Miami Dolphins Training Camp doesn’t start until August 2nd, the FIFA World Cup is winding down, the NY Knicks won their first NBA Championship since 1973, so this is a quiet relaxing time for sports. MLB is approaching the All Star break, which will really grind the sports scene to a halt. It’s all good, summer is here, and this is the time to chill, enjoy the weather and the long days, and not worry too much about the sports scene. We had some record heat in the Northeast exceeding 100 degrees at least twice this past week leading up to the 250th Celebration of America. No matter what side of the political aisle you sit, America is still the best country in the world and don’t forget it!
I’ve seen all the NFL team predictions and just laugh. To me, predicting how teams are going to finish in the standings before training camp starts is very much like placing draft grades on teams for the players they drafted. None of it means a thing. I really have no idea how many games we’ll win this season, and will continue to feel that way until I see them practice, play a couple of preseason games, and then at least a few regular season games, and even then, injuries can change things immediately. Honestly, we have a whole lot of question marks all over the place on offense and defense, even before we sprinkle in all the new draftees, including the first 2 picks, RD 1 (#12) LG Kadyn Proctor, RD 1 (#27) CB Chris Johnson, and then RD 2 (#43) LB Jacob Rodriguez. While all of them figure to get substantial playing time, our 2nd RD pick LB Jacob Rodriguez who brings tons of excitement is behind some excellent veteran players such as ILB Jordyn Brooks, ILB Tyrel Dodson and ILB Willie Gay. It is possible one of them is traded which would make more opportunities available for Rodriguez much sooner, but that hasn’t happened yet, and Jordyn Brooks may well get an extension, which then would make one of the other aforementioned guys Dodson or Gay more expendable.
Back to those question marks. Yes, we drafted an OL early in OT/OG Kadyn Proctor. We saw last season how the best laid plans sometimes don’t necessarily work out, and last years trade up for OG Jonah Savaiinaea was simply a failure. His play was consistently poor except for a couple of flashes near the end of the season. He will be counted on once again, but this season at RG, where he played at Arizona. We drafted much later on, in RD 6 another OG, RD 6 (#200), DJ Campbell, from Texas. Campbell is a 4 year starter that could probably jump right in and play if needed, so Savaiinaea had better do more than just flash occasionally and play some physical ball rather than resemble a bull fighter or a turnstile. Same goes for rookie Kadyn Proctor, and then of course with RT Austin Jackson, can he stay healthy enough to play most of the season. We do have some depth guys like Jamaree Salyer from the Chargers and Charlie Heck from the Bucs, but it would be wonderful to see Paul, Proctor, Brewer, Savaiinaea and Jackson play 17 strong games together. I can’t remember the last time that occurred.
As far as the rookies, which rookie other than or even including the top 3 picks will have the biggest impact, and by that I mean positive impact? I’m hoping that Proctor is a real difference maker, a guy who is controlling the LOS, paving holes for Achane and our other backs and keeping defenders off of QB Malik Willis, or whoever is playing QB. Willis will be the man, unless he isn’t because he’s not getting it done or he’s injured. Last year’s 7th RD pick, QB Quinn Ewers showed he’s ready to start and should serve as the primary backup for Malik Willis. CB Chris Jones from what i’ve read and heard will be playing a combination of perimeter and slot CB, so he will be on the field an awful lot. I think he’s going to be a good player for us. I also think the much maligned WR Caleb Douglas, RD 3 (#75) will get his chances to make an impact in the passing game. We have a few Swiss Army knife types in LB/S Kyle Louis, LB/DE Trey Moore and I’m kind of interested to see if TE Seydou Traore makes the roster. I think 3rd RD pick (#87) TE Will Kacmarek will be on the field a ton, and then there’s TE Greg Dulcich. There’s also TE Ben Sims who’s started 8 games, but has played 45 games over 3 seasons with the Green Bay Packers and then most recently, the Minnesota Vikings.
Which young veteran players take that next step? Will it be DE/OLB Chop Robinson who took a step or two backwards last season? RG Jonah Savaiinaea at RG, who seemingly could only take step forward, not backwards. How will the trio of defensive linemen we drafted fare, DT Kenneth Grant, DT Jordan Phillips and DT Zeek Biggers? Will young CB Juju Brents be able to stay healthy and use his length to be a legit CB? Will either of the two backup RB’s Jaylen Wright or Ollie Gordon show they’re more than just a 4 or 5 carry a game RB? Will WR Malik Washington continue to be an important cog in the passing game? Now that RB De’Von Achane got his contract, will he be asked to do even more than his career best 1838 total yards from scrimmage? Will TE Greg Dulcich really be the big receiving TE most of you guys think he will be after never catching more than 33 passes over his 4 year career with 31 games played and 13 starts? Can DE Josh Uche who played for the Patriots and Eagles be a pass rush threat fro the Dolphins? Like I said, lots of questions, and we have a long way to go to get some answers. In the meantime, enjoy the good weather and mostly the long days of summer!
GO DOLPHINS!!!
Finsmob Unleashed 
Rookie camp starts July 21 and Vets start July 28th.
The first day open to public is August 2nd….
Oh, and FOIST!
but it would be wonderful to see Paul, Proctor, Brewer, Savaiinaea and Jackson play 17 strong games together. I can’t remember the last time that occurred.
Forget the individual names, I cannot remember a season where we had the starting 5 play 50% of the games. Let alone the entire season.
Thanks MikeE! Lots of questions to be answered and unfortunately there are more questions to ask. We will know some answers early and others not until probably halfway through the season.
LOL MIke E you last paragraph reminded me of this;
LOL! I can see why!
lol
excellent article as usual Mike!
Lots of guys need to step up, that’s not what I’ll be looking for, just the effort and preparation (are they handling mental part)
Thanks Steve!
Mike your sunset picture, maybe sunrise is the endless summer license plate here in Florida
Nice! I love sunrise and sunsets. Last beautiful sunset I saw was in Aruba last summer.
PP talkin shit bout to get nasty in the trenches
Crabbs says our OL has stayed in Miami working out daily no vacation before camp
If true that is great to hear!
The picture looks like the sunrise and sunsets we had at Keaton Beach last week.
What was really cool was we were out on the water every day for the sunrise. We ended up watching the sunrise and moonset at the same time every morning before we jumped in the water.
I’ve always liked Tolbert, not sure how he’d do as a #1. Maybe he could do his job by occupying the #1 CB and letting others eat
his signature catch was deep on X in 2023
He still has issues with getting separation. That’s why he only has a career 50% completion rate when targeted.
Steve, what is your new Avi a picture of?
Achane
my last one was Phillips, changed it after he was traded last year
how about my 2019, FF avatar?
Achane??? lol
BBM,
I’m so confused. Changes made. Lol
Both Lauck and Lutmer are good. I think Lauck will end up being better than PP. He’s got all the athleticism you need for outside zone, and he’s still nasty in the run game. Very good prospect.
Lutmer is a little more Swiss Army knife. I do like him as a slot corner. Smart kid. Tough player. Not sure where’d I’d value him in the draft yet. I think DeJean is better. I’d put Lutmer a notch or so lower.
Lutmer is actually from a town in Iowa where I wrestled a deaf kid many years ago.
I think Lauck is that good that he could move to RT easier than Proctor could. Draft Lauck and leave Proctor at LG.
Yes, Lutmer is a notch down from DeJean, just reminds me of him. Right now, I am thinking late 3rd to early 4th round on Lutmer but if he produces like last year again, he will climb higher.
This was in reply to Mike E.
What blows my mind is how openly antisemitic people are and so called liberals just look the other way. Yet we have black people still talking about slavery like it just ended yesterday and we need to talk more seriously about reparations because of the suffering of black people today. We’re definitely in the Twilight Zone.
It’s crazy to me, I don’t want to get political on here so I won’t touch it. It seems it’s become completely acceptable to hate Israel, but the true hate is for the Jews and they use the very thin veil of this bullshit “Genocide” story for cover. Never in my life did I expect it, but people better wake the fuck up before they start separating Jews from other people and this whole thing gets started again.
Good write up as always Mike. The Jew hatred is crazy. Some folks are rewriting history, which is mind blowing and unfortunate. Joe Rose and Bo were raving about Jordon Phillips. I expect a huge season from him
Slavery. Anybody know where the word “slavery” came from?
Here’s a hint: it had NOTHING to do with black or white.
And here’s another interesting fact: the first slave owner in America was black.
This is the beach I go to all the time about 15-20 min from my house.
Yikes. A lot of sharks on East coast of Florida now too. I think August going to be bad this year for attacks.
I’ve seen plenty of sharks at the beach while I’ve been in the water
I remember going to the beach after seeing Jaws. I was scared to go in the water, and we lived right across the street from the beach too. Still went in, but at first I was always looking out, looking to see if I saw any fins coming my way
Hey PB – No question man. I blame the US Education Department. They teach kids in High School and maybe younger that white men are bad, America is bad, Israel is bad, we all stole and occupy stolen land and Israel is committing Genocide. Revisionist history, and dangerous stuff, but it’s all out there.
I don’t get into Jew, black, whomever drama, but I do have a quick story:
I walked past a fairly new neighbor of mine. I’d never really spoken to her, so I said hi, I’m Randy, as I walked past her. She kinda mumbled something. I couldn’t hear her, so I said I was sorry but didn’t catch that. She proceeded to rip into me for being racist and avoiding her and also claimed I have other racist neighbors…I wouldn’t know about that and don’t care.
Anyway, I started talking to her because it seemed like she wanted me to. Within the next 30 minutes I was told I was a privileged white man who knew nothing about history or the “black struggle”. I was also told in no uncertain terms that I owed her, personally, an apology for what “her people” have gone through. And, I owed her reparations. Mind you….first time I ever really spoke to this woman…didn’t know her.
It went on for 30 minutes with me trying to figure out how an insane person moved next door to me. She’d finally had enough once she figured out there wasn’t gonna be any apology, and she walked off. Needless to say, she doesn’t speak to me now.
This World is getting so twisted. Victim mentality blended with the belief that your truth IS the truth is a bitch.
Holy fuck Randy, that’s some crazy shit! Wow!
and where do you think she got those ideas
so Steve: Lemmee get this straight … Achane is a rotting Fish ??
StinkyFish
this is the Achane avatar I’ve been using since the last trade deadline, previously it was Jaelan Phillips
Rock asked what it was I said Achane, but it wasn’t new, tgen I changed it to StinkyFish, my FF avatar
okay , I first read his question after it was the stinky fish.
Mike : we don’t usually put much stock or pay any attention to racial disparaging.. but over the last year the hatred we are hearing toward the Jewish community is very loud and constant.. I feel for you quite often …