It really is great to hear from committed Dolphins fan from around the country. As much as I would like to see an NFL team in England for it's growing fan base, I am afraid Miami will lose fans like Barry.
Anyway, here is his question:
Hi Paul,
How big a loss is Phillip Merling now that he's out for the season? Is Jared Odrick ready to start, or do we need to move for a veteran?
My Answer
I am confident in Jared Odrick this year. From everything I have heard about him, he is great at penetrating. He can get to the backfield and disrupt the offense very well. He is also very tall at 6'5", which is great because you can't teach height. You can expect to see Odrick deflecting a good number of passes thrown by the quarterback thanks to his height.
The biggest weakness for Odrick is when he isn't able to penetrate the defense and get into the backfield. He isn't the greatest at stopping a runner coming his way on the line, and that is why he wasn't drafted higher this year.
One thing that Merling wasn't able to do well that Odrick will is that he couldn't get to the quarterback nearly as well as Merling. That is a huge thing for me, and it is why I like Jared Odrick a lot.
As for signing a veteran, I think you can predict the future. Miami has just signed a veteran, and I will get to that in my next blog post, so stay tuned.
But back to Odrick, I am confident in his ability and believe he is a great replacement for Merling.
Thanks for your question Barry, and for anyone who has a question please email them to me at paul@dolphinshout.com.
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