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Wow, a lot of things happened this weekend. More stunning than the away win in Foxborough to me is the firing of OC Chad O’shea, and then even more stunning is the quick hiring of 68 year old Chan Gailey. Man, I did not have any inkling that might happen. I know the run game was non existent but I also thought all too often running room wasn’t available either. Is that play calling, offensive strategy or just a lack of talent on the O-line? Apparently, Grier and Flores must have agreed it was a combination of all of them. Our best DB Xavien Howard was arrested for domestic battery. Lots of news and I’m not sure if any of it is good. I’ll get back to all this, first I’ll cover the final game of the season, that most satisfying win in New England.
The Dolphins traveled to a proverbial house of horrors for them over the last 20 years. Before the win on Sunday, the Dolphins were 3-16 at Foxborough, and the last win before last Sunday was in 2008. We were 16 + points underdog for a reason yet Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins found a way to beat the Patriots, who by the way, needed that win to give them home field advantage in the playoffs. The defense made some plays and none was larger than the pick 6 against Tom Brady, the same Tom Brady that shreds us every time we travel north to play them. Eric Rowe made the biggest play of his career jumping the pass intended for Julian Edelman and taking that INT to the house for a TD.That gave the Dolphins a shocking 10-0 lead a 1/3 of the way through the 2nd QTR. The Patriots came back to tie it though and I’m sure many of you expected the wheels to fall off after that happened. The first half ended tied at 10.
This team has a lot of fight in them and I think that’s a product of the HC Brian Flores’ mentality. He didn’t take the job to satisfy the medias agenda of losing, he’s a winner, a fighter. The team emulates the coach. Devante Parker had one of the best defensive backs in football on him most of the game, and Stephon Gilmore had no answer for the rising Parker. The New England Patriots had no answer for Ryan Fitzpatrick and his ability to constantly step up and either run away from the pass rush or step up and get rid of the football. It must have driven Belichick crazy. DeVante finished the game with 8 catches for 137 yards for an impressive 17.1 YPC. Our new susperstar finished the season with 72 receptions and 1202 yards along with 9 TD’s at a 16.7 YPC clip. Parker simply attacked the ball this season and played like every pass in his vicinity was his, it was remarkable.
On defense Davon Godchaux silently had a very nice season. There will be no accolades for him but Godchaux finished the season playing a combination of DE and DT with 75 tackles (33 solo) and 2 sacks as well as 4 TFL. Not stunning numbers but just very solid, reliable play. Godchaux had 4 tackles and 2 TFL against the Patriots. Andrew Van Ginkel had 6 unassisted tackles. Jerome Baker had 8 tackles (5 solo) along with a FF. Baker is a bright spot on this defense as well. Hey, did I mention that the Dolphins were down 24-20 with 3:53 to go? I can almost guarantee you that Patriots fans thought they had another in the the bag, the hapless Dolphins gave ’em a good fight, but now it was time to mail it in. UH-UH. Ryan Fitzpatrick led a 13 play 75 yard drive to take the lead on a 2 YD rushing TD by who other than the Dolphins leading rusher, Ryan Fitzpatrick. That was exciting as hell, it really was. That drive was daggers brother, and Belichick must have been bleeding inside watching that transpire. No run game to help him, Ryan Fitzpatrick came out firing to Parker, Ford and Gesicki, all the way down the field and the although Fitz fumbled a snap he managed to fall on top of it to maintain possession. It was just beautiful that long drive with our MVP shredding the vaunted Patriots defense for the TD.
There are going to be so many changes next season I don’t even know where to start. Chan Gailey will be the skipper of the offense. He certainly has experience, but why do I feel so much like Bill Parcells handing over the keys to the offense to Dan Henning? Anyone? It’s a strange one, I just can’t shake it. It might work out, but I don’t feel good about it. Sorry. The draft will be bringing in a lot of new players, both drafted and undrafted. We have so many undrafted guys now that the talent may push some of these unsung players off the roster. You only get 53 spots so only the best survive. What happens with Xavien Howard could deal a serious blow to our defense. It may be nothing or it might be an 8 game suspension or more. It’s not good.
Brian Flores looks all the world to be a keeper. You have to feel confident with what he’s accomplished. With significantly more talent on his roster, better things will come. I don’t know much if any impact Josh Rosen has next season. Not sure if he’s even on the roster. I’d guess he will be because he doesn’t cost much so at worst he’s competing for either the starting job with Fitz or if we draft a QB, fighting to be the #2. We desperately need talent on both the O-line and D-line. We need pass rushers, either at DE, DT or LB or all 3. We may need 2 or more CB’s, and we also need a safety opposite Rowe. We must find a RB and hopefully some big fellas that give said RB some room to run. We seem to have found our receiving TE but I’m not sure Durham Smythe is an NFL TE. He’s a decent blocker but not an impact blocker and he doesn’t have hands. Clive Walford probably won’t be back. At WR I feel great about Parker and Albert Wilson showed some signs of life near the end of the season and Allen Hurns is a solid possession receiver along with Preston Williams who should be back by season’s start. Isaiah Ford looks promising as well so I don’t expect a lot of attention in the draft at WR. I’d say needs in order of importance are OL, DL as 1 and 1A, CB, QB about equal followed closely by RB and S.
GO DOLPHINS!!
#staythecourse
Happy New Year!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
Tim Knight says:
January 7, 2020 at 8:53 pm
For those on this board who are big draftniks, the next two years is your dream scenario. LOL
I’m not a draftnik, but…guess where the 2020 draft will be?
I’m going to try to make it for the first round.
Should be fun!
Mike E
January 7, 2020 at 8:34 pm
Tim – I don’t think the formula only takes into account this year’s production. I think it takes last year’s, this year’s and the salary compensation the players were given. Just for example, If a team signs a guy from your team that had a great 2018, they give him a huge contract and then he gets hurt in training camp and misses the entire season, that shouldn’t mean you get nothing for that player. We’re still getting picks, but they won’t be 3rd RD picks, maybe 4th or 5th.
————————————————–
its mostly based upon the contract he signed in FA, with other performance factors from this past year added in that kinda puts it in the +/- . For example, the things i have read suggest that the contract signed in FA pretty much puts you in the round discussion and the perfromance markers, pro-bowl nominations, etc move you up and down that scale. If you ranked as a top 3rd in off-season contract, and you were injured and/or didnt really do much as far as on the field contribution, you could scale back to a lower 3rd comp pick instead of a top one. If you were a pro-bowler for your new team, and were middle of the road contract wise, you could be a top 3rd round comp pick instead. Likewise for if you were a lower round 3rd by contract placement, you could roll down to a top 4th or up to a mid third, if that makes sense. The big part is the FA contract signed, with performance being more like tie breakers.
My guess with James is that we probably get a high 4th comp pick. I dont think it gets rolled down too far because he only played in 3 games, but i dont think he is going to be a third anymore. Wake wasnt going to net us much more than a 5th even if he had a good year, he didn’t sign a big contract, so id expect its going to be a low 6th at best, possibly high 7th.
Im not a fan of Taylor, i see too much DT3 in him. Lots of miles on those tires. I think he could have a really nice short career so if we are looking for a rookie contract guy with not much past it, id say Taylor should be considered. Personally dont think we need to go top tier Rb because all the tiers are close together. RB’s like Perine, Phillips, Harris, Vaughn, etc are all really quality guys who have starter ability and you going to get one of them anywhere from 2nd to at least lower 3rd if not lower 4th.
Shit i forgot about Hill at MSU and Akers at FSU. Its a really upper heavy RB draft.
I caa was n understand some people’s hesitation w/ Taylor and mileage. I’ve watched him since he’s been at Wisconsin and never have I looked at him and thought he looked like DT3…..and still don’t. I wouldn’t pause at all taking Taylor, Swift, Dillon, or a few others. Dobbins I’m a little leery of unless we are truly going to a more RPO offense w/ a QB that’s a true threat to run.
D, I like Hill from Miss State. Not crazy about Akers. I watched tape on him and there is no second gear and looks like he is just lumbering along.
I do like the idea of drafting 2 RB’s like a combo of Harris and Edwards-Helaire. I like Harris size. We need RB’s who are also good receivers. Don’t see that in Dobbins (2 bad drops that last game). Some other top names also haven’t caught many balls. We don’t need another butter hands Ballage.
Your Picks:
Round 1 Pick 5: Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama (A)
Round 1 Pick 18: Jeffrey Okudah, CB, Ohio State (A-)
Round 1 Pick 27: Tyler Biadasz, C/OG, Wisconsin (B+)
Round 2 Pick 5: Yetur Gross-Matos, DE/OLB, Penn State (B+)
Round 2 Pick 24: Prince Tega Wanogho, OT, Auburn (A-)
Round 3 Pick 5: JK Dobbins, RB, Ohio State (A+)
did you just quit after 3rd round or did you trade a lot?
Does anyone really care about the last picks? 😉
I traded some away to move back into the 4th to take Julian Blackmon below and still wound up with 13 picks LOL
When the Bungles took Tua I started sweating. Man it would be awesome if this would happen, but it is probably impossible at this point.
5: R1P5 QB JOE BURROW LSU
18: R1P18 EDGE YETUR GROSS-MATOS PENN STATE
27: R1P27 OT AUSTIN JACKSON USC
39: R2P7 C TYLER BIADASZ WISCONSIN
56: R2P24 RB D’ANDRE SWIFT GEORGIA
70: R3P6 G JOHN SIMPSON CLEMSON
136: R4P33 S JULIAN BLACKMON UTAH
177: R5P31 EDGE CARTER COUGHLIN MINNESOTA
185: R6P6 DL LARRELL MURCHISON NC STATE
197: R6P18 WR TYLER VAUGHNS USC
202: R6P23 OT YASIR DURANT MISSOURI
243: R7P29 K CONNOR LIMPERT ARKANSAS
251: R7P37 CB MIKE HAMPTON SOUTH FLORIDA
That would be a dream
But Burrow ain’t falling to 5
If you insert Tua at 5, it’s still a dream draft
Does anyone know if the OK center – Humphrey declares for the draft?
Haven’t seen anything on it yet?
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Miami Dolphins
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@MiamiDolphins
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🔥 Finished second among all NFL rookies in passes defensed this season (11) @FoetyGlock’s journey is just beginning 😤
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He was the target of most of my Ire on Defense early in the season. Every time there was a busted Coverage or a big play there was #40 15 yards behind the play.
It was nice that he actually progressed throughout the season and became at least a decent filler.
He was one of the big reasons to be be excited about this coaching staff moving forward. You could see his progression over the course of the season. I honestly can’t remember the last time I felt like we saw players get better at their craft as a season progressed, yet we saw it from a number of places this season.
That’s why sometimes you need patience with young players. 😉
Matt Miller, who I generally listen to thinks that Herbert might be more to Zac Taylors offense than Burrow. I don’t see why but I would really like for him to be right.
Dbolt, most of the RBs who got wore out in college burn out fast in the NFL. Certainly not all, AP comes to mind as one, but a lot more do. Also I’m comparing Taylor to DT3 in college. DT3 was a punishing runner in colleger, strong downhill back. My comparison is t to what DT3 became but what he was and I think part of the issue With DT3 was his over use in college. You might be right it might not be an issue but it’s cause for concern in my opinion
Mike,
I was thinking about what you said the other day regarding your friend who hates it when people say “no problem” instead of ‘thank you’ because it supposedly implies it might have been a problem. I sat on it because it annoyed me and I couldn’t figure out why. I think I’ve figured it out – it’s because it’s fucking stupid.
If instead of saying thank you, I say ‘happy to help’, does that then imply I might help but be unhappy about it? What about if I say ‘my pleasure’ does it imply I only helped for self-gratification? or does ‘anytime’ imply I might have only helped you some of the time? No offense to you by friend proxy, but what an asinine pet peeve, lol.
Tell your friend to get annoyed at the important things in life like people who use double negatives or the word misremembered. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go beat up the guy slurping his soup at the next table.
Or just tell your friend “no problem” next time he says thank you in a passive aggressive protest forwarded from those of us here who think he is a cotton headed ninny muggin.
LOL
Calling people a cotton headed ninny muggin is one of my favorite outdoor activities. No one ever knows how to respond.
.. our words that don’t exist
“Irregardless”? What the hell is that?
OR- frickin’autocorrect, it’s a word, damnit
lol
For all you draftniks….Jake Fromm just declared for the draft. Thoughts?
He is probably an Alex Smith QB, i think he is pretty solid and he wont lose you many games but i don’t see high end elite QB traits. Wins with the right team around him, wont if he is asked to carry the team.
Thanks – seems like a low mistake kind of QB (78 TD to 18 INT career).
Yeah, he is
But a lot of the qbs coming out have a low amount of ints
Tua, Herbert and Burrow all have low ints
On that subject Jordan Love is an interesting case
20:17 in 2019
But
32:6 in 2018
Wtf!
That’s a pretty dramatic change
Accurate and Smart
But not necessarily athletic
You know what you get with him
Think Chad Pennington or Andy Dalton
My comparison has been a non injury riddled Pennington w/ a better arm.
When you invoke negative memories
This is how you should line up guys!
Rockphin shudders at the thought
Just because Colombo was done as a player when we signed him doesn’t mean he can’t coach.
Did the Cowboys abide by the Rooney Rule? I feel like it went from no word on Jason Garrett to he’s out and McCarthy is in.
they were talking about that on ESPN today when I was at lunch. I couldn’t hear what the panel was saying though. I could only read the topic “How can the NFL fix it’s problem with minority hires”
personally I find set asides and quotas repugnant.
If I spend a 1.5 BILLION to purchase a company (team) then I should be able to hire whomever the hell I want to.
Yeah but we all know why the Rooney Rule is in place. There is only one person of color at GM and only three as HCs in the league. The Dolphins happen to be the only team with both.
Wasn’t it the Beatles who said “money can’t buy me racial disparities”
FYI – the Rooney rule doesn’t say who you must hire, it states who you must interview (At a minimum)
Tim
I agree – sometimes the worst players turn out to be good coaches
If this were a sliding scale – Columbia would be the next Don Shula 😜
LMAO
Piggy, do you know who the Cowboys interviewed to satisfy the Rooney Rule?
Nope
Actually, it was Marvin Lewis
https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2870328-marvin-lewis-discusses-cowboys-job-interview-amid-rooney-rule-criticism.amp.html
Oh okay. Never heard about it.
I remember hearing about Lewis interviewing with somebody…so it must have been the cowboys
I personally like Marvin Lewis a lot
I would have liked to see him with a franchise that spends $
LOL @ Piggy on “money can’t buy me racial disparities”
I’m ok with the Rooney rule, I just don’t know what more they can do to encourage hiring minorities. Short of creating a ‘minority quota’ per team and forcing teams into hires, what else is there?
Yeah the problem is there is a loophole. Teams interview minority candidates to satisfy the Rooney Rule even when they know they want to hire someone else. Not sure how to correct that or if it should be corrected.
I personally don’t think it can be corrected.I mean they can create surface/PR solutions like the Rooney Rule, but it really just comes down to a shift in the way owners regard hiring.
Forcing hires to meet quotas is actually illegal (not criminally)
So they can’t do that
I don’t think it’s the rules that needs to change
I think the Rooney rule has had some positive results
But these owners are….well they always disappoint me
I don’t know why Eric Beinenemy, the OC of a high powered offense, interviewed multiple times with no offer as a practical matter
I think it’s safe to say that when owners fire a coach they already know who they want to hire or have narrowed it down – so it’s hard to change that mind when it’s already made up. The Rooney rule doesn’t (and can’t) address that, and that’s not necessarily inheritly discriminatory, that’s just falling for a particular coach (in some cases)
I mean if Bill belicheat hit the market, how many owners would line up to hire him – everyone. On a lesser degree that happens with lesser coaches. The nfl doesn’t do a good job bringing in new blood
The less fluid an industry is, the less a likely it is to change and the fo is not very fluid at all
Beinenemy is the one who comes to mind immediately for me. Why hasn’t this guy gotten a chance?
I wasn’t serious about a minority quota, lol. Not sure how that rule would look. You must have a minimum of four non-white coaches/admin people at all times, lol.
So, I know he looks white, but here is his mom’s, mom’s birth certificate showing his great-grandpa was actually half native american, lol.
LOL, all teams are required to keep on record a complete DNA profile of all staff members for league perusal.
(Hope I’m not offending anyone with this. I know it’s not necessarily a laughing matter, I’m just taking the thought to a ridiculous conclusion.)
Piggy, that is what I said about Fromm. He’s smart and reads defenses in seconds of breaking the huddle. Only knock on him is arm strength and compared him to Pennington as well.
Honestly I think he’s got a stronger arm than Pennington ever had
He might turn out to be a pretty good pro
Damn Facebook
This is pretty Funny😆
LMAO!!!!
🎶🎶🎶squirt🎶🎶🎶
Wow
Eric Bieniemy might be the Browns target and they’re waiting on him. Then again do they even have a new GM yet?
The pick we get from the Texans might be a good spot to get one of the top RBs. You get them for 5 years and then you can move on without paying them big money. I know that sounds shitty but that’s the business. It’s not a position of longevity with the exception of the great ones.
Hearing good things about Cesar Ruiz form Michigan
He’s a center
Pretty athletic and played OG asa freshman
It’s a good year for centers and generally for OL
I think we got to exploit that
You have centers on the mind
If an owner just interviews all “Black” coaches.
Is that a violation of the “Rooney Rule”??????
Or does that just get you a free ride on everyone’s shoulders?
It’s never happened
I was just curious!
Regarding the Rooney Rule discussion – 3 black coaches out of 32 is just under 10%. Blacks make up 12% of the US population. Seems fairly proportionate to me.
Exactly. Bieniemy,is great prospect but ESPN, and the narrative they must promote every year during hiring season, is that the NFL is somehow not black enough. America has more Latinos and I’ve not seeing the extreme outrage for more Latino hires but when you have a narrative…brass said you must constantly harp on it. Makes me turn off ESPN around this time every year and my radio options aren’t great.
Not a lot of Latinos are in the NFL. Rivera was hired without any other interviews because he met the minority hiring rule. It’s basically an extension of Affirmative Action.
It is. The nasty stuff I’ve heard on ESPN because some white dude under Belichick was hired before a black guy in KC was kinda sickening. If you look at the hiring process so far this year; Belichick guy because they always get hired and Flores proved they can coach outside NE, experienced HC with a ring, college coach that was probably based on how well the Arizona experiment worked out. Do those sound like really crazy hires? Racist hires? 3 black head coaches is not off from normal population stat.
D – I think the “no problem” thing is stupid too. You guys think I’m a curmudgeon, you should meet my friend. lol
My email is gunnycrab so you amateurs can’t get in line
Its definitely an old person issue. I have dealt with it.
Also saying “guys” when there’s a female thats part of the group of people. Times change and so does language, but some people can’t adapt.
If you think I’m disrespectful for saying no problem or guys, then you really won’t like what’s coming next.
I think its hilarious how people here and everywhere were all over John Dorsey’s jock. Somebody (me) said better hold your horses because he was just a kid in a candy shop with mommy’s credit card. I could have done the same job he did, that now has turned into what again?
No need to make it a weird sexual thing. Piggy probably has an image for this. LOL
Dorsey had a good resume. There is something going on in CLE. They can’t seem to find a direction. Like they’re all wearing lenses too thick and they’re all falling into the river or lake. LOL
You’re right. No need to ignite Piggy’s wrath.
Lol
You know what it is folks? None of us here are racist. We dig into all sorts of dialogue. Our country is becoming really sensitive in a sad way. We protest everything! What’s the word that is more extreme than absurd?
It’s the fact that morons are now given a voice on social media and people become sheep reading their garbage.
I find it hilarious that people waste their time being angry at anything they can think of. I especially love the new thing they do where they find something somebody said 25 years ago to lose their shit over.
Here is an interesting option!
If you haven’t watched him, You should check it out
I definitely think he’s an option if they bypass the RD1&R2 guys. I’d actually be all for him as a 2nd QB selection if Mia goes to a true RPO based offense. If they grab Herbert or Love in RD1 then him a little later. Gives Gailey 2fits to run his O.
Yeah, I posted this video a couple weekends ago. I drafted him a few times in the later rounds. Was thinking he might be one we could draft and stash on PS for a year without getting poached. Dude has some speed as well. Gordon and McDonald are my favorite run and shoot QB’s. I think Gordon has more accuracy for the tight window throws.
Dbolt,
Talking about McDonald, one of your scenarios possibly has us picking 2 QBs. Do you think Rosen isn’t a fit in the new Gailey system? What is everyone else’s thoughts on Gailey and Rosen or just the direction will will take after this draft? Fitz is 100% in for at least a year. At least one draft pick. What are the thoughts?
I think Gailey is versatile enough to work w/ multiple QBs, but I’ve been seeing rumors that Flores wanted Roman as his OC last year because he wanted to have an RPO based offense. Gailey excels at that and if that’s what will be installed then I don’t think that suits Rosen at all. If that rumor is off and you’re doing a traditional based QB offense then I think Rosen will be fine.
If they did go to a RPO heavy O I could see Risen being moved to Detroit as part of a trade up isn’t the team went that route.
NEW BLOG UP!!!