Finsmob Unleashed

It’s been a crazy week, it seemed as if we may be heading into this huge divisional home game missing quite a few very important players. As it turns out, we may actually be getting back some extremely important players. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet, but there is a chance we may see CB Jalen Ramsey get his first game action as a Miami Dolphin. It’s also possible that DB Nik Needham may see his first game action since his achilles tear in Week 6 of last season. Needham plays mostly inside at nickel, and always seems to rise to the occasion. WR Tyreek Hill, who injured his hip last week against Philadelphia was seemingly going to miss some time, but now appears to be ready to go against the Patriots. On the bad side of the ledger, it looks like we have lost OG Isaiah Wynn for the rest of the season. With Terron Armstead perpetually OUT, and Connor Williams questionable with a groin injury, that leaves the O-line paper thin. RB Raheem Mostert looks like he will play after sustaining a knee injury in Sunday Night’s game against the Eagles. The invisible rookie CB Cam Smith is now out with a foot injury and did not practice yesterday. One more to add, S Jevon Holland did log in a limited practice wearing the customary red jersey for those in concussion protocol. LB David Long Jr. appears to be fine and logged a full practice, which is good news.

With the Isaiah Wynn injury, and the aforementioned Terron Armstead OUT, the Dolphins O-line if Connor Williams can’t go will look like this . . .

LT Kendall Lamm – LG Lester Cotton – C Liam Eichenberg – RG Robert Hunt – RT Austin Jackson

OG Lester Cotton looked like he might have been close to winning the starting LG spot in training camp and preseason where he impressed. He did struggle some against Philadelphia’s big defensive line, but I expect him to be more prepared this week. Kendall Lamm looks passable at LT, but definitely not as good as Terron Armstead when healthy, whenever that actually occurs. Liam Eichenberg has had a difficult time, and while his snaps are accurate, more than starter Connor Williams, that’s the only positive to speak of. Back to safety for a moment, I had heard earlier in the week that DB Nik Needham might play Safety opposite S DeShon Elliott, but now it appears as if it will be Brandon Jones. It seems as if that situation is fluid and could change depending on the matchup. Hopefully, Holland can clear concussion protocol, but that doesn’t seem likely.

Let me address Jaelan Phillips, and clarify some things. I’m a Jaelan Phillips fan. I like the kid, he has the right work ethic, enthusiasm and physical ability to be a great player in the NFL. What I hated was all the hype he received before the season. I liken that to being on the cover of a Madden game. It’s a curse! As such, it has been a curse. Phillips is nowhere near a player being considered for DPOY, he was injured early, played ineffectively through that injury for 2 games before missing 3. After 7 games, Phillips has played in 4 games (starting 2) and has 20 tackles (11 solo), 1 TFL, 5 QB hits, and 1.5 sacks. His replacement, on the other hand has been far more effective, AVG or Andrew Van Ginkel. AVG has started 5 games, played in all 7, and 31 tackles (19 solo), 4 TFL’s, 9 QB hits, and 4 sacks. When folks gush about how great Phillips has been, sorry guys, but just not true. The stud has been AVG, not Jaelan Phillips. Now Phillips has plenty of time to be the stud we all hoped he could be, but up till now, as Larry David might say, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.

It looks as if RB Raheem Mostert will likely have a large role this week. It’s odd, I haven’t seen anything about RB Jeff Wilson Jr. What will be interesting to see is who gets the touches when Mostert comes off the field. RB De’Von Achane will probably not see any action until after our BYE week, so Week 11. That leaves Jeff Wilson Jr., Salvon Ahmed, and rookie Chris Brooks. If it were my choice, I’d like to see more of Chris Brooks. Wilson is under contract in ’24 as well, but can definitely be a cap casualty with only a $700K dead cap hit. Brooks is not under contract for next season, he came in as a UDFA and is a bargain at $600K this season. Brooks and Wilson both are hard runners, but Chris Brooks will be 24 going on 25 while Wilson will be 28 going on 29 with a long injury history. Of course, Achane returning will mean less carries for everyone, including top back Raheem Mostert. Before Achane was injured, Mostert and Achane were basically splitting carries, and with great results.

If X is healthy enough to go Sunday, we may finally see the CB tandem we’ve only dreamed of, Xavien Howard and Jalen Ramsey. To be realistic though, Ramsey should be on a snap count, which will limit how many snaps he plays, so Eli Apple will probably see a fair amount of action, or possibly Kader Kohou. If Ramsey and Apple split time on the outside, Kohou and Needham may split snaps inside, where both are best suited. Both Kohou and Needham have done their best work inside. Ideally, we’d see Holland and Elliott at safety, but unfortunately, we might have to wait a week to see that quartet. If somehow Holland were to clear concussion protocol, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brandon Jones plays while Holland, who is so important to this team is given a rest this week.

At WR, River Cracraft has been designated to return from IR and has the customary 21 day period to be activated. If Hill is playing, and it appears as if he is, and WR Jaylen Waddle is able to go, he was dealing with a back injury in Sunday Night’s clash with the Eagles, it will probably be Hill, Waddle and Berrios. After that, Cedrick Wilson Jr. got some action and made the most of it, so I’d expect him to be active. It would be a toss-up between Robbie Chosen and Chase Claypool, I don’t expect the Dolphins to rush back Cracraft this week, but who really ever knows? Also, hopefully FB Alec Ingold is ok with his foot injury and create some room for whomever is carrying the football. I’d love to see the 3 pass rushers, Phillips – AVG – Chubb make a killing this weekend. You can include Wilkins, Sieler, Davis and any of the other defenders as well, but I’d love specifically for the trio to wreak some havoc on Mac Jones, and take over the game.

GO DOLPHINS!!!