Miami Dolphins Lucky Friday The Thirteenth.

The Miami Dolphins Brass of Mike Tannenbaum, and Dennis Hickey go for the throat in an aggressive break of the final straw while swinging a black cat by the tail, and walking under ladders on Friday The Thirteenth.

Trade winds of an absolutely wild Friday the Thirteenth blew Northward from Miami through New Orleans and into Minnesota. It was like watching the bottom line ticker of the stock market report as something changed on a minute by minute basis throughout the league, but especially for the Miami Dolphins.

At one moment (due to the Wednesday acquisition of the elite defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh). The often injured, under achieving, overpaid (via Jeff Ireland) linebacker Dannell Ellerbe was suddenly willing to talk about restructuring his near nine million dollar 2015 contract.

A few scrolls of the bottom line later Ellerbe had been traded to the New Orleans Saints for 22 year old Kenny Stills who is an up and coming speedster receiver with 91 receptions, 1,572 yards for 8 touchdowns over his first two NFL years in a crowded Saints receiver group. Stills is someone that many Dolphins fans were hoping to land in the 2013 draft as a security blanket for the instance of something potentially happening to Wallace.

Within an hour of the Kenny Stills acquisition the news flashing red lights appeared across the NFL Network telecast, and the Dolphins had sent the said to be discontent receiver Mike Wallace (29), and the most part of his (Jeff Ireland contracted 12.1 million dollar cap hit) to the Minnesota Vikings. Miami gained a fifth round pick for the eventually to be cut (for nothing gained) Mike Wallace. "Eventually to be cut" due to the replacement of his proficiency Kenny Stills being reeled in moments earlier.

As suggested in the Shouts pre free agency receiver roundup. If Miami were to display some aggression in free agency toward replacing the skill sets of a Mike Wallace type, they would then be able to justify (to some extent) the trading and/or eventual cutting of his severely high priced, somewhat distracting attitude. The Dolphins were more than aggressive in landing the same sized with similar speed and skills Kenny Stills to replace Mike Wallace. They did it via the trade route rather than simply going after what happened to be on the open market.

The Dolphins gave up a soon to be cut cap casualty Dannell Ellerbe, and a third round draft pick on Stills that they would have likely spent on a speedy receiver anyway, if not for the Stills acquisition. Such a commitment is highly suggestive that Miami is extremely high on the youthful Stills who accrued 64 more yards (931) on four fewer catches (63) than Wallace for the 2014 NFL campaign. Kenny Stills had a 76 yard 2013 touchdown and a 69 yard 2014 touchdown. Mike Wallace had the same number of touchdowns as Kenny Stills in 2013, and seven more in 2014.

But wait. A few moments before or after all the above,(who knows anymore with all these sirens screaming, lights flashing, and headline breaking NFL New Years instances taking place upon one another).

One way or another Miami lands an instant answer to the 10 touchdown production loss of Mike Wallace. They pick up a 26 year old Pro Bowl free agent Tight End named Jordan Cameron who is a 6 - 5 big play making type of tight end. The Dolphins are hoping to team him up with Charles Clay (whom they still have first rights to), and Dion Sims in order to establish one of the leagues daunting top tight end trio's. In 2013 Cameron gathered in 80 catches for 917 yards with 7 touchdowns from the tight end position for the quarterback deprived Cleveland Browns. Supposedly, 7.5 or so million per season dead President paperbacks that Miami was scheduled to pay Ellerbe for services rendered (or not rendered) will now go in the direction of Miami's tallest skill player in tight end Jordan Cameron over the next two years.

Kenny Stills' 2015 New Orleans Saints contract (acquired by Miami) pays him $633,613 single dollar bills for 2015 with 90,000 more greenbacks contracted toward a 2016 cost of living raise. Due to an outright refusal to restructure for the sake of his team without losing money overall. The similarly skilled, temper tantrum throwing Mike Wallace contract would have resulted in an annual 12 plus million dollar Dolphin cap disaster for the next three years. By trading Wallace the Dolphins cleared up approximately 6 to 9 million dollars (depending on structure), and that is after paying Stills. In comparison to their scheduled 2016 contracts Miami will pay at least 12 million fewer ducats to Stills than they would have to Wallace for what is basically the same player with far more youth and maturity.


If one were to look at all that took place as one gigantic transaction between three teams and free agency, rather than grade them as three individual transactions? The summarized equivalent goes like this. If you're willing to look at it all with your head cocked slightly to the side!

Basically.
Miami traded the no longer required skills, production, and huge contracts of Danell Ellerbe, Mike Wallace, a third round pick, and inconsequential 7th round pick.

In return.
The Dolphins gained the immediate replacement to Wallace in Stills, a 6 - 5 Pro Bowl play making tight end with Jordan Cameron (potentially for more reasons than one depending on Clay's final status), and a fifth round pick.

Overall in layman terms.
Two youthful starting receivers of the ball for one malcontent receiver.

Break it down even further and basically Miami gets receiver Kenny Stills for Ellerbe, and a highly productive Jordan Cameron for Wallace (which is more than fair from the Dolphins side of things while saving a guesstimated 6 to 9 million dollars to boot toward 2015. Miami loses a little in the gaining of a fifth round pick for the rights to a third and seventh round pick, but the millions saved, migraines relived, and needs being immediately filled trump those disadvantages of summarized versions. Ndamukong Suh accounts for just six million toward the 2015 cap, the dollars saved in these trades of the no longer desirable Ellerbe and Wallace will be well spent toward KONG in 2016 and beyond!

Above all the good that took place.
The most inspirational thing about all of this, is that The Miami Dolphins did what they had to do before it had to be done, and/or before it was too late! They made sure that they had all the desirable ingredients in place before pouring their imported cups of coffee, and drank it up at the perfect temperature!


THANK YOU for an Open Minded Read, and we look forward to your angle of view : )) !!

GOFINS!!!


And that's just the half of it!
Miami also re-signed several of their somewhat productive 2014 players of depth (especially on defense at safety and linebacker), AND they picked up a couple free agent corner-backs. One being a six year veteran Brice McCain who was a 2014 starter for Pittsburgh with three interceptions in nine games that will be tough for Jamar Taylor, and Will Davis/others to beat out for the spot opposite of Brent Grimes and/or the slot position. McCain is similar in stature to Grimes, and is one of the leagues fastest players.

Look for Miami to acquire their Big, Tall, Do-It-All True Number One Receiver to be drafted with the 14th pick of the first round.

A Review & Preview of the Miami Dolphin Front Seven

In the first of a series of articles, the writers at Dolphinshout will analyze changes in key areas of the Miami Dolphin football team. This installment focuses on the defensive front seven.

The responsibility of the front seven begins most notably with pass rushing. In today’s NFL, money goes to the players that pass the ball, protect the passer, catch the ball, rush the passer and cover the receivers. The front seven is the main force in rushing the passer, but must also shut down the running, while covering the middle of the field.

The pass rush is where the players on the front seven earn their reputation. The Miami defensive backs take the blame for the lack of big plays on the defense, but balls fluttering in the air are easy pickings compared to perfect passes thrown in rhythm. Pressuring the QB disrupts the passing game and takes the pressure off the coverage unit. The QB has a much better chance of completing passes the longer he has to survey the field.

The brain trust of the Miami Dolphins is well aware the DBs are not solely to blame for the team’s inability to create turnovers. Moving from a base 3-4 to a base 4-3 defense, changes the roles of several players in the component most experts believe is the overall best unit on the team. There is talent left from the Sparano regime, but Kevin Coyle’s defense attacks differently from the scheme coached by Mike Nolan.

The pressure is now applied mainly by the defensive ends where it previously came from the outside linebackers. Where there was a primary nose tackle in a 3-4, there are two tackles in the 4-3. The following illustration shows the difference in the two alignments side by side.

The dolphins will interchange these two formations in a hybrid defense; the base scheme is pictured on the right. Under coach Coyle, the Miami defense changes from the left picture to the right picture. In this simplistic interpretation, a defensive lineman replaces a linebacker.

The change does not seem drastic, but the type of players required for the scheme to work presents issues when transforming to the new the system. Paul Soliai manned the nose tackle position in the 3-4, but he is now joined by Randy Starks at the under tackle position. The NFL game is evolving from common five and seven step QB drops replaced by 3 step drops in a rapid-fire up-tempo sling fest.

In this modern passing game, the QB releases the ball so quickly, the outside linebackers in the 3-4 are mitigated by the release time of the football. Here is a look at the same illustration with the arcs of the pass rushers added in red.

Notice the distance required to get the passer in a 3-4 versus the distance in a 4-3. As the game evolves to a quicker tempo, the pass rushers have to find ways to get to the QB fast. Lining up closer is one obvious advantage as the red lines indicate. There is an added benefit in the 4-3 by having two tackles coming up the middle. Any pass rush coming around the end is going to have issues reaching the passer in the 3-step drop.

Bringing pressure up the middle can disrupt the timing of the up-tempo offense. The 3-step drop with only a single nose tackle is much easier than a 3-step drop with two tackles. Fortunately, Miami has two players already on the team capable of playing the positions, Soliai and Starks, but there needs to be rotational players to rest the starters. For that the Dolphins will need Jared Odrick to bulk up. A heavier Odrick cannot man the DE position in a 4-3, because he does not have pure pass rusher speed.

The Dolphins began reshaping last year by drafting DE Olivier Vernon but the process was not complete until they jumped up to the number three spot in the draft to add Dion Jordan. With Cameron Wake at RDE, the addition of Jordan on the left side will strike fear in QBs and the Miami defensive line has now made the complete transition to the new defensive scheme.

Soliai, Starks and Odrick at the tackles with Wake, Jordan and Vernon at the ends, are as solid a group as there is in the NFL. Keeston Randall, Vaughn Martin and Dereck Shelby will fight it out with a large group of rookies for the final two or perhaps three DL roster spots.

The linebackers feature free agents Danell Ellerbe and Philip Wheeler joining Koa Misi in a change from four linebackers to three. By releasing Karlos Dansby and Kevin Burnett, the Dolphins cut ties with two older free agent linebackers but the need for more change is still evident when looking closely at the alignment.

The areas circled in red demonstrate how the roles of the OLBs change from one scheme to the other. The simple diagram shows why Dansby and Burnett are no longer with the Dolphins. The need for speed becomes obvious when shown graphically. The OLBs in the 4-3 have twice as much ground to cover and the two aging veterans were a mismatch for the defense.

Both OLBs needed to be replaced with more speedy players and the dolphins are probably not done, but will wait for next off-season to tweak in the LB corps. Dion Jordan and Cameron Wake will be used in hybrid type roles leaving the LB corps manned by more special teams’ demons than by actual starting caliber LBs.

The Names Jason Trusnik, Austin Spitler and Josh Kaddu don’t inspire thoughts of greatness and hoping a host of rookies led by Jelani Jenkins will sure up the LB corps is wishful thinking. The Linebackers may be the weakest unit on the team. The free agent acquisitions are still unknowns, but there is a lot riding on the two new players stepping up in a big way.

In conclusion, the defensive front seven is a unit with impressive talent on the line, backed by an unknown group of linebackers. The line will hold its own and the linebackers should be sufficient without being spectacular. The group will be outstanding if Ellerbe and Wheeler make the leap from spot starters to true every down players. The group could go the other direction if these two players fail to step up.

As go Ellerbe and Wheeler, so goes the front seven…

Ladies and Gentlemen, Meet Dannell Ellerbe

The Miami Dolphins went outside of the normal free agency box by euthanizing longtime, overpaid middle linebacker Karlos Dansby with the new over-the-counter, youth enhancing "wonder-drug" named Dannell Ellerbe.

It was a legally prescribed shot, although some side effects include loss of mental awareness:




Dannell is actually a Happy-Go-Lucky, laid-back kind of guy:




He was an un-drafted rookie in 2009 which resulted in his carrying a chip on his shoulder to this day! Ellerbe feels he was slapped in the face by not being drafted. Having something to prove is what drives him to become great!




Upon the announcement that the 2012 season would be the last for the All-Time Great Ray Lewis, it was basically a given that Dannell Ellerbe would be his 2013 replacement. An early season injury to Lewis actually gave Ellerbe a jump start to his career.

Here are a few Raven teammate quotes as to the possibility of his replacing a legend.

Paul Kruger, linebacker:

"I think he’s the perfect guy for the job. He plays his tail off every game. He definitely brings a similar energy that Ray brought with the big hits and exciting plays. You’ve seen the same games I have. That guy’s a beast."

Vontae Leach, fullback:

"When he’s out there, he’s always done well. He’s physical, fast, and he can cover a lot of receivers and tight ends. I hope we can hold onto him."

Ellerbe is a former Georgia Bulldog from the Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens, with 89 tackles and four and a half sacks for 2012. He played through two broken thumbs and a toe injury in 13 games. He was inactive for three Raven losses with an ankle injury.

Dannell comes to the Miami Dolphins at 6-1, 240 pounds. He has a 4.6 forty yard dash, and he will be 28 years old near week 12 of the 2013 season. Ellerbe is four years to the month younger than Dansby, who was in his final contract year for Miami.

Here is Ellerbe's introductory press conference with the Miami Dolphins

What are your thoughts about the Dolphins pursuing the fountain of youth?

Thank You for an Open-Minded read, as we look forward to your angle of view : ) !!

GOFINS!!