1or RD2, especially at the expense of a top OL and TE.
If the FO can do their job well, then the pressure to succeed will surely be on Head Coach Adam Gase’s shoulders, because the excuses are evaporating quickly. Assuming Ryan Tannehill is healthy, and is able to get back close to the way he was playing before his injury, and the O-line is fixed, and we added some better depth at other positions, there’s no good reason for us to get off to a poor start like we have the past 2 seasons. Gase will likely have some tough work to do to choose his staff, unless he decides he wants to stand pat with the staff, which I honestly hope isn’t the case.
I know this article just looks like a negative piece on our head Coach, but it’s essentially just a notice that I’m holding the man accountable. Besides our record, there are some disturbing things like player development. Leonte Carroo III for example. Why make such an effort to acquire a player, and not find even the smallest opportunity to see what he can do. I’d play Carroo instead of Parker, and I’d give Grant a lot more touches instead of Stills. We know what Stills can do, I’d like to see more of Grant. I know some will say Carroo doesn’t practice well or whatever, well find the right freaking buttons to press and GET HIM TO PRACTICE WELL! We made a big investment, find a way to motivate the kid. Grant is a little playmaker, get him more touches. He has 13 to date, 3 rushes, 10 receptions, LET HIM PLAY! Carroo? 7 receptions for 69 yards. Last year, Carroo had 3 receptions for 29 yards and 1 TD. So in 2 seasons, Carroo has 10 receptions for 98 yards and 1 TD. It sure seemed like they really wanted this kid, squandering multiple picks to get him, and this is what we get to show for it? FIX THAT!
The 2018 offseason will be a huge one for both the front office of GM Chris Grier, Executive VP of Football Operations Mike Tannenbaum, and Head Coach Adam Gase. 10-6 in ’16 was nice, but 6-10 or 7-9 in ’17 not so much. Gase will get a pass this season from owner Steve Ross due to losing starting QB Ryan Tannehill just before the season. He gets some leeway from me as well, but I still find the discipline, or lack thereof, excessive penalties, blowout losses and lack of player development problematic, so if Adam Gase has a list of areas in need of improvement, I hope those are on the list, and somewhere near the top.
Finsmob Unleashed 
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First 8 picks of 2018 #NFLDraft:
1. #Browns
2. #Giants
3. #Colts
4. #Browns (via #Texans)
5. #Broncos
6. #Jets
7. #Bucs
8. #Bears
Omfg
Daulton to Boyd!!! TD!!!
You want the bills in?
I screwed up on the last page. I don’t care if the Bills get in, so long as we get a better draft position. GO CINCY!!!
You give them enough chances?
must have been 6 penalties against Baltimore on that drive
The holding call was complete BS
YESSSS!!!! Go Cincy!!! Knock the freaking Ravens out of the playoffs. Good for the Bills, they took care of business, they deserve to be in
Come on Baltimore there is no such thing as Buffalo deserving anything
Fuckem both!!!!!!!!
D – I totally would rather have the Bills in than the Ravens. I think I hate the Ravens more than the Patriots, if that’s possible.
It’s not!
If Cincy loses, they will select ahead of us in the Draft (tie-breaker is SOS, and we have the 4th toughest schedule).
GO CINCY!!!
ok now you’ve made sense!
😀
#11 pick?
They get it!! Ravens kill us every year around the time we need a win to make the playoffs, their turn to sit home and mope. I just wish one year it can be US that knocks the snot out of them.
BYE BYE RAVENS!!!! See ya!!!
WOOOOOO!!! Way to go, Cincy!!! Thanks for the favor come Draft day!!!
M13, when you are talking a couple spots difference there really is not difference
Sure there is, you never know who may be there in the spot we pick at. Every round actually. I’ll take it. T-Bomb will probably trade all our picks anyway, so we better hope for the best
It matters if both team could be looking at OL, which they are.
I vehemently disagree. We lost out on SO much talent by 1 or 2 picks over the years! Zack Martin and CJ Mosley come to mind IMMEDIATELY!
… and Keuchly by one pick (Home is gloating LOL)
cincy win helps our draft status
LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT!
In case you were wondering
PIG
Just to piss off some folks all offseason?
Happy New Year all, going to a party! Stay safe and enjoy!
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Steve Ross: “I fucking hate losing.”
Barry Jackson
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Dolphins pick 11th
You guys can feel like being one or two picks ahead mean something big but it doesn’t. What’s going to mean more is how the draft shakes out and that’s going to have more to do with what other teams picking before us do than what spot we are in. In fact it would be better for more people to pick out of shallow talent pools before us than less because that drives up our ability to get a trade back and how much we can get from the trade back
If we were talking about going from 15 into top 10 I might agree with that but you are talking about 12 to 11
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Top-20 NFL Draft Order:
1. CLE
2. NYG
3. IND
4. CLE (from HOU)
5. DEN
6. NYJ
7. TB
8. CHI
9/10. SF** Coin flip
9/10. OAK** Coin flip
11. MIA
12. CIN
13/14. GB** Coin flip
13/14. WAS** Coin flip
15. ARI
16. BAL
17. LAC
18. SEA
19. DAL
20. DET
D, the higher ya pick, the greater the value of the pick. Even if it’s just one mere selection higher, it’s greater value… to sit and pick, to trade up, or to trade down. I’m not sure I follow what you’re sayin’, Bro.
Not to mention the team we just moved ahead of is probably looking at OL help in the draft.
VERY true!
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With two games tomorrow to go, which quarterback deserves to be our @WesternSouthern QB of the week as graded by @PFF? Check back on Tue to find out
———-
Does anyone want to break the news to Collinsworth-less? LOL 😆
LOL, he finally deleted the tweet!
Rhino says:
December 31, 2017 at 8:10 pm
… and Keuchly by one pick (Home is gloating LOL)
——–
GREAT example, Rhino!
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Farewell Penn State, thank you for everything! #WeAre 🔵⚪️ https://www.instagram.com/p/BdY1TB1BgK2/
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OFFICIAL!
We chose Tannehil #8 over Kuechly #9. So we didn’t miss out on him.
I missed the game today, my cousin was in with her family from Georgia. I looked at the box score. 14-145 in penalties. This is an area that Gase has to refocus on. That’s ridiculous.
True. And I didn’t see much of the game but the league has got to do something about the officiating and these stupid calls.
Yes they do. The officials are a big part of the problem.
Okay, let the draft talk really heat up now. 😉
So how did Fales look? I see we got off to another slow start on offense waiting until the 2nd half to start scoring. That’s another area Gase needs to focus on improving.
He looked meh…..
One thing he did well was escape the sack….however his running after was really bad. Lol
If we are tied at 6-10 with Oakland, why are we not picking ahead of them, since we lost to them? Also why are we behind SF?
Strength of schedule. The strength of their schedules were worse so they are deemed worse 6-10 teams.
oh riiiight it’s SOS not head to head in the draft order unlike for the playoffs. I forget that from year to year. Thanks.
OK so we pick 11th and ahead of the Bengals which is important because they also need an OG.
This crew with Jeff Triplett is the worst in the NFL but congratulations to the Bill’s and I really believe the Dolphins are not that far away. We have the quarterback and a lot of Intregal pieces, sign Landry, draft well and we will be there next year
I really liked the feistiness of Drake.
I hope Landry does not get suspended for game 1 of next year.
What happened?
Big fan got both got ejected
Fight
Both Drake and Landry? Anyone of BUF?
You guys are awful with your examples. One spot difference wouldn’t have gotten us Mosely or Martin. Keuchkly was picked after us. LOL.
Btw had we been the two or three picks before we needed to be to get either of those guys we wouldn’t have drafted James and would have instead had a weakness on the outside instead of the inside. We could have had a better interior LB, but if we did we would have still had the interior line problems and also outside weakness too.
We could have also picked a Dion Jordan like flop. You can’t look at the people who were picked ahead of our picks as your proof and you can’t even point to Cincy needing OL help because that might not even be the best pick by time it gets there. Simply put there is very little actual value difference between 11 and 12 go look it up on the draft sheet if ya don’t believe me. Your making a big deal over nothing. My point is I hate Buffalo so I could have given a shit if we picked 12th to have them sitting with us next week
Besides I was waiting to win today, and anyone who was wanting us to win wasn’t looking to draft 11th
Sorry 11 not 12th
I don’t worry about draft status because it’s not the key to us getting to where we need to go. The prospects you draft have to pan out and they come from all over the draft. I know the 1st round excites everyone and you get to focus on a handful of prospects. But after that nothing really lines up as teams don’t follow projected orders from mocksters through other rounds.
The #11 pick gives you the possibility of being able to move up a few spots if necessary. Problem is we got 2 fuck ups running the show so I don’t have a lot of confidence
are we picking #10 ?
We already traded down to #17 a few minutes ago.
I heard #23
quickie Mock 3.8 pending Combine times and heights:
favorites first (starting in round 4 our pick numbers will be later than shown to accommodate the 47 Compensatory picks awarded to New England)
12/31
11: R1 P11 OG Quenton Nelson Notre Dame or EDGE Sam Hubbard Ohio State or TE Mark Andrews Oklahoma or RB Saquon Barkley Penn State
43: R2 P11 RB Josh Adams Notre Dame or OG Braden Smith Auburn or OG Billy Price Ohio State or C Frank Ragnow Arkansas
75: R3 P11 TE Dallas Goedert South Dakota State or RB Sony Michel Georgia or RB Nick Chubb Georgia or EDGE Marcus Davenport San Antonio or OLB Tremaine Edmunds Va Tech or OG Will Hernandez UTEP
107: R4 P11 TE Mike Gesicki Penn State or EDGE Porter Gustin USC or TE Adam Breneman UMass or QB Jarrett Stidham Auburn
126: R4 P30 RB Rashaad Penny SDSU or QB Riley Ferguson Memphis or C Bradley Bozeman Alabama or RB Bo Scarborough Alabama or C Will Clapp LSU or TE Hayden Hurst South Carolina
171: R6 P11 TE Marcus Baugh Ohio State or ILB Leighton Vander Esch Boise State or EDGE Lorenzo Carter Georgia or DE Gaelin Elmore Minnesota or QB Chase Litton Marshal
198: R7 P6 OG Lester Cotton Alabama or OLB James Hearns Louisville or WR Steve Ishmael Syracuse
203: R7 P11 DE Rasheem Green USC or TE David Wells San Diego State or TE Danny Friend Indiana or TE Brandon Lingen Minnesota
sign the best 4 undrafted WRs and two very fast UD CBs and the best Punter and KR.
Tim and Prof… you M’Fers LOL next thing you’ll tell me is we’re taking Tanny with #8
Tim
Nobody on Buf was ejected which was BS. The refs were absolutely horrible this game. Their ball spot placements were hilarious and favored Buf at least 2 crucial times.
Tripplette was laughing all day
How is there a fight and only one side gets ejected?
#56 for Buffalo was grinding Drake’s head into the turf with no helmet on.
He should have been ejected.
I know people will defend what happened but this was one of the worst coaching jobs from top to bottom of any Dolphins team I have ever seen since following this team. Ridiculous how undisciplined this team is in everything they do.
I have to agree with Lou. Gase, supposedly, was in a bad mood the last few months because these guys never put in the effort to fix the same mistakes from the first few weeks. That’s on coaching unless these players can’t understand basic ideas. I don’t have a lot of faith in any of the asst coaches which is unfortunately a direct link to Gase’s job as HC. he needs a lot of help. Tannebaum/Grier could be the worst FA signing duo in the league. Was one of our FA picks worth the hire? Not one panned out this year.
There is a lot to fix and it looks like the draft may be the main area we find improvement…but only if the coaches can figure out how to coach them up before week 16.
So what is your prediction for our record next year?
I know Tim hates this.
I say we go 12-4 and win 2 play-off games.
I bet we have a guy who makes a strong run at Rookie of the Year.
I think Buffalo and Miami tie for division champ and Patriots finish tied with Jets and Brady retires.
(Brady might retire this year if he wins the SB.)
Naples, it’s not necessarily picking a final record, it’s picking games. I don’t like predicting losses. LOL
Ok, I am posting my latest “First Pick” draft and one of the best of mine so far. Can’t cut and paste but traded down twice and ended up with:
Offense
OG Quenton Nelson, ND
OT Mike McGlinchey, ND
C Bradley Bozeman, AL
TE Mark Andrews, OK
TE Mike Gesicki, PSU
QB Riley Ferguson, MEM
RB Rashaad Penny, SD ST
Defense
ILB Malik Jefferson, TX
OLB Lorenzo Carter, GA
DE Marcus Davenport, TX-SA
CB Deatrick Nichols, USF
Have a great New Year!!!
Just watched the tape of the game. Hey at least we are good at onside kicks
Hard to get too emotional about this game. This was like game 5 of the pre season. We were playing guys who we will never hear of again
Yeah that’s one of the reasons I didn’t make it a priority to watch it. I knew it would be a lot of 2nd team or less.
Happy New Year everyone
Ditto!!!
Some tidbits heading into 2018.
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/armando-salguero/article192410804.html
Happy New Year douchebags!
E.R.; That’s OLD DOUCHBAG to you, sir!!
Jim Caldwell and John Fox have both been fired this morning.
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.@MikeGarafolo on @gmfb offers this: Dowell Loggains could wind up in Miami with Adam Gase, assuming Loggains is out with Fox as well.
Funny… Dowell Loggains went to high school at Abilene, Texas. Jeff Ireland is the ‘mayor of Abilene’, LOL.
Loggains was the Bears’ QB coach in ’15 when Gase was the OC.
Per Adam Beasley: STEVE ROSS says “I fuckin hate losing.”
THEN Ross says he’s bringing back the “DOOFUS BRIGADE” (Ross,T-BOMB and Grier) for ANOTHER SEASON!!!”
Steve, that’s just FUCKIN’ STUPID on your part!! IF you “fuckin hate losing” then SELL THE TEAM!!!
—————-
PROF LOU got it right at 9:47 PM regarding picking at #11 in the draft. “Problem is we got 2 fuck ups running the show so I don’t have a lot of confidence.” LOU WINS the understatement of the day award!!
————————
11 penalties, 145 yards. Gotta admit I was WRONG on Gase. His team totally lacks discipline. GASE has got to go when a new owner takes over. ROSS is too football stupid to fire Gase or anyone else when they PROVE they are incompetent. EXPECT GASE to get pay raise and a contract extension in the off-season, just as Sparano and Ireland did. Beginning to wonder if ROSS is actually an agent who is deliberately trying to fuck this franchise, to the benefit of the other teams in our division. (JUST KIDDING, TIM.)
You have said a lot
🐖💨
The team that was out there yesterday was a lot of new players, so you can kind of excuse the penalties somewhat. On the whole of the season though, it’s been a big problem, so this game doesn’t change that any. Gase and his coordinators and assistant coaches all have to do better next year if we want to compete with the better teams. I don’t know if he plans on making any changes at either OC or DC, but as far as I’m concerned, I hope he changes both.
From what I’ve read this morning, it sounds like there will be changes coming to the Offensive coaching staff. I don’t know what that means for Clyde being he doesn’t really call the plays anyway, but changes are seemingly coming.
And I’m with you about a new DC. I like Burke, but he was in over his head all season except for the 2nd Patsies* game.
If Clyde goes, which I could care less, I’d be all in on going after Caldwell as the OC. Take the responsibility out of Gase’s hands and let him focus on being HC.
I also think this team really has to take a good look at what they can do to bring in someone solid as the o-line coach. I still like Ed Warriner of Ohio St the best out of anyone out there but that’s probably not going to happen.
I also think Williams needs to go as the d-line coach. His d-line is way too inconsistent and Burke is a slug as well. We need to go all out on some of the defensive coaching talent that’s out there whether it be Fangio or Del Rio or whomever but staying with Burke and not even pursuing any of these guys would be an absolute travesty and there’s NO way to defend it. None.
I’ll take play speed over 40 time any day of the week and when I watch Fumagalli play and get down the field he moves better than some of the slugs that are being touted as top TE prospects.
I’m hot and cold on Fumagalli. Currently i have taken him off my Big Board. That’s probably an extreme, but I want a can’t miss prospect at TE, OG, and Edge this year. i think if we get those and a smashmouth RB, we can make a real jump in the W-L record.
the only guy in the draft who LOOKS like a can’t miss at TE is Andrews. As far as the other guys go they all look like they’re going to need some work.
Gesicki sucks at blocking. Goedert is going to be a project. Breneman is a poor man’s Fasano. Hurst looks good in his highlight reels but if you watch the games he disappears for a good portion of them.
Fumagalli, IMO, is the 2nd best TE prospect behind Andrews but there’s a drop off there. However, if we got both of them it would be a formidable duo. Not going to happen, of course, but just saying .
I love hearing Clyde talk and what he says is funny and wise, but if he has no effect on play-calling, OL penalties, game-planning to exploit specific defenses, or mentoring Julius and Devante, then what good is he really?
true. what exactly does he do besides be the comic relief during the pressers.
LG Ted Larsen says he wants to play RG next season. My question is, is it with the Dolphins?
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article192451934.html
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Cardinals’ HC Bruce Arians officially retires at a news conference in which he is emotional.
Kyle DenHartog @kjdenhartog
Replying to @dpbrugler
Where would you rank Roquan Smith at this point? Is he a top 10-15 pick?
These are the seasons of emotion
And like the wind, they rise and fall
Any thoughts on Fales?
Personally I would have rather went with Moore / Fales than piss away the season with cutler!
I don’t think he was the reason we lost yesterday!!
I’m going to scour the draft for SOMEONE that can cover a TE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The thing about that is just about every team in the league needs that guy.
That’s also why we need the TE to have that mismatch.
Is it really that simple?
“It’s disappointing,” said tight end Anthony Fasano, cleaning out his locker room perhaps the last time. “Everyone had higher expectations. What the major factor was was distractions. We couldn’t handle distractions.”
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article192456584.html
It was part of it but there were a lot of factors. The team just seemed broken and couldn’t fix it in time. Everyone in the org has to play a part in fixing it for 2018.
there’s a major lack of talent in the area of coaching on this team. you can call it my opinion if you like but a better staff would have had the team much better prepared to play every week than this coaching staff did regardless of what some want to use as excuses. every team has injuries and other things they need to work thru and they play better.
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Giants RB Orleans Darkwa needed 153 rushing yards in today’s game to earn a $200,000 incentive. He previously had never rushed for more than 117 yards in a game. Today, he ran for 154.
UCF is one half of a football game from a PERFECT SEASON!! –Knights lead Aubuen 13-6 at the half. WONDER if SON-OF-A-SON is at this one??? A UCF victory will have massive repercussions on the college football landscape in the Sunshine State. Top quality recruits will be looking at MORE THAN the “Top 3” programs as UCF, FAU and South Florida join the mix.
Lou, most of what we say here are opinions other than stating facts about something. A fact is we finished the season at 6-10 and that’s not a good season. An opinion is who is to blame. This is the time of year when fans look for scapegoats after a disappointing season. It’s just the way it is.
Well, when you finish 6-10 it’s pretty much on the coaching staff. there was more than enough talent to do better than 6-10 if the coaching staff knew how to do their job and the problem is you’ve got guys who are veterans at most of the coaching spots on the team.
however, I think the biggest goose egg goes to the HC himself. he laid a huge egg in his second season. it’s yet to be seen but it’s possible Gase is nothing more than a really good OC and that’s all he’s ever going to be. being really good as an offensive coordinator doesn’t necessarily mean you’re automatically going to be a good HC.
being a head coach requires the person to be a strong leader and maybe he doesn’t have that ability. never know. he’s getting more time to prove he is so we’ll need to see how things go next year. maybe they get better but maybe things stay the same. if the latter happens and the team decides to part ways after a third season then we’re going to really need to question if this team has anyone within the organization who is capable of making the right decisions for the team.
wyoming85 says:
January 1, 2018 at 1:36 pm (Edit)
Any thoughts on Fales?
——————
Meh. Nothing to get too excited about. We need to draft a WB for depth purposes at a minimum
QB^
I really think there’s any number of guys who could challenge Tannehill for the starting spot and they don’t need to be one of the top guys. Guys like Ferguson, Woodside and Rudolph are three guys who could sit for a year and be the guy who unseats Tannehill next season. Ferguson and Rudolph may be able to do it in year one. Benkert is another guy you could get a little later and sit for a season or two to develop. Tannehill isn’t that far ahead in terms of development
I agreed until your list. Rudolph is a system QB. The rest are late picks. If you seriously think a rookie late rounder is going to compete with an experienced 6 year guy who’s played in this system…then you are a very poorly informed hater. Honestly, that’s a really bad assessment and makes me question your ability to be non-biased in your assessments.
you can agree to disagree. i’m okay with that but saying i’m very poorly informed hater just means you don’t like to hear the truth.
I think this team has suffered from a lack of leadership for many years….especially on the offensive side of the ball. I’d be looking to draft a few guys with that sort of makeup, if possible. This was probably a .500 team to start the year….with or without Tannehill. 6 wins seems like underachieving.
Well like you’ve said many times, this team really isn’t there yet. I think we have enough to build on so we can be competitive in 2018 and be a playoff team. But a lot of work needs to be done from top to bottom to fix some things and we could use a little bit more good fortune as well.
Not enough young talent. One of the oldest teams in the league and much of it was due to signing players who they thought would be quick fix players like Timmons, Bushrod and Allen.
Not enough young talent? One of the oldest teams? I think you might want to recheck that.
Those players you mentioned were short-term stopgap signings and none of them are likely to be back in 2018.
exactly. old, short-term, stop-gap players we signed because we don’t have any quality young players we drafted who could have started in those positions instead.
Tim,
Our QB is a question mark because we don’t even know how he’ll perform when he returns. It’s simply an unknown. Even if he comes back healthy and plays 16 games, he’s still the same average QB who doesn’t make those around him better.
***
Our OL is a shambles. Highly touted LT played poorly. LG(Larsen) is a below average player, but he is a better fit at RG. C is up in the air at this point. Is it Pouncey or someone else? RG, if it’s Larsen, he’s still just barely OK. If not him then who? RT…they just rescinded the 5th year on James who was our best OL this year when he was healthy. So, if they don’t resign him, who’s our RT? None of our backups should start there.
***
TE? Better draft somebody because what we got sucks.
***
RB? Drake showed something, but RBs can blow up one year and get shut down the next. I’m not convinced we have anything close to a good stable of RBs on this team.
****
WR? Landry is well above average. After that, who knows what we have? Parker and Stills are extremely inconsistent. Both are replaceable….and we could use an upgrade. I guess we can just go another year hoping they’ll improve. Bleh.
****
We are not stacked with talent, so expecting this same group of guys to get much better is a long shot.
I didn’t say stacked, I said we have enough to build on and become a playoff team in 2018. I believe that, you don’t have to. 🙂
The OL can effect the skill positions. You have to block it first. I also think the defense has a chance to be much improved with more chemistry and experience together which we had this year though there were a lot of breakdowns, some injuries and other crap. That stuff can be corrected.
Tunsil is someone you can look at who can be developed on the o-line. No guarantee Pouncey is able to stay healthy and there’s nobody else on the o-line you can definitely rely on.
On the defensive side, Wake is up in age and we’ve got nobody in the pipeline to replace him. No guaranteed Hayes is re-signed. Suh and Phillips could be solid inside and Branch could return to form after his injury plagued season, hopefully. Harris is still a ?. Hopefully, he will continue to develop and take a big step next season.
Linebackers are a huge ?. Kiko isn’t that great of a signing and we don’t know what we’ve got in McMillan because he hasn’t played a game for us. Anthony MAY be able to man one spot but we don’t know how good this unit is going to be next season. You hope they will perform well but you really don’t know.
We look like we could be pretty good at db with Lippett returning and Howard and Tank in the mix at cb and Jones and TJ at safety. That, however, seems to be the ONLY group that could be solid going into next season.
Even if we re-sign Landry, Parker still hasn’t shown enough to say he’s the #1 or #2 guy at wr. So, we go into ’18 with Landry and Stills and whom if Landry stays. So, the wr group is still a ? and that should be a group we shouldn’t have to be worried about at this time but still don’t know if we’re set there.
Finally, the RB group is a ? with Drake and who else? Williams may not be back. If he is then we’ve got two but we still need a third guy to help out. So this group isn’t set either.
What do we have at TE? Not much. We’ve got Gray and that’s it and Gase’s unwillingness to use Gray in the offense, which one could question, means we need two more guys who can help. Gray is someone who could help but this group is a huge ?
So, what exactly does this team have to build on?
I think we are staring another .500 season in the face in 2018. An easier schedule will help a little, but this team has very, very little talent on the offensive side of the ball. That’s why I have no problem with trying to get a QB this year. We won’t need him to actually be good for a couple years, at least.
Where do you want to get him and who? If you know that is. Personally, I don’t see a super talented QB outside of the first few guys. Sure, we can pick up another average QB late but that doesn’t really solve the Tannehill issue.
Lou, I really have no idea what you’re talking about. Let’s just start on defense. 3 rookie DL played a lot of snaps. A rook LB in Allen who played well for a UDFA. Anthony is young and started to work his way into the lineup. McMillan missed the season as a rook. Howard, Tank and McCain are all young. Lippett is young and went down for the year. We all know McDonald was late to the party with the 8 game suspension and he’ll be 27 this month.
Maybe just maybe the team knew they were in a transition but also believed they would have had a better season but didn’t. Okay, keep grinding. People tend to make things appear worse then they are when their team had a bad season. It happens. This season had a lot of shit go on that was not foreseen but it needs to be cleaned up. That doesn’t mean they can’t come back better the next season.
you didn’t make a very good argument.
Of course not. I try not to be too hard on your inaccuracies but you have no problem shitting on everything someone else says. This is why it’s hard to have a conversation with you. Your mind is made up and that’s that. I choose not to think like that and I do take into account circumstances. But have fun with everyone and everything sucks.
Tim,
okay, plug your guys in. tell me who we’ve got at each positon that we’re that close for next season.
Yeah, this team beat some really good teams this year. I don’t think the talent is nearly as bad as the stupid mistakes. If we clean that up, it would probably improve other areas significantly. I remember that low penalized, efficient Pennington team with very little talent winning off clean play. 14 penalties is not winning football no matter how much talent you have.
lol. what team were you watching? it couldn’t have been the Miami Dolphins.
We beat the Falcons and Patriots of course. We beat some decent teams like Titans and Chargers.
NewAge,
Well, you can play that game both ways. You could say that nobody knows what any of these QBs are going to be as pros yet. You and others may think none of these guys will be anything more than average QBs, but that’s only guess work. Besides, if you never take a chance on a draftee, you have 0 chance you’ll find his replacement. Plus, do we wait around and just hope we end up with a 1-3 draft pick and hope a QB is there to pick if we do? Sooner or later you need to take a shot or you’ll never find one.
****
That said, if they decide to go another direction that’s fine. I never hold to hard and fast absolutes when it comes to drafting. I just don’t think you sit around and wait for an all pro QB to fall in your lap. You’re probably gonna have to take some risks and go get one.
the difference would be that this draft they could probably choose a guy they like because they can groom him because they don’t necessarily need to go out and get one if they feel Tannehill is the guy of the future.
therefore, they don’t need to panic and just pick a guy like they would if they really needed to get a qb. so, they could take a guy like Ferguson, for instance, and say “okay, we really like what this guy has in terms of a skill set and how he fits with our offense and we can bring him along and see if maybe he can be the future if we decide to part ways with tannehill or if tannehill goes down again”.
Maybe they don’t necessarily like Ferguson and they like someone else better but there’s no reason not to do it. Quarterbacks are too valuable a part of the offense to not consider it. You’re #1 guy does down like Rodgers did in GB and you have to bring in a guy like they did you’re doomed.
How many late round QBs ever make it? Sure, we need a backup QB and why not give him a chance but no late QB is going to be better than a guy with 6 years of experience. Brady was a once of.
who’s talking about drafting a late rd qb?
I just think the caliber of player the Phins will have a shot at with the #11 pick is going to be so much better than what they could have taken if they were still at #12.
UCF COMPLETES THE PERFECT SEASON!!!!! –Congrats to SON and all UCF fans everywhere!!–UCF was simply the better team today. IF they don’t get a Top 10 spot in the final rankings, something’s wacko!!
————-
Game 3 next college season pits FAU at UCF in Orlando. Could be a dilly!
Lou, let’s focus on the age thing first. As the season went on I started to think that we had too much turnover this season and not with old guys, but too much new, youth and inexperience.
We currently have 9 players on our 53 man roster at 30 years of age or more – Denney 39, Wake 35, Cutler 34, Fasano 33, Moore 33, Timmons 31, Larsen 30, Suh, 30 and Young 30. There is a good chance that 5 of them won’t be back, maybe more. Yes some others will be 30 in 2018 but that’s not what I consider old and not all of them including some on IR will be back. We finished with 10 rookies on the 53 and 3 more put on IR. There were a bunch of 2nd, 3rd and 4th year players.
Without counting it up my guess would be we had over 30 new players on this team this year, meaning never having played together on this team. That’s a lot. Then add some of the guys we were counting on going down. That’s not a recipe for an easy transition or success and I think that’s where the FO made a mistake. Gase had to coach it. Unfortunately I see more change in the offseason but hopefully it’s more in the 12-15 range.
As for Gase and his staff, they need to crack the whip much more in 2018 with fundamental football and discipline. That was their biggest flaw this season. Let’s hope they learned from it.
I think I must not have understood your positions. I also want a QB that may eventually take Tannehill’s place but I don;t see a late rounder doing that. I also don;t see this staff being able to teach that guy either. Few of our position guys seem to play well even after 16 games and an entire off-season. I don’t see a late rounder suddenly ‘getting it’ with this staff.
Go look at the roster, all of it, current 53 and IR and see the young players who did progress and even some rookies the last two seasons, along with getting some guys back. I think a lot of you peeps are missing that. The reason I’m saying that is because that is what I do. I go through it and say okay, now you can see what was good, not so good and why there may be promise in the future. Sure a lot of it is projection but that’s all it ever is in the offseason and ours started after we finished 6-10 on Sunday.
I’m disappointed like all of you fans. But I didn’t have playoff hopes a month ago. I was actually amazed we were still in it as long as we were with the way we played this year. Just goes to show you how sub par the AFC was this year. I don’t think it will take that much to be a playoff team next year. Not saying championship, but a better season and going in the right direction again. That also doesn’t mean it will happen but I can hold out hope for dear life. LOL
All I’m saying is you see things one way and I see them another way and as far as I’m concerned, and this is my opinion of course, I don’t see us having that much going into next season. We’ve got a lot of holes to fill and one draft and one free agency isn’t going to get it done.
Sure we can plug some guys in for the meantime like we always do and then say, “see, now we don’t have a hole” but this is what we’ve BEEN doing and it hasn’t worked and saying this is an offseason is just a feel-good thing to me. This is more of the norm around here than it is an offseason.
Drafting good, young players isn’t going to turn things around next year either because it will take 2 to 3 years to see the results from that. Then you’ve got to hope you can go out and get a solid free agent at a position of need like the offensive line to fill the hole for good and not just be a short-term, stop-gap thing like we always do.
I want to see what they do in free agency and with the coaching staff and then maybe there will be a better indication of whether or not they’ve got their shit together. Then I look to the draft to see what they do as well to get some help at positions where it’s needed.
But, even after all that, I can’t say that I’m necessarily going to be optimistic about the season after seeing so many seasons of bad decisions.
Flowers sighting!
Times 2!!!!!!!!
Boomer Sooner!
Armando Salguero
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Dolphins signed eight players to reserve/futures contracts: cornerback Taveze Calhoun, quarterback Brandon Doughty, tackle Sean Hickey, cornerback Tracy Howard, wide receivers Malcolm Lewis and Drew Morgan, running back Brandon Radcliff and defensive end Jonathan Woodard.
Dom Capers, Packers’ defensive boss since ’09, fired
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21934687
So, if Darnold drops down in the draft a little bit after his Bowl performance, is he worth trying to move up to get him?
did he declare?
I don’t think he formally declared but it’s pretty much a certainty he is coming out
I just don’t see what everyone else does?
he’s got the tools but he either needs to sit and learn in his first year in the NFL or stay in school and perfect what he does.
And we got a sloberknocker on our hands here folks!
In my Jim Ross voice! 😉
lou,
I have no idea. I don’t know much about him but his name. I’m just throwing shit out there. Lol
I don’t think he did yet but if he dropped because of that I’d say you would seriously have to consider him, at least, and the nice thing about it like I said before is if they believe Tannehill could do the job for them then Darnold could sit and learn and not be forced into a starting role.
funny things happen in the first round and sometimes a guy becomes available you don’t think is going to be there that changes your whole way of thinking
Wow!
If your not watching the Rose Bowl TURN IT ON!!!!!!!!!
Track meet
Happy New Year y’all
Same to you. Congrats to UCF.
Thanks -wow it’s unbelievable
Wyo, I don’t see it either with Darnold. We don’t need another boyish QB.
How about the guy playing now?
He may talk me into it?
The same Auburn playoff teams Georgia and Alabama couldn’t beat!
UNDEFEATED
Yeah,
I hate to see Frost going to the Big Ten. Will give Wisconsin a challenge eventually in that half of the conference.
Congrats Son!
You can argue about not being invited to the big 4 now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lou, and everyone else – I don’t have a problem with glass half full or empty opinions. We should just respect different views because the only thing that matters now will be 2018 results. Some of us try to focus on 10-6 or better and some are expecting more of the same. Okay! I don’t roll that way, that’s all.
But to calm all off the track debates – I’m not predicting great success either. I’m talking about how I think it can and what needs to happen.
Son
He almost has me hooked then makes a throw like that!
Hopefully Green Bay and Cincinnati are early in the season
I hope so too as I will for sure be at the GB game and may be going to Minnesota game also depending on the date.
Fuck that, I want to be able to play anywhere. LOL
I agree, but I don’t want to have to sit in the cold…..lol
LOL
Finally a smith sighting
Chris Mortensen
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Ted Thompson will not return as the GM of the Green Bay Packers but will remain with the team. The front office will go through a reorganization with team president Mark Murphy defining new roles for current members of front office, per league and team sources.
but let’s keep the current structure in Miami. Yeah!!! He we come playoffs, here we come!!!
The Packers’ season was all about Rodgers going down. Losing Matthews didn’t help. The FO stuff might just be something that was already in transition. You’re doing your best though Lou to piss on everything Miami Dolphins. LOL
Well, 6-10 when we have such a promising young head coach and such a great coaching staff and front office kind of gets you pissed off. so, there’s a lot of piss to go around.
Without speculating too much on some older players, UDFAs, maybe a trade, bottom depth or some players off of injury.
These are players I expect to be on the team competing for the 2018 season.
Offense:
OL Tunsil, Pouncey, Davis, Larsen, Asiata, Smith
TE Gray
WR Stills, Parker, Grant
QB Tannehill
RB Drake
Defense:
DL Suh, Wake, Branch, Harris, Phillips, Godchaux, Taylor
LB Alonso, McMillan, Anthony, Allen
DB Howard, Tankersley, McCain, Lippett, Jones, McDonald
Special Teams:
K Parkey
That’s 30 players to start with based on status and contract. There will be that other 30 players already in the house competing for spots, and then 30 new additions = 53 and PS. So much has to happen before we know what this team looks like in 2018.
There is a core to build on. Laugh all you want. Some good players here. 🙂
lots of work to be done. most of the o-line guys are depth. db is the only unit that looks good.
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Broncos announce they’ve fired OL coach Jeff Davidson, ass’t DBs coach Johnnie Lynn, special teams coach Brock Olivo, OLB coach Fred Pagac, ass’t HC/RBs coach Eric Studesville and WRs coach Tyke Tolbert.
Tyke Tolbert was WRs coach in ’14 when Gase was OC of the Broncos.
Tackling just doesn’t exist anymore. It’s pretty sad, actually.
That’s the next game!
It’s been happening for at least a decade. Then with the new CBA rules in the NFL you can’t work on it because it’s too physical in TC. That’s where American football is ruining the game. You have to draft guys who are good at it. Not much time to develop it. For Instance, we look at Howard and want to see him become a ballhawk and contest every throw, but he’s a natural physical tackler and hitter learning NFL corner coverage. We need to add more defensive players who take tackling more seriously. Chase Allen is actually good at that. Why can’t a rook UDFA LB be given credit for solid performance and upside? He’ll be 25 in 2018.
The fuckin 8-12 round pick will not change anything alone. Unless a team hits on a HOF player. There are lots of players who go onto have great careers who were not top 20 picks. The more I follow the draft the scarier the 1st round is. LOL
Chase Allen had a good year. I don’t think anyone can deny that. But, you don’t pencil in an UDFA to be your starter at one of the LB positions in his 2nd season.
Somebody kicked the Dawgs at halftime!
The bottom line is we need to score better. We need more playmakers on offense. Landry is it. We need more. Wait, we need 2 guards a C and a RT too. Ok, so we need more OL AND playmakers on offense. Lol
If we are ordering I’d like to be able to cover a TE too please
there ya go.
If we can clear the cap space that Barry Jackson said the team feels they can ($60 million) we should do everything we can to get a bona fide starting caliber guard at one of the positions on the o-line and draft another.
So, we draft Nelson and sign one guy in FA then we are moving in the right direction. However, if we decide that going into the season with Davis, Larsen, Steen and Urbik because we think we’re OKAY there then it’s just going to be another season where the offensive line doesn’t get fixed.
So, if we’re going to do it right that’s one thing. But, let’s not pencil in one of these guys to start. Depth is fine but none of these guys are starting caliber at this point.
New blog up
no there isn’t