2018 and Beyond!

[BigNastyFish]

For what it's worth -- which is very Larry Little -- my opinion gear is this:

I believe our offensive suffered significantly due to the absence of Thill's wheels and specifically his ability to get chunk yards with his feet. Of course, his rollout mobility, run threat and passing "efficiency" were MIA as well.

As football is played now, and for the indefinite future (IMO), you need a kid with legit athletic chops handling the pig. Sure, if another rock chucker like Marino lands in your lap -- grab that rascal!

But the college game is not focused on developing classic pocket passers --- and I see no evidence that will change. So build your program based on the readily available talent!

>>> and please --- don't go fishin' for a marlin in the North New River Canal!

Hence, the rather schizo way the "Dolphin org" entered TC with no legit athletic QB behind a rather "questionable" Thill -- coupled with his loss and veal Cutler signing -- tells me Gase lacks the forward vision to see "one pair of undies is insufficient for an extended road trip!"

Beyond that...bottom line. If (???) we get "lucky" and Ryan comes back with the same core athletic chops and can overcome missing 1.5 seasons (or thereabouts) with minimal big-time QB experience in his backpack -- and we play a certifiably weak schedule -- and we get significant breaks along the way -- yea, maybe we can challenge for a 1st round playoff game (yippie!) and then...

bye bye!

Seriously. I do not get the impression there's a coherent plan being consistently (methodically) executed by this org...just a bunch of "reactions" and nerve impulses.

For me -- as long as Ross is at the helm -- we're in for troubled waters.

I hope I am wrong about Ross because I frankly don't care that much anymore (as I am sure thousands of longtime fans have left the building).

Oh yea. Don Shula was a God!

All the best in your 2018!
Know what I mean?

BNF.

 

[fin415]

For what it's worth -- which is very Larry Little -- my opinion gear is this:
...

Hence, the rather schizo way the "Dolphin org" entered TC with no legit athletic QB behind a rather "questionable" Thill -- coupled with his loss and veal Cutler signing -- tells me Gase lacks the forward vision to see "one pair of undies is insufficient for an extended road trip!"

Seriously. I do not get the impression there's a coherent plan being consistently (methodically) executed by this org...just a bunch of "reactions" and nerve impulses.

For me -- as long as Ross is at the helm -- we're in for troubled waters.

I hope I am wrong about Ross because I frankly don't care that much anymore (as I am sure thousands of longtime fans have left the building).

Oh yea. Don Shula was a God!

All the best in your 2018!
Know what I mean?

BNF.

• Maybe you don't see the bigger picture because the team isn't sharing it with us here at Finheaven or the press?
• Don is one of the all time greats, but even with Marino, no rings. Maybe, just maybe that suggests that not only do we need great coaching, and at the least an above average QB, but a functional team with either very limited weak spots or an absolutely dominant offense or defense?

I've been a fan since the early '70's, so I'm past the "one player with be a savior" phase -- because I watched Marino and he wasn't enough. I'm willing to let our first time coach have a couple of years to become a good coach. I'm starting to see the FO in a better light too -- they still have a lot to prove, but it looks more and more like they are doing more right than wrong these days.

 

[MiamiDolfan85]

I don't like wonton soup...

 

[artdnj]

• Maybe you don't see the bigger picture because the team isn't sharing it with us here at Finheaven or the press?
• Don is one of the all time greats, but even with Marino, no rings. Maybe, just maybe that suggests that not only do we need great coaching, and at the least an above average QB, but a functional team with either very limited weak spots or an absolutely dominant offense or defense?

I've been a fan since the early '70's, so I'm past the "one player with be a savior" phase -- because I watched Marino and he wasn't enough. I'm willing to let our first time coach have a couple of years to become a good coach. I'm starting to see the FO in a better light too -- they still have a lot to prove, but it looks more and more like they are doing more right than wrong these days.

Interesting viewpoint. I'm not sure I have seen much in the way of progression at all with this regime, our record over the last decade even 3 years hasn't shown progress. We still need a oline, TE, Lber, Free Safety and somebody, anybody who can derail a stud tightend. We make shitty players have career games, lose games we should win and can get no consistency in any phase of the game. Even our coaches come and go yearly cause their scapegoats from being in the wrong job.

 

[Bob512]

• Maybe you don't see the bigger picture because the team isn't sharing it with us here at Finheaven or the press?
• Don is one of the all time greats, but even with Marino, no rings. Maybe, just maybe that suggests that not only do we need great coaching, and at the least an above average QB, but a functional team with either very limited weak spots or an absolutely dominant offense or defense?

I've been a fan since the early '70's, so I'm past the "one player with be a savior" phase -- because I watched Marino and he wasn't enough. I'm willing to let our first time coach have a couple of years to become a good coach. I'm starting to see the FO in a better light too -- they still have a lot to prove, but it looks more and more like they are doing more right than wrong these days.

I tend to agree, I liked the direction last year and was disappointed that we didn't do enough in the offseason to fix some of our issues (mainly linebacker). However I am still inclined to give Gase the benefit of the doubt and allow him to build this his way. He showed me enough last year, to warrant that benefit.

I get the frustration of some, but I don't think the constant "burn it down and start over" crowd has it right. We have some talent to build on, lets keeping doing that give Gase more time to right this ship.

 

[Dolph N.Fan]

This team doesn’t know what it’s doing. There is no plan they’re just doing it as the offseason goes on. They wanna reward more of their own players after a 6-10 season. Then they seem hesitate on bringing Landry back. If you overpaid for Branch and Kiko then they better overpay for Landry.

 

[Dolphins81]

A team is only as good as the backup QB. Look at the Vikings and Philly. Miami is clearly clueless and people need to boycott them. The failure with this team starts at the top. Ross needs to sell. Sure, he spends money on the team but the mother****** is clueless when it comes to hiring talent. ****, I would give Peyton a call and the GM spot over what we have. Peyton is a competitive guy who would love to win. I damn sure wouldn’t allow Gase to hire anyone from failed teams like the Bears or Bengals. Goddamn, Wade Phillips should have been brought in last year for DC. Who cares if we don’t have the players for his scheme....we don’t have the players for any scheme!

 

[royalshank]

A team is only as good as the backup QB. Look at the Vikings and Philly. Miami is clearly clueless and people need to boycott them. The failure with this team starts at the top. Ross needs to sell. Sure, he spends money on the team but the mother****** is clueless when it comes to hiring talent. ****, I would give Peyton a call and the GM spot over what we have. Peyton is a competitive guy who would love to win. I damn sure wouldn’t allow Gase to hire anyone from failed teams like the Bears or Bengals. Goddamn, Wade Phillips should have been brought in last year for DC. Who cares if we don’t have the players for his scheme....we don’t have the players for any scheme!

way too late. We are the fusion of those two loser staffs.

 

[BigNastyFish]

Maybe you don't see the bigger picture because the team isn't sharing it with us here at Finheaven or the press?

OK. That's a viable perspective. And I am 100% sure I do not see everything this org is intending behind the scenes. So all I have to access the "bigger picture" reality with is the product on the field -- and the dynamics within the organization -- including the OL coach fiasco and the Timmons episode etc. -- which are symptomatic of a bigger problem IMO.

Don is one of the all time greats, but even with Marino, no rings. Maybe, just maybe that suggests that not only do we need great coaching, and at the least an above average QB, but a functional team with either very limited weak spots or an absolutely dominant offense or defense?

I have stated a number of times that Shula squandered the greatness of Marino by never giving him the D support and complimentary running game a great championship team is (at least was) built on. But hey -- Marino was like crack! And we all know it -- at least those of us who were privileged to watch such personal greatness in real time.

Shula was building an everlasting legacy -- perhaps somewhat at the expanse of Marino (in terms of rings) but Danny proved his greatness by carrying the team for so many years. No player in the NFL was more consistently valuable than #13.

I've been a fan since the early '70's, so I'm past the "one player with be a savior" phase -- because I watched Marino and he wasn't enough. I'm willing to let our first time coach have a couple of years to become a good coach. I'm starting to see the FO in a better light too -- they still have a lot to prove, but it looks more and more like they are doing more right than wrong these days.

I'm rather skeptical regarding your conclusion. First and foremost, the inability to solve the OL riddle continues to plague this team -- and IMO the OL is fundamental to a perennial solid football squad. Beyond that -- we seem to draft and pursue talent via FA in a rather haphazard way -- not building the "team" from the inside out but somewhat akin to a triage methodology -- never really solving the core issues. And IMO missing on too many critical picks -- especially ones where we give up significant draft capital (see Carroo as an example).

Last year at this time I was (in homer fashion) believing Gase had finally solved the HC puzzle/riddle but I am rather pessimistic after the totality of this season. Sure, he could still prove to be serviceable or maybe even good, but I think he's already demonstrated the realms of "greatness" are way beyond him -- and that bums me out as a 40+ year fan.

 

[fin415]

OK. That's a viable perspective. And I am 100% sure I do not see everything this org is intending behind the scenes. So all I have to access the "bigger picture" reality with is the product on the field -- and the dynamics within the organization -- including the OL coach fiasco and the Timmons episode etc. -- which are symptomatic of a bigger problem IMO.

Functional addicts are known to be able to hide their addiction. The fact that people didn't notice doesn't surprise me at all, between being functional and the 20 hour days, 7 days a week crazy that is the NFL during the season, everyone must have some weirdness going on. I don't see how you can blame the coach for Timmons.

What I read from your response is you have a position that the Staff isn't functional and you are then blaming them for everything out of the ordinary that's happening to support your narrative. Maybe it's these out of the ordinary events that are adding the extra push to make the already stressful environment that much worse instead.

I have stated a number of times that Shula squandered the greatness of Marino by never giving him the D support and complimentary running game a great championship team is (at least was) built on. But hey -- Marino was like crack! And we all know it -- at least those of us who were privileged to watch such personal greatness in real time.

Shula was building an everlasting legacy -- perhaps somewhat at the expanse of Marino (in terms of rings) but Danny proved his greatness by carrying the team for so many years. No player in the NFL was more consistently valuable than #13.

You can't have it both ways -- Shula and Marino were GOATs -- and failures at the same time. I'll go back to what I've written here a number of times. It takes greatness across the board and a lot of luck (lack of injuries, the surprise depth player that comes into their own just in time, team peaking, etc.) to win a super bowl. When people here keep saying we have to mortgage the future in draft picks to get the next "sure thing" in the draft, all we have to do is look back to when we had the one of the best QB's ever and it wasn't enough, let alone how many 'sure things' turn out not to be.

I'm rather skeptical regarding your conclusion. First and foremost, the inability to solve the OL riddle continues to plague this team -- and IMO the OL is fundamental to a perennial solid football squad. Beyond that -- we seem to draft and pursue talent via FA in a rather haphazard way -- not building the "team" from the inside out but somewhat akin to a triage methodology -- never really solving the core issues. And IMO missing on too many critical picks -- especially ones where we give up significant draft capital (see Carroo as an example).

I'm going to suggest between injuries and a coach doing coke, high expectations might be a little bit of a reach for this year. Throw in the new OL coach getting fired and replaced suggesting that while he was an improvement, he wasn't the answer either, why are you surprised that the OL wasn't consistent? We've heard from a number of sources that Gase believes he can scheme around some amount of OL issue, which is something you want from your coach, since it would be expected to take about 3 drafts to replace the line and at the expense of other positions that need help at the same time.

You assessment of FA and giving up picks inappropriately is again fitting events to your narrative. Every FO has misses. For example, the famed talent evaluator -- if I have to cook the dinner, I should get to pick the groceries -- the Tuna himself picked Pat White. They thought the saw something they could leverage with Carroo but for reasons we don't know why, it didn't work out. Maybe the problem was he couldn't adapt to the speed of the pro game or he just needs a little more time and we'll see something this year. If they got it right, we'd be describing them as mad geniuses. If they did this every draft, you'd clearly be correct and the FO would need to go. But if it's a moon shot every now and then, I'm ok with that.

Last year at this time I was (in homer fashion) believing Gase had finally solved the HC puzzle/riddle but I am rather pessimistic after the totality of this season. Sure, he could still prove to be serviceable or maybe even good, but I think he's already demonstrated the realms of "greatness" are way beyond him -- and that bums me out as a 40+ year fan.

Last year, he managed a lot despite taking over a team in pretty bad shape. This year, he got a crap load of curveballs thrown his way and things regressed. I'm not surprised, he's a second year HC. We and the team signed up for some learning curve mistakes along the way when we hired a first time HC. The true test is not that he's prefect or manage adversity to the standards of Shula and Belichick, but did he learn and correct, and improve going forward.

That's why I'm not going to worry... yet. We can't keep firing coaches every 2 or 3 years (unless they are so clearly over their heads) if we ever expect to get back to standard set by Shula and proven still possible by Belichick.

 

[BSQ]

Many fans are turned off to the Dolphins right now. This season was a real drop kick to the nut sack. The minute we looked good for a game we'd fall apart in the next game. This was largely the fault of Jay Cutler who can't put 2 good games together to save his life. If your QB is totally inconsistent, guess what your offense is going to be like. Cutler's gone and I think we should just turn the page on last year. Ryan Tannehill is coming back and the word is that he is very close to 100%. He has stayed very close to the team the entire time he's been injured. On offense let's draft a QB to back up RT. If the QB of our dreams is there in round 1 you sprint the card up there and make the pick. What's the point of finishing 6-10 if you can't use your high draft pick to get a franchise(hopefully) QB. Many mocks have Baker Mayfield sitting there when we pick, get er done. The rest of the offense still needs some more help. Let's give Coach Washburn (new OL Coach) some elite talent to build around. If your QB isn't there and Nelson, the mammoth Guard from Notre Dame is, he's the pick. Finally, we must draft a stud TE, a kid named Troy Fumagalli, from Wisconson looked great on tape. He played a very good game against the Miami Hurricanes. This kid catches everything and he has a big catch radius on a 6'6" frame, he blocks too. He might still be there in the 3rd round, long way to go.

When the offense is dysfunctional it affects the play of the defense in a very adverse manner. The O put crazy pressure on the D all season so it's tough to issue blame. If the O keeps going 3 and out the defense is exhausted in the 4th quarter, does this surprise anybody? One good thing is that some of our young talent on defense got a Baptism by fire and the experience should help immeasurably next season. By the end of the year Charles Harris was flying around and effecting QBs, Xavien Howard looks like a future star at CB, Tank played very well for us, our young DTs did a nice job and Jordon Phillips was pretty impressive in some game, much improved imo. McMillan will be back at Mike and that alone will be a huge help to our LB core. Maybe this kid can cover TEs and RBs out of the backfield. Wake is still Wake (10.5 sacks) and Suh is playing at a very high level. This defense has plenty of talent to build around. We need an influx of speed at LBer, the draft has any number of excellent Lbers that could come right in and help this defense.

After this season I'm not drinking any Kool Aid for a while. Gase and company are going to have to prove it on the field. I see no reason why they can't bounce back in a big way.