1. Let's be honest, last night's game was about as expected.
2. I like how Carolina is constructed. They had fired their GM, Dave Gettleman. I think he has a good eye for building a team. I'd be interested in him, but he is abrasive. He supposedly has horrible bed side manor with players, and they detested him. He got rid of Josh Norman without compensation in his prime and with bizarre timing where he did not have a replacement. Franchise legend Steve Smith was disrespected on his way out. But, as far as building a roster, he'd be a massive upgrade. I like the physical team he has built. Stud linebackers. We treat linebacker as an afterthought.
3. Ju'Wuan James missing at right tackle was a non-issue and that is telling. I didn't notice any bit of a damn difference without him. It's not moving the needle there unless you have some hapless sad sack like Clabo or some of the cast offs we had there prior to James. I don't see him as worth $9 M. In a salary cap regime, you can use that money more wisely. If he takes 5 years for $32 million I'd keep him. That's probably more realistic. If not, Eric Smith (who has some nasty to him) and Jesse Davis could compete for right tackle and backup.
4. Young corners usually take time to develop. It's not a position where you normally walk in and excel right away. Xavien Howard is not a finished product yet. He's taking his lumps now, but let's see how he improves.
5. Cordrea Tankerlsey, however, has been a big surprise. I like how competitive he is. He looks really good out there with tight coverage, good hips, competitive attitude, and willingness to tackle.
6. Julius Thomas is a straight up stiff. He can't move laterally or with quickness at all and hence lacks athleticism.
7. Speaking of poor agility, Kiko played better earlier in the season, but that was just a terrible performance. Holy smokes was that bad football in every way imaginable. He couldn't cover, runners blew by him like he was not there, etc. The Pats will put a bullseye on Kiko. They will try to get Burkhead or another RB or TE on him all day unless we change it up. Overall, our underneath coverage is awful.
8. TJ McDonald was cracking heads all over the place. I like the toughness and physicality he brought.
9. I don't care what hollow stats Jay Cutler had. He missed open targets and was wild.
10. The whole argument that football players cannot function in Miami because it is a party place and has hot women is laughable. Tell that to Manny Fernandez and his buddies. The fact is, if you love football, you thrive anywhere. Ed Reed, Michael Irvin, Ray Lewis, these types of winners would have a killer instinct no matter where they are. Miami may need more of those guys. It's not related to how nice South Florida is.
11. Reshad Jones was not as bad as Kiko, but we needed more out of him. Where the hell was he on some of those long runs?
12. The defensive ends looked poor against the run too.
13. Cam Wake has been asleep for awhile. You have to take advantage of that right tackle.
14. Ted Larsen may have been an upgrade but it's not as if he's some stud. He seemed to help stabilize Tunsil. As disappointing as Tunsil is, he did have a nice block on the Drake run. Gase has vouched for Tunsil in the sense that Tunsil wants to be good. Let's hope that's right. Realistically, let's see if he can get stronger in the off season and if we see improvement at LT from him. I think we focus on upgrading over Bushrod and Pouncey at the least.
15. Man, is Drake explosive. The guy has a hell of a burst. His quick acceleration is something else.
16. l like Landry, but his production is not commensurate with top 5 receiver money. If he wants that, we will need another solution in the middle of the field. Maybe a Mark Andrews in the draft.
17. I do think we need to find Parker and Stills more. Parker is maligned but he can make plays. Stills is really slippery. This is a missed opportunity. Instead of all these high volume screens, let these guys make more plays, early and often. Too often we look at these guys in garbage time. The stats don't support it but we can have a scary receiver corps that can give defenses fits.
18. Bobby McCain is underappreciated. You don't have a boundary to protect you when you are covering the slot. He's exposed on all sides and trying to guard quick, usually savvy guys. He's improving and is doing a tough job. People only notice him when he gets beat. He's out there competing.
19. This team needs an infusion of toughness at interior offensive line and linebacker, a legit TE, an alpha running back, etc. This will require multiple drafts even if they hit. We need to stop wasting money and cap room on free agents who become sedentary after they get paid.
