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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