Busy off-season. How would you rate it?

[endorPHINS72]

We have had a busy off-season. Many things have happen in the Dolphins Nation. Since our last game against the Colts, multiple things have happened. A Super Bowl was played at Dolphin Stadium, Saban denied three times that he was going to Alabama, but finally decided to go to the Tide. JT contemplated retirement. Huizenga contemplated selling the franchise, just kidding. He stated he was committed to the Dolphins and to winning. He embarked, along with the FO, in a trip that took him to Costa Rica and to 7 other destinations. He brought Cam Cameron to Miami to become the new Miami Dolphins Head Coach. Capers decided to stay as the DC and got paid like a head coach. Cameron brought two new assistants: Terry Robiskie as the wide receivers coach and Brett Maxie as safeties coach. It was decided that Randy Mueller would remain as GM, but he was not extended his contract. However, he has given complete control over personnel decisions.
In February, it was announced that Miami would play a home game against the NYG at Wembley Stadium in London, England. A week later, the Dolphins added Terry Shea as QB coach and Brad Ohrt as strength and conditioning coach. The Phins signed seven free agents early in February, among them former Oakland and San Diego LB Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, WR P.K. Sam (Yes!!) and DT Steve Fifita. The Fins also re-signed DT Vonnie Holliday (March 1st). On the same day, they released offensive linemen Seth McKinney and Bennie Anderson. They also waived WR Eric Kimble. Mueller seemed to have fun making big decisions and the following day he released DE Kevin Carter and G Jeno James. A few days later (March 5th), Mueller made many of us happy, and he decided to release QB Joey Harrington. However, he also pi$$ed a lot of people off because in the same day he also released TE Randy McMichael. As if these moves were not enough, the Dolphins dealt receiver Wes Welker to the New England Patriots for their second- and seventh-round draft picks in April. New England's second-round pick was No. 60 overall (Welcome Home Satele).
In order to replace McMichael, the Dolphins inked TE David Martin from Green Bay. The following day, Cameron and Mueller delighted the Dolfans by agreeing on a five year deal with LB Joey Porter. The Dolphins lost Sammie Morris to the Pats, and Travis Minor and Donnie Jones to the Rams. Miami also welcomed K Jay Feely and re-signed DT Keith Traylor. The Dolphins also signed DT Kevin Vickerson and re-signed FB Kyle Eckel and CB Michael Lehan.
Unfortunately, not all was good news, on March 18th, Dolfan Denny died at age 72. Denny led Miami crowds in cheers and chants in his glittering orange and aqua hat since the Dolphins' first game in 1966, starting in the stands. April came along, a much anticipated month by football fans, especially for Miami fans. Ricky Williams applied for reinstatement. Also, the dreams and thoughts of many in the Phins Nation turned to a QB who played football in South Bend, Indiana. On April 20th, the Dolphins released RB coach Bobby Williams from their coaching staff. Three days later, the Dolphins signed WR Az-Zahir Hakim and G Chris Liwienski and re-signed LS John Denney. Mueller also got a pick for K Olindo Mare and sent him to New Orleans. Before the draft, Miami signed C Johnathan Ingram and RB Ray Perkins. On April 25th, the Dolphins re-signed LB Donnie Spragan and brought in Bobby Jackson as the RB coach. On April 28th, Christmas Day. With the 9th overall pick, the Dolphins selected WR / KR / PR Ted Ginn Jr. from Ohio State University. But they did not select Brady Quinn. Many fans let Coach Cam who disappointed they were: They Booed! (I booed at them). Miami also drafted QB John Beck, BYU, C Samson Satele, Hawaii, RB Lorenzo Booker, FSU, DT Paul Soliai, Utah, FB Reagan Mauia, Hawaii, C / G Andrew Mormino, Central Michigan, LB Kelvin Smith, Syracuse, P Brandon Fields, MSU, and DE Abraham Wright, Colorado.
On April 30th, two Dolphins players had surgery, DT Keith Traylor and OT Anthony Alabi both underwent arthroscopic procedures. In May, Ted Ginn Jr. changed his jersey number from #11 to #19 to honour his dad, P.K. Sam has been leaving his mark in NFL Europa, Jason Taylor and Renaldo Hill were honoured by the team, Andre Goodman had surgery in his shoulder (again), Mueller unretired #12 to honour Governor Crist (He called Griese in NC, it’s all good). We have also picked CB Derrick Johnson from waivers, and signed the sons of Hall of Fame athletes. The HOFAs: WR James Lofton and NBA legend Moses Malone. The college free agents: S David Lofton and WR Michael Malone. Last but not least, the team signed S Yeremiah Bell to a 1 year deal.
In the midst of all that has happened, many things still have not happened. Culpepper has not left, Green has not been traded (although the trade is imminent since March), Lemon has not signed his tendered contract and Ricky has not smoked weed for many years. It is funny because while he has stated this to Terrell Davis and all his fans, the NFL has stated otherwise. I am not sure if I should report this incident as something that happened or did not happen. However, what will not happen is seeing Ricky playing for the Dolphins again.
So many things have happened in the off-season, some big additions, and some great losses. What do you think are the greatest improvements and the greatest setbacks for this off-season? How many other things besides training camp, can we look forward to? How would you rate the off-season so far?

I think there are far too many questions that can't be resolved until at least the start of the season. Here are some of my biggest question marks:

• The offensive line. The FO did a nice job of addressing the interior of the line in the draft, but did nothing in the draft and next to nothing in FA with left tackle situation. Anthony Alabi looked woefully unprepared in his playing time last season and I was surprised to hear Coach Cameron say after the draft that Vernon Carey would be switching to left tackle. Saban tried that in 2005 with some less than spectacular results. I think L.J. Shelton should be able to switch to right tackle without much difficulty. He is strong and a great run blocker, so hopefully his limitations in pass protection can be hidden a bit on the right side. All this being said, we probably won't know until November how good a job the front office did addressing (or not addressing) the problems on the offensive line.

• The "Ted Ginn, Jr./Brady Quinn/John Beck" scenario. Many Dolphins fans have come to accept John Beck as the next great QB in Miami. Coach Cameron does have a lot to work with in this young man (great character and leadership, good arm and accuracy, etc.). Personally, I think the front office made a mistake in passing on Brady Quinn. This is not a knock on Ted Ginn or John Beck. I really do like both of them and would have been thrilled with either/or both of their selections had Brady Quinn not been available. I have watched every game Brady Quinn played in at Notre Dame and am very impressed with the improvement he showed every year. I am convinced he will become a very good pro quarterback in several years. Ted Ginn, Jr. should give this team the kind of electricity we haven't had on offense for well over fifteen years. He will also be the best return man in Miami since Fulton Walker. Ginn does need work on becoming a polished WR, but as many say, "you can't teach speed". Ginn has the kind of speed to scare defenses. Even though I like John Beck, he is a bit of an enigma. Opinions vary on him from a potential franchise QB to a Ty Detmer type career West Coast offense backup. Honestly, I believe he will fall somewhere in the middle of those two. I don't think John Beck will ever be a franchise QB, but he has a good chance to become a solid QB that makes good decisions with the football. As much as we Dolphins fans want to control the future, none of us know whether or not Randy Mueller and Cam Cameron made the right decisions on draft day. Hopefully, for the sake of our beloved franchise, they did.

• Cornerbacks. This was another position that the Dolphins did next to nothing with in the offseason (aside from moving Jason Allen to corner and letting Travis Daniels and Andre Goodman swap jersey numbers). Our corners last year showed a severe deficiency in being able to make plays on the ball (no Dolphins corner had more than 1 INT last year). The good news is that Travis Daniels should be completely healthy. The bad news is that Andre Goodman recently had surgery and we will have to see how that affects his play during camp and the season. If our corners can start to make plays on the ball, then maybe the front office was justified by not making any moves in FA and the draft. Unfortunately, I believe CB is going to be one of our biggest needs going into the 2008 offseason and draft.

So in summary, I know the Dolphins had a million problems and only so many draft picks and money under the cap to solve them. This isn't a one year fix. The best that we can hope for is that Cam and Randy made good decisions with the draft picks and free agents we brought on board. Most of the decisions they made seemed good to me, but only time will tell.

Go Phins!

 

[PhinCanuck]

Cornerbacks. This was another position that the Dolphins did next to nothing with in the offseason (aside from moving Jason Allen to corner and letting Travis Daniels and Andre Goodman swap jersey numbers). Our corners last year showed a severe deficiency in being able to make plays on the ball (no Dolphins corner had more than 1 INT last year). The good news is that Travis Daniels should be completely healthy. The bad news is that Andre Goodman recently had surgery and we will have to see how that affects his play during camp and the season. If our corners can start to make plays on the ball, then maybe the front office was justified by not making any moves in FA and the draft. Unfortunately, I believe CB is going to be one of our biggest needs going into the 2008 offseason and draft.
So in summary, I know the Dolphins had a million problems and only so many draft picks and money under the cap to solve them. This isn't a one year fix. The best that we can hope for is that Cam and Randy made good decisions with the draft picks and free agents we brought on board. Most of the decisions they made seemed good to me, but only time will tell.

Go Phins!

I am not going to get into the draft thing again. I agree with you about the OL. I truly hope that Vernon Carey takes pride and excels at LT. With regard to the CB, I think the whole secondary needs to excel. Renaldo Hill is underrated. He should perform well. With Yeremiah Bell starting the whole season, it should help our DBs to go to the next level. I am also confident in Jason Allen as CB, and hopeful about Travis Daniels, as long as he is healthy. Yet, I am worried about Goodman's health. I know it has been say before but with the Pat's WRs, we really need some more help at CB.

 

[23EmilioVasquez]

think our draft was better than people say
dont like we lost Randy Mcmicheals and jeno james
I love tat we brought Joey Porter
I think Ted and Lorenzo bring something to our Offence that we did not have
We wont be able to tell where we really messed up untill the season is at least 4 weeks in

 

[Phanatical]

I'm just as happy aboout what isn't here anymore as I am about whats new.

Ha ha. Yep, that's for sure, addition by subtraction. Bye bye!!!!!

 

[baddraft07]

there are lots of homers here...wait til the season starts..you think we are still upset over the rd1 picks ...........we did horrible D- and you will run out of excuses about 1-7

 

[dolpns13]

there are lots of homers here...wait til the season starts..you think we are still upset over the rd1 picks ...........we did horrible D- and you will run out of excuses about 1-7

Absolutely right...We did horrible...We filled all of our needs and drafted playmakers...Wow, how much worse can it get..

Go away, bro

 

[Jaz]

Defence is stronger and finally we have some speed. good i think give it a B

 

[feelthepain]

I think there are far too many questions that can't be resolved until at least the start of the season. Here are some of my biggest question marks:

• The offensive line. The FO did a nice job of addressing the interior of the line in the draft, but did nothing in the draft and next to nothing in FA with left tackle situation. Anthony Alabi looked woefully unprepared in his playing time last season and I was surprised to hear Coach Cameron say after the draft that Vernon Carey would be switching to left tackle. Saban tried that in 2005 with some less than spectacular results. I think L.J. Shelton should be able to switch to right tackle without much difficulty. He is strong and a great run blocker, so hopefully his limitations in pass protection can be hidden a bit on the right side. All this being said, we probably won't know until November how good a job the front office did addressing (or not addressing) the problems on the offensive line.

Go Phins!

Houck made a statement that if Miami didn't have McIntosh last year Carey was ready to make the move then to LT. Vernon Carey said he had issues with the coaching staff his first year and the veteran Olinemen weren't helpful in his development at all his first year in Miami slowing his progress. Given Houcks ability to coach and Careys progression I'm more then fine with the move. I will not predict this move a success, but I won't lose sleep over the decision either. I love the additions to the interior of the Oline. I love Hadnots attitude Samson Satele and Drew Mormino although Drew may not be a starter anytime soon ya never know who's going to step up at the next level. Both known for their mean streaks, basically a lot more attitude on the Oline.

I also believe the Olines success is every bit as contingent on the system being run, as the talent. You want proof? Just look at the success the Chargers had with several rookies the last few years. They were successful because the system works when run properly. I think there will be a learning curve, but I think it will be a short curve because of the hard work Cam and Randy put into drafting players with the attributes and good character we added through the draft and FA. The Only player we drafted with the slightest knock on their character, was 4th round DT Paul Soliai and Joey Porters offseason skirmish was hardly an issue.

The "Ted Ginn, Jr./Brady Quinn/John Beck" scenario. Many Dolphins fans have come to accept John Beck as the next great QB in Miami. Coach Cameron does have a lot to work with in this young man (great character and leadership, good arm and accuracy, etc.). Personally, I think the front office made a mistake in passing on Brady Quinn. This is not a knock on Ted Ginn or John Beck. I really do like both of them and would have been thrilled with either/or both of their selections had Brady Quinn not been available. I have watched every game Brady Quinn played in at Notre Dame and am very impressed with the improvement he showed every year. I am convinced he will become a very good pro quarterback in several years. Ted Ginn, Jr. should give this team the kind of electricity we haven't had on offense for well over fifteen years. He will also be the best return man in Miami since Fulton Walker. Ginn does need work on becoming a polished WR, but as many say, "you can't teach speed". Ginn has the kind of speed to scare defenses. Even though I like John Beck, he is a bit of an enigma. Opinions vary on him from a potential franchise QB to a Ty Detmer type career West Coast offense backup. Honestly, I believe he will fall somewhere in the middle of those two. I don't think John Beck will ever be a franchise QB, but he has a good chance to become a solid QB that makes good decisions with the football. As much as we Dolphins fans want to control the future, none of us know whether or not Randy Mueller and Cam Cameron made the right decisions on draft day. Hopefully, for the sake of our beloved franchise, they did.

Lets be honest here, the only reason the "fans have come to accept Beck" is because we were dupped into the hype that was Brady Quinn, most of us don't have time nor resources to evaluate players like the limited few on most team boards, so we have to catch what we can believing the hype. However Quinn wasn't drafted till late in the first round, if everyone was so sure about Quinns ability surely he wouldn't have fallen that far, his accuracy is his biggest issue. A big no no for a pro prospects. I think he'll have a tough time turnning around the Browns, but you never know. Also, Lets not forget who his HC/QB coach was in college. Weiss is very good at what he does and he made a huge difference in Quinns success, will that translate to the next leve?? We shall see.

Now if you look at Beck and what he's done in College his numbers were very good. He didn't play for a BCS School, but since when does the school you play for determine your success at the next level? It doesn't, so that argument is a dead one and has little bearing on any players future. Beck is smart, has good pocket presence, has very good feet, a fast release, a strong arm, tough (plays with pain) and he can make all the throws. We drafted him in the second round, it lowered the expectation and his cost against the cap.

I'm not syaing Beck will succeed and Quinn will fail or vice versa, but to think Quinn is better at this point there just isn't enough evidence to support that opinion. The best we can do is wait and see, remember Cam is a very good QB coach Beck will step into a nice situation. I don't think Clevelands Rob Chudzinski OC and Rip Scherer QB coach are the peferct situation to be going into as a rookie QB, but that's just my opinion. Bottom line is I don't think Brady Quinn is a can't miss, so to pass on him wasn't an issue for me. I will say that before the draft I too wanted Brady, but I believe in the coaching staff we have and what they think will work for this team.

Cornerbacks. This was another position that the Dolphins did next to nothing with in the offseason (aside from moving Jason Allen to corner and letting Travis Daniels and Andre Goodman swap jersey numbers). Our corners last year showed a severe deficiency in being able to make plays on the ball (no Dolphins corner had more than 1 INT last year). The good news is that Travis Daniels should be completely healthy. The bad news is that Andre Goodman recently had surgery and we will have to see how that affects his play during camp and the season. If our corners can start to make plays on the ball, then maybe the front office was justified by not making any moves in FA and the draft. Unfortunately, I believe CB is going to be one of our biggest needs going into the 2008 offseason and draft.

We finished last year 4th overall on pass defense, I think much of the secondarys success was due to the Dlines pressure, nonetheless our Corners and DB's were very good, they just didn't make the "Big Plays". Lets not forget teams weren't gonna run the ball on us so they had no choice but to throw the ball. We weren't the Bills or Jets where teams would just run the ball down our throats giving the seconadary a better ranking then they deserve. Teams tried throwing the ball on Miami, but our speed on D made life tough for most teams last year. However lets examine how diffacult the schemes Saban was using. It's tough enough to play this game just playing the player, much less having to interpret what each play means before the snap of the ball.

I think Dom Capers will simplyfy things allowing the secondary to use their instincts first rather then thinking first. I think Saban left because he just didn't have what it took to coach at the NFL level. Some have it and some don't. I think the secondary improves their big play ability this year without a doubt.

Summary, I think we have a better chance to imporve in these three areas then we do to fail, simply by the fact that the pieces we lost were an imporvement (addition by subtraction). I think we will score more points this year, that alone should win us 2 more games. We'll have to wait and see what happens, but I think we are a better team. I think we finish above 500.

 

[Mile High Fin]

I'd give it an A-

 

[Larry Little]

Overall, I'd give this offseason a B. I think there were some key role-players added in the draft and through free agency, but there were two key positions that were not addressed at all... Left Offensive Tackle and Cornerback. That's not necessarily the fault of the front office. I think when the Phins had an opportunity, they made the most of it every time... there were simply no LTs or CBs there.

With the competition out there, teams need to be patient. You can't reach for players based on need... so, the Phins did what they could. It's an ongoing process, and I don't expect it to happen overnight.

On a positive note, they grabbed one heckuva threat at WR, and a QB that in a year or so could turn out to be the guy that turns this offense around 180 degrees. We really needed help at both of those positions... especially QB. I think the Beck pick will turn out to be a homerun... but, you can never be 100% sure about anyone until you see it on the field.