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Asiata

AJ Duhe

AJ Duhe

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I live out of area and missed the game on Thursday. Did anyone get a good look at Asiata's snaps? Wondering if he looked better in the game than what's been reported in practice.
 
I saw a clip someone posted with about 6 really good plays from him! Albeit prob against bottom of the roster guys he showed more in those few plays in his first ever preseason game than the likes of D Thomas, J Douglas, and B Turner showed combined in their time here. Asiata is a player who will only improve with the more reps and experience he gets. His awareness and recognition of whats going on is already apparent. Although he may not get significant playing time this season this is gonna be the type of player who excells from year two-ten. The type of player who truly grinds and never stops trying to reach the next level! Off topic but I believe Harris is the same type of player and although he seems to be quiet right now I believe hes hit the dreaded dead leg time alot of rookies hit at this time after training for the combine, rookie ota's, minis and now training camp. I envision Harris starting slow but by week 6 on he will be opening eyes league wide
 
I have high hopes for Isaac Asiata. I loved the prospect, felt like we got a steal where he was drafted, and predicted he would win the starting job. Now it looks like he will get the starting job by default because of Larsen's injury. One of the main things I was looking for in this game were signs that Asiata was affirmatively WINNING the starting spot, rather than getting it by default. I think he showed signs of that in this game. He held up in pass pro. He dominated in run blocking. He looked for work. He struck his man in space. He finished blocks. He showed up and showed out.

Yes, these are mostly opponents playing vanilla defenses with players who will not make NFL rosters. Yes this is not a huge step up from college. Yes this does not mean we'll see these kinds of results during the season against sophisticated defenses and real hard charging NFL talents. But, you can only play the guy they put in front of you, and he outplayed his man quite a lot, and he definitely showed positive signs. While I'm gutted about losing Raekwon McMillan, and that's the main takeaway from this game, I am very pleased we are starting to see the physical dominator that Isaac Asiata can be. He blew open holes in the run game ... and he's probably the only OL we have that can do that.
 
Digital said:
I have high hopes for Isaac Asiata. I loved the prospect, felt like we got a steal where he was drafted, and predicted he would win the starting job. Now it looks like he will get the starting job by default because of Larsen's injury. One of the main things I was looking for in this game were signs that Asiata was affirmatively WINNING the starting spot, rather than getting it by default. I think he showed signs of that in this game. He held up in pass pro. He dominated in run blocking. He looked for work. He struck his man in space. He finished blocks. He showed up and showed out.

Yes, these are mostly opponents playing vanilla defenses with players who will not make NFL rosters. Yes this is not a huge step up from college. Yes this does not mean we'll see these kinds of results during the season against sophisticated defenses and real hard charging NFL talents. But, you can only play the guy they put in front of you, and he outplayed his man quite a lot, and he definitely showed positive signs. While I'm gutted about losing Raekwon McMillan, and that's the main takeaway from this game, I am very pleased we are starting to see the physical dominator that Isaac Asiata can be. He blew open holes in the run game ... and he's probably the only OL we have that can do that.
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Sometimes injuries end up being positive things. In the case of Larson, this might be the case as it opens the door for Asiata. Can't say the same about McMillan, unfortunately. Although, I suppose it gives a young player like Allen a better chance to make the team. In that sense, it could help down the road.

Another takeaway from the game is the tremendous depth Miami has at wide receiver. I wonder if there's any way the team can keep seven.
 
SF Dolphin Fan said:
Sometimes injuries end up being positive things. In the case of Larson, this might be the case as it opens the door for Asiata. Can't say the same about McMillan, unfortunately. Although, I suppose it gives a young player like Allen a better chance to make the team. In that sense, it could help down the road.

Another takeaway from the game is the tremendous depth Miami has at wide receiver. I wonder if there's any way the team can keep seven.
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All good points.

As for that presumed depth we thought we had entering this season ... wow is it evaporating fast. We started out with 4 NFL caliber LB's (Kiko, Timmons, McMillan and Misi), now we're down to two. For today's practice (8/13) we have 4 young WR's out injured. This injury nightmare seems never-ending. Honestly, I don't know if we'll have 7 healthy when the time comes for that to even be a consideration. Fingers crossed that we get healthier.
 
I barely saw the game but it sounds like Asiata did well from what others are saying. Yes that doesn't confirm much on his ability to play well against starters week in and week out, but if you would want a guy to be a starter you would hope he could play well against bottom roster guys. There are so many times in the past when we heard good things about young offensive linemen, then you get into a preseason game and it was completely obvious that guys like Samuda and Dallas Thomas just didn't have what it took since they were getting dominated.
 
Asiata needs to drop some weight and get better stamina. He reported to camp at 341 pounds which is too damn heavy for a 6'3" guy.
 
Digital said:
All good points.

As for that presumed depth we thought we had entering this season ... wow is it evaporating fast. We started out with 4 NFL caliber LB's (Kiko, Timmons, McMillan and Misi), now we're down to two. For today's practice (8/13) we have 4 young WR's out injured. This injury nightmare seems never-ending. Honestly, I don't know if we'll have 7 healthy when the time comes for that to even be a consideration. Fingers crossed that we get healthier.
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Honestly, I hope the front office builds the linebacking unit much like the team did at wide receiver. It wasn't long ago when it seemed like Miami couldn't find good receivers. Then they drafted Landry in round two, traded a third for Stills, drafted Parker in the first, third for Carroo. Obviously, the key was Landry who really should have been a first rounder.

Point is, the Dolphins have to put the same focus on linebacker. McMillan might turn out to be the Landry of the unit, but Timmons is a band aid and Alonso is injury prone. At first glance, it looks like another strong year draft wise at linebacker.
 
Digital said:
All good points.

As for that presumed depth we thought we had entering this season ... wow is it evaporating fast. We started out with 4 NFL caliber LB's (Kiko, Timmons, McMillan and Misi), now we're down to two. For today's practice (8/13) we have 4 young WR's out injured. This injury nightmare seems never-ending. Honestly, I don't know if we'll have 7 healthy when the time comes for that to even be a consideration. Fingers crossed that we get healthier.
Click to expand...

It was pretty laughable and yet sad at the same time that Misi was even still counted on this year. The guy should have been cut two seasons ago because his body can't take the grind anymore and he wasn't worth the contract. He flat out should have retired last year but didn't. Sheer lunacy.
 
Hopefully between wise drafting and good quality coaching we can start the build depth and what we have lately regarded as weaknesses
 
SF Dolphin Fan said:
Honestly, I hope the front office builds the linebacking unit much like the team did at wide receiver. It wasn't long ago when it seemed like Miami couldn't find good receivers. Then they drafted Landry in round two, traded a third for Stills, drafted Parker in the first, third for Carroo. Obviously, the key was Landry who really should have been a first rounder.

Point is, the Dolphins have to put the same focus on linebacker. McMillan might turn out to be the Landry of the unit, but Timmons is a band aid and Alonso is injury prone. At first glance, it looks like another strong year draft wise at linebacker.
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I think they might actually start building out the LB corps. Consider, they completely revamped the DB's already. They brought in Byron Maxwell as a veteran to help the young guys, built up a raw kid in Lippett, developed a young guy in McCain, drafted a high pick in Xavien Howard (2nd Round and we traded up to get him), and this year we added another sort of high pick in Cordrea Tankersley (who did pretty well in the first preseason game actually). That's a lot of resources on new players and young players. I think the Alteraun Verner addition was just taking an opportunity when it presented itself, but all of the other moves look like they are tilling a garden to grow good young CB's. Then, they surrounded them with the voice of reason in veteran safeties to keep everything together while these young CB's learn their roles.

This year they took the one building block at LB, Kiko Alonso, added a veteran tutor in Timmons, and selected the one rookie to groom under Timmons in McMillan. Misi felt like a combo of loyalty + Ross's desire to help his own + backup incase of injury. Well, he got injured early, per usual, so that didn't really work out. Remember, this is a major departure from the previous two iterations of our LB rebuilds: A) Ireland's plan to get rid of the expensive and productive veterans and replace them with veteran free agents at a cheaper price (worked out horribly), and B) draft nobody and collect all of the quality UDFA's like Vigil, Hewitt and Hull and go cheap on the position (which also worked out horribly).

So, I'm guessing they're following the same rebuild approach they did with the CB's by providing a veteran leader and then adding their own draft picks to groom under those veteran leaders. Just like with the veteran safeties, they always have someone who can organize and direct them while they grow through that early learning curve. I'm expecting McMillan to be the full Mike when he returns next year, and I'm expecting us to draft 1 more LB to work in as a combo Sam and coverage LB or maybe a Sam and pass rushing LB. We're not going to see that development this year because of Raekwon's unfortunate injury, but I think next year he'll be ready to call the defense like a true Mike, and will become the heart and soul of this developing LB corps.

Another position that seems to be handled the same way is the OL, although I think we have further to go with that transformation. Not sure whether we'll re-sign Ju'Wuan James, but if we do it will likely be for a smaller amount than a guy drafted as high as him typically gets. Bushrod will also be replaced next year. So, we might be looking at 2 new starting OL next year to go along with Tunsil, Asiata and Pouncey ... assuming he heals.

Personally, I like this approach. It creates a lot of opportunities to select just the right veterans to teach and then groom completely new players exactly how the coaching staff wants them. It also should help develop a team that ages the right way and is full of veterans through Tannehill's prime.

The reason I didn't mention the DL, is because I think it's done slightly differently. The positions are more specific. It's more of a one-for-one mentorship for specific roles. Wake mentors Harris. Suh leads by example, but he's not the greatest mentor. He is mentoring Phillips. Hayes is the closest thing to a true DL mentor we have ... and that guy's ... different. But, I think Vincent and Godchaux are somewhat lacking for mentors. I'm hoping they're getting good advice from Hayes and Suh, but I'm not sure how effective that is.

Anyway, I do think the LB mentor-growth process has begun, and will continue next year with another fairly high draft pick.
 
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