Finsmob Unleashed

Don’t be insulted. I probably laugh at more comments on here than I should, just as you probably dismiss my negativity as “Get off my lawn” nonsense. In other words, I’m on the right side of the image above, and I’m firmly planted there until this team gives me a reason to feel otherwise. Signing this guy or that guy does nothing for me at this point. Whoever comes on board right now has an awful lot of work to do to learn how we do things here. Whether you think RB Jaylen Wright has an empty space between his ears, or that our offense is excessively complicated, he couldn’t really contribute because Mike McDaniel didn’t trust him. On the defensive side, yes, we signed veteran Rasul Douglas and his own words basically said I’m just running around not really sure what I’m doing because it’s really different from what I’ve done.

I can start with TE Darren Waller who I said from “GO” was a joke. Well, he’s getting some practice in now, 2 freaking weeks before the season starts but we’re expecting him to perform like he did in 2020 because he will be reunited with then Tight Ends Coach and now Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith. I choose to look at the fact that he quit on his team last season, retired, and somehow we thought he’d be just as good as Jonnu Smith was last season, who gave us 88 catches for 884 yards and 8 TD’s. Jonnu worked hard for his yards, many of his receptions were close to the line of scrimmage and the fact that he had a 10.0 YPC average is more of a testament of how hard he had to work more than Tua throwing him open downfield. I could literally see Waller catching one of these short passes, getting blown up and then maybe deciding he’s better off retired after all. So now we have TE Greg Dulcich (Ooh, Aah!) and fans are excited. After catching 33 passes his rookie year, Dulcich has fallen off the map. 13 receptions over the last 3 years for 81 yards. We’re saved!!! Or maybe Tanner Conner who is the king of offseason hype will be our savior! Perhaps the offensive penalty king TE Julian Hill will be the phoenix that rises from the ashes. Just don’t bet on it, ANY of it!

The other big BUZZ is rookie 5th RD pick Jason Marshall Jr. now playing the nickel spot after about 4 or 5 other guys, almost all of them no longer with the team in any capacity. Oh there’s hype, the kid is really showing man, he’s gonna be great. Uh huh, sure he is. He’s really an outside guy who has never played inside, it’s not going to be easy for him to make that transition, just as Rasul Douglas, despite being a long tenured vet will have his issues learning our scheme. I have seen comments here such as “Our rookies are doing great!” In preseason? In practice? Temper that enthusiasm until we see live regular season game action. We do catch a break with QB Daniel Jones starting instead of QB Anthony Richardson due to injury. If our front 7 can harass him we should be able to stifle their offense. The thing that worries me a little is Daniel Jones can run, he’s a good athlete, not as big and strong as Richardson, but maybe a better athlete who has some wheels and if we don’t stay disciplined around the pocket, he can chew up some yards on the ground if there’s space in front of him.

Now it’s not all bad, as long as our offensive line does their job. Also, a huge must, we must have RB De’Von Achane healthy for game 1. I like what I’ve seen from RB Ollie Gordon, but we don’t really want to see him and Jamycal Hasty all game long, that might be a problem. The front 7, as long as our rookies play well, and they will be leaned on because they make up a good amount of the rotation on the D-line with Kenneth Grant starting at LDE, backed up by Zeek Biggers, and then Jordan Phillips at NT behind Benito Jones, so that’s half of the D-line rotation with 1 starting. Our OLB and ILB units are a strength of this team. The safeties remain to be seen, although there’s a lot of hype of S Minkah Fitzpatrick, although SS Iffy Melifonwu has not looked good so far, but again, you have to wait until the regular season starts to see what we have. S Minkah Fitzpatrick has the pedigree to a great player, and hopefully the trade from the Steelers lit a fire under him to return to his former All Pro level of play. We can only hope.

As far as Tua, he doesn’t worry me until he worries me, which is if the O-line is playing poorly, or we’re playing a really good team. I expect Tua to play well against the Colts and WR’s Hill,Waddle and (Malik) Washington, and to a lesser extent, WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Tahj Washington all relatively healthy. The TE’s, who knows, I don’t expect to see anything good there at all, but maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised. BTW, the article title was a rhetorical question, you guys are mostly hopeless homers that eat up the positivity faster than Joey Chestnut inhales Nathan’s Hot Dogs, and you know it, and you’re proud of it too! I also can’t believe the absurd amount of hype over these Rivalry Uniforms that apparently will be worn ONCE during a 17 game season. At least when we debut those silly dark uniforms, it’ll be in the evening so we don’t die of the heat.

GO DOLPHINS!!!