No puff piece, or rah-rah cheerleading in this post. If you want that, stop reading and find another fan site. It’s not that I think we had a poor draft, we didn’t. I suppose my expectations seem to always exceed what we eventually accomplish in the draft. We seem to always be set up for a huge and successful haul with a bevy of picks and somehow we manage to deflate that big balloon of happiness. Each pick of the first 4 were good picks, but I could easily say 3 of the 4 weren’t picked where they should have been picked. We set ourselves up to get a few different players at #6, but I’d be lying if I didn’t expect either Kyle Pitts, or much more likely Ja’Marr Chase to be available there. They weren’t. With WR a huge need in my opinion, and apparently the Dolphins braintrust as well, we selected Jaylen Waddle. Very nice player, who could have easily made it to 10 or even 12. The more I think about it though, he’s actually a great fit here, so instead of trying to replace DeVante Parker with Ja’Marr Chase, we got a player who can be like Albert Wilson was for us before his injury, a guy that can take any pass to the house. In addition, he’s a great return man with steady hands, so no more holding your breath with Grant on punt returns.
I knew we were taking Jaelan Phillips, and I do feel it was the right pick, right place. He could really help this defense, a guy that can potentially make everyone else better. He’s a true technician and much more than just a 40 time or a great vertical or a quick step. While he has all of those abilities, he knows how to play the game and is no one trick pony. Can’t wait to see him in our defense, Flores is gonna love this kid.
Jevon Holland was a bit of a surprise, I didn’t see that coming. If I were in charge, I would have made sure we got that first pick in RD 2 and secured Javonte Williams. I felt like Trevon Moehrig was universally considered the best S in the draft and yet here we were taking Holland really early, at #36. I think I like Piggy’s description best, “He’s Minkah without the Fuckface”. I can live with that. We may have missed with Iggy last season, or maybe he shows up big this year. We’ll see what happens with Holland, and see how much and where we use him. Hope he proves worthy of such a high pick.
Next pick just 6 picks later at #42 after trading up was Notre Dame LT Liam Eichenberg. Nice player, I kind of expected a center before an OT but see the need there as well. He will probably shift to RT and be in competition with veteran Jesse Davis. I hope he plays well and becomes a bookend with young Austin Jackson. Heck, I’m still concerned with relying so heavily and Matt Skura. I didn’t care for that signing and now at this point, we have to pray he’s better than he was with the Ravens. I respect the Ravens as an organization that runs a tight, buttoned down ship. If they make you walk the plank there, they probably made a wise decision. Maybe it was a wake up call he needed, or maybe they were right. Time will tell.
We took another OT at pick #231, Larnel Coleman. Our savior RB finally came in at pick 244, in Cincinnati RB Gerrid Doaks. Doaks is a big powerful runner, who fumbles. Not a great combination. We’ll see if this kid can make all the roster cuts. To me it’s a shame we waited so long to address this but such is the life of an NFL fan.
I don’t do draft grades. I think we greatly improved our WR corps, I think we gave our defense a huge boost in the pass rush department. We’ll see if Holland can make our secondary, which was already excellent, even better. Maybe we found our bookend tackle in Eichenberg. Once again, I expected to make a killing in this draft, I think we just got a graze shot. It was all anticlimactic for me after the Phillips pick. Decent picks, but nothing that pumped me up. I was expecting so much more, I really was. I know, this guy or that guy gave us an A+, great . . . I look at our RB’s and see two guys who are so similar they may as well be the same guy in Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed. That’s not a bad thing, I like both of those guys, if they’re the 2 guys behind the stud. Well, no stud here friends, sorry, the draft was clean out out of top shelf talent by pick #35, because we let the Broncos jump us. With all that draft ammo, we should have been the aggressors and made it happen. Still smarting from that one.
Ultimately, a lot of our success, or failure lie in the hands of #1, QB Tua Tagovailoa. I think we got him a very nice player to work with in Jaylen Waddle. There’s synergy there already, and it’s good. He needs to have a guy he can rely on, a guy he has a rapport with and kind of understanding and unseen communication with. If DeVante Parker, Will Fuller and Preston Williams all are healthy this season, our passing game should be so much better. I’m still worried about the run game, with the 2 little guys (Gaskin and Ahmed) going down on contact every time. I know Malcolm Brown runs with more anger, but I he doesn’t impress me either. Maybe he will. Doaks is going to have to prove he can hold onto the football because if he’s running hard and fumbling easy he will be gone. Maybe Iggy Mahogany comes in this season better prepared and ready for prime time, and maybe Jevon Holland is the best safety in the draft and we look like geniuses.
GO DOLPHINS!!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
I think all of you guys over-think things more than I do. That’s a lot.
LOL — when does a hobby become an obsession?
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/05/03/broncos-looked-to-trade-up-for-jaelan-phillips-before-dolphins-drafted-him/amp/
Gonna be some competition at wideout.
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Parker, Fuller, Waddle, Preston Williams and Lynn Bowden Jr. are likely locks to be on Miami’s opening day roster.
That leaves Grant, Wilson, Hurns, Mack Hollins. Isaiah Ford, Malcolm Perry, Robert Foster, Kirk Merritt and Kai Locksley fighting for one, maybe two roster spots.
I don’t know that Williams or Bowden are locks. Hollins is a special teams ace so he probably makes it.
Williams is on the active roster if healthy, but that is a Q with him. Thought Bowden for sure before, but was pre-Waddle. Could change things up.
D says:
May 3, 2021 at 9:38 am
Rhino says:
May 2, 2021 at 10:45 am
Steveccnv,
yesterday you used the phrase “he doesn’t know shit from shinola” …
That was my dad’s favorite saying when he knew that he knew more than the guy b.s.ing him. First time I’ve heard (or read) that phrase since he passed 15 years ago.
Made me smile.
Reply
steveccnv says:
May 2, 2021 at 11:07 am
My dad’s too, haven’t heard him say that, since the 90s
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My Dad used it frequently as well.
Lol
D says:
May 3, 2021 at 9:43 am
Mike E. says:
May 2, 2021 at 2:11 pm
Ken – That’s the issue for me. I really think RB was a clear need for our roster. I hate that the guy we finally got is either a back end of the roster guy or maybe a PS candidate. We’re a now team, we should have a legit weapon at RB now.
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Perhaps we saw more opportunity to pick up a vet on the cheap, maybe a 1 year for them to hit FA again, meaning they will be all out for us and we just delayed the position in the draft until next year?
After Williams was gone not much we could do, picks 18 and 36 were more important to Flores
Stanger expressed my point better than I. Blind side vs left side or right side. Most evaluators evaluate LT and RT based upon RIGHT HAND QB’s. Do you flip the evaluation for a LEFT HAND QB? Blind side protectors need to be a better at pass blocking and vision side protectors are typically the run side. But with only two lefties in the league how do you evaluate that?
I think you eval OT’s the same these days, this whole run side blind side pass pro thing is less relevant than it was before.You need both to do both well.Skill set is almost identical, starts with great feet, then technique, then quickness/anchor for speed to power and power to speed moves.
You’d like both to do well, but which one plays the blindside? If all other things are similar you play the better one on the blindside
Maybe I’m old school, but I put the best pass protector on the blind side. And they both played LT last year. Someone has to switch.
But then maybe one of them is far better at run blocking and we want to run right. Something for the coaches to sort out.
stangerx says:
May 3, 2021 at 2:41 pm
Gonna be some competition at wideout.
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Parker, Fuller, Waddle, Preston Williams and Lynn Bowden Jr. are likely locks to be on Miami’s opening day roster.
That leaves Grant, Wilson, Hurns, Mack Hollins. Isaiah Ford, Malcolm Perry, Robert Foster, Kirk Merritt and Kai Locksley fighting for one, maybe two roster spots.
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Im thinking Williams is less of a lock than Bowden. Bowden has versatility and that will help him, he is also a ST’er. Grant has a chance to stick as well, not sure id go as far as lock, but if he has shown marked improvement on securing the football, he has pretty elite speed and return skills. Thats not the role i want Waddle doing personally, so i hope they arent gonna hand that off to him.
I guess no matter how ya cut it, outside of Parker, Waddle and Fuller, whats going to make or break the rest of them would be utility and ST contributions. I think that gives Bowden a leg up. I think Perry has a leg up on the rest. If i were going to keep 6, and i do think 6 is how many they will keep, id Go with the aforementioned 3, plus Perry, Bowden and probably Williams, but that last sport is down to William and Merritt. Merritt might seem like an odd consideration, but he’s skilled like Ford but more dynamic and the rest are just jags to me. Foster was at UA with Tua for Foster’s Senior year so there is some familiarity with him, but its not a deep connection.
They pretty much said one of the reasons they liked Waddle over Smith was his return skills so I see him returning kicks or punts. or both.
Hollins is a better receiver and STs player than Perry, so no way in he’ll Perry sticks.
Parker, Fuller, Waddle, Williams, Bowden and Hollins are my 6
I think regardless of where each guy winds up playing / starting that there is going to be a lot of cross training again this season. I seems the coaches like to be able to mix and match players rather than just saying “this is the depth chart at LT” They did a whole lot of shuffling last year when guys went down.
I would prefer a plug and play arrangement where the next guy steps up, but three years running they have shuffled the line when someone went down. (the best 5?)
Nice point read today is that Liam Eichenberg can play G. Just like Hunt and Davis can play G an T. Other than C….. this line is position flexible.
Yeah I watched highlights of him and he was lined up at LG on some of the plays.
Besides the best guy being next man up you likely only carry 7 or 8 as active on GameDay, so its not like college where you have set positions
With the new CBA rule expanding game day rosters to 48, 8 of them have to be OL.
I didn’t think they could make Thursday Night football any worse………
Then they did. Thursday Night Football just ceased to exist in my world. It IS only a 16 week schedule again now.
You’ll still get it locally in the Miami area. It’ll be produced by Amazon and air on your local channel.
What’s wrong with 16 weeks?
I wish they’d just get rid of Thursday night games altogether, but $$$$$
I think 7 playoff teams per conference is here to stay as well. $$$$
Couldn’t care less about Thurs nite games, but yeah think the 7 team playoff format is here to stay. Real hard to take it back once you’ve done it.
Only way a good to go Preston Williams doesn’t make the team is if they figure will switch Waddle to boundary if Parker or Fuller go down. Then would be more worried about depth with the slot/special teams guys.
Gotta laugh cause this is Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay. Wonder what Brett Favre thought when Rodgers was drafted? He sure went on to other teams.
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Aaron Rodgers wants out of Green Bay. The reason is general manager Brian Gutekunst. The GM drafted quarterback Jordan Love in the first round in 2020 without letting Rodgers know, which is where the trouble started. Rodgers reached his boiling point when Gutekunst reportedly declined to give Rodgers a new contract with new guaranteed money after his recent MVP season.
According to Robinson, Rodgers won’t return to the Packers if Gutekunst is still the GM.
Have a nice retirement Aaron.
I meam, who do you think you are!?!? Dickshawn Watson? You think you can pick your GM?
It should be fun to watch this play out. It’ll give us something to do during the rest of the offseason, lol.
rodgers sounds like an immature kid, what’s with getting mad. GB has a right to make their own decisions,
And Rodgers has the right to retire. Seems GB doesn’t want him to though. Should they accept his decision on that?
What makes the Rodgers thing more interesting is it’s not a single owner deciding between his HOF QB and his GM. I believe the structure is a board elected by the shareholders that then establishes a committee to make football decisions, right?
Correct
Could see the emergency shareholder’s meeting. Would not end well for the GM.
Packers should trade Rodgers to Houston for Watson, and don’t tell either beforehand, let them find out from their phone ringing
LOL
They were talking about the Dolphins draft and then touched on not drafting a RB. Can’t remember the guy’s name who covers the Pats, but he said that Flores said we’re going to run the ball, and that adding Fuller and Waddle should keep teams from stacking the box which will open up the running game.
https://phinphanatic.com/2021/05/03/intel-led-miami-dolphins-to-lose-out-on-javonte-williams-maybe/
I think it highly unlikely it went down like this. Everyone under the sun thought we were taking Williams. It wouldn’t have taken some leaked secret intel, lol.
I think if any strings were pulled, it was us pulling them to make sure ATL didn’t take Holland.
We’re never going to know because the Dolphins aren’t going to say Williams was their target.
As for RB, as long as the group we have can be productive who cares about one guy being the bell cow and getting the stats.
“Broncos GM George Paton made a move because of “intel” he received that the Miami Dolphins were drafting Williams with the 36th overall pick”
Maybe the “intel” came from reading this board.
My way of saying had to be obvious.
LOL, exactly
Why Brian Flores is optimistic about running game.
https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article251127689.html
Yep! I just posted a short summary of exactly that. This article confirms they like Gaskin, Ahmed and Brown. Improving the OL is also key in improving the running game.
I’m not too worried about having a top RB. I’ve never believed that a top flight bell cow RB is the be all end all. It’d be nice, but as long as our oline improves, our running game will too.
We were worst in the league at yds after contact. That’s because our biggest RB was about 200 lbs. We needed a bigger back to pair with our smaller guys, and we have that in Brown and now Doaks (if he makes the team).
Because Doaks plays STs I think he has a good chance to make the team.
What the article confirms is they know how to CYA.
Who knows, if they really believe that BS
What I know is they liked the guys they took 1-5 a lot
If we really wanted any of the top three RBs we could have pulled it off. We passed. That tells me we like what we have. Flores said the same thing I did about Malcolm Brown after we played the Rams last year. After that game I said we could use a back like him added to the mix. Well we signed him. 😉
Thinking about which OL plays where t’s very possible Eichenberg plays guard along with Kindley. Then maybe Jackson stays at LT and Hunt at RT or maybe they flip sides. If Eichenberg plays tackle Hunt moves to guard. The coaches will figure that all out but last year’s rookies should improve in their 2nd season. Eichenberg being a senior and starting every game for ND since 2018 should have prepared him to step right in to start as a rookie. This will be something we’ll all be paying close attention too. 🙂
If Hunt wasn’t going to G they would have taken a G in the draft. Only Q is who is RT and who is LT.
Eichenberg can play guard. Like I said we’ll see how it plays out but we have more options and flexibility now. I like what the team has done on the OL. Sure lots of us wanted a center but maybe they’re okay with what we have with Skura and Deiter.
stangerx says:
May 3, 2021 at 5:16 pm
And Rodgers has the right to retire. Seems GB doesn’t want him to though. Should they accept his decision on that?
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I wouldn’t think they would have a choice in the matter.
the NFL season is weird, it starts in sept, for most teams it ends beginning of jan, 4 months, then we spend the next 4 months going thru F.Acy, then the draft, and the final 4 months thru training camp and preseason.
then we start again.
the 4 month period we are in now seems the longest.
only 19 weeks till kick off,
yep, we’re now in the football fan deadzone, and it suuucks lol
Regarding the Center position, we also have Tyler Gauthier and Cameron Tom. I don’t know how realistic it is that they are possible starters, but we do have 4 guys who play the position.
My Chargers friend said, You guys had a ridiculous draft and I responded, everyone is bitching, because we didn’t get an RB early RB,
He responded, That’s dumb wtf
My friends who are fans of other teams have also said that. They also think what we’ve been doing the last couple of years has been impressive. It’s funny how the fans of other teams see it as opposed to our own fans.
Willie McGinest said we had a killer draft getting four 1st round grade players with our first four picks. Charley Casserly said the same thing. I haven’t heard any of the analysts give us a sup par grade. They all say we did very well.
Everyone just gets excited about certain players
The FO clearly doesn’t value the RB position and I think that collides with expectations
But I’ve actually seen a lot of fans say positive things about our draft after licking their wounds and not getting the rub they wanted
That’s what I’ve been saying. We fans get favorites embedded in our heads for months and then when it doesn’t happen we get disappointed. I personally like post-draft over pre-draft because you can now focus on what the team’s vision is and why we drafted who we did. It’s a lot less stressful. LOL
Ok, so the Dolphins FO who did such a fantastic job at the RB position last season all of a sudden is awesome at evaluating this and anyone else who thinks otherwise is an idiot. Gotcha, check. I mean Jordan Howard 2 year contract and trading for Matt Breida all worked beautifully. We had the top rushing attack in the NFL
Bitter…don’t be mad, Bro!
Nobody said that, Mike. Some of us just look at it for what it is. We didn’t make RB a priority so maybe they like the backs they have this year. There’s more to being a good rushing team than just drafting a sexy name at RB. The OL was very young and new last year and we’re building on that. We’ll see if not going for a top RB prospect comes back to haunt us.
https://sports.yahoo.com/m/4a9dfa05-4271-35fe-8644-1dd3616a473e/why-brian-flores-is.html
Flores believes the additional speed at receiver (Will Fuller, Jaylen Waddle) will help the running game.
“I think it [helps] a lot,” Flores said. “I think if you’ve got guys who can run on the perimeter, if you load the box, there’s more opportunity for 1-on-1 matchups and opportunities downfield. Defenses have to make that decision when you have those types of players on the field and again, if you don’t load the box and you play for those big plays, then there’s less people in the box and less people to block and I think it really becomes kind of a numbers math game. If you get those guys blocked, there’s more space to run.
from link above
You’re a little late on this. 😉
as usge
CK out Chris Simms saying Miami blew the draft, they had their chance to get Najee Harris and they blew it, starts at the 11:05 mark.
Talk is that Denver wanted to trade up to low 20’s and was crushed that Miami took Jalean Phillips
https://sports.yahoo.com/dolphins-thwarted-broncos-big-plans-180012909.html
Lots of competition for jobs, when you look at who we have already at a number of positions who themselves are very young vs who was brought in you have to say good luck earning jobs.
Look at a quick list of who is not going to back down easily
McCain
Rowe
Smythe
Davis
E Roberts
Seiler
Van Ginkle
Needham
5-6 WRs
We have 8 legit O line starters
And oh by the way this little first rounder kinda hanging out
Iggysomebody – Prince Charles
Tim – you might not be saying that but I think Steve has made that implication a few times already.
Is it possible we had a good draft but fucked up at the RB position? Is that fucking possible? Can it not be both or is it just one or the other? I think we did well in the draft, but O also feel like we should have addressed the RB position with better talent. It’s not so complicated.
I hear ya, bud. All I can say to that is IF we’ve built an elite O-Line, anybody should be able to run behind it. Only time will reveal if our O-Line has (or will) become elite.
MUCH will hinge on Matt Skura, IMO… unless Deiter is ready to start at Center.
I really like what we’re doing on the OL. Grier/Flores have really been working on the trenches on both sides of the ball, got their QB, adding speed at WR, they’re obviously big on TEs, LB and secondary is paramount in our defense. Can’t always address everything at the highest level.
But maybe we as fans are underestimating how they feel about Gaskin/Ahmed and the addition of Brown. I say we call on the good karma for Gerrid Doaks to be most awesome! 😉
Remember too that Waddle and others will run the jet sweeps etc. Not sure who else that can do that will make the team this year, but we have a few other options – Wilson, Grant, Bowden and Perry.
That’s fair enough. I thought we’d address RB higher too. We had plenty of opportunities to do so but we didn’t. So I had to shift my thinking to that we’re not that worried about it.
Mets at Cards is going to end up in a score of 20-21
I agree. Runs just keep coming
LOL
M – That’s actually another spot I’m worried about, C. I don’t have a lot of faith In Skura either.
I like how they’re building this roster. I can’t say I agree with every move they’ve made, but I can see their logic in most of the stuff they do. We’ll see if they made good personnel decisions as time goes on but they’ve picked some pretty good players so far. They don’t always keep them, but they pick them.
***
The media would have us believe there are 200 “1st round talents” after the draft, so I take all those evals with a grain of salt. The hype on players nowadays is ridiculous. I think we drafted 4 or 5 guys who should get significant snaps…maybe not this year but in the next few. If the rest can find a way onto the team and contribute, that’d be great.
***
I think Waddle has a chance to be special. Phillips MIGHT be pretty good. I’m not sold he’s a big time player yet. I think the potential is there though. Holland could very well be starting for us eventually, but I think he still gets snaps. He can cover. Eichenberg is probably the second best OT on the roster. Long is gonna be a nice Swiss Army knife guy who might not be a 90 catch TE but could be a nice multi tool. It’s all guesswork at this point by everybody anyway.
Very fair assessment. To me it’s about how the entire team performs together rather than individual stats and accolades. That’s been Flores’ motto since the day he was hired. It comes from Belichick “do your job.”
This team doesn’t want rely on a few players to be the key to winning. They want the roster to win.
Tim,
I feel the same. Lots of talent evaluators are old school and maybe rightfully so. Casserly doesn’t think any RB is worth a 1st round pick and he did it for a living for a while. Mahomes won with backup level RBs and so did Brady. When you look at where Flores came from, it’s not hard to see that RB may not be valued too much.
RBs just aren’t worth a lot today. I’d love to have an elite one and maybe they wanted Javonte but weren’t willing to trade up. It’s not wrong to want an elite RB especially when elite players win games. It’s probably a waste of one’s time with Flores as HC though.
Agreed. I wouldn’t be surprised if we signed a RB like Rex Burkhead who’s available. He might not even make the team but he plays hard and could push other backs to compete at another level.
Mike E. says:
May 3, 2021 at 9:24 pm
M – That’s actually another spot I’m worried about, C. I don’t have a lot of faith In Skura either.
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Once again, I hear ya, man! I DO like what we’ve done, but like you, I’m somewhat miffed that we didn’t address RB and C earlier. We’ll see what happens, and I’m positive we’re moving in the right direction.
We (that includes me!) just need patience, my guy! I’ve faith that Coach Flo is going to coach these guys up as well as (if not better than) Belicheat*. If our O-Line is tight, the rest is gravy on Offense.
We can only hope M. I don’t mind being wrong on all counts.
What is going on here
LOL
Last time we got this much praise from the media, Peter King predicted we’d go to the Super Bowl back in ’06! To borrow a phrase from the Tuna, “DON’T EAT THE CHEESE!” 😉
Tim Knight says:
May 3, 2021 at 9:23 pm
I really like what we’re doing on the OL. Grier/Flores have really been working on the trenches on both sides of the ball, got their QB, adding speed at WR, they’re obviously big on TEs, LB and secondary is paramount in our defense. Can’t always address everything at the highest level…
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I’m with ya, but like Mike E, I’m skeptical at the Center position in the ‘here and now’. But as I said to Mike E, I’ve faith that Coach Flo can coach ’em up and bring the best out of our players.
If you scroll up I discussed the Center position earlier. RB we’ve basically exhausted.
Big time playmaker. He’s our Tyreek Hill.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/jaylen-waddle-1.html
he kinda gallops like benny malone
Yes those Sayers and Morris type runners with that same gallop eat up yards quicker than you think. I watch how fast Waddle gets 20 yards it seems like a flash. Then once they’re moving in the open field it’s goodbye. 🙂
This is my prediction for our 1st team 11 Personnel which I think we’ll use a lot.
WR Fuller
WR Parker
WR Waddle
TE Gesicki
QB Tua
RB Gaskin
Speed, size, quickness and hands. Do opposing defenses play Cover 3 and stack 8 in the box? I wouldn’t. I’d play Cover 2 which allows the running game to succeed as long as you can block it. Playing press man against this group is risky.
I’m starting to see how Grier/Flores like to play chess. 🙂
Watching a Waddle film study, every pass the guy is saying, that wasn’t a good pass, Waddle still taking it to the House.
Jones sucks🤪
We all know Tua’s 2nd season is huge, both mentally and physically. 2021 is a big season for the franchise. We all know this, Tua knows this. He played at Alabama, he knows that if he doesn’t perform at a high level he’ll be replaced. It’s not like he played for some small school that goes with we’re okay. The bar is high and Tua knows he has to live up to being a top #5 pick.
Go Phins!!!!
Just get the ball to the playmakers
This guy Waddle sucks, WTF were they thinking
One year ago today we lost Coach Shula.
https://www.denverbroncos.com/news/broncos-expect-new-rb-javonte-williams-to-complement-melvin-gordon-iii-mike-boon
So here’s a different mentality. While we’re here justifying why RB’s aren’t important, the team that has a RB that already outrushed any of our RB’s last season with 986 yards and 9 TD’s explains why they traded up for Javonte Williams. Oh, and before you look it up, Gordon outrushed both of our guys put together, and now they add Javonte Williams to the mix. The Denver Broncos were also 5-11 last year, but it just goes to show you different philosophies.
They have different priorities, what’s your point?
Not like they’ve done anything lately, with their run heavy O
Steve, since you’re the resident O75, figure it out yourself
Mike E. says:
May 3, 2021 at 8:50 pm
Is it possible we had a good draft but fucked up at the RB position? Is that fucking possible? Can it not be both or is it just one or the other? I think we did well in the draft, but O also feel like we should have addressed the RB position with better talent. It’s not so complicated.
______
I wouldn’t let it bother you. Always consider the source. It’s rather comical if you take a step back.
Tax time in May eats into post-draft posting. LOL but …
Waddle was Alabama’s #1 WR until he got injured. It then shifted to Smith. We could have taken Smith at #6 if we wanted to, but a healthy Waddle before Smith is exactly how it was playing out in Alabama pre-injury.
That said, when Smith goes on to win the Heisman, how easy could have it been for Waddle to be ‘pissy’ about ‘it could have been me’ … but he was the exact opposite. Smith was his teammate (or ‘my brother’ as he said when he found out Smith was taken #10).
Safe to say, we got a gamer who will play to win football games rather than ‘market himself’ for his next contract. Parker, Fuller, et. al. will ‘be on the clock’ now for whether they can match the rookie’s attitude as much as his skill.
The video I posted above says it all, and why the choice was Waddle over Smith.
Field position fron punt returns.
Open up field, because the D is so afraid he’ll beat them over the top he gets the attention, leaving others in single coverage.
Tua – oh Parker has single coverage, boom, just throw it up…ditto for the rest Williams, Fuller, Gesicki, Long
yup!! we are a culture of “the moment” … Waddle’s injury pushed him out of our collective short-term memories LOL. He ranks 2nd all time on Bama’s YAC list … Ozzie Newsome is first as a TE during RB era (!!!) … but what that means is Waddle is AHEAD of every other great Alabama WR that the NFL has been inundated with for the last decade. He doesn’t have Julio Jones’ size, but he could have his production. If that happens, whoa, baby, the Fins have arrived.
UDFA:
Patterson, Pooka and Scott III signed … an area that I would love to see more “who offered who and why did they sign with that team” kind of reporting. I wonder if we even made offers to UDFA RBs, but they saw chances of playing time better elsewhere (which based on 2020 Miami run stats I find hard to believe).
Counting Doaks we have 5 RBs, don’t see a spot for a UDFA.
Teams that are top heavy or have a feature back might have a roster spot more easily attainable
Finally, Dolphins co-offensive coordinators Eric Studesville and George Godsey are already deep in the process of building a new offense. Flores is excited about what he has seen from a scheme that is expected to be more flexible and take advantage of Tagovailoa’s skills.
Cameron Wolfe
Finally, on wishing there was more info….
I think the Lions got a BIG steal with UDFA Tommy Kraemer (ND guard). This just may be the Notre Dame homer in me, but:
1. 5 star recruit, 40th ranked HS recruit
2. Started at RT his red shirt freshman year, meaning he won a premium spot on an OL that won the Joe Moore Award as CFBs best OL and included two guys that were drafted in the top 9 of the 2018 draft (Nelson at #6 and McGlinchey at #9).
3. misperceptions about his last 2 yrs … while he had MCL his junior year, his senior year he was back in top form making 1st team all ACC and 3rd team All American despite having an appendectomy during the season (non-football).
Staying at G is clearly where he will play. Maybe his pass blocking is the reason he didn’t get drafted (in this passing league).. I think he’ll do well with Detroit.
Meanwhile, our UDFA IOL is another Senior Bowl player, so we gotta trust what our staff saw with him up close! Sounds like a “safe” UDFA signing.
I think our ship may have sailed on UDFAs, gone are the days when our roster was so paper thin UDFAs regularly made the roster.
UDFAs now are more camp fodder, a couple of Longshots with talent, but maybe some red flags, and projects
What was different in Buffalo in 2020, that got them to SB contender?
Diggs
I’d bet Flores was paying attention😉
We now have 2 Diggs in Fuller and Waddle
I can ‘dig’ it!
Looking at how our OL is trending … both B gaps should consistently have openings … and Gaskin’s quick first step and vision, and ability to ‘run through reaching arms’, will excel.
Will he break it all the way once he gets to the second level ? most likely not.
However, an OL the paves defenders even when they know its coming, should set us up for a lot of 2nd and 5 situations. Great situation for creativity on 2nd and then Waddle/Long play-making variables on 3rd down (just to focus on the rookies, not the vet play makers).
Gaskin is not a pro bowler, but right now he is a perfect fit and more than adequate place-holder in our offense (the way it is being built).
Next phase (Phase IV? lol) could be the RB like Gaskin but with the agility and break away speed for the 2nd level. Gaskin could still get 1,000 yards this year.
Steveccnv, have you noticed that between 8 and 9 am CST we seem to always be the only two posting? LOL Maybe everyone is waiting for me to go to work so they don’t have to read multiple overly long, caffeine induced, posts. 🙂
🤔
I expect the WRs that have been the most productive to be in our top 4, Parker, Fuller, and Williams add in draft pedigree Waddle and those 4 should get the majority of the snaps, the rest really don’t matter.
Hollins or Foster for STs, then 1 more for injury depth.
Foster and Hollins have made decent contributions as WRs, why not keep those 2, they’re cheap.
Does Bowden have enough upside? He’ll likely be buried on the slot depth chart behind Waddle and Gesicki
After looking at the boxscore from games last year we throw the ball all over the lot to different receivers, and it didn’t change much when Tua started.
Games where we had less completions tended to have less guys catching passes, and games with upwards of 24 completions tended to have all active weapons getting at least 1 or an attempt.
KC only had 8 against us, Jets and Broncos 6.
We talk about our receivers before the season getting X number of catches, but we usually predict an inflated number, spreading the ball out is why.
18 guys caught a pass, only 4 had more than 30.
Is this a result of our WRs not getting open or wanting to spread the ball or a combination of both?
Could we actually have a year where Parker, Williams, Fuller, Waddle and Gesicki all have over 50 catches?
I think ideally that’s exactly what ya want, and all those receivers, minus parker create separation. Parker doesn’t separate well but he makes up for it in a very good ability to highpoint the football and make contested catches. Now that’s not to say he cant get away from people, he just doesn’t seem to be great at it. The rest of those you names can, and do.
Stats from college can be very misleading, but some are eye opening like Eichenberg’s 2 sacks overall and none since his last 33 starts, Holland 9 ints, Waddle’s ypr, Phillips’ pressure of 1 every 6.8 dropbacks and 15.5 TFL
But even in college production needs to meet potential
You just have to read between the lines on those stats and you will find the reason that they drafted them.
Yes, for Holland it’s his versatility and play in the slot, that made him more valuable, than the other 2 top Ss.
Waddle, the way he commands attention opening up everyone else.
Phillips, versatility, quick twitch and motor.
Eichenberg is pretty straight forward, gives up no sacks and pushes the pile
Fast and good as he is, will Waddle be much of a force in the red zone? Can’t scare people with your speed deep when only 15 yards to run.
Waddle is one of the rare “fast” receivers that also runs prettu good routes and gets in and out of breaks well, with good burst acceleration, so i think he will be fine.
Good to hear and we will see. They’ll figure it out in camp but could also see a guy like Williams being in the Red zone package.
Waddle in the redzone will be the underneath guy. 1st down from the 15 dump it off and let him run, easy pass, high comp% beats a 2 yard run
Yeah they will try to defend the skinny post, quick curl, or back of the end zone slant route, and he will come straight down the LOS and catch on the run. I can see that play in my head right now. Would be almost impossible to defend without bringhing a safety in which of course would hurt when Gesicki Parker or Williams could hit the back of the endzone on a post and have no one there to challenge him
With that many weapons they may as well just line up to receive the kick 😉
Used redzone too loosely there. Was really talking goal to go. And a lot of teams don’t even use a slot in such situations. We did just draft a TE.
Line him up in the backfield and let him go out for a pass
Or take him out and put Doaks in
I could see a 2TE set with Waddle lining up in the backfield. They’d have to defend that but could turn into a 5 pass option play for Tua right quick after Gesicki and Waddle motion. Or they could run the draw or outside.
Or just let Tua walk it in. If the coordinators do their job, it will be easy to score inside the 10(20 really).
There’s a few FA RBs out there, Rex Burkhead,Duke Johnson, leveon Bell, Gore, but no one really looks any better than what we have, I’d ride with Doaks
We’ll see if Doaks even makes the 53. I’m not liking anyone in FA either though
Down to 8.1m on cap, see Preston added to top 51, looks like a 3k bonus and Elandon looks new, might be some more bonus money being on the roster in May.
McKinney still hasn’t been restructured like they said was coming
Chris Kouffman
@ckparrot
·
22m
Liam Eichenberg’s got a resume. Watched him shut down Azeez Ojulari & Malik Herring, Josh Uche & Kwity Paye, Chris Rumph & Victor Dimukeje, Janarius Robinson & Joshua Kaindoh, Rashad Weaver & Patrick Jones, Will Anderson & Christopher Allen.
No sacks allowed. Very dependable.
Better resume than Jackson has
I wish we had a “like” button. lol
He’s a technician from what i can see, his athleticism isn’t off the charts, his feet are good, but his technique is really strong, and to me that’s number 2 on my list of attributes. Great feet cant be coached up, repetition doesn’t improve it much so its always gonna be my number 1, and his are good enough for OT. I kind of like him for OG though, and that’s not a slam on him but i think his strength matches with that spot to make us a really damn good one.
Just read an article claiming that the US may never reach “herd immunity” with Covid. And couldn’t argue against the reasoning.
The people who already got their shots made the chances of getting the thing less. Gives less reason for the ones who didn’t rush out to get their shots at first to get their shots now.
Guess they should thank those of us who did…. but don’t wait on that one.
Because of the dumb asses refusing to get vaccinated
There’s the problem right there, if they don’t what you think is right they’re a dumbass.
Sounds an awful lot like what the politicians did with the lockdowns.
People are tired of these fascists telling them what to do.
I agree everyone should get vaccinated, but who am I to tell people what to do?
I didn’t want to get it, but they aren’t going to let you fly internationally and go to sporting events, so I said fuck it I’ll just get the shot. 2nd shot next week.
Things will settle down in time and more people will get the vaccine
Thank you for doing your part
A lot of conspiracy shit out there on the vaccines, that’s also not helping.
A lot of people on the right don’t want to get vaccinated, because they want to turn the tables on the left’s TDS
Thanks steve. Guess that in part answers my comment below…. even if still doesn’t make sense to me.
What I can’t figure out is how getting vaccinated or not became a political issue. Why in the world should politics come into it? Should be a medical thing and same medical info is out there for everyone.
Left made it political from day 1, Trump said, stop air traffic from China and they, Biden, called him xenophobic, then their governors shot their states down
I really couldn’t care less about what the left did as far as a health situation. Goes for the right too. More into what decide is best for my health. But maybe just me.
And turning to politics…… Trump made the vaccines happen, he had Covid, he and his wife both got vaccinated. What is the issue?
Don’t know how you could care less, when it affects your health.
The shit is starting to come full circle and bite them in the ass, not just covid related, cancel culture and other things
It’s basically just a big FU to the left for all the shit they did the last 4 years, oppose…impeachment
Steve — I view health as medicine and science. Again, maybe just me. But the rest is about politics and not Covid vaccinations.
It’s all “a big FU to the left” but Trump got the vaccines developed. Is it an anti-Trump move?
Yeah, I agree with that, it should be, but when Trump got elected the left changed everything, now everything from sports to covid is political.
How much Science goes into anything Fucci says?
Sure it’s an anti Trump move in reality, but the left is now claiming the vaccine as their own, so…
We’re going to have 100m doses in our 1st 100 days…WTF did Biden have to do with the vaccine?
we have a tough road schedule,
Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Las Vegas Raiders & the afc east
home looks to be easier
Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Baltimore Ravens & afc east
not sure who the 17th game will be against?
Dallas plays pittsburgh in 13 weeks, two days, 4 hrs, 22:34 from now!
preseason is 3 games with a bye week
4th week in pre season is bye week, makes sense as that’s usually garbage time anyway.
The bye week in preseason is some BS.
Back in the day they played 6 preseason games, then started the season first weekend in Sept, giving us 4 Sept games.
Then at some point they started the season about the 2nd weekend in Sept giving us only 3 Sept games.
Now they want to reduce preseason to 3 and instead of playing the extra game in Sept, it will be in cold January
ocalarob says:
May 4, 2021 at 3:21 pm
not sure who the 17th game will be against?
Reply
I think I remember reading that it will be the NY Giants.
not the “17th” game but the extra previously un-scheduled game.
NY Giants at Hard Rock
https://www.giants.com/news/nfl-schedule-expansion-owners-season-17-games-miami-dolphins-roger-goodell
Cool, if he is healthy. Has had some major injuries.
Already plenty of hookers in Mianmi.
Miami
Sign him if he brings cocaine. Cocaine and hookers should always go together.
Cocaine and Miami already go together
stangerx says:
May 4, 2021 at 2:01 pm
Just read an article claiming that the US may never reach “herd immunity” with Covid. And couldn’t argue against the reasoning.
The people who already got their shots made the chances of getting the thing less. Gives less reason for the ones who didn’t rush out to get their shots at first to get their shots now.
Guess they should thank those of us who did…. but don’t wait on that one.
———————————————————
So my take on this is its about the symptoms. The “immunity” is a hoax, people get the same exact strain more than once, so any vaccination would not prevent someone from getting it again, it would lessen the symptoms, and mortality rate, and provide a chance to avoid it. Overall it would let us get ahead of the curve, but this is here to stay imo. Variants, etc are already happening and spreading. The hope would be to get enough ahead of it to eventually mitigate, and control it to a point its more like common flu.
This isnt an argument against getting the vaccine, it for getting it, but i think the overly optimistic or naïve viewpoint that it will ever be gone is well…it was never in the true conversation about dealing with this even though it was sold that way. We have entered a world of change, and we need to embrace that it will likely never go back to the way it was before. There are too damn many people on the planet and outbreaks like this will be a byproduct of over population and inability to regulate all aspects of life (ie wet markets in rural China), which i wouldn’t want anyways,.
Don’t think even if the US hits herd immunity that will mean the end of Covid. Don’t think people looking for that are claiming it will either. No way does the whole world reach that point. Sure would be nice if America did though.
See this is what i was talking about on draft weekend. Not taking a RB likely means they take a 1 year flyer on a guy looking to get a late career contract. He comes in and is hungry, he knocks it out of the park, he gets juciy contract from some other team and we take a young RB next year.
Kind of like the idea personally, as long as its a cheap deal. Isnt Fournette out there too?
Nope, looks like TB already picked him back up for a year.
Are you sure. I don’t see anything on him signing anywhere
I looked up his contract details it says he signed as an UFA 1 year in 2021.
Oh,,,,Fournette not Gurley
With an otoscope?
with a Kong sized colonscope. If he can handle that, the knee wont be an issue.
lol
Cards facing the best pitcher in baseball today
Damn tough break for Ja’Wuan
He has suffered so many injuries in his career. This might be it for him.
JLo cured covid
What a booty!
stangerx says:
May 4, 2021 at 5:05 pm
Don’t think even if the US hits herd immunity that will mean the end of Covid. Don’t think people looking for that are claiming it will either. No way does the whole world reach that point. Sure would be nice if America did though.
———————————————————
My problem is with the word immunity, mostly because it gives a flase sense of safety i don’t think is actually there. So like the Draft, there were people all huddled together there, and it was OK because they had all been vaccinated. I don’t think that’s the right way to think about it, or we are vaccinated, back to life as we know it. Yes, they all had their masks on, well most of them, but that’s the first step to losing any control over this. We will see if cases start spiking again, but i just think the word immunity is overplayed.
Sorta a term of art at this point. If on average people who get the thing pass it to less than one person Covid will eventually stop being transmitted mainly. What word or phrase would you prefer?
Completely agree people should be real safe at the same time. This all started with me saying hitting “herd immunity” is probably not going to happen in the US.
LOL, Cards are not facing the best pitcher in baseball today…
https://www.mlb.com/news/jacob-degrom-scratched-from-start-vs-cardinals
https://youtu.be/Jwy9lB2q8YE
Yay human beings….I love them so much…..
I bet David was sitting in the passenger seat.
What an ignorant C*UNT!!!
We have an easier schedule next year
THis year or next year?
Based on current rosters? Not last year’s wins?
How the heck does that work?
it doesn;t appear easy, @Tennessee Titans, @New Orleans Saints, @Tampa Bay Buccaneers, @Las Vegas Raiders, Baltimore.
those are all really hard games not to mention the 6 games we have in the division.
NE has gotten better so has NY, and Buffalo is the team to beat.
we are in one of the toughest divisions in football, how does that equate to an easy schedule?
Need based drafting is dangerous as it usually results in reaches and frequent busts.
But let’s look at our draft that way.
Top Need … speed at WR that can also get separation.
Waddle checks that box, but is he safe ?
Yes.
Proof?
He already has chemistry with Tua, several TDs with Tua, comes from the top program in college, GPS says he is BOTH their fastest and quickest, and his coach says his best trait is competitive toughness.
This is no Oakland Raiders type wussy track star or Ted Ginn step out of bounds guy.
And again, he runs actual, sharp routes.
Yeah for sure Waddle is nothing like Ted Ginn. If you watch some of his highlight videos he runs a lot of different routes including going over the middle and taking some big hits. His ability to get separation is very impressive.
Is Mike still mad? Is it safe?
I may have missed the 💥
Was he mad earlier?
He’s bummed that we didn’t draft one of the top RBs.
Oh….lol
If I’m over it, I’m sure he will be too
No question, Denver sniped us on Williams
And a few of us here were saying if you pass on RB (Harris) at 18, you might miss in RBs
And guess what happened
I guess the bottom line is we got good players
And everyone can take comfort in knowing that if we would have drafted Harris or Williams I would have bought their jerseys…
He’ll be fine Coach Flo has him sitting in the corner with a dunce cap on
Gaskin had 972 yds from scrimmage last year in 10 games.
Ahmed 63 ypg
Brown 36 ypg
Doaks 875 from scrimage, Cin played 10 games he probably played all 10
Why was RB a big need?
We were the #22 rushing Offense in the league last year. We’re talking lower 1/3 of the NFL.
And the year before that, Ryan Fitzpatrick was our leading rusher.
—————
In the event that we sign Malik, that would clearly mean he’s healthy. So again, in the event that we sign him, HOLY DBs, Batman! And most obviously, we’ll not be signing him to a huge deal (same if we decide to sign Todd Gurley).
It would be a one-year ‘PROVE IT’ deal, with incentives.
https://images.app.goo.gl/F77eBtFquA7zSNhZ9
Why does this never work for me?
“The Bad Batch” was GOOOOOD! Premiered today on Disney+.
We all know a good running game starts up front and blocking. A great running game is when you have the great back. Not many teams have a great back. The position isn’t developed enough in college.
Yup! See below…
Steve,
I DO understand where you’re coming from… and post-Draft, I’m thinking we improved the O-Line to make ANY RB potentially go for over 1K rushing yards (whether it be solo, or by committee).
But you’ve got to understand that the overwhelming majority of ‘Phins Nation’ was welcoming a shiny, new, stud RB.
We’ll see what happens! Time shall reveal…
I’m feeling good about our moves, to be quite honest.
Steve – You’re like some wiseass fucknut sometimes. Like you’re the only one who really knows what’s going on. I think there’s a reason for that. You’re fucking delusional. We need a RB because we don’t really have much talent in our RB corps. The 2 little guys Gaskin and Ahmed go down on contact. Malcolm Brown couldn’t beat out anyone in LA. You rattle off Doaks stats from Cincinnati as if those mean anything? Like I’ve said 20 fucking times already, let’s see him make all the roster cuts. Yeah, a great offensive line makes everyone look better but a great running back makes a decent O-line look better too, and great offensive line and a great running back takes team deep into the playoffs. I’m not going to address you on this any further because you’re just acting like a smug asshat.
I said all along we should’ve drafted one early, but when we didn’t…
So I asked the question,Why was RB a big need?
Flores didn’t seem to think so.
Get over yourself already, we didn’t take one and that’s not changing, but you go on and on and on…
Put your big boy pants on and face the reality
Who was it on here that stressed to everyone, “trust the process” one should heed ones own advice.
I trust that they made our team a lot better this past weekend, with the exception of the RB position. I remain agnostic on this issue.
Hey we’re all Phins fans. We didn’t draft one of the top RBs and we could have but passed. Other than that just about everyone said we had a great draft. Next stop, playoffs! That’s all that matters.
This is a big season for us in Phase III. 😉
Every year leading up to the draft we tend to focus on only players at perceived positions of need yet we’ll all claim to be in favor of BPA so here again none of us had Holland on our radar. When you look at what Holland brings to the team and what he is capable of we all missed on him, I certainly did, we’re lucky to have him he’s the type of difference maker that could put our defense over the top. I think he starts day one 🤷♂️
We can’t run our blitz schemes without superior coverage. Flores is all about top notch coverage.
I didn’t know who he was, but I said S was a position of need and I’ve said many times Needham was our biggest weakness
Biggest weakness on D
I knew who he was, Maurice Jones-Drew coached him in some capacity and was a big fan. Not that he’s the voice of Holland outside of a bias, but I knew his name weeks leading up to the draft. I didn’t see DB being early so I didn’t focus on it. Flores likes his DBs. LOL
a great running game is not all about having a great RB, it’s about scheme, you stretch the field and have good run blockers, that’s how you have a great run game.
it’s not a one man show. without the above Najee would suck on any team.
i feel he will do great on Pitts because of Roethlisberger. Ben really keeps Ds on their heels.
that’s why his recs make the $$ also why Leveon Bell made his $$$.
we don’t have a Ben, we have a Tua
steveccnv says:
May 4, 2021 at 10:34 pm
I didn’t know who he was, but I said S was a position of need and I’ve said many times Needham was our biggest weakness
_______________________________________
we had to use Needham because our 1st rnd draft pick Iggy couldn’t beat him out.
I just said Needham, because he was the starter, but he’s an overacheiver
Yep! We’re trying to upgrade over Needham, Rowe and McCain with Iggy, Br. Jones and Holland. The fact that we’re meeting with Malik Hooker is another sign. The secondary is going to be very competitive this year.
If you’re a DC, how do you defend this 11 personnel formation that I think will be used a lot?
WR Fuller
WR Parker
WR Waddle
TE Gesicki
QB Tua
RB Gaskin
How about this 12 personnel?
WR Fuller
WR Waddle
TE Gesicki
TE Smythe/Shaheen/Long
QB Tua
RB Brown
This is the package I expect to see a lot of. We were successful with it last year, with Long they may want to take it to the next level.
Will it be max protect or run heavy
Gesicki is always an option to go in motion for mismatches. We didn’t draft Pitts. Gesicki is our top receiving threat at TE and he creates mismatches. Who’s covering him and who’s covering Fuller and Waddle? Speed kills. Most teams can’t cover these guys.
Here’s some interesting MLB statistical oddities.
The Miami Marlins are at the bottom of the NL East with a 12-16 record, and they are the only team in the NLE with a positive run differential at +10. The other four teams all have a double digit deficit.
The Oakland As currently have the best record in the league, 7 games over .500 at 19-12, and a -2 run differential.
The Detroit Tigers have the worst run differential in the league at a whopping -66, more than twice as bad as the 2nd worst at -28.
None of this really says anything, but…fun with numbers, lol.
Looking at those numbers this morning clearly show the Dolphins should have drafted a RB earlier. It’s right there . . .
They didn’t draft one, because Wilkins is going to play RB, he’s down to 299lbs, expects to be down to 297 by the start of season
LOL, mike
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/jeremiah-owusu-koramoah-fell-to-second-round-due-to-heart-issue/ar-BB1gmFJS
I wonder if we would’ve taken Williams 36th overall had Denver not jumped us?
from an article,
After the second night of the draft, GM Chris Grier denied any disappointment that Williams was gone before the Dolphins picked.
“No. As we work through it, we’re very cognizant of what’s going on and around and for us,” Grier said. “We have good players at the running back position.
dolphins killled the draft , no regrets\\
we will get 4 starters , and some depth,
thats great for one draft
lol at Doge coin hitting 69 cents, leveraged futures are clicking up extremely fast
Doge was so hot yesterday it brought the entire stock market, and coin market to its knees,
nobody wanted stocks yesterday, but everyone wanted a piece of the dogster, its up 8000 percent in the first quarter
Doge leveraged futures
100X leverage X 8000 percent = 800,000 % profit for the last 3 months
Aaron Rodgers will probably be traded to Denver after June 1.
maybe we can trade Biden to denver for a couple of old pokemon cards, and a DVD of powder puff girls
thats most likely, GB fumbled this one IMO
Nah, Rodgers is just being a bitch.