The Miami Dolphin's Best Players = Mediocrity

Allowing the Miami Dolphin off-season decisions to marinate before joining the brashly negative local and national commentary has brought a new perspective.

What exactly were the Miami Dolphins with Ndamukong Suh, Jarvis Landry and Mike Pouncey?

Is it possible to break the chain of mediocrity without breaking the master links holding it in place?

The Dolphins had the highest paid Defensive player in the league for several seasons. It brought only one very fortuitous lost playoff game. Points allowed in the years with Ndamukong Suh found Miami ranked 29th in 2017, 18th in 2016 and 19th in 2015. The purpose of using these numbers is not a negative indictment of Suh’s athletic prowess. It’s a realization that one of, if not the best defensive tackle in the NFL, is simply not impactful.

A defensive tackle, even the very best defensive tackle, does not often impact games in the NFL…

Many pundits believe Gerald McCoy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is better than Suh, 2017 – 22nd, 2016 – 15th, 2015 – 26th… The thing is, McCoy and Suh are really good and their defenses are not. Tampa even has two of the best young LBs in the game and yet, they’re not very good.

The question that must be asked is, what positions are truly impactful in the NFL?

Mike Pouncey made several pro bowl appearances, all while playing on one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL. The people who judge these things should know which players are good and Pouncey got their vote. Yet, the offensive line as a whole was not good. The conclusion has to be that center is not an impactful position in the NFL.

Pouncey was the leader of that unit and the highest paid player. Again, this is not an indictment against Mike Pouncey’s ability, it’s an observation that his position does not impact the NFL game and yet he was one of the highest paid players on the Miami Dolphins.

Jarvis Landry has caught more passes than any player in their first 4 years in NFL history. In 2017, Miami ranked 28th in offensive scoring, 2016 – 16th, 2015 – 27th, 2014 – 11th. Landry wanted to be paid for his accomplishments, which are clearly elite, but they had little impact on Miami’s offensive prowess.

It seems oversimplified to place the mediocrity of the Miami Dolphins on its best players. Perhaps those players are taking the heat or are justification for the mediocrity of the rest of their teammates, but...

Isn’t that how it works?

Aren’t the best and highest paid players the ones who must make an impact? Not all players can get the big contracts and therefore, the ones that do must make a difference and clearly, they have not.

Getting paid for their talent is exactly what players should strive for, it’s up to the management to decide which players impact the bottom line...

Winning...

It appears winning or lack thereof, is exactly what has led to the release of these players.

As observers, we cannot know precisely what goes on behind the scenes or in the huddle, but we can make some assumptions. Jarvis Landry could not possibly have caught more balls than any player in NFL history if he had not been thrown more balls than any player in NFL history. How can this be true and not an assumption?

Catch rate is a term used to determine the amount of times a receiver catches a ball thrown to him.

Landry 70.2 percent
Amendola 68.7 percent

Landry catches a ball thrown to him 1.5% more often than Danny Amendola, that’s it, 1.5% more often. It is not an assumption that Landry has been targeted many, many more times than Amendola, it's a fact.

This is the point where it all makes sense…

If Adam Gase wants a more diversified offense, a single player cannot expect to lead the league in receptions. If Adam Gase wants a more diversified offense, a single player cannot expect 25 carries a game (Jay Ajayi).

Paying Landry would have had the same impact as having paid Suh and Pouncey, mediocrity...

All for the exact same reason, a slot receiver is not very impactful…

Suh, Pouncey and Landry, while very good football players have not impacted the mediocre Miami Dolphins. Perhaps it’s justification for past mistakes, like giving Suh the massive contract in the first place. In a bottom line business, Miami was not winning with these guys as the leaders.

The revolving door of head coaches has had no effect and therefore, is not the problem...

The Miami Dolphins have broken the chain of insanity; they have officially stopped doing the same thing over and over again to fix the same problem…

This is only the first step, now the Dolphins must find the impact players that will lead them back to respectability. A great QB, offensive tackles, defensive ends and cornerbacks. These are the impact positions in the game of football.

Paying great players at non-impact positions has little or no effect on the bottom line…

Winning

Free Agency Repeat for new Thread

 Previous Thread was full,
This is FA part of previous post,
just simply for fresh thread at
4 PM opening of league New Year.

Hmmmm?
While we were away.
It seems as though that lonely cricket chirping in the South Florida distance has lured a bunch of potential mates, and I've taken the liberty to name the suddenly noisy swarm induvidually.

So forget about all the QB-Stuff above,
but remember that over the next few days Kirk Cousins destination is what will decide Miami's positional target at pick 11 come draft day. (For Now)!!


Here are the names (with a brief synopsis) found to be potentially affordable mates for Your Miami Dolphins. Perhaps one, two, a few, or the likes of such can be gathered at the bottom of Miami's historied bug-zapper?


Line-Backer

4-3 ILB/OLB Anthony Hitchens 6-0, 235, (26) started 48 of 60 career games with Dallas

ILB Preston Brown 6-1, 251, (25) has 62 starts in 64 career games for Buffalo

4-3 LB Tahir Whitehead 6-2, 241, (27) started his last 31 Lions games played

4-3 OLB Nigel Bradham 6-2, 241, (28)  has started 56 consecutive games from 2014 - 2017


Slot-Receiver

Kendall Wright 5-10, 185, (28) has accrued 3858 yards, and 19 Touchdowns over his career

Taylor Gabrial 5-8, 165, (27) with a career 1819 yards with 8 TD's

Albert Wilson 5-9, 200, (26) totals are 1544 with 7 touchdowns

An old draftee favorite Tavon Austin may also hit the market

Personally, I have a good case for our own Jakeem Grant, so we're good minus one of the above!


Safety (some say that TJ McDonald could potentially play OLB) should Miami land a ball-hawking Safety. While we all know that one can never have too many DB's, especially in today's game of arial attack!

Tre Boston 6-1, 205, (25) had five 2017 interceptions in his one year prove it stint for the Chargers with 8 for his career and two touchdowns

Tavon Wilson 6-0, 212, (27) has 8 career interceptions with 3 coming along with 3 sacks in his last 23 starts


Tackle, Guard, Center

Justin Pugh 6-5, 311, (27) has 63 starts in 63 games played at tackle for NYG

Chris Hubbard 6-4, 295, (26) had 10 starts for Pittsburgh at Guard & Tackle in 2017

Senio Kelemele 6-3, 300, (27) has 17 starts at Guard for Saints over last 31 games

Weston Richburg 6-4, 300, (26) has 50 starts in 51 games played primarily as a Center for the NY Giants

Ryan Jensen 6-4, 319, (27) started 16 games at C & G for the Ravens in 2017


Tight-End

Austin Seferian-Jenkins (((6-5, 262, 25))) has accrued 1070 yards over his short career with a 10.2 average per catch and 10 touchdowns. He's had some off the field issues with alcohol that have detoured his career, but those concerns are suggested to be history

Trey (initially the lone cricket) Burton 6-3, 235, (26) had 5 TD's in 2017 with just one start for a 10.8 average per catch as a World Champion Eagle


Hopeful, Eventual Dolphin Free Agent Returnees, (if positions are not addressed entirely via FA & Draft)

Safety Michael Thomas
Safety Walt Aikens
DLineman William Hayes
DLineman Terrance Fede
OT Sam Young
OG Jermon Bushrod
TE Anthony Fasano
RB Damian Williams
LS John Denney
K Cody Parkey


GOFINS!!!

Miami Dolphins Free Agency Fairy-Tale

Imagine the sound of silence,
or the faint chirp of a lonely cricket in the distance. NOT!

The 2018 season begins this week with the opening of Free Agency on March 14th.Teams can begin speaking to, and negotiating with NFL veteran free agents today the 12th while nothing heard can become official until Wednesday.

Miami's Dolphins are presently 3 plus million over the cap, so they arent epected to be much of a player, but it is expected that they will rearrange some things in order to get somewhere near 20 million in cap space by the 14th.

The Dolphins rival NY Jets have the most available money with 90 plus million in space, nearly 100 million more dollars than Miami. Just a few days ago (prior to a handful of trades), the Cleveland Browns had 115 million more dollars than the South Beach gang.

Therefore. Unlike many of the most recent 3 to 5 years, The Miami Dolphins will not win this years free agency period. Meanwhile, though it's been suggested that they've won those past off-seasons, it hasn't translated to the field (in most cases). So perhaps this forced upon new approach will lead to a different outcome?

This year like no other, the draft will have to be where Miami has to find great success. Though they may come up with enough space to purchase the rights to a few 4 to 5 million dollar veteran prospects. The direction taken come draft day will rely heavily on what other teams do via free agency at the QB position.

Miami needs a stud LB with the 11th pick of the draft. They also (should he be at 11) may have interest in a particular one of the top four draftee QB prospects? Those four are Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, and Sam Darnold.

The teams that may also be interested in said prospects includes the Browns with the number one pick of the draft. The Browns (who landed their veteran QB through a recent trade) are certain to grab a QB for the future in the draft with pick #1 or #4. Who that QB will be is uncertain, but none-the-less it will leave one fewer of the four QB prospects available for Miami to potentially choose from.

Should the Browns take the top RB Barkley with the first pick? They will not trade pick #4 as this QB class is too good to pass up on the future with a top 4 pick (for those without a star veteran in place).

The #2 picking Colts minus a Barkley could possibly find interest in a QB seeing that Andrew Luck (though on the road to recovery) hasn't played in nearly two years.

#3 Giants also like Barkley and may lean toward Eli Mannings eventual replacement, if Barkley is gone. Though new HC Pat Shurmur suggest that Eli has a few more good years in him. So maybe they go for a protector of Mr. Manning?

#4 Cleveland as suggested have already landed their veteran QB in Tyrod Taylor, and aren't likely to go after any of the FA QB's, but they will indeed grab a rookie QB with pick one or four. If they get their QB with #1, and Barkley is gone at #4? They then may consider trading this pick to a QB hungry Dolphins (who don't really have the ammo), Cardinals, Bills, or Vikings.

#5 Denver will be pursuing a top FA QB, and unless they land the only truly reliable starting FA QB (Kirk Cousins). They too will also be drafting a QB with this pick.

#6 NY Jets, (see Denver), same story.

#11 Miami doesnt at this very moment need a rookie QB for the 2018 season, but they sure could use one toward the future, especially if that one that they like has an IT about him and is available at pick 11.

Miami (if they intend on having an outside chance of landing a top four QB in this coming draft at pick 11)?
They will need Cousins to sign with Denver or the NY Jets, so that one of the two doesn't bother with a first round QB prospect. Whoever spends 25 plus million on Cousins as their future is not likely to pursue a rookie QB in the first round. That particular team will be far more likely to choose protecting their investment with a weapon, blocker, or even a defensive selection.

If one of the QB needy teams below land the one true starting quality FA QB Cousins, or trade up in the draft ahead of Miami's pick at 11? Ball game over for The Dolphins chances at a Mayfield, Allen, Rosen, or Darnold.

#15 Cardinals are a QB-less team at this moment and will be pursuing a FA QB. Depending on which FA QB they land, a first round QB draftee could also be on the agenda. Miami Dolphin fans will be watching the bottom-line ticker during FA while hoping not to see that Arizona, or Minnesota lands Cousins.

Same for Miami as far as it goes with the Bills who have a cow chip load of ammo to move up!! Though if they were to land Cousins, they'd need not trade into the top 10 for a QB draftee. But again. If Cousins goes to a team that picks after 11? At least 3 of the top 4 QB draftee's will be gone by pick six, let-alone by the time Miami's turn comes.

In order for Miami to have an opportunity at a top four QB with pick 11. It all revolves around where Kirk Cousins signs! If he signs with the Bronco's or (Jets preferably) who pick ahead of Miami, and the Cardinals, Bills, and Vikings don't find a way to pick before the Dolphins in the draft? A QB draftee prospect with an IT about him may potentially find his way to pick 11 and the Bakers heat of Miami.

Otherwise.
Miami will far more likely than not land an extremely desirable LB. Watch the bottom line ticker for where Kirk Cousins lands. When that signing becomes official the fate of Miami's ((target at pick at 11)) will be determined. Though they themselves may have a plan of their own to move up?

Of Four.
Cleveland takes one rookie QB.
Hope that Indy & NYG don't.
Broncos and Jets each take one which leaves possibly just one for Miami five picks later. Unless Denver or NYJ lands Cousins which could leave a choice of two QB draftee prospects for Miami at 11. If Cardinals, Bills, and Vikings don't get into the top ten picks!


Hmmmm?
While we were away.
It seems as though that lonely cricket chirping in the South Florida distance has lured a bunch of potential mates, and I've taken the liberty to name the suddenly noisy swarm induvidually.

So forget about all the QB-Stuff above,
but remember that over the next few days Kirk Cousins destination is what will decide Miami's positional target at pick 11 come draft day. (For Now)!!


Here are the names (with a brief synopsis) found to be potentially affordable mates for Your Miami Dolphins. Perhaps one, two, a few, or the likes of such can be gathered at the bottom of Miami's historied bug-zapper?


Line-Backer

4-3 ILB/OLB Anthony Hitchens 6-0, 235, (26) started 48 of 60 career games with Dallas

ILB Preston Brown 6-1, 251, (25) has 62 starts in 64 career games for Buffalo

4-3 LB Tahir Whitehead 6-2, 241, (27) started his last 31 Lions games played

4-3 OLB Nigel Bradham 6-2, 241, (28)  has started 56 consecutive games from 2014 - 2017


Slot-Receiver

Kendall Wright 5-10, 185, (28) has accrued 3858 yards, and 19 Touchdowns over his career

Taylor Gabrial 5-8, 165, (27) with a career 1819 yards with 8 TD's

Albert Wilson 5-9, 200, (26) totals are 1544 with 7 touchdowns

An old draftee favorite Tavon Austin may also hit the market

Personally, I have a good case for our own Jakeem Grant, so we're good minus one of the above!


Safety (some say that TJ McDonald could potentially play OLB) should Miami land a ball-hawking Safety. While we all know that one can never have too many DB's, especially in today's game of arial attack!

Tre Boston 6-1, 205, (25) had five 2017 interceptions in his one year prove it stint for the Chargers with 8 for his career and two touchdowns

Tavon Wilson 6-0, 212, (27) has 8 career interceptions with 3 coming along with 3 sacks in his last 23 starts


Tackle, Guard, Center

Justin Pugh 6-5, 311, (27) has 63 starts in 63 games played at tackle for NYG

Chris Hubbard 6-4, 295, (26) had 10 starts for Pittsburgh at Guard & Tackle in 2017

Senio Kelemele 6-3, 300, (27) has 17 starts at Guard for Saints over last 31 games

Weston Richburg 6-4, 300, (26) has 50 starts in 51 games played primarily as a Center for the NY Giants

Ryan Jensen 6-4, 319, (27) started 16 games at C & G for the Ravens in 2017


Tight-End

Austin Seferian-Jenkins (((6-5, 262, 25))) has accrued 1070 yards over his short career with a 10.2 average per catch and 10 touchdowns. He's had some off the field issues with alcohol that have detoured his career, but those concerns are suggested to be history

Trey (initially the lone cricket) Burton 6-3, 235, (26) had 5 TD's in 2017 with just one start for a 10.8 average per catch as a World Champion Eagle


Hopeful, Eventual Dolphin Free Agent Returnees, (if positions are not addressed entirely via FA & Draft)

Safety Michael Thomas
DLineman William Hayes
DLineman Terrance Fede
OT Sam Young
OG Jermon Bushrod
TE Anthony Fasano
RB Damian Williams
LS John Denney
K Cody Parkey


GOFINS!!!

Ignore Miami Dolphin Smokescreens – It’s Roquan Smith

G-day Shouters! Before our esteemed Kenny V delves into his Miami Dolphin centric draft analysis, I’d like to follow up on Miami’s defensive needs as I see them.

A previous article dissected how Miami’s lack of a potent weapon at TE affected the team’s ability to take advantage of opposing defenses. The same position had a disastrous effect on the Miami Dolphin defense. When thinking about the draft or free agent player acquisitions, in Miami…

It all revolves around the tight end.

Looking at some startling stats, I heard a Bill Parcells echo, “Stats are for losers!” Of course, Bill’s won a couple more Super Bowls than this average writer, so his words should not be taken for granted. Specific stats probably have little value in the big picture, but a distinct accumulation in a single area shows undeniable trends. It would be equally foolish not to heed the warning these tendencies indicate.

Adam Gase said something like, “people (PFF) do not know the defensive call or Kiko Alonso’s responsibility and should not criticize him on things they don’t know. He may be pursuing a guy he wasn’t specifically covering, but without knowing the call, they assume he missed the coverage.”

Those were not his exact words, but pretty close and for the most part, I agree. I don’t know the call, but what I do know is, TEs caught the ball, over, and over, and over again in the middle of the Miami defense.

Making such a statement tells us a couple things; no kudos were given for the defensive scheme, and the other linebackers on the team were not exonerated from responsibility.

On to the facts…

In 2017, ProFootballFocus graded Kiko Alonso as the No. 75 ranked LB in the NFL. Lawrence Timmons ranked 67th at his position and was Miami’s highest-graded LB. Miami ended the season shuffling a mixture of inexperienced players led by Chase Allen, Stephone Anthony and Mike Hull in and out of the line-up. This came after Rey Maualuga was arrested at a downtown Miami nightclub for brawling with bouncers in the wee hours before an early practice.

B-Bye Rey, hope those margaritas were de-lish!

The Dolphins allowed 94 catches by tight ends (most in the league) and 1034 receiving yards to tight ends (only Oakland – at 1038 – relinquished more). Opposing tight ends scored 10 touchdowns against the Dolphins, tied with Cleveland for second-most and behind only the Giants (13).

The six teams that allowed the most yards against tight ends (Raiders, Dolphins, Broncos, Redskins, Giants, and Texans) went a combined 31-65 and all missed the playoffs. Of the nine teams that allowed the most catches to tight ends, all but Buffalo had losing records.

For a sanity check, the three teams that gave up the fewest yards to tight ends (Saints, Panthers, and Vikings) went a combined 35-13…

We can backpedal a little and lament the injuries to Raekwon McMillian and Koa Misi, but honestly McMillian was a rookie and Misi was never very good in coverage.

McMillian will be a welcome addition when he returns, but there’s no telling the effects knee surgery will have on his career. The tendency to count on players returning to their previous form is a dangerous flirtation with the unknown. Misi’s injury appears to be career ending and Miami paid for services rendered in 2017, Misi will not return.

All of this means, Miami must make a concentrated effort to sure up the middle of the defense and find a player capable of covering tight ends. Defenses in the NFL are more diverse than ever.

Claiming to run a 3-4 or a 4-3 is simply a placeholder for player packages based on down and distance. Slot corner Bobby McCain played more snaps in 2017 (662) than every linebacker except Alonso (1008) and Timmons (792).

The relevance of the snap counts comes into play when an opposing offense presents a scheme with two wideouts, a slot receiver and a tight end.

Miami is in a mismatch...

If Miami cannot cover a TE with a LB than the safeties must become involved in the coverage. By moving the TE in motion across the formation, the coverage safety moves with him, or not, in either case the defense is exposed. Man coverage if the safety moves, and zone coverage if he does not.

Yes, that explanation was very rudimentary, but it was also very true…

The next time you yell at the TV wondering how that big ass TE got so open, remember what you just read.

This is kinda what Gase was talking about when he defended Alonso. In a zone defense, Kiko is responsible for an area of the field, not a specific player. The TE runs a shallow cross, a skinny post or uses a legal pick to create space and it looks like Alonso blew the coverage.

He didn’t blow the coverage, he’s just not good enough to play zone or man coverage against a decent TE.

Therefore, if Alonso is the defense’s best coverage LB, it’s a serious issue…

The amount of money Miami is willing to pay for defensive linemen clearly indicates where they expect the pass rush to come from. This also means with four primary DL, the five offensive linemen should be tied up, because if they don’t double team Mr. Suh, most plays are going to get wrecked.

The point is, Miami does not need bruising middle linebackers, like they would in a 3-4, who constantly take on OL. Miami needs athletic, almost hybrid type LBs, that can sneak around behind the huge line and are fleet enough to cover TEs and slippery slot receivers.

As Miami looks forward to fixing the issues detailed in the stats above, it starts at LB. Alonso is not as bad as PFF seems to think. Miami doesn’t pay PFF to use their stats as many other NFL teams do.

No one will come out and say it, so I will… PFF is a paid service and the teams that pay for the service have higher ranked players overall than teams that do not.

No other linebacker on the Miami Dolphins in 2017 should expect to be a starting player in 2018 based on their performance. Timmons and Misi will be gone. If McMillian returns to form and it’s highly likely he will, that leaves Allen, Hull and Anthony fighting for a single position and playing special teams.

Getting right down to it, the defense is really not that far away. It simply needs a true impact player at the linebacker position.

In the coming weeks, you will hear QB talk, Baker Mayfield this and Josh Rosen that… You will hear Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey debated on the offensive line. Calvin Ridley will be thrown in to replace Jarvis Landry. Tremaine Edmunds will soon be the rage. Before it’s done, Derwin Jones will be the player destined to save the Miami defense.

Fa-Get-About-It!!! It’s all a smokescreen…

Roquan Smith is the player you will not hear a peep about from Miami. I’ll leave you with one quote…

“Roquan Smith is an ascending linebacker prospect with elite athletic ability, plus intelligence and an ability to be an effective cover linebacker on passing downs.”