Dolfndude
Practice Squad
Well now that the "24 Hour Rule" has allowed me to calm down from Sundays loss, I thought I would look at the fins positives/negatives through the first 4 games.
QB- Frerotte has been Fiedler, maddeningly incosistent. But by far the best option the fins have. GRADE C
HB- Ronnie Brown is quickly becoming my favorite player. Strong and elusive seems to be finding his stride. Sammy Morris has played very well in limited action. It's a shame that his role will be eliminated with Ricky's return. Minor has been Minor. GRADE B+
FB- Heath Evans has been Rob Konrad with a little better lead blocking. He has given the fins just about as much offense. Still for the most part an afterthought.GRADE C
TE- Randy McMichael was a monster the first couple of games, but 2 catches in the last 2 games is not acceptable (even if they were TDs). If this guy thinks he is in the Gates/Gonzalez category he must not dissapear. The taunting penalty was uncalled for. Lo Diamond has been a dissapointment IMHO, seems to have trouble getting open. In his defense he is left in for protection most of the time. I think the first time I saw Will Heller this season was on the TD catch. GRADE B
WR- Is it just me or is Chris Chambers never going to get over the hump. Every year is his "breakout year" but I still see the same problems with him. He doesn't fight for the ball and runs incosistent patterns. He's not even the top option in the Red Zone anymore. Marty Booker has played fairly well but has trouble getting seperation on a consistent basis. The Fins are still a team without a true #1 WR. David Boston has been a non-factor. One of the most pleasent surprises has been Wes Welkers emergence on offense, he is fierce and detrmined. Maybe some of that will rub off on Chambers. GRADE B-
LT- Damion McIntosh has surpassed my hopeful expectations. Yes he still has issues with false start penalties, but he has protected Gus's blindside extremely well and RB's best runs are behind Damion and Jeno James. Very impressed with Damion thus far. GRADE B+
LG - Jeno James has been fantastic. Solid in both pass and run blocking, this is what we expected last year. GRADE A
C - How good is it that we are 4 games into the season and we haven't seen a single thread about how McKinney needs to be cut. Surprisingly solid thus far, but still struggles with the mammoth DT's. GRADE B-
RG - Rex Hadnot has struggled a little more than his linemates IMO. I believe he leads the team in penalties and missed blocks. Rex has got to start picking his game up. GRADE D
RT - Good pass protection from the Carey/McDougle combo but way to many penalties and inconsistent run blocking from these roadgraders. I believe Carey has lost his starting job for now. GRADE C+
Defense-
OE- Jason Taylor has been as good as advertised, without question the best player on the team. Some very stupid offside penalties in every game thus far though have really hurt. GRADE B+
LE- Vonnie Holiday has been a good addition to the front seven, good against the run and a nice pass rush. Matt Roth has been a dissapointment thus far.
GRADE B
NT- Keith Traylor is an unmovable object. The main reason IMO our goal line defense is better than I've ever seen. What he's done Zach can not be praised enough. Jeff Zgonnia has played well and came up huge in the panther game with the batted passes. GRADE A+
RE - Kevin Carter has brught strength and toughness to our our defense, another tremendous runstuffer. David Bowens has been a non-factor surprisingly. GRADE B
ROLB - Channing Crowder has blended in nicely with our D. However he seems to have been less of a factor as the season has progressed. I still believe this guy will be a force for a long time. The penalty Donnie Spragan drew on Sunday was the only noteworthy item of the season for him GRADE B-
MLB - Zach Thomas may quietly be having his finest season. Which says a lot.
GRADE A+
LOLB - Seau is still a beast stopping the run, but has lost a lot of steam in his pass rush. Coverage has been better than expected though. I don't think Eddie Moore or Jason Glenn have seen any defensive action except for maybe goalline. GRADE C
RCB- Sam Madison pisses me off every game. I know he is the fins best cover guy, but he gives the opponents 30 yds in penalties EVERY F*****G GAME. Nick has got to do something to reel this guy in. GRADE D
LCB- Travis Daniels has been an average corner thus far, considering what else we have, I'm very thankful for that. He should get better as the season goes along. GRADE C
Nickel and Dime CB's - Reggie Howard has been a pretty good blitzer thus far, unfortunately that is his only postive attribute. He's been horrible in coverage.
I have seen Eddie Jackson only briefly and it doesn't look good, but I don't have enough info to make a judgement. I thought Kiwaukee Thomas played very well Sunday in the second half, the fins may have found their nickel.GRADE D
Safeties- This is a spot that looked like real trouble in pre-season, but it has actually been a strength. Lance Schulters is playing like a pro-bowler, and Tebuckey Jones has been very active in stopping the run. I'm am not nearly as concerned with the safety position as I was. Depth is not bad with Yeremiah and Travares. Grade B+
ST- Olindo has been great, Donnie Jones has been shaky.John Denney is being mentioned way to often. Wes Welker is a tremendous weapon.
Coaching - I believe Nick Saban and staff have done an excellent job preparing this team to compete this year. But I'm dissapointed with the complete lack of discipline, and moreso with the lack of consquences for the transgressions. Best cover guy or not Sam Madison should be benched for a game or 2. Hudson Houck has done a good job so far. I think his is convincing these guys they can be a good OL. Linehans offense is putting us in positions to succeed which is truthfully all he can do. I would say something about Richard Smith, but does anyone believe it his defense?
Overall a decent 1st 4 games, I thought we would be 2-2 at this point but I certainly picked the wrong teams we would beat. I'm excited about the last 3/4 of the season. Should be a great ride!
QB- Frerotte has been Fiedler, maddeningly incosistent. But by far the best option the fins have. GRADE C
HB- Ronnie Brown is quickly becoming my favorite player. Strong and elusive seems to be finding his stride. Sammy Morris has played very well in limited action. It's a shame that his role will be eliminated with Ricky's return. Minor has been Minor. GRADE B+
FB- Heath Evans has been Rob Konrad with a little better lead blocking. He has given the fins just about as much offense. Still for the most part an afterthought.GRADE C
TE- Randy McMichael was a monster the first couple of games, but 2 catches in the last 2 games is not acceptable (even if they were TDs). If this guy thinks he is in the Gates/Gonzalez category he must not dissapear. The taunting penalty was uncalled for. Lo Diamond has been a dissapointment IMHO, seems to have trouble getting open. In his defense he is left in for protection most of the time. I think the first time I saw Will Heller this season was on the TD catch. GRADE B
WR- Is it just me or is Chris Chambers never going to get over the hump. Every year is his "breakout year" but I still see the same problems with him. He doesn't fight for the ball and runs incosistent patterns. He's not even the top option in the Red Zone anymore. Marty Booker has played fairly well but has trouble getting seperation on a consistent basis. The Fins are still a team without a true #1 WR. David Boston has been a non-factor. One of the most pleasent surprises has been Wes Welkers emergence on offense, he is fierce and detrmined. Maybe some of that will rub off on Chambers. GRADE B-
LT- Damion McIntosh has surpassed my hopeful expectations. Yes he still has issues with false start penalties, but he has protected Gus's blindside extremely well and RB's best runs are behind Damion and Jeno James. Very impressed with Damion thus far. GRADE B+
LG - Jeno James has been fantastic. Solid in both pass and run blocking, this is what we expected last year. GRADE A
C - How good is it that we are 4 games into the season and we haven't seen a single thread about how McKinney needs to be cut. Surprisingly solid thus far, but still struggles with the mammoth DT's. GRADE B-
RG - Rex Hadnot has struggled a little more than his linemates IMO. I believe he leads the team in penalties and missed blocks. Rex has got to start picking his game up. GRADE D
RT - Good pass protection from the Carey/McDougle combo but way to many penalties and inconsistent run blocking from these roadgraders. I believe Carey has lost his starting job for now. GRADE C+
Defense-
OE- Jason Taylor has been as good as advertised, without question the best player on the team. Some very stupid offside penalties in every game thus far though have really hurt. GRADE B+
LE- Vonnie Holiday has been a good addition to the front seven, good against the run and a nice pass rush. Matt Roth has been a dissapointment thus far.
GRADE B
NT- Keith Traylor is an unmovable object. The main reason IMO our goal line defense is better than I've ever seen. What he's done Zach can not be praised enough. Jeff Zgonnia has played well and came up huge in the panther game with the batted passes. GRADE A+
RE - Kevin Carter has brught strength and toughness to our our defense, another tremendous runstuffer. David Bowens has been a non-factor surprisingly. GRADE B
ROLB - Channing Crowder has blended in nicely with our D. However he seems to have been less of a factor as the season has progressed. I still believe this guy will be a force for a long time. The penalty Donnie Spragan drew on Sunday was the only noteworthy item of the season for him GRADE B-
MLB - Zach Thomas may quietly be having his finest season. Which says a lot.
GRADE A+
LOLB - Seau is still a beast stopping the run, but has lost a lot of steam in his pass rush. Coverage has been better than expected though. I don't think Eddie Moore or Jason Glenn have seen any defensive action except for maybe goalline. GRADE C
RCB- Sam Madison pisses me off every game. I know he is the fins best cover guy, but he gives the opponents 30 yds in penalties EVERY F*****G GAME. Nick has got to do something to reel this guy in. GRADE D
LCB- Travis Daniels has been an average corner thus far, considering what else we have, I'm very thankful for that. He should get better as the season goes along. GRADE C
Nickel and Dime CB's - Reggie Howard has been a pretty good blitzer thus far, unfortunately that is his only postive attribute. He's been horrible in coverage.
I have seen Eddie Jackson only briefly and it doesn't look good, but I don't have enough info to make a judgement. I thought Kiwaukee Thomas played very well Sunday in the second half, the fins may have found their nickel.GRADE D
Safeties- This is a spot that looked like real trouble in pre-season, but it has actually been a strength. Lance Schulters is playing like a pro-bowler, and Tebuckey Jones has been very active in stopping the run. I'm am not nearly as concerned with the safety position as I was. Depth is not bad with Yeremiah and Travares. Grade B+
ST- Olindo has been great, Donnie Jones has been shaky.John Denney is being mentioned way to often. Wes Welker is a tremendous weapon.
Coaching - I believe Nick Saban and staff have done an excellent job preparing this team to compete this year. But I'm dissapointed with the complete lack of discipline, and moreso with the lack of consquences for the transgressions. Best cover guy or not Sam Madison should be benched for a game or 2. Hudson Houck has done a good job so far. I think his is convincing these guys they can be a good OL. Linehans offense is putting us in positions to succeed which is truthfully all he can do. I would say something about Richard Smith, but does anyone believe it his defense?
Overall a decent 1st 4 games, I thought we would be 2-2 at this point but I certainly picked the wrong teams we would beat. I'm excited about the last 3/4 of the season. Should be a great ride!
