(by David Grotefend) I’ve thought a lot about what my piece this week would be. I decided it would be best if I simply confronted some truths, and focused on what the Dolphins can do to get back in it.

Yes, I said back in it.

There are those already throwing in the towel on ‘09.

They look at us at 0-3 and the Jets at 3-0 and start the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

They see Pennington going down for the season and they begin the lamentations.

Are you kidding me?

There are thirteen games left in this season, and people are already losing faith?

Nonsense.

Buffalo comes to town this week, and they are a team that we can beat. They’re 1-2, or one game
ahead of us.

If you don’t believe we can, then why are you here?

Buffalo’s defense is 27th Overall, 27th in Pass, 17th in Rush and 23rd in Scoring.

You think we can’t beat them?

Let’s confront some truths.

First, our secondary is very weak. Not the rookies, who are playing well considering,
but Gibril Wilson has yet to look like a starting-caliber player. Nathan Jones and Tyrone Culver are
second-tier fodder, not the answer. If Clemons shows any aptitude, he may replace Wilson.

Second, expect a ton of blitzing and disguised coverages from Buffalo on Henne, trying to rattle him as he makes his first start. The O Line will have to protect him, and they have had occasional lapses in pass protection.

Third, nothing has come out of the TE position to help the QB out. Fasano has looked lost. Haynos has 1 catch.

Fourth, only Ginn is averaging ten yards a catch, and that is just barely. We are NOT throwing it downfield, and that is on the OC. You have to try more than once a game to make the opponent at least suspect that you will. Henning must become more aggressive.

Okay, that’s what is NOT working with the Dolphins. What IS?

The Rush Defense. The Charger’s Sproles (who up to that point led the NFL in All-Purpose Yards) and Bennet were impotent, gaining 2.3 and 2.2 Yards a carry.

In fact, we are giving up only 66 yards a GAME, good for #3 in the NFL. It will not be an easy road for Marshawn Lynch for his return to the field.

The Rush Offense. Ricky and Ronnie are both better than 4 yards a carry (Brown is better than FIVE). This is against defenses stacked close to the line, mind you. If we get any semblance of a vertical game, watch out. This duo will destroy a defense. 161+ yards a game, good for #3 in the NFL. Our first down % on runs (an important stat reflecting success) is the BEST amongst the six teams with a 100+ attempts.

So, where are we at?

We will have a young QB making his first start in front of a home crowd thirsting for a win, against a Division rival. There will be a learning curve.

Our team needs to step up and help him out.

Trent Edwards needs to meet Porter and Taylor and Langford and Merling…often.

Fasano/Haynos need to do more than just occupy space: help your QB out. TE is vital to be the safety valve for a young QB, especially in a ball-control scheme.

Throw DEEP a few times EARLY. Even if it doesn’t work out every time, you must TRY. Ginn can burn their corners, they can’t run with him. He lit this team up for 175 yards last year. THROW to him deep.

WE CAN BEAT THIS TEAM.

I honestly believe that. I honestly believe we WILL.

I also honestly believe that we have beaten ourselves in the last two games more than either of our opponents have beaten us.

Correct it, and I think we can play with anybody.

Sound insane?

WE DID play ‘anybody’…the Colts are looking unstoppable and they barely escaped with their lives.
Pittsburgh is 1-2. Tennessee is 0-3.

Does Kyle Orton and 3-0 Denver scare you?

Does Tom Brady and the Patriots?

Do the Jets?

If we correct what’s not working, with our ground attack and the ability to stop it, I don’t fear anybody.

Sound crazy?

We’ll see. I’m keeping the faith, and I’m making my pick. Sparano and company figure this out. Miami 24, Buffalo 10.

(by Rich Rodriguez) Rich breaks down the good, the bad, and the ugly in Miami’s 19-7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Unfortunately there was more bad and ugly than good for the Miami Dolphins.

The Good

1. Phillip Merling had a monster game, even though you only see 4 tackles on the stat sheet, Merling was constantly disrupting plays and pressuring Matt Ryan.

2. Dolphins run defense was able to shut down Michael Turner, who had 65 yards on 22 carries (less than 3 ypc). One would have thought that by taking Turner out of the game, the Dolphins would be able to at least keep this one close. The Dolphins front seven did an excellent job against 2008’s 2nd ranked rush offense.

The Bad

1. Chad Pennington held onto the ball too long. He had time for the most part, save a few plays. But he didn’t seem decisive and it cost the team. One interception and one fumble for Pennington is uncharacteristic.

2. The offensive line was unable to really open up holes for the Dolphins running backs. Even though Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams were able to combine for 82 yards rushing, the Dolphins had trouble running the ball up the middle out of conventional sets.

3. Anthony Fasano had a nightmare game, fumbling the ball twice.

4. The Dolphins return game was putrid. With three returns from the endzone ending up inside their own 20. Two by Ted Ginn and one by Patrick Cobbs. Kneeling is an option! Especially when the return blocking is about as bad as it can get.

5. The Dolphins secondary, especially rookie Sean Smith, had trouble covering guys. Smith was beaten by Roddy White on one play. Fortunately for him, the ball was so poorly thrown by Matt Ryan that a wide open White could not get his hands on it.

6. Last, but definitely not least. Jake Long had just about the most embarassing moment an offensive tackle could ever have, getting run over by a defensive end. John Abraham absolutely planted Jake Long on his read end before running over him to sack Chad Pennington. Long was also called for a hold on the play. Long also gave up another sack and several quarterback pressures. He did not perform like a #1 overall pick/Pro Bowl/franchise left tackle today.

The Ugly

1. The playcalling seemed unimaginative as it seems Dan Henning was not getting very creative with ways to get the ball in the handls of playmakers.

2. When Henning did get creative, Pat White missed a huge play to Ted Ginn, who had beaten double team coverage deep, and should have run in for 6. White overthrew Ginn by 10 yards.

3. The Miami Dolphins in general played an ugly game. After a 0-0 stalemate in the 1st quarter, which is the type of game the Dolphins wanted, the Falcons were able to turn it up a notch, the Dolphins were not.

All in all, an ugly game for the Dolphins that leaves alot to be thought about and worked on. Here’s hoping this doesn’t set the tone for the remainder of the season.

(by Tony Simmons) I will get a chance to take in Miami’s opening game of the season, a 1:00 battle between teams that had huge turnaronds from abysmal seasons in 2007. Both teams finished up the 2008 season with 11-5 records and both lost there 1st playoff game, the Falcons to eventual Super Bowl runner-up Arizona and Miami to AFC runner-up Baltimore. The turnaround earned Mike Smith the NFL Coach of theYear in a tight battle with Tony Sparano.

A lot of the so called experts believe the Falcons can make a deep playoff run this year while most of the same group of people believe the Dolphins will take a step back. It’s time to see what our Dolphins can do.

The guys have spoke about the game in detail this week for the most part, so I will not go into much detail in regards to strengths and weak points. What I do believe is that Miami will have to take one aspect of Atlanta’s offense away from them, either the run game and Michael Turner or the pass game featuring Matt Ryan. I believe Miami will focus there attention on Mr. Turner and try to take the run game away from the Falcons.

It will be key for Miami and Chad Pennington to have success against a rebuilt, smallish Falcon defense, and I believe they will. Containing John Abraham will be key, as he is coming off a 16 sack season, but he is really there only solid pass rush player. Ball control with the run game and precise passing and key 3rd down conversion will be big.

The Falcons are a 3.5 favorite, but most people will not be surprised to see the Dolphins win this game and Peter King and Colin Cowherd indeed believe the Dolphins will win this game. I am being a homer here, but include me in that group. Miami 24-21.

# Time: 1:00pm
# Network: CBS
# Direct TV: 704
# Sirius: 153 (MIA); 125 (ATL)

(by David Grotefend) Ask yourself an honest question… Do the Dolphins have a realistic chance in 2009? Take the first thing that pops into your head. No way? I have to tell you, I am starting to believe that we can make a legitimate push THIS season. Earlier this camp I said I thought we’d be 10-6 and a #5 WC or so. I still believe that is the more likely scenario than either a deep playoff run OR a 7or 8 win regression.

However, what if we are improved from last season (not a stretch in the minds of any but the most avid anti-Dolphin fans)? We won games last year because we wanted it more. We won games last year against teams that weren’t as good a team as we were, despite the talent level.

It still comes down to beating the teams ahead of you.

We play Indianapolis in the home opener. That’s a playoff-caliber team. If we beat them, where are we at?

We play San Diego right after that. They’re the preseason favorite to win the AFCW. If we beat them, where are we at?

It is likely that the first three games we play we will be underdogs (@Atlanta, Indianapolis, @San Diego), and probably slight favorites with the next two before the bye (Buffalo and New York J. in Miami).

Most think we’ll be something like 2-3 heading in to the week off.

Okay, but what if we’re not? What if we are 4-1? What if we have a solid group that continues to get better? We were 2-4 at one point, and won nine of the next ten.

I look at who we must defeat.

The Patriots. The Steelers. The Colts. The Chargers. All on our schedule, and all playoff caliber teams. That is five games counting the seasonal series with NE. Can we go 3-2 against them? I believe we can. I believe we will.

I think we have a realistic shot at winning the Division again. I believe we have a realisic shot at advancing in the playoffs.

We have one of the deepest stables of RB wealth in the league. I can’t wait to see what Ronnie and Ricky can do this season.

We are going to play smart football, not giving up a lot of penalties or committing a lot of turnovers. Penny out of the gate has a 109 QB rating…nothing fancy, just consistent smart football and success.

Our starting rush defense has looked very stout except for one sensational play by a very talented Panther. Otherwise that one play, we shut down two of the best backs in football, MJ-D (Jax) and DW (Car).

Our pass rush has been able to generate consistent pressure. I am drooling over seeing us sending waves of QB-destruction in the form of Porter, Taylor and Wake.

I think we are a legitimate contender this year.

Are we the most talented team? No, not on paper. However, that label has been applied to San Diego for several years now; it feels like since the new millenium began analysts have said that. Guess what? We’ve won all five games since 2000 that we’ve faced San Diego. No one on the planet would say we have been more talented in that time.

What we have is a team that is united in attitude and well-conditioned. Everyone works their a$$ off, and everyone wants to win.

By the time we get rolling, we are going to be tough to beat. I am beginning to think that we will be from the start.

They came right out of the gate drilling what looked like 9-9. There was some running and throwing mixed, but since these drills were being conducted on the opposite field, it was very difficult to see everything. For the most part however, the QB’s all looked decent. The drill only lasted about 5 minutes, so there wasn’t very much to see in terms of real action. After it ended, they went into their normal warm up’s…

I’ll let it be known that most, if not all of the real action today took place on the opposite practice field. I don’t like it when they do that, and it makes things hard for me to report. Today I focused mostly on the QB’s….

~ LOB PASS DRILL ~

No coverage, just basic warm up’s to get the QB’s loose…

They all seemed to have nice touch while executing these simple drills, and I didn’t see any drop’s from the WR’s either. The RB’s / FB’s are participating in these drills as well…

~ 6 Minute Stretch ~ Decent crowd for a Monday morning. Not packed like yesterday, but still a nice turnout….

The defense heads over to the opposite field and starts basic drilling. It looked like they were defending the swing pass from where I was. The OL / RB’s start together lining up working on running plays, the OL was pushing the sleds each play while Brown / Williams took turns running behind them. They’re basically working out the timing between everyone here, no big deal. The OL looked decent, but how do you tell how good they really are while blocking a practice sled??…

After that short drill, the OL went off alone to work on various tech drills. The DL went opposite field and did basically the same. Not much to see there, just a lot of hard work from the players…

The QB’s then start throwning some quick 7 yard turnaround passes, No coverage, just basic timing stuff…

As for the LB’s, they were on the opposite field practicing various coverage packages. Not a whole lot to see, just more of the early basics…

Right now I see a team that’s ready to go to work. They’ve been constantly drilling, and haven’t had much of a break to speak of. They all look focused, and seem eager to learn / drill hard. There was a lot going on all over the place, the guy behind me said it was like watching a 3 ring circus, and I agree there was enough action to keep you satisfied…

Even though much of the offensive drilling that was being conducted didn’t include coverage, I was really impressed with the way the WR’s looked, D. Bess especially looks poised for a productive season. Rookie P. Turner is a big target that’s for sure, and he had a decent day from what I witnessed. All of them had something to contribute, and they worked them hard today in my opinion…

As for my impressions of the QB’s thus far, both Pennington / Henne have looked sharp, while White has looked more like the rookie that he is. I’m not saying White has been bad, he did complete one nice long pass to Bess, but he certainly isn’t as accurate / comfortable as either Pennington / Henne at this stage. Henne has looked the best in my opinion…

~ WATER BREAK ~

9 on 9 Running Drills {opposite field} This had to be a short yardage drill, it was all up the middle…

CP - Handoff up middle - about a 2 yard gainer
CP - Up the middle again, better results this time, about 5 yards…
CP - Up middle, stuffed for no gain…
CP - Offsides defense, no play…
CP - Up middle, no gain. DL is stout…

———–

CH - Pitch outside right, maybe about 2 yards on the play….
CH - Handoff up the middle, about 2. It’s difficult to see who is doing all of the running, but it looks like Ronnie / Ricky are getting most of the carries right now…

CH - Nice hole up the middle, about 5 yards on the play…
CH - Up the middle, short gain…
CH - No gain up middle…

———–

PW - Up middle, no gain…
PW - Short gainer up the middle, maybe 1 yard…

drill ends…

———–

The OL goes off alone again, and the defense is drilling opposite field again…

The QB’s get to practice what I would call a “lob accuracy drill”. Basically throwing lob passes over obstacles in front of the WR in waiting. They started out from about 15 yards away, then moved back to about 20-25 yards. It went relatively smooth for all of them at 15 yards, but at 20-25 it wasn’t as pretty. I have to say I still like what I see in Henne the most. He’s been very accurate, and he has the strongest arm without question. Pennington is sharp, he just isn’t capable of matching Henne’s velocity….

7 on 7 {opposite field}

CP - Nice 20 yard completion to Fasano over the middle….
CP - Playaction, nowhere to go with the ball, throws incomplete…
CP - Shotgun, 7 yard completion over the middle to TE Haynos…
CP - Nice over the middle completion for 10 yards, couldn’t see who…
CP - Throws 10 yards left sideline complete. Nice high throw for the WR to go up for, I think it was Ginn..
CP - Outside right, underthrown, incomplete….

—————

CH - Nice completion outside right to Bess, about 7-10 yards…
CH - Throws a frozen lazer over the middle to rookie WR B. Hartline, great throw and a diving catch as well. About 15-20 yards on that play…
CH - Those another nice completion outside left for about 7 yards. Henne has looked good today…

—————

PW - Incomplete outside left. He waited too long to throw it….
PW - Playaction, poor throw. Underthrown…
PW - Shotgun, short completion outside left to RB, about 3-5 yard gain…

—————

Special Teams Drilling - Kick Returns

- I’ll just keep this short, D. Bess looks good returning kicks…

~ Closing 11 on 11 Drills ~ This is where things start to heat up alittle, more competition…

CP - Brown up the middle, 4 yard gain…
CP - Handoff around the right side, very minimal gain. Defense was ready for that one…
CP - Pitch right to Brown, nice 7 yard gain. Brown looks punishing…
CP - Playaction, lots of pressure, incomplete….
CP - Swingpass left side, nice play, 5 yards…

————–

Wildcat formation / PW - Handoff, nice gain around the right side, 5 yards…

————–

CH - Goes deep left sideline, incomplete. Good try, but overthrown slightly…
CH - Pitch right, great gain for about 10 yards…
CH - Good swingpass outside left, about 6-7 yards on the play…

————-

PW - Handoff around the right side, no gain…
PW - Rollout left, good 7 yard throw outside, but good coverage broke it up…
PW - Handoff left side, good run, about 7-10 yards.

Some hard hitting in the trenches thus far….

————-

Wildcat / Brown at QB / CP far outside right - Flag on the play, offense….
WC / RB / CP - Run outside right, no gain on the play…

————-

CP - INT pick by Allen, returned for TD. Pennington got flushed outside, and underthrew WR, bad decision…
CP - Shotgun, great throw over the middle 20 yards, dropped by Fasano. Great play though….
CP - Handoff around the right side, fumbled. Bad QB / RB exchange….

————-

CH - Playaction, throws outside right, incomplete. Poor throw, too far outside…
CH - Handoff up the middle, decent 3-4 yard gain…
CH - Quick handoff up middle, nothing there really…
CH - Swingpass right to Bess, nice play, good 7-10 yard gain…
CH - Rollout right, thows a short completion along sidelines…
CH - Handoff up the middle, decent 3-4 yards…
CH - Playaction, sacked!! The DL was in the backfield way too quick on that play. Henne had to chance…
CH - Fumble on pitch outside right….
CH - Throws down sideline 10 yards, incomplete. It was alittle overthrown, but a good looking pass all the same…
CH - Run up the middle, about 2-4 yards on the play…

—————

PW - Run around the right side, stuffed in the backfield, 7 yard loss…
PW - Throws over the middle about 7 yards, nobody there. He was under pressure as well…
PW - Almost sacked, but gets away and makes a nice 6-7 yard gain out of it all by himself. Nice…

END OF PRACTICE….

All in all, a good / hard day of work for this team. I didn’t see anything that really bothered me today. They all looked focused on working hard and making an impact. It could probably be said that the defense is alittle bit ahead of the offense at this stage, but I like what I’ve seen so far, they just need more time together. Until tomorrow, hope you enjoyed it….

~BK~

Written by Blitzkrieg

I believe there are a few big areas and questions about the 2009 Miami Dolphins that will need to be answered to know for sure if this team can take the next step and continue there upward surge that started in 2008. We all know this team came from 1-15 to 11-5, which gave the Dolphins the AFC East Championship. We also know that last year was the beginning of a major rebuilding project, a project in which youth, size and talent was infused into the orginization via the draft and smart moves in free agency. While much was remarkably accomplished in one year, there were certain areas of concerns that crystalized during the season, areas that have to be addressed if this team is to go further than just the 1st round of the playoffs or even makes the playoffs again.

Fellow Phinfever blogger NFLJunkie bought this area of concern up a few weeks ago, and in my mind this is by far the biggest area of concern, the offensive line. The main reason for Miami going to the Wildcat Formation last year was the inability of the offensive line to generate push in the run game, especially up the middle. When you have backs the caliber of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, there is no excuse for your running game not to be one of the very best in the NFL, and while Miami did finish in the top 15 for rushing yardage, when Miami needed to be able to run for the tough yardage in key situations, they struggled mightly. In Jake Long and Vernon Carey, you have young, huge and very talented bookend tackles in place and when healthy, Justin Smiley is a very solid OLG. The problems for the Phins last year were at C position and ORG, positions manned by Samson Satele and Donald Thomas for a game. Thomas got hurt and did not return after the 1st game, starting the myraid of players that attempted to man the ORG position. The lack of continuity at the ORG position really hurt the OL and probably effected the play of Satele and Carey last year as well. To be fair to Satele also, the kid played with a torn labrum for a good part of the 2008 season and grinded it out, but this could not help his play as well.

In the end the regime decided that a change needed to be made at the C position as they viewed Satele as more of a finesse player, a zone blocking type of a center than a power type player they wanted. Jason Brown was Miami 1st choice, no question. At 6′4, 325 lbs, Brown fit the criteria of a power player with size at the position, but in the end the St. Louis Rams were willing to over pay for him and pay him like an OG. Miami instead signed Jake Grove from the Oakland Raiders, a player that fits the criteria of what they were looking for as well. Also during free agency the Dolphins added Joe Berger, an OG/OC from Dallas to add more size and versatility to the OL.

Point blank, Jake Grove and the stablization of the ORG position along with Justin Smiley coming back healthy are big, big keys to the OL. IF they can step up and play well and stay healthy, this offense can take a step up to the next level. IF not, then there will be more of the same from 2008 in regards to the run game.

Next in line of areas that needed to be addressed is the nose tackle position. Jason Ferguson was a rock for Miami in the middle at NT, but the one game were he got hurt against the Baltimore Ravens in there earlier meeting during the regular season, the Ravens were able to exploit the injury and gash the Dolphins for 149 yards rushing. With Ferguson, Miami gave up 101 yards a game rushing, which was 10th in the NFL, so you get an idea of how key Ferguson is to this defense. That being said, Jason will be 35 years old once we get into the season and it is paramount that the Dolphins have someone groomed to take his place when Jason finally steps down. Paul Solari has the size at 6′4, 355 lbs to be a dominant NT and has shown flashes of ability. He also has shown his immaturity as well and was suspended multiple times last year. The only reason he is still on the roster is because he has SO much potential. But to say he is on his last leg with this staff and regime is an understatement. Miami did not draft a NT in the draft, so Solari, Joe Cohen and undrafted free agent Louis Ellis, a talented NT from Shaw will have to be part of the solution at the nose tackle position.

The final area in my view is the secondary. Some will say the WR position and continue to harp on the fact that Miami does not really have a so called #1 WR. But when you lose the CB that led your team in interceptions and the FS that help stablize your secondary, and even with these players your pass defense was 25th in the league, this is an area that needed to be addressed. Andre Goodman played very well during a large portion of the season and led the team in interceptions, but he certainly had his issues staying healthy and Denver signed him to a contract that Miami did not want to pay for a soon to be 31 year old CB. Renaldo Hill came in and replaced Chris Croker early in the season and help stabalize the Dolphin secondary, but his lack of physical play and not being a solid tackler hurt this team. To help address the secondary, the Dolphins bought in Gibril Wilson from Oakland to address the need at FS. Gibril is younger than Hill at 27 years old, more physical and a much more solid tackler and has 2 fewer career intereceptions playing 3 less years than Hill, and he was the starting safety on the Giants team that beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2007. Miami also added Eric Green from the Arizona Cardinals, adding another young, physical DB to the mix. Then Miami went into the draft and bought in a group of big, physical defensive backs in Vontae Davis, CB out of Illinois, Sean Smith, CB out of Utah and Chris Clemons, S out of Clemson.

Will adding these pieces to the secondary along with the existing pieces of Will Allen, Jason Allen, Yeremiah Bell, Tyrone Culver & Nathan Jones take this secondary to the next level, time will tell, but there improvement is part of the bigger puzzle for the Miami Dolphins to take the next step.

“Crucial questions that have to be answered by the Dolphins to take the next step”
Written by Tony Simmons
Sunday, 14 June 2009

I do not know what I would do without the reports that I get from the Florida media. They report information to us on a daily basis based on their ability to get close to the team even though practices are closed. Then you have good writers putting their thoughts to the reports. To me, I find it easier to report the news rather than add my thoughts to it, so, I applaud those writers.

Currently we are hearing that there is a battle brewing over the left cornerback position between free agent/former Cardinals starter ERIC GREEN, first round draft pick VONTAE DAVIS, and second round pick SEAN SMITH.  We saw the trifecta pass on most of the free agent cornerbacks on the free agent market before settling for Green who had lost his starting position with the Cardinals late last season. After he was signed, he proclaimed himself as the player to beat at the position.

Surprisingly we heard late this week that Sean Smith was playing the most consistent at the position and Coach Sparano was very intrigued with his 6'3" height for the position. I really liked this signing myself as I feel this is the kid to put on Randy Moss in the red zone. Randy will burn any cornerback in the league, but I would like to see him try to outleap Smith for the ball.

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Don't get overly persumptious about what you are hearing about anything right now. The pads have not come on yet and part of a player's skill set is the physical aspect of their jobs. I would say that Vontae Davis has the edge there. Experience would point to Eric Green.

Do not make a final decision on who the starter is or what you hear until the second to last game of the preseason.Things could change a lot between now and then.

 

Is Jason Allen on the bubble?

It would appear that way. Will Allen and Vontae Davis are locks to make the team. Sean Hill should be, too, as he was our 2nd round pick this year. Some would say that Eric Green is a lock, too, as we signed him to a fre agent contract. While it would not be wise to sign someone and then cut them in camp, but it has happened before. QB Josh McCown was signed by the Trifecta last year and given the title as the starter, but he did not pan out and was cut in camp.

If those 4 are kept on the team, that would leave room for one more cornerback on the roster. That would be between JASON ALLEN and veteran NATHAN JONES to battle it out for the 5th and final position. Allen lost out to Jones last year for the nickel back, so, it would appear by mathematics that Jason Allen could be out of here. I doubt it myself. Allen has the potential to make plays and has the size/speed that the Dolphins like in a cornerback. He needs to play more consistently and play better in practice.

I really don't get it. He seemed to play well in games to me, but 3 coaching staffs have not been too thrilled with him.

 

Which draft pick made QB Chad Henne excited about?

QB CHAD HENNE threw a lot of passes before the draft as the Dolphins worked out a number of rookie receivers. When the Dolphins drafted Ohio State WR BRIAN HARTLINE in the fourth round, he was excited about it as he remember Hartline having "trememdous hands". 

In fact, a number of the "experts" liked this pick, too, for the Dolphins.

 

ESPN Scouts Inc "Hartline plays with the competitive edge and displays the toughness to go over the middle. He also shows good body control when catching the ball. However, we have some concerns with his fluidity changing directions and overall consistency with hands because he has a history of dropping balls he should catch." TSN War Room "It's kind of a surprise that Hartline, an early-entry junior, was picked this early. Sure, he's a sneaky fast and fluid receiver, but he doesn't have the special speed of fellow former Buckeye Ted Ginn. Still, he's the kind of reserve receiver and special teamer Bill Parcells likes." NFL.COM pick analysis "Hartline tested unbelievably well. He's got more quickness than speed. He may have been better served staying in school. He's got good size for a receiver and has a great mental makeup, which is a key element to what Bill Parcells looks for in building his team." Pro Football Weekly's Nawrocki "Ohio State WR Brian Hartline had to appeal more to the Dolphins for his special-teams coverage ability than his receiving skills, but his toughness in both phases should allow him to develop and will endear him to Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano. " SI's Peter King "One guy I'd watch closely in camp is Brian Hartline, the Round 4 receiver, because he played special-teams for three years at Ohio State, played slot receiver and split receiver. He's a fascinating prospect. I don't like Brian Hartline to the Dolphins in the fourth round. I love it." RotoWorld "Hartline was productive early in his college career, but his numbers fell with the rest of OSU's pass offense when true freshman Terrelle Pryor took over at quarterback in 2008. Hartline offers a nice size-speed combo and could pose a threat to Greg Camarillo, who's recovering from major knee surgery."

 

Drew Brees? Fire anyone on that medical staff.

Peter King put together a table showing us what Nick Saban missed in picking DAUNTE CULPEPPER over DREW BREES. Saban actually wanted Brees, but Brees was asking for a lot of money after a shoulder injury to his throwing shoulder. Dolphins doctors analyzed both Brees and Culpepper and said they were worried about Brees' shoulder and were confident that Culpepper would be fine. Two years later, Culpepper still lacks horizontal mobility, but Brees is having a Marino-esque career. 

 

 

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Jason Taylor’s agent, Gary Wichard, said that JT just signed a 1 year, $1.5 million contract to play for the Dolphins this year. That is a huge drop-off from the $8.5 million he was to make with the Redskins. I imagine that for a man who has millions in the bank, being happy was more important for him at this stage of his career.

I am ecstatic at the thought of him lining up opposite of Joey Porter, and I am excited that he will finish off his career with the Dolphins. He told the Redskins that he was not happy playing for them and wanted to play for the Dolphins. So, he told the Dolphins to do whatever it took to get him signed.

I am surprised that he did not go up north to play for the Patsies as they would be the favorite to make it to the Super Bowl. But, it was a long way away from his family in South Florida. Had he done that I would have taken his fat head poster off of my wall in disgust … seriously. While football is also a business, it is also the last place where we have heroes. There is a devotional element to this game, too.

JT will line up as an outside linebacker, but which side will he be on? Will he be back at his old position? Chances are that that will not happen as Joey Porter dominated at that position last year. My guess is that JT will line up at weakside linebacker. We could even move him inside in passing situations if we wanted to. As Henry joked on the forum, we can use him in the Wild Cat on defense;)

Having Jason Taylor back gives the Dolphins a pass-rushing specialist and the look of a team that wants the Super Bowl this year … and I am all right with that!

by David Blake
May 13, 2009.