2014 Miami Dolphins: Raw Doggin' It

sodenj5 · Aug 4, 2014

pdaj said:
OL Update:

The Shelley Smith at C project is over -- already. Samson Satele was signed a couple days ago and is expected to start in place of Pouncey. Right now, the competition looks like this:

RT Albert
RG Colledge -- Turner
C Satele -- Garner -- Brenner
LG Smith -- Thomas
LT James

Even with James starting, this unit has a ton of NFL experience between them. The issue? It's still a weak-to-average unit. But they shouldn't be awful.

I feel like the line looks completely backwards left to right.

Pouncey keeps saying his goal is to be cleared for week 1. I don't know if he'll make it for week 1, but I'm optimistic he'll miss limited time.

mpx42 · Aug 4, 2014

Week 1? I thought he was expected to miss half the season, minimum.

sodenj5 · Aug 6, 2014

Good article on Grantland on Tannehill. Pretty much confirms what most of us think. Tannehill is not a bust but still not the definitive answer at quarterback.

http://www.grantland.com/features/the-question-of-ryan-tannehill

CaptainLaddie · Aug 8, 2014

Can't we call this thread "Glazing Over the 2014 Dolphins" or something?

Clears Cleaver · Aug 8, 2014

there is so little depth on the o-line. maybe could trade from WR and/or DL depth to get a serviceable backup T?

the Grantland article was good and balanced. the key to me is being able to run effectively on first down and third and short. will make tannehill's job so much easier

jsinger121 · Aug 8, 2014

Albert Breer ‏@AlbertBreer 3m
Dolphins S Reshad Jones has been suspended for four games for violating the PED policy.

soxhop411 · Aug 8, 2014

NFL: AroundTheLeague ‏@NFL_ATL 16m
Dolphins announce Mike Tannenbaum hired as consultant. Will work on projects related to innovation, analytics and sports science.
https://twitter.com/NFL_ATL/status/497831532703145984

sodenj5 · Aug 8, 2014

pdaj said:
Idiotic. Jimmy Wilson will most likely fill in; he's a decent replacement. At this point, I'd be elated if Miami is 2-2 headed into their Week 5 BYE. Dion, Reshad, and (hopefully) Pouncey will return by then.

Edit:

Per Rotoworld --

Jesus H. That's 2 definite starters in Jones and Pouncey as well as another guy that should be a key contributor in Jordan gone for the first ¼ of the season.

In a more positive light, Tannehilll looked good in his limited action. Not that it means too much, but its better than going out there and stinking the joint up.

jsinger121 · Aug 8, 2014

That first game in Miami is looking better and better in New England's favor.

Clears Cleaver · Aug 11, 2014

I just watched the Falcons game on tape. holy crap they cannot tackle. embarrassing. evidently philbin put them through a practive devopted to fundamentals and tackling today and the beat guys were all pissing on how bad it was. basically there isn't one NFL caliber LB on the team. of course, that dipshat GM spent $50M on two linebacksers just over a year ago. amazing how bad that is.

tannehill looked ok, still throw to his primary guy every time, but was relatively quick and accurate. he had a great practice today, too, from what I read.

this team I think is average or better at QB, RB, WR, PK, Kick returns
above average: secondary, P and DLine
Below average: OLine, LB

SeoulSoxFan · Aug 11, 2014

Miami has to consider trading for Boone, no?

dwainw · Aug 11, 2014

Clears Cleaver said:
I just watched the Falcons game on tape. holy crap they cannot tackle. embarrassing. evidently philbin put them through a practive devopted to fundamentals and tackling today and the beat guys were all pissing on how bad it was. basically there isn't one NFL caliber LB on the team. of course, that dipshat GM spent $50M on two linebacksers just over a year ago. amazing how bad that is.

tannehill looked ok, still throw to his primary guy every time, but was relatively quick and accurate. he had a great practice today, too, from what I read.

this team I think is average or better at QB, RB, WR, PK, Kick returns
above average: secondary, P and DLine
Below average: OLine, LB

A "forgotten" component of this is their inability to force turnovers. You'd like to think the reason they're missing tackles at times is that they're gambling on forcing some fumbles and going for picks. But not so much. Admittedly, they were 4th in interceptions last year, but they've been middle of the pack/near the bottom in defensive turnovers for years now and they haven't had a positive ratio since 2008 when they led the league at a whopping +17. Anyone remember that year? For a perpetually mediocre team like Miami, that seems like a significant statistical trend.

Clears Cleaver · Aug 12, 2014

Moore was throwing today in practice, fwiw. supposedly the LBs were better today. Misi at MLB is only lock to start though

mcaqua · Aug 14, 2014

So this isn't good:

That changed yesterday, when the Sun-Sentinel's Omar Kelly reported that Clay's injury has been diagnosed as a re-aggravation of his Clay's arthroscopically-repaired knee. It's not uncommon for football players to get their knees "scoped" in the offseason to reduce pain or swelling that comes from wear and tear, and the timetable for return is generally 3-4 weeks after that type of minor operation. What apparently happened to Clay is that he had his knee scoped, then was cleared to return to practice, but during the Dolphins scrimmage on August 2nd, his knee flared up. It's unclear whether the aggravation occurred on a hit or if it was a non-contact injury. Regardless, as of 3 days ago, Charles Clay was still unable to do sprints in practice due to pain and swelling, but he was able to practice catching passes while stationary and wearing a knee brace.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/dolphins-blog/sfl-dolphins-trying-to-address-tight-end-issues-add-another-rookie-20140812,0,5220888.story

mcaqua · Aug 14, 2014

pdaj said:
It was only one series, but Miami's revamped offensive line looked really good in pass protection. Hopefully that's a sign of future performance. Ju'waun James was given quite a bit of PT; and while he graded very well in pass protection, he struggled with his run blocking, particularly on the edge. That'll be something to pay attention to going forward. If the offensive line can be just average, I like the potential of this offense with Miller/Moreno and Wallace-Hartline-Gibson-Matthews-Landry-Clay.

My new top concern? This linebacking unit. Misi looked a bit lost at times at the Mike, and he's absolutely horrific in coverage. A 2-down guy in the past, is this a dude we really want to see on the field on 3rd downs? Meanwhile, Wheeler continues to suck, while Ellerbe made several poor reads. Right now, this is easily the team's worst unit. On the bright side, Tripp looked pretty good.

I was disappointed in DJ's first game. He played nearly 3 quarters, registered just 1 tackle, and created zero pass rush. I was looking to see him dominate Atlanta's 2nd-team. In the secondary, Will Davis got challenged often and looked pretty good; while Jamar was God-awful.

Tripp is going to start for this team, maybe not Week 1, though according to the beat guys he's getting looks with the starters at practice today. Ultimately, I think he's more suited to play inside (which should help mitigate some of his deficiencies in space) while shifting Misi outside and getting Ellerbe off the field entirely. That said, there is no doubt that LB play is going to be a fatal flaw with the '14 iteration of the Dolphins. I think that unit in particular will hold the defense back from being truly special.

2. Dolphins linebackers: Miami has defensive talent at a lot of positions. But perhaps the biggest concern is at linebacker. Starters Philip Wheeler, Dannell Ellerbe and Koa Misi didn't have a good first showing in last week's 16-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. There were missed tackles and inconsistent coverage as Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan completed all seven of his passes. Tackling has been a major emphasis in practice this week, which is needed. The Dolphins' linebackers did an "Oklahoma drill" this week against the running backs and put on an ugly display. Miami’s running backs dominated the drill, which didn't offer much hope that Miami's tackling will drastically improve.

Ominous.
http://espn.go.com/blog/miami-dolphins

On a more positive note, Terrence Fede and Chris McCain have continued to sustain the momentum they generated early in camp. Fede in particular has been a revelation by all indications.

SeoulSoxFan · Aug 18, 2014

mcaqua said:
So this isn't good:

Apparently Clay returned to practice today. That's certainly good news but Phins fans have to be holding their breaths.

Clears Cleaver · Aug 19, 2014

you have to think that one of the starting guards and a starting LB may not even be on the roster yet. Why is it so hard to trade in the NFL. Fish have excess DLinemen.

sodenj5 · Aug 23, 2014

Fins cut Michael Egnew, per Schefter.

Not entirely surprising. I felt like if he was ever going to contribute, it would be this year with the Fins moving more towards a spread system and they could use Egnew in basically the same role he had in college. Maybe he'll catch on with another team and a fresh start will do him good, but I don't think the light was ever going to come on in Miami for him.

sodenj5 · Aug 24, 2014

I think the biggest story line to come out of the third preseason game is Knowshon Moreno. He looked great, and Miami looked like an entirely different offense when he's running the ball. Dallas's D is terrible, but Knowshon is also still probably at 75-80% healthy and not fully in game shape yet.

The defense also looked good against what should be a good Dallas offense. With Misi out, they mixed and matched the linebackers all night and did a good job of containing Romo and co. There were far fewer blown tackles this week as well.

Tannehill looked ok. Hard to say because it seemed clear that they were trying to emphasize the run this game. He did miss a wide open Wallace by about ten yards on what would have been an easy TD. He also forced an INT into double coverage.

Clay looked good on his one reception and the offensive line as a whole looked improved, with the running game flourishing and Tannehill being fairly well protected.

That's pretty much a wrap on the pre season. I'd expects the starting LBs to get some more work in the 4th game, but everyone else should be resting up for week 1.

Clears Cleaver · Aug 25, 2014

specials were bad, too, but philbin said he was playing a high # of rookies there to gauge their abilities. Landry fumbled a punt. I bet thigpen appreciated that.

Dallas Thomas was again bad from what I read. They have to find another guard via waivers or trade.

Tannehill wasn't great. Missed a few, had two or three drops and that Wallace miss was an easy six.

Grimes has been mediocre so far. Guy signs the contract and has gotten beat a lot last two weeks. After being elite last year. let's hope he's not hurt and its just preseason stuff

Red PR · Aug 26, 2014

pdaj said:
Moreno just looks like a natural fit in this offense. Despite inferior speed/bust compared to Miller, he's much more efficient and appears to have greater invision. He also breaks tackles. Hopefully he can stay healthy -- keeping his "pitch count" down will be key.

The line looks significantly better with Smith at RG. Add the fact that Pouncey returned to practice today (crazy), and things are looking up.

Hope the good news keeps up with this team, they do need it. Thanks for the updates

Adrian's Dome · Aug 31, 2014

I don't have anything of value to add, but "Gator Hoskins" is a fantastic football name.

SMU_Sox · Aug 31, 2014

Adrian's Dome said:
I don't have anything of value to add, but "Gator Hoskins" is a fantastic football name.

And my binky. No surprise at all he made the cut given my...uh track record

.

I'd love to see him get enough play to be able to make a leap in the next two years.

sodenj5 · Aug 31, 2014

SMU_Sox said:
And my binky. No surprise at all he made the cut given my...uh track record .

I'd love to see him get enough play to be able to make a leap in the next two years.

The reports out of camp were that he looks Clay-esque out there. If I recall correctly, he missed a week or more with a strained hamstring, so he must have really made an impression while he was out there healthy.

A little surprising they kept only 3 TE's. My guess is they add one more to the PS. Also, glad to see they've kept both Damian and Damien Williams. Both have looked very good in their snaps in pre-season.

Thigpen being released is a bit surprising. He has potential as a receiving option, but his bread and butter is returning. Hickey and company must feel comfortable enough having Landry or Williams doing the returns.

dwainw · Aug 31, 2014

What, no comments on the Daniel Thomas cut? Allow me: what a disappointment. Well, then, let the games begin..... :unsure:

Anyway, I always appreciate you regulars' take on things in here [talking to you sodenj5 & pdaj], even I don't have much in the way of substance to add. As for the coming season, I want to be more excited than I am, I really do. There are bright spots*, of course, but too many question marks or too much mediocrity to realistically have high expectations. Greg Cote of the Herald has them going 8 - 8 and making the playoffs. That's the most optimistic scenario I'm willing to embrace.

And by "embrace" I mean some time in early November, sitting in a corner with arms wrapped tightly around my knees--pressed tightly against my chest, gently rocking, babbling quietly, incoherently........

*Why I'll be "excited" to watch: Tannehill's development, the Tannehill-Wallace "chemistry," the new offense, the defensive front, a potentially playmaking secondary, the return of Jones, Jordan, and Pouncey (if they can stay afloat 'til then, that should be a nice boost). Am I missing anything?

Clears Cleaver · Aug 31, 2014

dwainw said:
What, no comments on the Daniel Thomas cut? Allow me: what a disappointment. Well, then, let the games begin.....

Anyway, I always appreciate you regulars' take on things in here [talking to you sodenj5 & pdaj], even I don't have much in the way of substance to add. As for the coming season, I want to be more excited than I am, I really do. There are bright spots*, of course, but too many question marks or too much mediocrity to realistically have high expectations. Greg Cote of the Herald has them going 8 - 8 and making the playoffs. That's the most optimistic scenario I'm willing to embrace.

And by "embrace" I mean some time in early November, sitting in a corner with arms wrapped tightly around my knees--pressed tightly against my chest, gently rocking, babbling quietly, incoherently........

*Why I'll be "excited" to watch: Tannehill's development, the Tannehill-Wallace "chemistry," the new offense, the defensive front, a potentially playmaking secondary, the return of Jones, Jordan, and Pouncey (if they can stay afloat 'til then, that should be a nice boost). Am I missing anything?

The key to the season is Tannehill, of course, but for this team to win they need to win the takeover battle and be better against the run and running the ball. they were in the mid-20s last year in all three categories.

Beat the Pats week 1. 10-6 or better is a possibility. This is best 53 man roster they've had in a long time, even with the suspensions.

sodenj5 · Aug 31, 2014

Have to credit Hickey for keeping what he felt was the best 53 regardless of draft status or anything else. Letting Thomas and Egnew go were the right choices.

Also, Chris McCain was rated by Football Outsiders as the #1 4-3 OLB this preseason. Obviously he's going against 2's and 3's, but he looks like a great signing thus far.

soxfan121 · Aug 31, 2014

sodenj5 said:
Have to credit Hickey for keeping what he felt was the best 53 regardless of draft status or anything else. Letting Thomas and Egnew go we're the right choices.

Easier to do when they are your predecessor's picks but the overall point is a good one - no "status" should factor in other than "the best 53".

Clears Cleaver · Aug 31, 2014

I think there is a good chance Damian Williams is resigned after week 1.

they still need a LB...

Clears Cleaver · Aug 31, 2014

when I said we need, it means we need a quality, not quantity. Misi is the best and he's below average. McCain? Dion Jordan gonna be a LB?

Landry is explosive but yeah, he fumbled a punt vs Tampa and not sure his decision-making is gonna be great. Kickoff returns seem less important these days given all the touchbacks

CouchsideSteve · Sep 1, 2014

So, it's Monday... six days until the opener.

I'm a bit ambivalent about this team's prospects. In terms of the long-term outlook, there is a lot to feel good about after bottoming out at the end of last season: jettisoning Ireland for Hickey, and Sherman for Lazor; addressing the OL with a blue chip player like Albert and a 1st round pick with upside; other smart decisions later in the draft; bringing in a really good running back in Moreno, while cutting bait on Thomas. All signs pointing to a brighter future.

On the other hand, I'm less bullish than most on this season, predicting 7 or 8 wins. The Pouncey injury, the Jordan suspension, the lack of cromulent LBs despite having so much money invested at the position, the fact that Cortland Finnegan will play a prominent role in our secondary... all major concerns to me. I hope I'm wrong, but I can just see this team being maddeningly inconsistent again.

It's September, so hope springs eternal. I do think we'll give a Gronk-less Pats team a tough game Sunday. And who knows? We'll learn a lot more about Tannehill's future in the next four months, and if he takes the leap many have forecast, all bets are off. I just have a feeling we're one more offseason away from being a legitimate threat to win this division.

soxfan121 · Sep 1, 2014

pdaj said:
It sounds simple, but "best" is still awfully subjective. A 34 year old 4th CB might be better than your 6th-round rookie, but you project the rook' to be better next year; plus, you have two CB up for FA next season. You might also have 10th or 11th OL who deserves to be on the team, but he's caught in a number's game, and you end up keeping an inferior player on the DL. But I agree that keeping a player solely due to the fact that was taken with a high pick isn't an effective way to manage a roster.

That's an excellent clarification of what I was getting at and I thank you for writing it out so clearly.

No sacred cows, no "status" being more important than production and potential to help the team, now or in the near future.

dwainw · Sep 1, 2014

Looks like Gronk is a go for Sunday. We can only hope he's not 100%. Should be interesting to see if this squad has learned how to cover a tight end.

Tony C · Sep 1, 2014

I have no idea why the assumption throughout this thread has been that Gronk wouldn't play and, now that he announces it will, it'll just be as a decoy for 10-12 snaps. That's an incredibly rosy view from a Dolphins perspective, but I don't think wishing it makes it true. We shall see, but all the report are positive and last year in his first game back Gronk played 51 snaps. I suspect it'll be a lot closer to 50 than 10.

sodenj5 · Sep 1, 2014

Tony C said:
I have no idea why the assumption throughout this thread has been that Gronk wouldn't play and, now that he announces it will, it'll just be as a decoy for 10-12 snaps. That's an incredibly rosy view from a Dolphins perspective, but I don't think wishing it makes it true. We shall see, but all the report are positive and last year in his first game back Gronk played 51 snaps. I suspect it'll be a lot closer to 50 than 10.

Right, but last year he wasn't 8 months removed from a devastating knee injury. I'm not trying to downplay Gronk or say he's going to be a decoy, but 50 snaps would be surprising.

Tony C · Sep 1, 2014

Yeah, that's probably right -- i think 10 and a decoy would be a surprise, too, given that at least the media reports that in practice he's been letting it rip for weeks. Maybe 30-ish as a speculative guess?

Super Nomario · Sep 1, 2014

Tony C said:
I have no idea why the assumption throughout this thread has been that Gronk wouldn't play and, now that he announces it will, it'll just be as a decoy for 10-12 snaps. That's an incredibly rosy view from a Dolphins perspective, but I don't think wishing it makes it true. We shall see, but all the report are positive and last year in his first game back Gronk played 51 snaps. I suspect it'll be a lot closer to 50 than 10.

I think so, too. That 51 was in an OT game (so 79 offensive snaps overall, which is a lot), but the 35 he played the following week was the fewest he played. If he could only play 10-12 snaps, I doubt he'd be active. 35-50 would be my guess.

The X factor here is that Hoomanawanui has been hurt, too (he didn't play in the preseason either) and Tim Wright has only been on the team a week. So it's not like there's another option to take a big load.

soxfan121 · Sep 1, 2014

Super Nomario said:
I think so, too. That 51 was in an OT game (so 79 offensive snaps overall, which is a lot), but the 35 he played the following week was the fewest he played. If he could only play 10-12 snaps, I doubt he'd be active. 35-50 would be my guess.

The X factor here is that Hoomanawanui has been hurt, too (he didn't play in the preseason either) and Tim Wright has only been on the team a week. So it's not like there's another option to take a big load.

Lots of two back sets with Devlin and three WR?

2014 Miami Dolphins: Raw Doggin' It

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