Without any preamble:
- It's preseason football, who cares?
- I'm going to miss Bob Griese when he retires from this.
- I like the changes they made to the uniforms. The orange highlights are an improvement.
- I don't mind the interview with Tom Garfinkel, but do we really need to see them standing around in the booth? You can let him talk and ask him about the parking situation while still showing us the awful third quarter pre-season football action that only psychos like me will sit down and watch.
DEFENSE
- The guys whose starting positions are secure looked bored and sluggish out there.
- Mike Hull injury looked bad. I hate this ****. Nothing kills my enjoyment of football being back more than seeing a guy get his knee shredded in a damn preseason game.
- Minkah Fitzpatrick flying across the screen like he was shot out of a cannon on a couple of back to back plays early in the game to break up passes was nice to see. Looked good when he was asked to play free safety, and then switched in at nickel CB later in the first half.
- Jerome Baker looked unsure of himself and like he was struggling to learn his assignments (often appeared confused between plays), but made two very nice open field tackles. Just need to see him show better understanding of the defense / what he needs to do in the play.
- Jonathan Woodard showed both a good motor and some playmaking ability. Vincent Taylor also looked very disruptive.
- Cameron Malveaux made the roster last season because he played hard and flashed in the preseason. Tonight, the only time I noticed him was when he was being completely blown off of his spot. Especially on that Bucs touchdown.
- I am unimpressed by our secondary depth. Walt Aikens is a really good special teams player -- a leader on that unit -- but he is a dreadful safety. Likewise, Mo Smith didn't impress me.
- #40 Calhoun got absolutely WORKED in the second half.
OFFENSE
- Looks like we are finally getting the no huddle / uptempo offense various coaches have been talking about for years.
- Mike Gesicki makes even horribly thrown incomplete passes exciting. If this guy fails, I won't be able to explain it.
- How often do you draft a big, physical, and extremely fast running back with soft hands, and come away most impressed... by his pass blocking? Well, Kalen Ballage impressed me with that tonight in the Dolphins' first series. He then very much failed to impress me by fumbling and also missing some wide open running lanes.
- Ryan Tannehill's movement with the ball / mobility in the pocket looked fine. Good, even. Now to get the accuracy back.
- I like Senorise Perry. He's competent depth and he's a physical runner. On a team that looks like it wants to run a finesse offense, and that just lost a very physical player in Jarvis Landry, I think there is a real need for someone like that.
- I also saw some good things from backup RB Buddy Howell... but he also needs to not put the football on the ground.
- I think the enigmatic Thomas Duarte has about a zero point one percent chance to make the roster, but I liked what I saw from him tonight. He was smooth as a receiving target and he made a couple of nice blocks.
- Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant on the field together with two TEs. Pretty interesting.
- Eric Smith, our backup RT, is a good football player. I hope he stays healthy this year. Sam Young struggled a little bit at LT, but I thought he was mostly okay. Isaac Asiata DESTROYED somebody on a run in the second half. That one stood out.
- I will not dogpile on Brock Osweiler. I ragged on the guy a lot before he was a Dolphin. Now that he is a Dolphin, I will let you guys do it. I will just say ONE THING in defense of Brock Osweiler, and I can't believe I'm going to do this. When you are stupidly tall -- six foot eight -- your windup throwing the football is going to take just a split second longer than a guy who is a few inches shorter. And that is absolutely going to make it just a little bit easier for defensive linemen to get their hands up to block the football. And it doesn't matter if you're 6'4" or 6'8", these big guys with long arms can still get their hands up in the passing lanes.
- 6th receiver: Isaiah Ford. Francis Owusu also showed up well tonight. Leonte Carroo? Polish that resume.
SPECIAL TEAMS
- I'm concerned about our kicking situation.
- Our return teams also didn't look particularly great. Penalties.
And that's all I got, folks.
