colmax
Seasoned Veteran
So here we are, awaiting the highly anticipated opening of Miami Dolphins' training camp set for tomorrow. From the naysayers to the "I knew he would sign before training camp-ers", we are all........waiting. We have been waiting since 1985. Every year (and I mean every year!), we Dolphin fans have the knack for bragging to our fellow football brethren about how "This year is year of the dolphin". Well, friends, this may just be the year! And I am as giddy as a schoolgirl who just found out that her perspective boyfriend checkmarked "maybe" in the note she had sent to him earlier in recess....or something like that. Not a good analogy, but in today's NFL, teams can make quick turnarounds, and Miami certainly fits the bill: A new coach can equate to a winning season; hence, the giddiness. The UN Convention on Migratory Species declared 2007: The Year of the Dolphin. Destiny? 2006 was the Year of the Turtle, and things were slow. So, maybe? Unfortunately, this is the second HC in three years for Miami. Nick Saban did not do it, although he did leave us all with fond memories. Shall I?
[youtube]QiM2U9AiQRM [/youtube][youtube]rIjFNLkN4-E[/youtube]
Whether or not you like Cam Cameron, you have to admit that he seems to be working hard in trying to quickly turn this team around. In just one draft, he has infused this team with potential starters for not only this year, but the future. I mean, that's the point of the draft, right? Nick Saban could not get over his SEC man-crush, and generally went with the way of the veteran as the starter. Surprisingly, Miami did not draft one player out of the SEC in 2007, although, we do have our fair share of Somoan players. Can you say, "Hawaii Five-O"? In this year's draft alone, Miami has three TC starters: Teddy Ginn, Jr. (PR/KR), Sam Satele (C), and Brandon Fields (P); with Drew Mormino vyeing for a starting position, Lorenzo Booker coming in on 3rd downs, and Paul Soliai minding his gaps (especially since the Fred Evans debacle); Miami has young talent! Do you see the pattern? From the Wanny "WTF?" draft era, to Nicky's "so-so, a-ight, YTBD" era, to Cam's "Damn! How many rookies are starting?" era, there seems to be a progression in talent evaluation. Add John Beck to the mix and I feel like Frank-the-Tank bonging cheap swill in Old School: "Once it hits your lips, it's soooo good!"
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Though the year is looking good pre-camp, the games are meant to be played. There are a looming questions with this team, but what team in the NFL does not have them? I mean, just looking at the 'Top 3', there are questions: Does the Randy Moss-Wes Welker-Adalius Thomas experiment work? Do the Colts have what it take since losing several key players this offseason? New coaching, new times in San Diego?
We're not alone, but do have more questions than others:
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Is Green money?
Yes. Green brings the most stability to the most important position on the field since the days of Danny. So what that he is 37 years old and suffered a horrific concussion last year? It was a freak incident and he has had no previous history of being concussed. So please disregard the JT "scrambled eggs" comment. Green has fully recovered. I do not even have concerns with him being gun-shy. Green is over it and is excited to start a new era in Miami. Trent fits the system perfectly and knows it since his days in Washington. His only issue (if any) will be terminology. I think Green has already established himself in the lockeroom and will continue to gain the respect of his teammates once training camp begins. He provides solid leadership at a position that has had its lackluster moments in years recent. Training camp will help with chemistry with the receiving corps. My only worry is that the offense will take a little time to sync before becoming efficient and effective. This means growing pains during the regular season. But Green does not worry me at all.
Does Brown deliver this year?
Maybe. He showed up overweight in the OTAs which sparked a firing of running backs coach Bobby Williams. I question his offseason training regiment. Serena Williams and cheeseburgers ain't cutting it! Cam brought in Cory Schlesinger to deliver the big blocks against opposing LBs (for which he has an affinity). Brown will not win a footrace, but is sneaky slippery, and can carry the workload, or several opposing players. He will have to do this early in the season because the timing between QB and receiver will be a little off at the beginning. Once that is established, I think his carries will taper just a little to save him for the latter part of the year. He has all of the makings of a 1400+ yard/10 td running back. We will just have to see if he is committed.
O-line? Oh my....
This issue has haunted us longer than casts from the "I know what you did last summer" series. The highly tauted Hudson Houck has worked wonders since his days with the LA Rams (Currently the St. Louis Rams for some of you young bucks), but has had his hands full (of what, we do not know) since coming to sunny South Florida in '05. Is it the talent or coaching? Who knows, but Miami's O-lineman have been playing musical chairs this offseason and someone is going to be left without a chair. Let's take a look at what has happened from left to right:
LT - Vernon Carey. Formerly Miami's solid RT until being moved this offseason. Played LT in college.
LG - Chris Liwienski. A former starter. His number of starts have declined since '05. Started only 6 games last year with Arizona. Also plays T.
C - Samson Satele. Rookie. Played in a pass-happy offense at Hawaii. May have issues with run-blocking. Has experience at C, G, and T.
RG - Rex Hadnot. Former C. Bigger and less athletic than Cam wanted at C position, so moved to RG. Played RG as a rookie.
RT - L.J. Shelton. LT and RG last year. Moving to RT where he is more comfortable.
Miami also picked up T Mike Rosenthal and G Dan Stevenson this offseason. T Anthony Alabi is still recovering from injury and may be on the cutting block if he does not heal quickly. Rookie G Drew Mormino has taken snaps at both G positions. Promising T Joe Toledo is still recovering from injury and may not play for the 2nd straight season. One thing Miami lacks is depth at the T spots because of injuries, but luckily, there are a few players who can play different positions in case of emergency.
So what do I think? It has potential. Again, there will be a learning curve at the beginning of the season, but this line could work. The biggest question marks are at C and LG. And if those two positions do not work, insert CAN O' WORMS <here>. Sam Satele will have his growing pains at C, and I would not be surprised to see Hadnot replace him at some point in the season. Chris Liwienski = ?, I do not know much about him, but would not be surprised if he ends up with splinters in his jock strap. I think Vernon Carey is up to the challenge and will hold his own. IF Hadnot is moved, Mormino will probably replace him. This will be interesting, and probably the reason Cam is giving him reps at RG. But Shelton plays RG, too! See where I'm going with this? These guys have to gel sooner than later or else this line will be starting from scratch mid-season, which spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R.
In saying this, I am confident Houck will work his magic. Cam obviously has no issue in starting a rookie O-lineman. Will the experiment work again? Time will tell, but this line will be the thing to watch in TC and in preseason. This line has to work for Miami's offense to have a successful year!
All-in-all, I am as excited as I've ever been at the beginning of the season! I think the Ted Ginn experiment will be fun to watch. I am looking forward to Beck's preseason games. And I think the secondary could surprise this year, especially with the almost inevitable extra heat QBs are going to feel. Jason Allen seems poised to prove he was worth it, and Yeremiah Bell is FINALLY the starter AND in a contract year. Good stuff. I hope everyone is as excited as I am!!! I think it all starts with the O-line. If this O-line falls somewhere between decent and good, 2007 may just be the Year of the Dolphin.....
[youtube]QiM2U9AiQRM [/youtube][youtube]rIjFNLkN4-E[/youtube]
Whether or not you like Cam Cameron, you have to admit that he seems to be working hard in trying to quickly turn this team around. In just one draft, he has infused this team with potential starters for not only this year, but the future. I mean, that's the point of the draft, right? Nick Saban could not get over his SEC man-crush, and generally went with the way of the veteran as the starter. Surprisingly, Miami did not draft one player out of the SEC in 2007, although, we do have our fair share of Somoan players. Can you say, "Hawaii Five-O"? In this year's draft alone, Miami has three TC starters: Teddy Ginn, Jr. (PR/KR), Sam Satele (C), and Brandon Fields (P); with Drew Mormino vyeing for a starting position, Lorenzo Booker coming in on 3rd downs, and Paul Soliai minding his gaps (especially since the Fred Evans debacle); Miami has young talent! Do you see the pattern? From the Wanny "WTF?" draft era, to Nicky's "so-so, a-ight, YTBD" era, to Cam's "Damn! How many rookies are starting?" era, there seems to be a progression in talent evaluation. Add John Beck to the mix and I feel like Frank-the-Tank bonging cheap swill in Old School: "Once it hits your lips, it's soooo good!"
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Though the year is looking good pre-camp, the games are meant to be played. There are a looming questions with this team, but what team in the NFL does not have them? I mean, just looking at the 'Top 3', there are questions: Does the Randy Moss-Wes Welker-Adalius Thomas experiment work? Do the Colts have what it take since losing several key players this offseason? New coaching, new times in San Diego?
We're not alone, but do have more questions than others:
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Is Green money?
Yes. Green brings the most stability to the most important position on the field since the days of Danny. So what that he is 37 years old and suffered a horrific concussion last year? It was a freak incident and he has had no previous history of being concussed. So please disregard the JT "scrambled eggs" comment. Green has fully recovered. I do not even have concerns with him being gun-shy. Green is over it and is excited to start a new era in Miami. Trent fits the system perfectly and knows it since his days in Washington. His only issue (if any) will be terminology. I think Green has already established himself in the lockeroom and will continue to gain the respect of his teammates once training camp begins. He provides solid leadership at a position that has had its lackluster moments in years recent. Training camp will help with chemistry with the receiving corps. My only worry is that the offense will take a little time to sync before becoming efficient and effective. This means growing pains during the regular season. But Green does not worry me at all.
Does Brown deliver this year?
Maybe. He showed up overweight in the OTAs which sparked a firing of running backs coach Bobby Williams. I question his offseason training regiment. Serena Williams and cheeseburgers ain't cutting it! Cam brought in Cory Schlesinger to deliver the big blocks against opposing LBs (for which he has an affinity). Brown will not win a footrace, but is sneaky slippery, and can carry the workload, or several opposing players. He will have to do this early in the season because the timing between QB and receiver will be a little off at the beginning. Once that is established, I think his carries will taper just a little to save him for the latter part of the year. He has all of the makings of a 1400+ yard/10 td running back. We will just have to see if he is committed.
O-line? Oh my....
This issue has haunted us longer than casts from the "I know what you did last summer" series. The highly tauted Hudson Houck has worked wonders since his days with the LA Rams (Currently the St. Louis Rams for some of you young bucks), but has had his hands full (of what, we do not know) since coming to sunny South Florida in '05. Is it the talent or coaching? Who knows, but Miami's O-lineman have been playing musical chairs this offseason and someone is going to be left without a chair. Let's take a look at what has happened from left to right:
LT - Vernon Carey. Formerly Miami's solid RT until being moved this offseason. Played LT in college.
LG - Chris Liwienski. A former starter. His number of starts have declined since '05. Started only 6 games last year with Arizona. Also plays T.
C - Samson Satele. Rookie. Played in a pass-happy offense at Hawaii. May have issues with run-blocking. Has experience at C, G, and T.
RG - Rex Hadnot. Former C. Bigger and less athletic than Cam wanted at C position, so moved to RG. Played RG as a rookie.
RT - L.J. Shelton. LT and RG last year. Moving to RT where he is more comfortable.
Miami also picked up T Mike Rosenthal and G Dan Stevenson this offseason. T Anthony Alabi is still recovering from injury and may be on the cutting block if he does not heal quickly. Rookie G Drew Mormino has taken snaps at both G positions. Promising T Joe Toledo is still recovering from injury and may not play for the 2nd straight season. One thing Miami lacks is depth at the T spots because of injuries, but luckily, there are a few players who can play different positions in case of emergency.
So what do I think? It has potential. Again, there will be a learning curve at the beginning of the season, but this line could work. The biggest question marks are at C and LG. And if those two positions do not work, insert CAN O' WORMS <here>. Sam Satele will have his growing pains at C, and I would not be surprised to see Hadnot replace him at some point in the season. Chris Liwienski = ?, I do not know much about him, but would not be surprised if he ends up with splinters in his jock strap. I think Vernon Carey is up to the challenge and will hold his own. IF Hadnot is moved, Mormino will probably replace him. This will be interesting, and probably the reason Cam is giving him reps at RG. But Shelton plays RG, too! See where I'm going with this? These guys have to gel sooner than later or else this line will be starting from scratch mid-season, which spells D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R.
In saying this, I am confident Houck will work his magic. Cam obviously has no issue in starting a rookie O-lineman. Will the experiment work again? Time will tell, but this line will be the thing to watch in TC and in preseason. This line has to work for Miami's offense to have a successful year!
All-in-all, I am as excited as I've ever been at the beginning of the season! I think the Ted Ginn experiment will be fun to watch. I am looking forward to Beck's preseason games. And I think the secondary could surprise this year, especially with the almost inevitable extra heat QBs are going to feel. Jason Allen seems poised to prove he was worth it, and Yeremiah Bell is FINALLY the starter AND in a contract year. Good stuff. I hope everyone is as excited as I am!!! I think it all starts with the O-line. If this O-line falls somewhere between decent and good, 2007 may just be the Year of the Dolphin.....