TE – The position that has been a vacant hole for so many years. One oddity, if you weren’t aware, is that Tight End, besides Kicker and Punter is the only skill position that the Dolphins have NEVER invested in a 1st RD pick for. While I’m not advocating the Dolphins select a TE with the #11 pick, they better make it happen with either the #42 pick, or at the very least, the #73, but preferably the #42 pick. In the meantime, let’s take a look at who’s available at TE in free agency. Last week, we looked at WR, this week, it’s the big fellas, the TE’s.
Jimmy Graham 6’7 260 31YO
A TE can’t really replace Jarvis Landry, or can he? This year, in SEA, in his walk year of free agency, Graham’s stats more resembles Jarvis Landry’s than at any other point of his career. Graham reeled in 10 TD’s this year, his highest total since ’14 (He had 16 TD’s in ’13). Here’s where it even more closely resembles Landry, 57 receptions for 520 yards, for a 9.1 YPR average, the first time in Graham’s career below double digits. Is the big guy slowing down? Eh, probably a little bit, but SEA just didn’t have a great year this year, the run game was a colossal bust. FA Eddie Lacy was a huge disappointment, and the bevy of RB’s behind him were awful, so it all fell on Russell Wilson, who managed to have a phenomenal year, despite the run game woes.
Graham is 31, and will be going into his 9th season. He’s played most games every season, and isn’t really an injury prone player. He’s one of the biggest red zone threats in the game, and if you compare him to what we’ve had here the last decade or so, he’s ALL WORLD! Spotrac has Graham’s market value at $6.7M, and I’m going to say right now, I think they’re low on that. Think of it this way Dolphins fans, if we do lose Landry, which you all know I will hate, Graham would definitely help this team recover from that loss.
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Austin Seferian-Jenkins 6’6 262 25YO
ASJ had a resurrection of his career last season with the rival New York Jets. I know pretty well, I had to pick him up in FF in 2 leagues after I lost my TE to injury. After disappearing from the NFL landscape during 2 forgettable seasons with the Tampa Bay Bucs, the former 2nd RD pick was cut in the middle of his 3rd season after his 2nd DUI arrest since 2013. He got serious about his life, slimmed down 15 lbs, got his mind and body focused on football, and had a nice comeback season. It wasn’t outstanding, but 2 TD’s were overturned by replay, one against the Patriots (Of course!), and one against Seattle. ASJ finished with 50 catches for 357 yards and 3 TD’s. Not eye popping, but he showed a lot of promise after being out of football for a while. A highly touted prospect, ASJ seems to be on the right track, and I’d take a look at him for sure. Spotrac projects his market value at $4.1M, which is a bargain compared to Julius Thomas.
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Benjamin Watson 6’3 255 37YO
Yes, Watson is older than Gase. Not really, but it’s close. It would have to be a short contract, but joking aside, Watson has had 2 very productive seasons his last 2 years, one for the Ravens, the other 2 years ago with the Saints. Players don’t usually get better after 35, but Watson has had his 2 best years of his career. Watson caught 61 passes for 521 yards and 4 TD’s. He’s a smart veteran player with a good work ethic, and looks to be in fantastic physical shape. My thinking would be to sign Watson, but also draft a TE early, and let things happen as they will. At worst, if the rookie struggles, you have a veteran TE who can fill the spot, and also mentor the young TE. Seems logical, especially at the right price, which should be around $2M per.
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Virgil Green 6’3 248 29YO
Yeah, I know, it’s slim pickin’s out there folks. Sure, 7 years ago in the 2011 NFL Draft, both M13 and I were all about Virgil Green, but in 2018, after 7 seasons in the NFL, Green is not a savior. He’s more of a role player, and probably a 2nd TE, which is why I’ll be discussing Anthony Fasano shortly. back to Green, he started all 16 games last season for the Broncos, but had very little on his resume as such. Green finished with 14 receptions for 191 yards and 1 TD. That’s a nice 13.6 YPR, but it’s such a small body of work, it’s hard to get excited about it. He’s an athletic player, definitely undersized at 6’3, but part of the mystique of Green is he played college ball at Nevada, with a certain controversial QB. Ahhh, now you remember who Virgil Green is! Virgil excelled at the combine, running a 4.64, jumped out of the park with a 42.5″ vertical and a 130″ broad jump, a 6.90 cone and 11.63 60 YD shuttle all showed great athleticism and explosiveness, but it just hasn’t translated to the NFL. It happens.
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Anthony Fasano 6’4 255 33YO
We all know Anthony Fasano well, Gigi’s Italian Stallion who came back home last season after a 4 year hiatus. Always a fan favorite. Fasano has that old school grit, and will even make a nice catch here and there when called on. he’s a great in line blocker, but he’s a 2nd TE, not a #1 guy. This seems to be the theme in this year’s free agency, once you get past top 2 or 3. No reason to post his stats, but I will anyway, 12 catches for 107 yards and 1 TD. The stats don’t do Fasano justice, because he’s a great teammate, as I mentioned, a great blocker, and a fan favorite, so his 12 catches don’t portray his story fairly.
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Trey Burton 6’3 228 26YO
Burton is an undersized, very undersized TE. He’s one of those tweeners, who BTW, is benefiting hugely by by being on a SB winning team, and being the #2 to one of the best pass catching TE’s in football, Zach Ertz, along with the complete arsenal of weapons such as Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, Torrey Smith, LeGarrette Blount, Jay Ajayi, etc . . . Burton caught 23 passes for 248 yards and 5 TD’s. I don’t think any NFL team will be looking at Burton as their #1 starting TE, yet for some odd reason, Spotrac has him valued at $7M per season. Burton caught 23 passes for 248 yards and 5 TD’s. As far as I’m concerned, I’d take that $7M and give it to Landry to keep in aqua and orange, but that’s just me. he would have to be a complimentary player, like a slot receiving TE, so forget $7M, maybe at half that, I’d consider him, maybe.
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Ed Dickson 6’4 244 30YO
Dickson has had a decent career with both the Ravens and Panthers. This past season, when starter Greg Olsen went down with a broken leg, Dickson got more of a chance, yet still finished with pedestrian numbers, 30 receptions 437 yards and 1 TD. he had a nice 14.6 YPR, but 1 TD as a starter for 12 games is disappointing. Maybe it’s the QB in Carolina, who knows? (LOL!) Once again, Dickson is not going to be your #1 starting TE, he’s more of a 2nd string guy.
***********************************************************************************
So there’s your 6, oops SEVEN possibilities at TE for us in 2018. I obviously can’t count! I didn’t forget that Antonio Gates is out there, or Tyler Eifert for that matter. Gates should finish his career as a Charger, and I think he probably will. He’s maintained he doesn’t want to retire, he would like to win a SB. Tyler Eifert eerily reminds me of Jordan Cameron, and I don’t have to remind you how that went down, or how strongly I was against it. He’s a talented player, maybe better than Jordan Cameron, but believe it or not, not as durable. Eifert has managed one season with 15 games played, and then in 4 seasons after that, just 24 games. I wouldn’t even look in his direction, been there, done that. I would have loved to have included former CHI TE Zach Miller, but after that catastrophic leg injury, in which he dislocated his knee, and and actually severed his popliteal artery, and nearly had to have his leg amputated, he may never play football again. The 33 YO TE desires to play again in the NFL, but he has quite the uphill struggle ahead. If there’s any TE you feel was wrongly omitted, let me know.
Finsmob Unleashed 
bookman,
Agreed! We’ve been losing the battle at the LOS for far too long. It just makes everything else so much harder.
Exactly, I think we have had some nice skill players, but we always seem to be dealing with a patchwork OL
M13,
Your trivia was much cooler than my trivia. Lol
LOL, I’m actually happy it didn’t work out between those women and me. I’m LUCKY.
Ummmmm…..sorry Puggy, but I hope the Bucks spoil Wades return tonight
Ok… wow…Piggy….sorry
Randy,
Another thing… your dude Josey Jewell is CLIMBING the Draft boards as of late.
My “we will run the fucking ball this year draft”
YOUR TEAM
MIAMI DOLPHINS
YOUR PICKS
1: R1P11 G QUENTON NELSON NOTRE DAME
2: R2P10 C BILLY PRICE OHIO STATE
3: R3P9 TE MARK ANDREWS OKLAHOMA
4: R4P11 RB JAYLEN SAMUELS NORTH CAROLINA STATE
5: R4P30 TE TROY FUMAGALLI WISCONSIN
6: R6P9 CB QUENTON MEEKSSTANFORD
7: R7P5 FB DIMITRI FLOWERS
8: R7P11S DAMON WEBB OHIO STATE
That’s not too F’n bad!!!
M13,
Is he? I really haven’t paid nearly as much attention to draft stuff this year as I usually do. I’ve actually kind of enjoyed it. I still pay attention to OL prospects, but that’s been just about it for me so far this year other than seeing guys in games I happened to watch.
***
Jewell is just a football player. I don’t know what he’ll be in the NFL, but some coach is gonna love him. Other than he’s not 6’4” and 250 pounds, there’s not much not to like about the kid. I hate comparisons, but he’s a Zach Thomas sort of guy. I sure hope his shoulders holds up.
Some scouts think that Jewell has “maxed out” and he has no upside. Some think he’s a ‘steady-Eddie’ who could be a great surprise in the NFL.
He’s another guy I’ve not studied, so I’ve no opinion.
Come to think about it, I’m SLACKING this year! I need to watch more film than I’ve been!
Ok…..this draft was made by selecting TROY FUMAGALLI…..as Madden would say, “ he is a football player “
😆
bookman,
I thought our OL actually performed okay in 2016. There were just a lot of injuries and shuffling around this past season.
***
But, only the damn pretty boy QBs get excuses made for them. OL just need to suck it up and get blamed for everything! Lol
They didn’t run block worth a sh*t, but the pass blocking was not bad at all.
Randy,
Just to be clear, I think that the Dolphins have what they need in the skill positions outside of TE, and some depth. My issue is there is nobody on the OL that sets the tone or is elite
M13,
If they mean Jewell is maxed out physically, I would agree. He’s not gonna get much bigger, stronger or faster. But, i’m not necessarily sure he has to. He was very productive at Iowa….in a tough, physical conference. I’m a homer, but I love how the kid plays. He’s very smart, very high football IQ, a really good tackler and plays a tough game. He can’t take on blocks all game long…that’s not his game, but he can diagnose plays and take the right route to the right spot more often than not. He doesn’t take a lot of false steps.
I think you’ve got Jewell diagnosed correctly: he’s a technician, and that’s why he’s projected to go in the 2-3rd round. He’s a VERY good player.
MikeE,
This is NOT a rip on Tannehill, so please don’t crucify me. Lol I think Cutler helped our OL look better in pass pro than they reallly were. Cutler still did some screwy things in the pocket like he always has, but he has pretty good pocket management. He saved our OL a bunch of sacks.
I agree with that. Cutler is better in the picket, but the throws he made escaping pressure were mostly awful, but he did get rid of the ball. His mechanics go completely down the drain once he feels any pressure. He’s always off his back foot.
Pocket, not picket. He threw like he was hanging from a picket fence sometimes.
I HAVE been studying TEs this year, and for obvious reason: we NEED one, and EARLY.
I’ve posted my thoughts both here and on Twitter regarding Troy Fumagalli a month or so ago. I like him, but he’s Anthony Fasano, part 2. He’s not going to split the seam with his lack of speed, his drop-rate is far from exclusive, and his production is lackluster. His tape is good when blocking, but his tape isn’t exactly good as a receiver.
And if ya don’t believe ME from a month or so ago, here’s this from Matt Miller just yesterday…
Matt Miller
Verified account
@nfldraftscout
Feb 8
More
Put a Day 3 grade on Troy Fumagalli. Not a great athlete. Lacks flexibility and agility. Pretty solid route-runner for college. Too stiff for the NFL.
MF13,
Screw you, you are just a Pennsylvania Mike Gesicki homer, and can’t stand the Badger guy…..lol 😀
😆
bookman,
That’s what is great about having a good OL. They can make even average skill players look good because outside of Landry I think our skill guys are mediocre. I really was hoping Parker would step up this year with his physical gifts, but he didn’t. Drake may be more. We’ll see.
Randy,
Really? What evidence Do you have of that because we have not had a good offensive line for years LOL
———-
Who is this WJ3 character? 😉
Heat Win!!!
– Puggy
I fart in your general direction.
🐖💨
bookman,
That is true. I cannot dispute that. Lol
***
I just don’t think all the issues we have at the skill positions can be laid at the foot of the OL. It makes a difference, but the OL doesn’t drop passes or hit the wrong hole or run the wrong routes or miss open receivers or not fight for balls or miss blocks on blitzers…well they do that too…but I meant RB. I agree that our OL has been a problem…no doubt about it. It has been on of our worst units for years. I thought last year they were okay….otherwise not so much. There’s plenty of improvement to do AND keeping guys healthy.
***
I said last year i’d be fine with spending a couple higher drafts picks on the OL, and i’d be okay with it this year too. It’s gotta get fixed and that’s one way to do it.
Good night…..h….
Your Picks:
Round 1 Pick 14 (G.B.): Billy Price, C/OG, Ohio State (B)
Round 2 Pick 10: Dallas Goedert, TE, South Dakota State (A)
Round 2 Pick 13 (G.B.): DaShawn Hand, DE, Alabama (A-)
Round 3 Pick 9: Keishawn Bierria, OLB, Washington (A)
Round 4 Pick 11: Rashaad Penny, RB, San Diego State (A+)
Round 4 Pick 30: Kurt Benkert, QB, Virginia (C+)
Round 6 Pick 9: Jessie Bates III, SS, Wake Forest (A+)
Round 7 Pick 5: Isaiah Prince, OT, Ohio State (A+)
Round 7 Pick 11: Tre’Quan Smith, WR, Central Florida (A+)
There you go Piggy!
Your Picks:
Round 1 Pick 21 (BUF): Billy Price, C/OG, Ohio State (B+)
Round 2 Pick 10: Derrius Guice, RB, LSU (A-)
Round 2 Pick 24 (BUF): Dallas Goedert, TE, South Dakota State (A+)
Round 3 Pick 9: Keishawn Bierria, OLB, Washington (A)
Round 4 Pick 11: Tyquan Lewis, DE, Ohio State (A+)
Round 4 Pick 30: Kurt Benkert, QB, Virginia (C+)
Round 6 Pick 9: Jessie Bates III, SS, Wake Forest (A+)
Round 7 Pick 5: Austin Corbett, OG, Nevada (A+)
Round 7 Pick 11: Rashaan Gaulden, CB, Tennessee (A+)
I just had a premonition that we drafted Tremaine Edmunds as an OLB to play against TEs.
like a blinding flash
course it might’ve just been a little leftover Woodford Reserve stuck in my cerebellum.
I know Lou likes him but I’m not seeing the speed to play 4-3 olb?
His father was a TE for the Dolphins, as was the son in HS. His 2 bros are RB and S.
NFL COMPARISON Brian Urlacher
BOTTOM LINE Edmunds combines elite size, speed and explosiveness into a productive, versatile linebacker package that will have evaluators salivating. Edmunds has posted high-impact production over the last two seasons and he still has room to get bigger and better. Edmunds will make mental mistakes and his instincts are subpar, but he has an ability to mitigate those issues with his athletic ability. Edmunds can play in any alignment at any linebacker spot and has All-Pro potential no matter where he lands.
-Lance Zierlein
While we are sharing name-dropping trivia
My wife’s little sister’s roommate dated Darius Rucker’s bass player.
True story!
I know some of you already know this but I figure to let everyone here know as we have been blogging together for years. I have a recurrence of oral cancer. The good news is it was discovered very early, it appears to be contained and I have an excellent prognosis. However because of the recurrence in a little over a week I will be undergoing a major surgery. It is actually 2 surgeries done at the same time. They are doing a partial jaw bone resection removing 4 teeth and portion of jaw bone. They will also do a neck dissection and a remove a lymph node on a precautionary basis. They tell me I will be I patient at the hospital for 5 days and laid up at home for a few weeks after that. So either you won’t see me on here for a while because I will feel like crap or I will be on here all the time because I have nothing else to do. I not sure which one it is yet. I just wanted to let you guys know because I feel as if I am friends with just about all of you.
That tough sledding. Be well my friend.
Thanks Phelon
naplesfan2010 says:
February 10, 2018 at 8:25 am (Edit)
course it might’ve just been a little leftover Woodford Reserve stuck in my cerebellum.
***********************************************************
I wish I had some of that, I could use it to take the edge off. I’m in a vile, aggressive mood this morning, I feel a confrontation is going to happen today of my doing. A lil bourbon would just calm me down some right now.
Ken,
Dammit, Brother 😦
I’m saddened that you’re experiencing a re-occurrence. I’m really happy for you that it was caught very early, though. Hang in there and focus on positivity. You are in my thoughts and prayers, man.
Thank you M13
Good luck with the procedures Ken
I look forward to you being bored and posting here more!
Thank you and let’s get Josh Allen
Goedert’s teammate could be the wr mismatch the Phins are looking for:
Ken,
I’ll keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Hope everything turns out well for you and looking forward to conversing with you in the future about our team.
Thank you Lou and let’s gets TE
Bookman, good to see you.
I agree, we need upgrades on the OL and to finally add a good young TE. I don’t see us taking that next step until we do.
Fix the offense draft . . .
Your Picks:
Round 1 Pick 11: Minkah Fitzpatrick, CB/FS, Alabama (A)
Round 2 Pick 10: Billy Price, C/OG, Ohio State (A+)
Round 3 Pick 9: Mike Gesicki, TE, Penn State (B+)
Round 4 Pick 11: Frank Ragnow, C/OG, Arkansas (A+)
Round 4 Pick 30: Jaylen Samuels, RB/WR, North Carolina State (A+)
Round 6 Pick 9: Javon Wims, WR, Georgia (A+)
Round 7 Pick 5: Kalen Ballage, RB, Arizona State (C+)
Round 7 Pick 11: Kurt Benkert, QB, Virginia (A+)
Just not with the 1st pick…lol
By starting off with a position on defense we don’t need? 😉
Ken, wishing you all the best and a healthy recovery.
Thank you Tim
Hulk Smash!!!
Hulk smash puny cancer
Boy, after looking over the post at the top of the page you have to thing the FA TE market sucks
Would you call it “fate”?
Yes!!!
It’s mostly stopgap while a young TE develops.
I hate stopgaps
Don’t need a stopgap. Plenty of TEs start as a rookie and play well
Agree. Only Graham is really a stud and he is on the other side of 30. I much finding our next TE in the draft which seems to be a really stocked position in the draft
If we’re going to go defense in the 1st rd, I’d prefer we target a pass rusher. Not sure there is one worthy at #11 though.
Beyond Chubb, doesn’t look like it
I’m okay with a safety
The idea being playing 3 safeties and playing one of our safeties as a LB/DB hybrid
The reality is he BPA might be safety
Smith and Edmunds are considerations too at LB
Here is the difficulty with pass rusher. After Chubb who is the next best pass rusher? I’m not sure any one after Chubb is worthy of top 15
But I said it the other day and I will say it again
If we went DE in the first and LB in the 2nd I would be very excited about the youth on our defense
That mock that had Landry 1 and Jefferson 2 was very appealing to me
I bet we can get good A Good TE, RB and QB with the next 3 picks
But Im not confident about getting great OL deep into day 2
Fitzpatrick is going to be a very good player somewhere in your defense. That’s why I took him
I would have no problem drafting Fitzpatrick in the first
We don’t know how we’d use our safeties though. Most of that is just speculation on our part because Jones and McDonald are big guys who can tackle. Fitzpatrick may be a very good player but Jones and McDonald are paid as starters.
I also wasn’t saying we should target any of the stopgap TEs, I was just pointing out that’s what they are. I want to draft one high and maybe another late.
Fitzpatrick might end up as a corner like Jalen Ramsey
True but I like Howard, Tankersley, Lippett and McCain. They are all young. To me the best way to improve the defense is a better offense. We put them in shit situations all season and they still finished middle of the pack.
If we drafted a safety with 11
I think it’s likely we try to keep 3 in the field
In nickel and dime not in base.
It’s that time of year where I’m beginning to covet that which we likely can’t get. I’m talking about Tremaine Edmunds. I think the likelihood of him falling to us is astronomical and I’m almost willing to trade up a few spots to get him.
So as of today, I think the only guy I’d trade up for is Edmunds and the only guy I’d trade down for is Billy Price. We should probably just sit tight at R1P11 and hope for either of Quenton Nelson, Roquan Smith, or the BPA QB to fall to us.
I have ZERO interest in Minkah Fitzpatrick, Derwin James, Arden Key, or Harold Landry @ R1P11. I think Marcus Davenport is going to be a NICE player in this league, but he’s too raw for me @ R1P11 as well.
Dark horse candidate @ R1P11: Josh Jackson, CB, Iowa. If he kills the Combine, he’s going to fly up draft boards FAST.
Here is a name to consider at #11
Derrius Guice
(Piggy sits back to watch the blog blow up)
I think Piggy has a serious man crush
This may be chiffon robe territory
As for the OL a lot depends on if we keep James on the 5th year option, and what we think of Davis and Asiata in 2018.
Fitzpatrick is the quality type of player we would want here though. Great leadership qualities as well as hard nosed competitiveness
If we draft Derrius Guice at #11, I’m going to eat a bacon,ham, chorizo and prosciutto omelette
If that’s the way I go you can expect to find smiling pork products in your super market
Believe it or not, I think I have all of those in my fridge. Nope, no chorizo, but I have pancetta instead. lol
Also if we’re going to do this 3 safety thing stop looking at LBs. How many of them do you think are going to play? LOL
4 LB’s, 3 safeties, 2 CB’s, 2 DL. Stop complicating things!
I don’t think we need any of that
Just play 11 running backs on defense
Tim – i’m hoping Lippett comes back strong, but I’m not convinced any of them are really good. All of them have struggled badly at times. Howard came on nicely at the end, but he was also pretty bad at times, and Tank was better early on, and then played pretty poorly. McCain was probably the most consistent, and he played well last season.
DBs usually need some time to develop. I don’t think they played poorly. There seems to be this new thing that if a DB gives up a play he played poorly. Or if a corner allows 9 catches for 80 yards he had a bad day according to PFF which is an amateur organization. That means the WRs were catching underneath stuff, not the DB being burned down field all day.
Tank got hurt at the end, I don’t remember him playing poorly.
I like our secondary moving forward.
I never pay attention to PFF, just my screen every Sunday. I disagree with your assessment of our CB’s, I think Howard and Tank played bad for a stretch of time. In fact, Howard’s play at the end of the season basically shocked everyone, he wasn’t good most of the season. Surprised you don’t remember that.
Well the coaches didn’t think Howard played poorly. PFF did. Allowing 9-80 and numbers like that when you’re playing off is not poor play. That’s the game plan. Don’t get beat over the top and give up the big play. I said that all year when PFF was killing him. The LB miscommunication issues in coverage was more the culprit than the secondary.
LOL @ Piggy – Reminds of Bugs Bunny.
1B Bugs Bunny, 2B Bugs Bunny, SS Bugs Bunny, 3B Bugs Bunny etc . . .
Ken dude I need you to get well soon man as I promised my son that I had a very high quality contact for him to meet in CT and he left for his new job yesterday!!! He is a huge Hulk fan and thinks you choosing that as your avatar is way cool. I showed him one of your Hulk smash posts and he thought it was da bomb. Looking forward to reading your thoughts soon on drafting a punter at pick #11 and 3 WRs with Rnd 2.3.4. That way we can challenge New England all over the field..
Thank you Naples. My doctor expects me to have a return to my normal health. Unfortunately I just have to go through this invasive surgery to get there but I plan on being around for a long time
And if we draft a punter Hulk will smash
Since the 2010 Draft, a list of Nick Saban’s DBs taken in the 1st Round…
2010: Kareem Jackson (R1P20)
2011: None
2012: Mark Barron (R1P7), Dre Kirkpatrick (R1P17)
2013: Dee Milliner (R1P9)
2014: Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (R1P21)
2015: None
2016: None
2017: Marlon Humphrey (R1P16)
6 players and only 1 Pro-Bowl to show for it (Clinton-Dix in 2016). Milliner is no longer in the league, by the way. I recall going tit-for-tat with a long former poster about Milliner. I said that he would bust, the poster said he was going to be a future All-Pro. LOL
I know Saban’s DB system and it masks their deficiencies across the map. What’s more, his front-7s are INCREDIBLE because he always gets the best recruits in the nation. And lastly, Saban is a natty DB coach: if there’s one unit he can prop up to compensate for it’s lack of talent, it’s at DB.
I’m sorry, but I do NOT trust a Saban-coached DB. They might look very good in college, but they don’t pan out very well in the NFL.
Remember too that our offense gave up 5 TDs on turnovers (3INT, 2FUM) and also turned the ball over on the 1 (forgot which game) which was an easy TD for the opponent. Our offense not only didn’t score a lot, they also gave up points. That has to be fixed or it won’t matter what we do on defense.
I’m hoping Ken’s main post-surgery problem is that he is bored as hell and all here all the time. And Hulk on pain meds would be a wild ride….so long as you are in another state that is. 🙂
LOL Hulk on pain meds is going to interesting
Piggy,
I know you want a rb and think Guice is worth a 1st but I really don’t see a significant difference between he and Michel and, personally, I think Michel is the better of the two backs.
I also don’t think there’s a rd 1 rb other than Barkley who should go early. I could see Guice and Michel possibly going late 1st but that’s the earliest after Barkley
I don’t think we need to keep James on the 5th year option. We could just sign him to an extension.
http://www.miamidolphins.com/team/coaches/Hill/e6708804-8cec-486e-9ed7-dd7380de9f40
We need more INTs, sooo this ^ guy
and this guy:
http://www.miamidolphins.com/team/coaches/oden/4f4522ac-b81b-4ada-b43f-f8e56facc197
LOL @ the chiffon robed Pig
I just don’t want the team going into this year thinking Davis played well enough that they just pencil him in at one spot and say we don’t need someone there to start; we’re good. And you can’t argue that can’t happen when you look at our history and even if he played well I wouldn’t feel comfortable penciling in a guy based on such a small sample size.
They will try to convince everyone, including themselves, that he’s good enough and blow it out of proportion and then have it blow up in their faces like it always does.
I’m also hoping they don’t look at it from the point of view that Larsen is the guy at RG and we don’t need anyone there either. He’s a backup and that’s it.
You’re doing a lot of speculating here. I highly doubt Davis will just be penciled in as a starter. I think it will be due to him playing well and winning a job. There’s nothing wrong with that. Davis and even Young on the right side played well down the stretch.
Some of our biggest issues on the OL is staying healthy. We can’t seem to keep a group on the field together.
Tim,
We signed Bushrod AND Larsen to start and we brought in Bushrod this past season at the very end of FA because we fucked ourselves out of a more viable alternative and make a last ditch effort to get a guy on the o-line.
We have screwed around with this offensive line so long and haven’t made any strides in fixing the issue and now we’ve got two starters on the line and that’s it. Tunsil and Pouncey. So, we’re in worse shape on the offensive line going into this offseason than we’ve ever been and you can see them reaching for a fix.
All I care about is the OL gets better. I don’t care how and with who, just improve the group.
agreed with all that … good back-ups, but we need great starters … those guys like Larson, Steen, Davis, and Eric Smith will get you to 6-10 so you don’t have to suffer with a 3-13 season. Yay.
that’s what it looks like. we’ve probably got the best depth of any o-line in the league. lol. we just don’t have any starters.
Davis had flashes where he looked capable of being but totally agree you cannot just pencil him in. We need more talent on OL not only for depth but to challenge the starters as well
I’ve said this too but somehow I keep being accused of saying the OL is fine. LOL
Tim you are always misunderstood
Lou, what makes you think that I think we’ve addressed the OL specifically guard well? LOL
I’ve been saying we have to upgrade the OL and TE while others are drafting RBs, LBs and safeties. If we don’t get better on the interior OL we’re going to see more of the same.
By the way, heading into the 2014 offseason was much worse on the OL than it is this year. The only player we had was Pouncey. We didn’t even have James yet. That’s the year we also signed Albert.
I didn’t say you said the o-line is fine. I made an observation of the o-line. That’s it.
I’ve read your comments in the past about fixing it and I agreed that we need to fix the line. I just don’t want them going into the season thinking Davis is one of the answers. It worries me that they would because I’ve seen it happen before. They try and go cheap with an answer at a position rather than fix it.
Just think about this. if we hadn’t signed Suh to that big contract we probably could have signed two starting guards in the last two off seasons and not have to worry about getting at least one in this draft or FA period.
Tim Knight says:
February 10, 2018 at 1:16 pm
All I care about is the OL gets better. I don’t care how and with who, just improve the group.
_____________________________
well, I care about who because they signed Bushrod and Larsen as answers at the G positions and penciled them in as starters and where did that get us. If we’re going to sign anyone on the offensive line this time around we sure as hell don’t need backups because we’ve got plenty of them. We need to sign ONE guy who is good at what he does. A guy we don’t need to worry about for four years instead of signing a guy who we will need to replace again next season even if we get one good year out of him. I’m done with that. I don’t want a one year quick fix even if the guy we were to get plays well for us.
GOOD LUCK KEN
Thank you but why are you shouting at me LOL
Rock at my hospital bedside: STAND THE FUCK UP
The key for Pouncey this offseason is hopefully he can just rest his body, not have any hip procedures, train normally and be ready to go for OTAs etc. like everyone else.
Like I said before though. We need to go into this offseason with a laser focus and think about what we want to do and what we want to be and try not to fix everything at once.
We have a chance to get better on the offensive line if we go after at least one guy in free agency and we could also get at least one if not two offensive linemen in the draft. So, if we were to just focus on that one area we could see a major improvement in an area that has plagued us since the days of Sparano and finally get things fixed.
So, it’s going to be interesting to see if Grier and Tannenbaum try to go for the quick fix again this year or if they finally just say, let’s at least accomplish something.
Lou, if you remember Urbik was going to be the starting center if Pouncey couldn’t go but he went down and was released before the season. He might have moved to guard with Pouncey back. Then Larsen got injured and went on the 8 week IR so that wasn’t ideal either. Eric Young was beating out Sam Young and he went on IR. All of this before the season. Jesse Davis as a UDFA was a good find. As a rookie he was better than Dallas Thomas (3rd), Billy Turner (3rd) and Jamal Douglas (4th). Not saying that was hard to do, lol, but he showed promise. I don’t care that he was undrafted. Sometimes you find a guy like that. He can also get better.
That said, yes we need to bring in more talent and improve the competition. Make it tougher for guys to win a starting job. I don’t care how they’re acquired as long as we’re better.
but none of what you stated has anything to do with our offensive line being in the situation it is in. Urbik isn’t a starter. Neither is any of those other guys so none of that matters. the reason why all of that was as bad as it turned out to be is because we had backups penciled in as starters and when a guy like Larsen goes down we have his backup playing in his place.
If we had 5 viable STARTERS on the offensive line and then lost one to injury and now we’ve got four good staring offensive lineman with one backup it’s nowhere near as bad as having the situation we had.
Even if we didn’t address the OL properly, to lose 3 guys before the season started who were higher on the depth chart than who we rolled with matters. That’s all I’m saying.
^ Absolutely right Lou
I don’t disagree. All I was saying is if you have a depth chart whatever it may be, and you lose 3 guys who were higher on the depth chart, it’s even worse. Which is what you’re saying here. LOL
So we’re going in circles. The majority on this blog think we need upgrades on the OL.
I’m running in circles in my office. Getting dizzy
If we can land OL and TE with our first two picks I’d be very happy. Could you imagine Quenton Nelson at #11 and Mark Andrews at #42? 🙂
Add in the 3rd get the best remaining RG and early in the 4th Penny or Balage with another TE or a steal of a pass rusher later in the 4th with a viable Big Arm @ QB in the 6th such as Benkert, Ferguson, or Litton and you’ve got something special.
I think what Lou and i are saying is not in criticism of Tim or anyone else on this blog.
Tim is making an eloquent explanation of what went wrong in the past. I agree with that.
I’m tired of that.
What I’m saying is draft or get in FA a quality starter at LG who can pass block and pull to his right and hit a LB on the move and dive block in the run game on the left so we aren’t giving Drake the task of averaging 4 yards after contact so he gets 4.5 per carry.
AND
get a RG in FA or the draft who is a road grader in the run game with a nasty punch as a pass blocker.
And i want them both to start at least 14 games every year for 8 out of the next 10.
EZ PZ
Thank you. Who do like in FA?
This was my live mock from yesterday and it worked out the way I mentioned above.
11: R1P11 G QUENTON NELSON NOTRE DAME
42: R2P10 TE MARK ANDREWS OKLAHOMA
73: R3P9 C WILL CLAPP LSU
113: R4P11 FB JAYLEN SAMUELS NORTH CAROLINA STATE
132: R4P30 LB UCHENNA NWOSU SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
186: R6P9 QB RILEY FERGUSON MEMPHIS
223: R7P5 TE ADAM BRENEMAN MASSACHUSETTS
229: R7P11 RB RASHAAD PENNY SAN DIEGO STATE
BINGO
just what i typed out above, except i think you’ll need to take Penny in the 4th and maybe a quick Free Safety in the 7th.
Penny was there in the 7th so I took him.
no I know the computer will do that sometimes, but with real people keeping a hawkeye on the draft, Penny is too attractive to drop past the 5th (very similar to what happened to Ajayi), and we don’t have a 5th so we’d have to snatch him a bit early in the late 4th. (which would be a steal for us very similar to Ajayi).
I wasn’t targeting Penny, he was a value pick. There are many examples of productive RBs going late or undrafted.
Seems whatever we do on the OL starts with James. He is a solid RT, but is he worth $9.3 mil. Is he worth it? And the money is straight off the cap if we keep him. We sign a FA for even the same annual salary and we could be set for a number of years who would have a lower cap next season.
He’s part of the cap now.
I think we lay that out to him in cold hard numbers so we are motivated to cut him into an uncertain FA and instead of keeping him at that rate we restructure at about 4.5 for 4 years or something which works for him and us both.
He should be motivated due to his recent injury to trade less per yr for more long-term security. He is not in a strong negotiating position.
No he’s not, he’s gone down for the season twice in the last 3 years missing 17 games.
Sounds like a plan to me. Make clear to him that he essentially is a FA and go from there. Bet you the per year number would end up closer to the $9 mil than $4.5, but for sure should be a savings.
Let’s hope Asiata is much improved this year too. That would help a lot.
“If Asiata wants to be in the mix for some of those snaps next year, the coaches have told him he must get faster overall and quicker with his footwork. He needs to “get my feet out of cement,” to use his words.”
http://dailydolphin.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2017/12/27/dolphins-g-isaac-asiata-sits-all-year-vows-im-not-doing-this-again/
If your feet are concrete, you have only 2 choices, lose 30 pounds or get another career than pro football.
He can train for that too. He’s never going to be the quickest OL off the ball, but you can get better and a lot of that is also mental knowing what you’re doing.
https://twitter.com/PhinsComNews/status/962399232958386176
@ OG in FA of course there’s Andrew Norwell.
Spencer Long is possible as he can also play Center. But he’s sometimes not very good.
So I like Josh Kline better. Tennessee might let him go.
and I like Ryan Jensen from the Ravens even better, although he’d be pricier.
As much as I would love to see us land the best OL and TE in the draft, I could see Nelson going top 10 and Andrews 1st rd. It would suck if the f’n Pats landed him at #31 with Gronk contemplating retirement and suffering quite a few injuries in his career.
Ken,
Best of luck to you, man. Hopefully you end up with some hot young nurses, at least!
I like the way you think.
A good scenario for the OL would be a better deal for James, Tunsil, Pouncey being in better shape, signing a starting G in FA, drafting one, then having Larsen, Davis, Asiata, Smith or maybe another rook for depth.
Davis mostly played poor to ok. I don’t recall seeing him play well. I do like his size and compete factor, but i’d prefer him as a backup…not starting. To me, we do not have a starting caliber RT(if they don’t keep James), LG or RG. Asiata has struggled from day one with playing in balance…which starts with your footwork. I really don’t see that greatly improving with training. He just has bad feet. This FO has sucked at evaluating and signing OL. Maybe that’s because they simply don’t value the position enough, I don’t know.
Even top picks on the OL have ups and downs as rookies. Players can get better. I think Davis will get a chance to compete to start but that’s up to him and his performance.
As far as the FO, it was the previous GMs in Ireland and Hickey who missed on the OL in the draft. Ireland with Thomas, and Hickey with Turner and Douglas. The only two Grier has drafted was Tunsil (easy choice) and Asiata. As a first time HC Gase couldn’t just come in and cut recent 3rd and 4th round young OL before getting a look at them. We found out what he thought midseason. LOL
That was part of the issue we’ve had. The OL wasn’t good coming in. Pouncey coming off of surgeries, Albert a year removed from season ending knee surgery which effected his play at the end of his career – missing 4 games in 2016 as well, and not good enough talent on the interior at G. Maybe the FO is very focused on OL this season. I hope so.
Speedy recovery Hulk !!! 🍺👍
Thank you Toba. I am writing a strongly worded letter
Writing cancer a strongly worded letter
👍
James will be the 3rd highest paid RT in 2018 if we keep him at the 5th year option.
https://overthecap.com/position/right-tackle/2018/
We don’t have a lot of cap space right now so I’m not sure how we’re gonna keep James at that rate, pay Landry and sign a good starting guard.
With all the change going on with the offense both players and coaches, I wouldn’t be surprised if that continued.
Tim,
James has the ability to be a top 5 RT, so him being paid doesn’t bother me much. Those rankings change a lot with every new contract that’s signed in the league anyway. In 2 years, he could be 20th on that list with how things go in the NFL and how contracts balloon.
***
Everybody blames the OL and wants them to get better, but they always want to do it on the cheap! Lol
James reliability worries me more than his play. Pouncey does too but he’s already under contract. He did start all 16 so “fingers crossed” he’s good for another year or two. I know Gase and the coaches like Pouncey, I don’t know how they feel about James. You could save $9.3M for James and Pouncey $7M with a $2M cap hit by moving on from both and totally revamping the OL. But that creates a bigger void and much more work to do.
I’m looking around for a day 3 O-Lineman to select, and I’m getting intrigued by Toby Weathersby, RT, LSU. I can only find tape on him from 2016 at the moment, and he showed some pass-blocking deficiencies. However, in 2017, he only gave up 1 sack, 0 hits, and 4 hurries… so he’s definitely improved in that area.
Now based on his ’16 tape (one game) he was pancaking mofoz. He’s 6’5″, 308, and he looks VERY strong. He’s currently projected to go in the late 5th- early 6th round.
I want to know more about Weathersby. Hopefully I can find more tape on him and I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes on him at the Combine. It seems as though he could be a day 3 sleeper, due to an ankle injury and “heat-related headaches” this past season. He’s supposedly over the later, now.
Tim, that was a freaking outstanding draft earlier!
Thanks! If only. LOL
Oh, and keep your eyes on Joseph Noteboom, LT, TCU. I’d mentioned him a couple of months ago and I think he’s going to rise post-Combine. He should be going around rounds 4-5 and he’s played RT.
CAREER HONORS
– 2014 First-Team Academic All-Big 12
– 2015 Second-Team Academic All-Big 12
– 2016 Second-Team Academic All-Big 12
– 2017 First-Team Academic All-Big 12
Noteboom is SMART!
Tim,
They also signed Larsen, who is a very average player at best and Bushrod, who should be a backup. It’s not just the draft choices. They’ve made questionable choices at pretty much every step.
Larsen and Bushrod came into the season as weak links, but they pretty much knew that going in. Much as was looking for a stud G….couldn’t complain too much about the focus on D and contract redos.
Won’t be as understanding this year though if we don’t make serious OL moves.
Larsen was brought in this season to compete for a starting job and possibly a backup C/G. Bushrod was brought in to compete at RG in 2016 with Gase being familiar with him in CHI in 2015. Bushrod switched from LT to RG and won the starting job because Thomas, Turner and Douglas weren’t any good, but that’s who they had. Larsen won the LG this season in TC because he beat out Steen and Davis, and nobody beat out Bushrod at RG.
That’s why we are where we are. None of the guys we had panned out. The FO got it wrong. They have to do a better job bringing in OL talent.
I think Bushrod retires or would only be an emergency signing late because once again we have issues at RG. Larsen will once again compete for a starting job or possibly backup C/G. As of now Steen is a FA or RFA. Davis, Asiata, Smith, Brendel, Sterup and Hickey are the others along with Pouncey, Tunsil and maybe James. So the OL is pretty uncertain right now. The FO have a lot of decisions to make and a lot of work to do.
I would not be surprised to see significant turnover.
M13,
Weathersby has some nice measureables, but his play is just sort of meh. He needs better strength in his lower body if he’s gonna kick inside. He also tends to push in his blocks instead of engaging and maintaining them. He likes to try to shove guys instead of locking on and moving guys. He does have a little nasty in him, but i’d like to see more. All that said, he’s certainly a guy you’d look at after the third round. I think he can definitely improve his play, so there is upside.
Absolutely agreed, man. And yes, he could end up becoming a Guard. I think that upside would be a steal in the 6th round.
If we can come away from the Draft with any one of Quenton Nelson, Billy Price, or Frank Ragnow… our O-Line will improve VERY SIGNIFICANTLY.
Call me “Captain Ahab”, but I’m going to get at least ONE of those whales if it KILLS me, as your GM!
That was my point. The FO got a lot of things wrong on the OL. I have no confidence they’ll get it right now.
We had other areas of the team to address as well and it’s only been two offseasons with the current regime. They hoped they could patch the OL for now and not a lot went right. Okay, if this group had been going at it for 3+ years I’d be more concerned with them. I’m not ready to feel they can’t do a better job. Not enough body of work.
The OL was put in shambles by Ireland in 2013. The rebuild around Pouncey started in 2014 with Hickey and Pouncey couldn’t stay healthy. We had no foundation to add pieces and get better on the OL. We had to use a ton of resources right away just to be able to compete. And Albert is no longer a part of that. It’s still lingering.
We’ll see what they do. It can’t stay the same.
LOL at Ken and Stanger strongly worded letter
Randy what are your thoughts on Martez Ivey out of Florida?
I think there’s a HUGE disconnect between Gase, Grier, and Tannenbaum. No… I KNOW there’s a HUGE disconnect between Gase, Grier, and Tannenbaum. Look no further than drafting bigger man-to-man CBs while having them play soft-zone coverage all day.
Steve Ross STILL doesn’t have it right, just sayin’…
Ross’ ‘separate but equal’ power-structure is a complete failure. It breeds in-fighting, nobody is on the same page, and ya can’t win like this.
Come on man. We play more man than you think but depending on formations sometimes it’s one playing man and the other playing off in base, or in nickel and dime it’s a mix 2-1 or 2-2. A corner playing off is not always soft zone, it’s not even always zone. It’s part of a scheme based on opposing personnel, formation and the play called.
We like big corners on the perimeter because they have more length, not just to play press man. We play a lot of cover 3 and so does SEA.
There’s a schematic example below but not always exactly that. I’ve seen us play this a lot, both more press and off man. The RCB (Howard) plays close to the LOS but then back peddles to cover the deep perimeter route. LCB (Tank) plays off man. The “S” could be a SAM but more likely a nickel against formations today, so that’s McCain. Take away the FB and make him a TE and one of the safeties moves up. That’s what I mean by not exact with this example.
They play man but it can become zone. Based on if a WR cuts off his route underneath. Then it becomes zone but not necessarily “soft zone”, the LBs and the nickel are not way off. It’s a common schematic used by most teams with variations like adding blitzes. You can mix it up.
When I think of soft zone I think of everyone 10 yards off except for maybe a LB, and that’s usually on long down and distance. Not prevent, just trying to keep the play within 10 yards say on 2nd and 20 or 3rd and 17 or something like that. This coverage can flex tighter or looser. Know what I mean?
Wyoming,
I’d prefer Ivey at RG at the pro level. He needs to work on his hand placement, and he plays a little too far over his toes, for me. He’s a bit of a leaner. I don’t see anything that is glaringly bad though, and there’s nothing he can’t improve on.
Thanks
Tim,
All I can do is assess the decisions they did make. They weren’t good ones, in my opinion. All that other stuff is just part of how the NFL works.
Everything that happens is part of how the NFL works. LOL
All I’m saying is there are reasons why some teams struggle at certain positions from questionable team building for a number of years. There are a lot of teams the Giants being one of them that have OL issues. The problem is most OL out of college are not day one game ready and guys getting banged up. Lot’s of teams are playing with depth a lot of the time and struggling. It’s not just us. I’d say maybe 10 teams have real good to solid O-lines while the rest have some good players but are still trying to find other pieces. It’s not easy.
Once you do find that solid foundation if you’re lucky, you better keep adding to it or it can be bad real quick. We’re obviously not there yet. We “have” to add better players on the OL and make the sure the depth we choose is at worst serviceable, we can’t carry borderline and not ready. It hasn’t worked.
So once again I think we all agree where we’re at. LOL
Wyoming,
Do you like Ivey? I know they were pimping him as a LT coming into the season but had to move him inside. He has decent feet, but his technique needs work. I like him at RG because I like his ability to move people when he wants to. He’s mobile enough to play LG though if he cleans things up.
Not really?
He’s expected to move to OG in the NFL.
I was just picking your OL brain.
I would like a OG that can move to tackle in an emergency!
Wyoming
I think Ivey could play tackle too. I wouldn’t want him there for long, but he came into college as a LT, I think.
Here’s my kick Tunsil back to LG Draft?
Your Picks:
Round 1 Pick 11: Connor Williams, OT, Texas (B+)
Round 2 Pick 10: Mark Andrews, TE, Oklahoma (A-)
Round 3 Pick 9: Will Hernandez, OG, Texas-El Paso (A+)
Round 4 Pick 11: Mike McCray, OLB, Michigan (A+)
Round 4 Pick 30: Royce Freeman, RB, Oregon (A+)
Round 6 Pick 9: Kurt Benkert, QB, Virginia (A)
Round 7 Pick 5: JoJo Wicker, DE, Arizona State (A+)
Round 7 Pick 11: Van Smith, SS, Clemson (A+)
Wyoming,
WTH? A draft without your FB? I hate it! Lol
Frickin QB????????
Tim Knight says:
February 10, 2018 at 4:45 pm
Come on man. We play more man than you think…
———
SCREW the cushions we give receivers. And yes, we play man coverage more than most think… but why start by giving a damned 7-yard cushion to begin with? Ya can’t touch a receiver after 5 yards, ya know…
It’s time to play JAM-BALL at the LOS.
7-yard cushions allow early routes to develop. The idea is NOT to allow a route to develop early as a safety net for the QB. The idea is to keep QBs guessing, allowing our pass-rushers to get to him.
NO pass-rusher is going to get to a Tom Lady*, when he gets it out to a wide-open receiver in under 2.2 seconds. Cushions DON’T work in this modern NFL.
Yeah it does but you have to mix it up and we do do that. We’re not playing anything different than any other teams are playing. No team plays press jam man all day. NONE!!!!
Every team does some of that. It’s because of the pick and spread crap. You can’t just jam that all the time. If you miss and lose on that jam or get trapped on a pick it’s a big play. Also when you’re 7 yards off and the QB drops, so is he, so by the time he releases a short or midrange pass you’re already reacting and no longer 7 yards off. That’s where the pass rush comes in, to not let the QB have time get the ball down the field. DBs can close quickly. They run 4.5 or better 40s so how long does it take them to close 2-5 yards? In football movement, 1.0 to 2.0 seconds?
The idea is to confound the QB. Kill routes early, and the DF7 will do their job.
At times. The idea is your pass rush shows them we won’t allow deep drops so you force them into short stuff and tackle. That’s how the game is played. That’s why you see so much short stuff. Most teams can’t block that long. If you don’t have the pass rush, they will takes shots on you down the field, and not just bombs but 10, 15 or more chunk yards. The more they stretch the field the more open space there is. You get beat in press with no pass rush it’s a big play. Gotta mix it up. But again it’s about how offenses are lining up and who their personnel is. It’s not the same every week for every opponent either. There’s the mismatch game.
Tim Knight says:
February 10, 2018 at 5:14 pm
Yeah it does but you have to mix it up and we do do that. We’re not playing anything different than any other teams are playing. No team plays press jam man all day. NONE!!!!
———–
I didn’t say that, either. Of course, we MUST mix it up. We mustn’t be too predictable, to be sure.
What does kill routes early mean?
It’s the chess match of mixing up coverages. You’re not going to shut the offense down all the time regardless of what you play, they’re playing too.
You shut them down on 1st playing press and it’s incomplete, 2nd and 10. You show press again but this time you back off before the snap. The WR reads that and cuts off his route and now it’s up to the corner to come up and tackle. Let’s say 5 yards. Now it’s 3rd and 5, not a high conversion rate. You have to have the pass rush to make sure the QB gets the ball out quickly again and force them to come up short. If they convert it starts all over again. But there are no big plays. It’s just a 1st down. Just like the games we watch every week. 🙂
The bottom line is you don’t want offenses to dink and dunk you to death all day or keep beating you down the field. To me tackling is the key to keeping everything in front of you, not the coverage. Missed tackles is what turns 0-5 yard pass plays into 1st down or more. I think missed tackles and miscommunication at LB and in the secondary were the biggest issues for us last year. We have to clean that up. I don’t think it’s the coverages. Everyone plays the same shit.
Wyoming,
I actually like Flowers. I think he has a chance to be a good pro. I would have no problem with drafting him. I’m just not sure how we’d use him in our offense. What do you think?
Tim Knight says:
February 10, 2018 at 5:21 pm
At times. The idea is your pass rush shows them we won’t allow deep drops so you force them into short stuff and tackle. That’s how the game is played…
———
I don’t disagree. However, the game is CONSTANTLY changing, especially with rule changes over the years.
I recall telling a good friend of mine about 10 years ago that Safeties are getting smaller and faster… and that THAT will bring forth the rise of faster, HUGE TEs. Now we have GRONK, for example… right on schedule.
For every action, there will be an equal and opposite reaction. Sound familiar? It’s time to be ‘actionary’, not reactionary. It’s time to SET the trend, not to become a follower of the trend.
Of course, it helps when an NFL owner is BFF with Roger Goodell and his BS (Robert Kraft)… speaking of rule changes.
Of course. But the big pass catching TE started before Gronk, Our safeties are bigger so maybe we’re onto something. 🙂
I hope so! I hope we’re ahead of the next trend! 🙂
We could use another McCain type of corner who can play inside against those little quick slot receivers and backs. I think we have time for the next trend because teams are still stocked with big WRs and TEs.
Between Flowers and Andrews they scored 19 TD’s in 13 games for Oklahoma!
I’m sure we could use that production at Miami.
Flowers is a very good receiver out of the backfield and can actually BLOCK as a FB!
They even split him out occasionally
I’ve always wanted a Tom Rathman! and keep looking for one every year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tim Knight says:
February 10, 2018 at 5:22 pm
What does kill routes early mean?
———-
Re-route, disjoint a route, or re-organize a route… LOL. It’s all about timing. Kill the timing of a given route, and the likes of Tom Lady* have to suddenly reconfigure what was preconceived.
And once THAT happens, the DF7 can do it’s job.
Like we did in Miami. We also beat Brady up. 🙂
Wyoming,
The only thing wrong with Rathman is that he was a Husker. Lol Other than that I agree 100%. I didn’t watch enough of Flowers…only 2 games…to really know much about him. If he can be like a Rathman, sign me up.
Tim,
I think the latest trend is a STUD RB… so I understand Pig’s desire to get one (not that Drake ISN’T a stud… but Gase wants a tandem).
BUT(!), you can’t get a stud RB without a decent O-Line. FORTIFY our O-Line, first and foremost!!!
true. you can’t run the ball without the offensive line doing it’s job. not consistently anyway. you want to be able to dominate the defense late in the game when they’re tired and put it away.
Totally agreed. If you have a quality OL you can move the ball with a bunch of good skill players and not all about studs.
Here you go!
Is that my man Trey Millard?!! 😉
Giving up a TD? 😉
The guy without a team? Man you hold onto a lot of guys out of the league. LOL
Impressive. What round is he projected?
If he plays STs and can block in both run and pass he’ll be on some team for sure. Not sure he’ll make plays like this at the next level but as a role player he could be valuable.
6th-7th
He’ll be Charles Clay that can actually run block!
Gotta prove it at the next level. College ball doesn’t play a lot of good defense. If he was projected to be the guy in this video at the next level he’d be a 1st or 2nd rd pick. LOL
Wyoming,
Nah, man! I was ALL about Oklahoma FB Trey Millard!
Tim Knight says:
February 10, 2018 at 6:03 pm
The guy without a team? Man you hold onto a lot of guys out of the league. LOL
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He’s been plagued by injury. I think he would have been VERY GOOD had he been healthy, but such is life. It SUCKS that some talented athletes can’t see their pro dreams come to fruition.
I’m just busting balls but he was a 7th rd pick so he was never a sure thing. But it does suck when guys don’t even have the chance to compete.