2022 Dolphins: Our coach is cooler than yours

[sodenj5]

Preseason caveats apply, but Mike McDaniel has to be pretty satisfied.

View: https://twitter.com/schadjoe/status/1564321959986487299?s=21&t=uyTJZXYZXfhY4_gYOsYwJw

 

[sodenj5]

Sony Michel misses the cut.

View: https://twitter.com/cameronwolfe/status/1564350797147787272?s=21&t=iUONbs3N6GZwokOGsxKt3w

 

[Shelterdog]

Sony Michel misses the cut.

View: https://twitter.com/cameronwolfe/status/1564350797147787272?s=21&t=iUONbs3N6GZwokOGsxKt3w

It’s a cheap joke but Sony Michel doesn’t make a lot of cuts.

 

[sodenj5]

View: https://twitter.com/adamschefter/status/1564576764894011394?s=21&t=lOVf2NnMDy1tXCDNlzI4tg


This is surprising mainly from the perspective of Lynn handled most of the punt return duties this preseason and actually had a very nice camp and preseason.

He would have been the 5 or 6th WR, but I hope this doesn’t mean they’re serious about using Waddle and/or Tyreek as returners.

Tyreek apparently lobbied for return duties when he initially was speaking with McDaniel.

From a WR perspective, it means they’re likely keeping River Cracraft and Trent Sherffield assuming Preston Williams is gone.

Tyreek, Waddle, Cedric Wilson, Erik Enzukanma, Trent Sherffield, River Cracraft

 

[sodenj5]

View: https://twitter.com/cameronwolfe/status/1564593838152450051?s=21&t=lOVf2NnMDy1tXCDNlzI4tg


No one super surprising here. Scarlett was redundant with Trey Flowers. Flowers is a much better version of Scarlett.

Kindley wasn’t a scheme fit, so not a surprise. Someone will likely claim him because he does move bodies decently well.

 

[sodenj5]

Byron Jones to the PUP list. He’ll miss the first 4 games of the season, which is less than ideal considering our first 4 games are a meat grinder.

Big surprise is the TE room. Miami keeping 5 TEs in Gesicki, Smythe, Long, Cethan Carter, and Tanner Conner.

Cethan Carter was getting some looks as an H-Back, so he seems like he could fill the FB role in a pinch and gives Miami some flexibility.

Keeping that many TEs AND Tanner Conner makes me think a Gesicki trade could be on the horizon. 5 is a lot even if they’re using Conner as a stash that they didn’t want to risk putting through waivers.

 

[sodenj5]

Dolphins name 2022 captains. Captains voted on by the players according to Mike McDaniel.

View: https://twitter.com/miamidolphins/status/1565353818279522306?s=21&t=-KM5lqwyVlEmI7lEWs68Yg


Absolutely love to see young guys like Wilkins and Holland get the C.

Tua not being named a captain last year was a bit of a headline until it was revealed that Flores made the players nominate themselves in front of the team and say why they should be captain. Tua basically said that wasn’t his deal. Glad to see him get a C.

Armstead and Tyreek being named captains speaks to the offseason Miami has had. Tyreek has been very vocal since he got here and Armstead has been more quietly doing his thing and leading the room of young guys.

 

[pdaj]

Aside from Byron Jones not making it back in time for the start of the season, the preseason went about as well as one would have wanted.

Regarding Miami's P-Squad, I was thrilled to see the Dolphins get back White, Stille, Edwards, Cracraft, and Gustin … but McKinley evoked my most enthusiastic fist pump. I think the kid has to a real chance to be a future contributor.

Now it's time to play the games! Next week can't get here fast enough.

 

[sodenj5]

Byron Jones missing for New England and Baltimore is not a huge loss.

Byron Jones missing for Buffalo and Cincy is absolutely a huge loss.

The preseason game against the Eagles has my hopes irresponsibly high, but I’m really excited to see this team play a full 60 minutes.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

Byron Jones missing for New England and Baltimore is not a huge loss.

Byron Jones missing for Buffalo and Cincy is absolutely a huge loss.

The preseason game against the Eagles has my hopes irresponsibly high, but I’m really excited to see this team play a full 60 minutes.

How dare you. Enjoy the upcoming Devante Parker revenge came.

 

[sodenj5]

How dare you. Enjoy the upcoming Devante Parker revenge came.

Lol. While that’s at least a possibility, Xavien Howard has taken thousands of reps against DeVante Parker. I feel pretty good about 25 matching up against Parker.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

Lol. While that’s at least a possibility, Xavien Howard has taken thousands of reps against DeVante Parker. I feel pretty good about 25 matching up against Parker.

That's why Parker was so tantalizing. Howard always made him look so good in practice.

180 receiving yard game incoming!

 

[sodenj5]

It’s officially game week.

I touched in it earlier in the thread, but I would expect the Pats D to try and send lots of pressure at Miami’s O Line and challenge Tua and the new line to communicate and pick up the pressures.

The upside of that is you’re likely going to get someone like Waddle or Gesicki in some favorable matchups against a weak NE secondary if they are committed to stopping Tyreek and bringing pressure.

We know what Miami is on defense. The question is who starts opposite Xavien Howard and how do they minimize the loss of Byron Jones while still bringing the pressure looks they like on third downs. I suppose this week and next week they figure that out as the matchups against Buffalo and Cincy will be far less forgiving.

 

[sodenj5]

Mike McDaniel’s press conference had a couple of nuggets:

He’s actually very serious about using Tyreek, Waddle, and Holland in punt return. He says that special teams yards are yards and that every play, players are at risk of injury.

Also, it sounds like Noah Igbinoghene may be the starting corner opposite Xavien Howard. Noah seems to still be very much struggling with processing speed to me. They may simplify some things for him and have him play man coverage the majority of the time.

I feel like McDaniel’s thought process on punt and kick returns is a bit misguided. He says that he doesn’t see them any different than a screen. A screen doesn’t include 21 other people running towards you with a 40 yard running start. Jaylen Waddle broke his ankle retuning a kick. The impacts and collisions on special teams are some of the most violent in the sport.

I can see the wisdom in trying to set up a game winning drive with Tyreek returning a punt in the 4th quarter. But if Waddle or Tyreek go down in the second quarter of the Patriots game returning a kick, their entire season’s outlook radically changes.

I don’t think you need a return specialist like Jakeem Grant, but I also don’t think it needs to be one of your three most valuable players on the entire team back there either.

 

[sodenj5]

Hope Bill had them practicing in all navy this week.

View: https://twitter.com/MiamiDolphins/status/1568618171493392385?s=20&t=o-VM203hKxTiKtvG0se_pw

 

[rymflaherty]

I’m going to be devastated if Miami loses tomorrow.
It’s rare I have such conviction toward anything, and it’s even more rare to be wrong when that is the case. It is sports, so anything can happen, but my brain really hasn’t accounted much for those worst case scenarios.
I’d still predict something like 31-13, 31-17, but any win will do, especially since I can see them losing the next three.

Hope I’m not horribly wrong, and it’s a great start to the McDaniel era.

 

[sodenj5]

I’m going to be devastated if Miami loses tomorrow.
It’s rare I have such conviction toward anything, and it’s even more rare to be wrong when that is the case. It is sports, so anything can happen, but my brain really hasn’t accounted much for those worst case scenarios.
I’d still predict something like 31-13, 31-17, but any win will do, especially since I can see them losing the next three.

Hope I’m not horribly wrong, and it’s a great start to the McDaniel era.

One thing that going to be really interesting to watch this year is Miami’s evolution on offense throughout the year versus SF’s offense.

Mike McDaniel sort of quietly got a lot of credit for the stuff SF was doing in the run game and wrinkles with Deebo. It’s always hard to separate what he did versus what Shanahan did, but we will find out. Will be interesting to see how they manufacture some touches for Tyreek and Waddle.

Some promising things I took away from the preseason were McDaniel attacking on 2nd and short and in quick change opportunities. He understands attacking the defense when they might be on their heels. He is looking for explosive plays and isn’t playing to “not lose the game” on offense, which we saw a lot of out of Brian Flores and co.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

One thing that going to be really interesting to watch this year is Miami’s evolution on offense throughout the year versus SF’s offense.

Mike McDaniel sort of quietly got a lot of credit for the stuff SF was doing in the run game and wrinkles with Deebo. It’s always hard to separate what he did versus what Shanahan did, but we will find out. Will be interesting to see how they manufacture some touches for Tyreek and Waddle.

Some promising things I took away from the preseason were McDaniel attacking on 2nd and short and in quick change opportunities. He understands attacking the defense when they might be on their heels. He is looking for explosive plays and isn’t playing to “not lose the game” on offense, which we saw a lot of out of Brian Flores and co.

2nd and short is a very popular time for PAs and misdirection. Always drove me crazy that Josh McDaniels and BoB never seemed to see it that way.

 

[sodenj5]

View: https://twitter.com/miamidolphins/status/1568985354534899713?s=46&t=53_MYtLBw0H8BfFlWpWj4g


Inactive for Miami. Eric Rowe and Noah are two surprises. Looks like it’ll be Crossen or Kohou opposite Howard.

Enzukanma sitting in favor of Cracraft also a mild surprise.

 

[sodenj5]

McDaniel attacking with the defense on its heels again when Phillips went out lead to the Waddle TD.

Offensive line looked to be having issues. Pats had several instances of free runners blowing up plays. Oddly enough they’ve looked best so far just dropping back and throwing so far.

 

[JokersWildJIMED]

McDaniel attacking with the defense on its heels again when Phillips went out lead to the Waddle TD.

Offensive line looked to be having issues. Pats had several instances of free runners blowing up plays. Oddly enough they’ve looked best so far just dropping back and throwing so far.

Duggar making plays but gets burned badly on that Waddle slant. Gutsy call by McDaniel.

 

[sodenj5]

Wonder how many days early Bill plans on bringing them down next year.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

Wonder how many days early Bill plans on bringing them down next year.

I'd worry more about Tua looking to be the exact same player he was last year before I worry about the Patriots travel schedule.

 

[sodenj5]

I'd worry more about Tua looking to be the exact same player he was last year before I worry about the Patriots travel schedule.

Good enough for a win and to go 4-0 versus Bill.

Defense looked like they hadn’t missed a beat. The TD given up came after the nonsense illegal contact against Howard on a prayer.

Offense looks like they’re still figuring it out. Bill did a good job of taking away some of the easy stuff on boots and forcing them to play a little more static. Edmonds and Waddle looked great. I felt like they tried to force feed Tyreek a bit in the first half.

Tua looked ok, imo. He still held the ball a bit too long at times and tried to force a few plays when he should have just either taken the sack or thrown it away. The ball to Waddle on the TD was a perfect ball and Waddle hit the jets making a great play.

I think the offense will look better than they did today. Bill did a good job of making the running/boot game difficult and took away some of the easy yards for them. Also it felt like they had a lot of stuff drawn up for Hill and forgot about Waddle for almost the entire first half. That will also improve.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

Good enough for a win and to go 4-0 versus Bill.

Defense looked like they hadn’t missed a beat. The TD given up came after the nonsense illegal contact against Howard on a prayer.

Offense looks like they’re still figuring it out. Bill did a good job of taking away some of the easy stuff on boots and forcing them to play a little more static. Edmonds and Waddle looked great. I felt like they tried to force feed Tyreek a bit in the first half.

Tua looked ok, imo. He still held the ball a bit too long at times and tried to force a few plays when he should have just either taken the sack or thrown it away. The ball to Waddle on the TD was a perfect ball and Waddle hit the jets making a great play.

I think the offense will look better than they did today. Bill did a good job of making the running/boot game difficult and took away some of the easy yards for them. Also it felt like they had a lot of stuff drawn up for Hill and forgot about Waddle for almost the entire first half. That will also improve.

That Waddle throw was literally exactly what I worried about before the season started.

Frankly, I'm much more worried about Waddle. That man is going to be a menace. Reminds me a lot of early OBJ. Ability to take 8 yard slants to the house.

 

[Mugsy’s Walk-Off Bunt]

Congrats, phin fan regulars. Nice win.

 

[sodenj5]

They mentioned it on the broadcast, but it’s surprising that they didn’t attack Needham or whoever else was outside and they kept going after Howard and the LBs.

That’s the type of stuff Bill would normally exploit like a glitch in Madden.

 

[pdaj]

Some quick thoughts:

1) There are no bad wins in the NFL, and Miami had to have this one. The next 3 games are @Baltimore, vs. Buffalo, and @Cincinnati. If the Dolphins can take one of these, they'll be 2-2 headed into their road games with the Jets, followed by home games vs. the Vikings and Steelers. None of these are gimmes, but 6-3 would be a real possibility.

2) I thought that Tua looked a lot like the '21 version. Average. But he's going to need the entire year to demonstrate what he can do. I still think there's a lot of room for growth. He didn't have the benefit of the ground game like Mac did today, and despite that, made enough key throws to help Miami win the game. When you look at the performances of Burrow (4 interceptions) and Carr (3 interceptions, 1 fumble), it's a reminder that one game is just that.

3) Re: Tua, he has to get better when he's moved off his spot. He also has to eradicate the 1-2 God-awful throwing decisions per game. I'm confident that the latter will improve, but the former? It remains to be seen.

4) Again, it's only Week 1, but the run game looked a lot like '21, as well. If this area improves, Tua will feast off of play-action. Out of all the variables that dictate Miami's ceiling, this is likely #1.

5) Kader Kohou's a fun player to root for. He looks like a playmaker!

 

[rymflaherty]

Tied for 1st in the Division and the 1st overall pick. Yay!

Today pretty much played out how I’ve been saying it would, other than a bit less offense than I had hoped, so today just sort of felt like relief for me.
Good way to start the season, and what they needed considering the start to the schedule.

 

[JohnnyK]

Defense looked like they hadn’t missed a beat. The TD given up came after the nonsense illegal contact against Howard on a prayer.

While the Dolphins win is absolutely deserved, you can't really complain about a bad call without also acknowledging that the interception on the first drive happened because of blatant PI.

 

[sodenj5]

While the Dolphins win is absolutely deserved, you can't really complain about a bad call without also acknowledging that the interception on the first drive happened because of blatant PI.

Miami’s turnover lead to 3 points, and Howard had his head turned and was looking for the ball almost the entire time. He was grabbing for sure, but they let them play.

New England’s call lead directly to 7 points as Mac threw up a prayer on fourth down and got bailed out by the officials. Howard had his hand on his back, which is allowed by the rules.

Even if you want to say New England gets at least 3 on that first drive, that’s still less of a swing than the Howard call.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

That was a pretty complete win. Congrats and hope you beat up on the Bills when the times comes.

 

[JohnnyK]

Miami’s turnover lead to 3 points, and Howard had his head turned and was looking for the ball almost the entire time. He was grabbing for sure, but they let them play.

Howard held Parker down so he could not jump, and he held him the entire route.

Even if you want to say New England gets at least 3 on that first drive, that’s still less of a swing than the Howard call.

Eh, expected points for first and goal on the one are probably more like 6.

Again, not very important in the grand scheme of things as the Dolphins were definitely the better team.

 

[sodenj5]

Howard held Parker down so he could not jump, and he held him the entire route.

Eh, expected points for first and goal on the one are probably more like 6.

Again, not very important in the grand scheme of things as the Dolphins were definitely the better team.

Posting both angles because they’re necessary for context.

View: https://twitter.com/mckennanalysis/status/1569013755551399940?s=46&t=yyMX2cGB8kxASXR2LnDMdA


Both of them grabbing and pushing. Parker is clearly trying to gain separation with his arm and Howard has him by the shoulder.

View: https://twitter.com/btcnitrobetting/status/1569011810120105984?s=46&t=yyMX2cGB8kxASXR2LnDMdA


Look at where Howard is when he has his head turned. He knew exactly what was coming and had his head around at the 12 yard line and kept it on the ball all the way to the end zone. That’s exceptional CB play. If Howard is grabbing like that with his head towards Parker, that’s likely a flag. When you have your head turned to make a play on the ball, the refs typically let the play go.

Both guys making a play on the ball. Howard was the better of the two.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

Posting both angles because they’re necessary for context.

View: https://twitter.com/mckennanalysis/status/1569013755551399940?s=46&t=yyMX2cGB8kxASXR2LnDMdA


Both of them grabbing and pushing. Parker is clearly trying to gain separation with his arm and Howard has him by the shoulder.

View: https://twitter.com/btcnitrobetting/status/1569011810120105984?s=46&t=yyMX2cGB8kxASXR2LnDMdA


Look at where Howard is when he has his head turned. He knew exactly what was coming and had his head around at the 12 yard line and kept it on the ball all the way to the end zone. That’s exceptional CB play. If Howard is grabbing like that with his head towards Parker, that’s likely a flag. When you have your head turned to make a play on the ball, the refs typically let the play go.

Both guys making a play on the ball. Howard was the better of the two.

Come on, man. You're not serious. I know it's your team, but you're allowed to be honest about this.

Pushing and shoving happens. I'm all for hand jostling. Let them play. But Howard literally has a fist full of jersey that entire replay. That isn't physical play. It's not allowing Parker the ability to make a play on the ball.

Again, the better team won. If he wasn't holding, it's probably still an incompletion. But let's call a spade a spade.

 

[pdaj]

While the Dolphins win is absolutely deserved, you can't really complain about a bad call without also acknowledging that the interception on the first drive happened because of blatant PI.

Posting both angles because they’re necessary for context.

View: https://twitter.com/mckennanalysis/status/1569013755551399940?s=46&t=yyMX2cGB8kxASXR2LnDMdA


Both of them grabbing and pushing. Parker is clearly trying to gain separation with his arm and Howard has him by the shoulder.

View: https://twitter.com/btcnitrobetting/status/1569011810120105984?s=46&t=yyMX2cGB8kxASXR2LnDMdA


Look at where Howard is when he has his head turned. He knew exactly what was coming and had his head around at the 12 yard line and kept it on the ball all the way to the end zone. That’s exceptional CB play. If Howard is grabbing like that with his head towards Parker, that’s likely a flag. When you have your head turned to make a play on the ball, the refs typically let the play go.

Both guys making a play on the ball. Howard was the better of the two.

Come on, man. You're not serious. I know it's your team, but you're allowed to be honest about this.

Pushing and shoving happens. I'm all for hand jostling. Let them play. But Howard literally has a fist full of jersey that entire replay. That isn't physical play. It's not allowing Parker the ability to make a play on the ball.

Again, the better team won. If he wasn't holding, it's probably still an incompletion. But let's call a spade a spade.

I watched this one at the bar with friends, which usually = missing a lot of stuff, but there was one replay in particular that showed Howard clearly pulling on Parker's jersey from the shoulder pad area. It was a definite miss from the referees, in my opinion.

The DPI called in the 2nd half, however, seemed to be a make-up call. Not only was it great coverage, but the flag came incredibly late.

That said, I'll take that trade any day. While I still think Miami (likely) wins the game either way, there's a big benefit in avoiding a 0-7 deficit right from the jump.

 

[Auger34]

Good enough for a win and to go 4-0 versus Bill.

Defense looked like they hadn’t missed a beat. The TD given up came after the nonsense illegal contact against Howard on a prayer.

Offense looks like they’re still figuring it out. Bill did a good job of taking away some of the easy stuff on boots and forcing them to play a little more static. Edmonds and Waddle looked great. I felt like they tried to force feed Tyreek a bit in the first half.

Tua looked ok, imo. He still held the ball a bit too long at times and tried to force a few plays when he should have just either taken the sack or thrown it away. The ball to Waddle on the TD was a perfect ball and Waddle hit the jets making a great play.

I think the offense will look better than they did today. Bill did a good job of making the running/boot game difficult and took away some of the easy yards for them. Also it felt like they had a lot of stuff drawn up for Hill and forgot about Waddle for almost the entire first half. That will also improve.

Tua looked decent but he made at least 3 completely boneheaded decisions in the last 6 minutes of the game and got lucky none of them cost the team any points.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

I watched this one at the bar with friends, which usually = missing a lot of stuff, but there was one replay in particular that showed Howard clearly pulling on Parker's jersey from the shoulder pad area. It was a definite miss from the referees, in my opinion.

The DPI called in the 2nd half, however, seemed to be a make-up call. Not only was it great coverage, but the flag came incredibly late.

That said, I'll take that trade any day. While I still think Miami (likely) wins the game either way, there's a big benefit in avoiding a 0-7 deficit right from the jump.

Absolutely.

Plus, if any position in the NFL gets "star treatment" like NBA players, it's QBs and and DBs. He was beat to the corner. If it was a good throw and not underthrown, it's probably a TD. He's earned his rep as a shutdown corner. If a middling receiver like Parker is going to hand check with him downfield, this is the risk you take.

Why the Pats wouldn't have flipped the play to the other side of the field is beyond me. Even if Needham ends up being a 10x all-pro, you don't go after an all-pro caliber DB when you have a backup corner on the otherside. Flip the play, have Agholor run the play on the other side (in case they have Howard mirroring Parker) and call it a day.

 

[sodenj5]

Absolutely.

Plus, if any position in the NFL gets "star treatment" like NBA players, it's QBs and and DBs. He was beat to the corner. If it was a good throw and not underthrown, it's probably a TD. He's earned his rep as a shutdown corner. If a middling receiver like Parker is going to hand check with him downfield, this is the risk you take.

Why the Pats wouldn't have flipped the play to the other side of the field is beyond me. Even if Needham ends up being a 10x all-pro, you don't go after an all-pro caliber DB when you have a backup corner on the otherside. Flip the play, have Agholor run the play on the other side (in case they have Howard mirroring Parker) and call it a day.

I think I mentioned this in another thread, but that was basically a designed shot play where it seems like they said, if you see Parker 1v1, throw the ball.

In a vacuum that’s fine, but as I mentioned before, Howard has seen Parker for thousands of reps. There probably isn’t a worse 1v1 matchup for Parker than Howard. Pound for pound, Howard is the better athlete and has insane ball skills for a DB.

I’ll stand by my thought process of it being not being a blatant PI as everyone seems to say here. As pdaj said, they got a make up call either way and lost by greater than 10. You can argue the game flow may have been different, but Miami was the better team yesterday in all three phases.

 

[JohnnyK]

Interestingly, in the post game interview Parker himself said it was not DPI:

WR DeVante Parker
(QB Mac Jones and maybe some others were saying, "Hey! DPI on that interception down in the corner of the end zone." What did you think happened on that one?) – "I don't know what happened. When the ball was in the air, X (Xavien Howard) was able to get his hand up, and (Jevon) Holland came up with the pick."
(Did you think you had been interfered with?) – "I didn't think I was. He got his hand up and Jevon (Holland) was able to pick it off."
(Was there anything happening there that didn't allow you to kind of get off the ground the way you would have wanted?) – "No, I don't believe so. I just kind of misjudged it, so the next time I know just go up for it."

It is kind of hard to disagree with him, even though the footage still looks like clear DPI to me.

 

[rymflaherty]

I think there’s some truth in both arguments on the Howard play, which in my estimation indicates the official was right to just let them play.

When it comes to Tua…Ironically, after yesterday I was actually starting to question Tua’s football IQ more than physical talent.

 

[sodenj5]

View: https://twitter.com/pff_dolphins/status/1569360185553928192?s=46&t=APawdVq10_ROiRTbcJ2gqg


Kader was Miami’s highest graded player yesterday and had two enormous plays late in the game.

Has Josh Boyer struck again?

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

As pdaj said, they got a make up call either way and lost by greater than 10. You can argue the game flow may have been different, but Miami was the better team yesterday in all three phases.

None of that...

I’ll stand by my thought process of it being not being a blatant PI as everyone seems to say here.

Has anything to do with that.

It probably didn't affect the overall outcome of the game. Miami was the better team yesterday. And its still a PI.

 

[sodenj5]

Mike McDaniel keeps saying smart, football guy stuff.

View: https://twitter.com/wingfieldnfl/status/1569424456132562945?s=46&t=4gsxkjSK--RqLIyj9ikTcA


Spoken like a guy that has been on teams that have gone deep into the postseason before. He understands the bigger picture.

 

[Philip Jeff Frye]

After last year, when they beat the Pats in Foxboro to open the season before losing seven straight games, you'd hope the team isn't too high after yesterday's result.

 

[sodenj5]

RT Austin Jackson is going to the short term IR and will be out for the next 4 weeks. Terron Armstead a little banged up but looks like he’s going to play Sunday.

I don’t know if the drop off from Jackson to Greg Little is steep or not. I don’t think it is. The bigger concern is Miami is really thin at tackle. When Little went out, they kicked Robbert Hunt to RT and brought in Robert Jones.

 

[RG33]

Sean Payton and Ryan Fitzpatrick do not seem to be on the Tua Train. Payton, a pretty good coach of QBs, and Fitzpatrick, a former teammate who saw him up close and personal in practices.

From today’s Boston Globe:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/17/sports/qa-with-ricky-williams-who-found-his-sweet-spot-life-with-marijuana-industry/

Payton, appearing on “The Colin Cowherd Show,” said, “I think at some point we’ll see two [quarterbacks] in Miami. Teddy Bridgewater, I’ve had before, he’s an outstanding player.”

And Fitzpatrick, benched for Tagovailoa in 2020, doesn’t see special talent in his former teammate.

“If you’re a top-10 quarterback, you have to have at least one trait that is absolutely special, something you can do that nobody else can do,” Fitzpatrick told Dan Le Batard’s podcast. “With Tua, it’s not the arm strength. It’s not the ability to run. It’s not the ability to scramble or get out of trouble … The problem is, sometimes you have to create, and he’s not going to be able to scramble around, escape the pocket, and make the big plays down the field.”

 

[rymflaherty]

The Ringer has a matchup pod, where they spoke at length about this weeks matchup…of most interest to me (as I’m not sure that I heard it brought up elsewhere)…Miami was at their worst under center.
They said, 1 yard per carry and 3 and some change per drop back.
The concern then being, the pillars of the Shannahan offense, the stretch zone rubbing and play action, not working as well from the gun.

Unlike last week, I think this matchup has the potential for disaster, though I also thought that last year vs. Baltimore and we saw how that turned out…If they stumble this week, it’s pretty much what I expect. If they play great and win…well, that would be quite the statement.

Pretty bummed I won’t be able to see the game in full conveniently. I swear they virtually always show the Ravens where I live in Virginia. I assumed this game without a doubt would be the CBS game, if they had an early game….but it’s Patriots/Steelers….i can’t believe they are subjecting the majority of the country to that game. Guess it’s the fan bases…oh well…

 

[sodenj5]

Listened to Fitz’s entire interview on PMT, and I thought his insight on Tua was pretty accurate. To be an elite QB you need to do something better than everyone else, and Tua isn’t physically elite. That isn’t news to anyone.

He said his accuracy and anticipation are both very, very good and he has the potential to be elite at that.

I think that is a pretty honest assessment of Tua. At his peak, he can be a plus Jimmy G. He has the ability to use his eyes and look guys open and when his first read is open, he’s excellent at delivering the ball on time and with accuracy.

Once he clocks some more miles in this system and starts to understand where guys are going to be open and when, I think he can really take off. The system is going to do a lot of heavy lifting for him and get guys open. He needs to play point guard and get the ball out.

I think we might actually see a better game against the Ravens because of how aggressive they are on defense. This system feasts on getting everyone moving one way and going the other way. Peters and Humphrey are both questionable. Fuller is out.

On D, I think we’ll see a lot of what we saw last week. Miami is going to show pressure a lot and see how Baltimore plans to counter. They checked out of pressure looks against the Pats quite a bit last week. I think they’ll play man and challenge Lamar to fit balls into tight windows.

 

[tims4wins]

I think these Tua takes are pretty fair.

A question, maybe more for the draftniks on the board.

You say that Tua isn't physically elite. And yet, he was projected as the consensus (?) #1 pick prior to his injury. Obviously guys like Peyton Manning and Joe Burrow weren't exactly physically elite either and they both went #1 and become great. But was Tua more athletic prior to his injury?

This is all kind of a long way of me asking whether he should have ever been considered the #1 pick, and if he was likely overdrafted / overrated coming out. These characterizations seem pretty similar to Mac, to be honest, who probably went where he "should" have at 15. Obviously if Miami could have a do-over they'd take Herbert, but ignoring that, should Tua really have been a top 5 or even a top 10 pick?