Say It Ain't So: Jared Odrick's Injury Throws A Huge Wrench In The Miami Dolphin's Plans

You just hate it when an injury cuts short a player's season.

The Miami Dolphins first round draft pick Jared Odrick fractured his leg Wednesday, and now he is going to be out for the rest of the season. Odrick was finally returning to practice and seemed to be recovering well from his previous hairline fracture before he reinjured the leg Wednesday during practice.

This is terrible news for the Dolphins because all of their plans for the defensive line depended on Odrick playing.

Miami was supposed to move Randy Starks to nose tackle this year after he had played at defensive end for his entire career, and drafting Jared Odrick was exactly what the Dolphins needed to allow Starks to move in at tackle.

While Odrick was injured earlier this season the Dolphins had to move Starks back to defensive end and stick Paul Soliai in as the nose tackle. So, I expect that they will keep the same lineup with him being gone for the rest of the year. This lineup hasn't been especially terrible for Miami, but they could have been so much more dangerous with both Starks and Odrick on the line.

Just imagine what it would be like if we had Odrick back. We would have Odrick and Kendall Langford in at the ends with Starks at the tackle. Pair those three with Cameron Wake who will sometimes be on the line, and it would be hard not to get excited about the potential damage they could do to opposing offenses.

I feel bad for the kid, though, because he was only able to play in one game and get one tackle in his whole rookie season. Let's just hope that when he gets healthy again that he will be able to get back in shape and return for next season.

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The Miami Dolphins Randy Starks Move Is High Risk, High Reward

Randy Starks making a tackle

I was reading an article on Miami Dolphins DE/NT Randy Starks yesterday, and it got me thinking.

The Dolphins are being very, very risky by going against what most people consider common football knowledge. They are putting in somebody smaller at the Nose Tackle position than most teams would even dream of doing.

It is a risky move, and it could either spell out huge success and possibly the creation of a new way that teams view Nose Tackles, or it could be a huge disaster and make the Dolphins staff look really bad.

Think about it. Miami took one of their most successful defenders last year, Randy Starks, and moved him to a position he had never played before in the NFL. The expression goes: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

So, why would Miami move a very successful defensive end to the nose tackle position where he has never been and is considered too small by normal standards?

Here is an answer for you right from the mouth of Randy Starks courtesy of the Miami Herald:

"Some of those bigger guys might not be as strong so they need the extra weight to hold the point. They need to be 320 or 340 pounds. I can be 305 and still be effective."

For those of you that don't know, the point is the very middle of the line, basically right across from where the center snaps the ball.

It is a good thing that Starks is confident in his abilities. I do think this will end up being a good move.

The only problem I see with it is Starks will most likely take a hit in statistics. Nose Tackles don't have as good of stats as other defensive lineman because their main job is to occupy as many blockers as they can so other defensive players can get through the line.

But, that is only a problem if Starks makes it. Hopefully, he will understand that the team needs him there and take the hit in stats to help the team win.

Let's hope this risk pays off, because I would love to see a new revolution at the Nose Tackle position. It think it would make the NFL more fun to watch because you will have more explosive NTs in the game. It would make defense even more fun to watch.

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Miami Dolphins Training Camp Begins With Good Signs Everywhere

Training Camp Day 1 has ended, and we have mostly good results from camp.

First, we should start with Brandon Marshall. As you have probably heard, he did really well today. All reports from training camp are positive on Marshall, but what else did you expect. Marshall also had two big catches over CB Sean Smith, which leads me to my next topic.

Courtesy Of miamisportsgeneration.com

Sean Smith struggled when covering Marshall, but what else would you expect? One of the hidden benefits of having a great receiver is that they will also help your cornerbacks develop. It is especially important for Smith because he is very tall and doesn’t normally have to face receivers his size. Marshall is his size, so it added experience for Sean Smith.

As for the FS battle, Clemons appears to be the current starter and is turning into a pretty good starter. When talking about Chris Clemons, Tony Sparano had this to say:

“Chris Clemons had a good spring and this gives us a chance to see the next step, tackling and last line of defense type things.”

I will do my best to interpret what Sparano means, but I am not quite sure myself about what he means. From what I can tell he is saying that the FS position will no longer be a hindrance and they no longer have to plan around the position.

There is a good chance that I am completely wrong, but that is what I think was said.

And this last part will be on Jared Odrick, because I am sure you guys are curious about how he is doing.

He is currently in the starting position above Marques Douglas. Surprised? So am I. But, this is a good sign. Douglas is a very good player, and the fact that Odrick is starting above him is very, very encouraging.

We will see how things go, but for now Odrick is the top DE on the right side.

That is all for today. Hopefully the good signs will keep on coming as we monitor them. Be sure to keep checking back for updates on the FS and DE situations.

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The Most Important Thing To Watch During Miami Dolphins Training Camp Is...

Our Free Safeties.

I know you were expecting me to wait a while to fill in the blank and finish the sentence I started at the title, but I figured I would surprise you with a quick answer. Not that it makes a difference either way.

Enough of my talking about non Miami Dolphins related topics, here is more on our free safety predicament.

Our current free safety situation has been taking a backseat because of recent movement on the defensive line. So, while it will be interesting to watch how our defensive line does and who will be the starter at NT and DE, the FS will be the position you want to watch.

We know that whoever will be the starter on the defensive line will be capable enough to hold their own. That is what we don't know about our free safeties. We don't know if they are capable of holding their own.

The two likely candidates to start at FS are Reshad Jones and Chris Clemons. Both of them are good players, but they just do not seem good enough to be starters. Jones is a great tackler, but his coverage skills are lacking.

The Dolphins pass defense was pitiful last year, and it needed to be changed. One of Miami's main weaknesses last season was FS Gibril Wilson giving up to many big plays and missing too many tackles. Now that Wilson is gone, Miami will hopefully have somebody step up and show us the ability to hold their own.

I just wish that Miami would have tried to get another free safety in either the draft or free agency. They did get Reshad Jones late in the draft, but I still think they should have gone for somebody else.

The more depth you have in any position, the better your starter will be in that position. I just wish that Miami had more depth at FS. Like my saying goes:

Depth is the key, and competition will create a champion.

We need more depth at free safety. But, since we don't have it let's hope that either Reshad Jones or Chris Clemons can emerge as a capable starter. As long as they can do more good than bad I am fine with them. Let's hope they can.

So while the defensive line will definitely be an interesting situation to watch, it isn't the most important thing to watch. I just hope that the result of training camp will also be interesting to watch for Dolphins fans.

That's all for now. Can anyone think of another concern to watch that is more important than the FS?

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Dolphin Shout Miami Dolphins Fan Question - "DE Depth" From Barry

 This will be my final fan question for now because training camp is finally here and there will be more to right about.

This question is from, once again, Barry West in London. Thank you Barry for yet another question. I really appreciate it. Here it is:

Do you think we have adequate depth at DE now merling is out? And, is Douglas a good enough replacement?

My Answer

The addition of Douglas gives the Miami Dolphins depth at the defensive end position. I'm not sure who will be the starter, but you can be confident that the backup will be capable to step in if needed.

If I had to predict the starter I would say that it will probably be Douglas because he is more experienced and gets a whole lot of tackles. He is also a better run stopper than Odrick.

The only downside to Douglas starting is that he doesn't get to the quarterback near as well as Odrick.

Other than that, Douglas has more advantages than Odrick. While Odrick is the long-term solution, Douglas will hold down the spot well and help Odrick develop.

I also believe that Douglas is a much better replacement than some people think. Douglas had almost twice as many tackles as Merling did last year. So, we are looking at an upgrade for this year on the d-line.

So, don't worry at all. Not only do we have a better player than we had originally, we also have depth at the position for when Douglass retires.

Thanks for the question Barry, and be thankful that training camp is finally among us.

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An Eye For An Eye: The Miami Dolphins Take DE Marques Douglas Before The New York Jets Can

I think we can all agree what is going to happen to Miami Dolphins DE Phillip Merling.

The Dolphins just agreed to a two year deal with unrestricted free agent Marques Douglas. There was talk that the veteran Douglas was going to go to re-sign with the Jets, but when they didn't show interest Douglass went to their rivals.

Sound familiar?

The Jets signed veteran Jason Taylor, who had been with the Dolphins for the majority of his life, and while Douglas hasn't been with the Jets for very long it is still great to steal a player from the enemy.

The addition of Douglass is a good one because now Miami has multiple starting options at the defensive position. Douglass will compete with rookie Jared Odrick. Everyone knows how the Dolphins staff likes to always have competition for the starting spot.

Douglas is a 33 year old veteran who should be able to last a few years while Odrick is able to develop. He had 64 tackles last year, which is really good. Now, the decision will be whether Miami wants to go with the pass rushing Odrick or run-stopping Douglas.

It will be interesting to see who wins the starting spot. We will see how each does during training camp.

Let me know what you guys think, and please feel free to email me a question to answer in my blog. My email is:
paul@dolphinshout.com

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Dolphin Shout Miami Dolphins Fan Question - "Jared Odrick" from Barry

Here is yet another question from Barry in London, England.

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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