28 of 53

[ckparrothead]

The number of players who made Nick Saban's 53-man roster who were on the Dolphins during the Wannstedt-Spielman era.

In one season, Nick Saban has literally replaced HALF the players on the official roster with other players. And, he did this in a year where the Dolphins were among the top 5 or 7 worst salary cap situations in the NFL.

Nick Saban could not have given a more poignant accusation of personnel ineptitude had he stood on a soap box and began shouting obscenities at Rick and Dave.

BTW, of the 28 players that are still on the Dolphins, 12 of them were just acquired in 2004. Some time when I get home I'll give a final breakdown of what Saban's personnel moves have done to the Dolphins' height.

For those that remember I broke that down before while we had 75 players or so

 

[IceStorm]

Wow

 

[3P]

Wow... just, Wow.

Good stat, CK

 

[RAS25]

thats amazing

 

[phinfan2003]

The number of players who made Nick Saban's 53-man roster who were on the Dolphins during the Wannstedt-Spielman era.

In one season, Nick Saban has literally replaced HALF the players on the official roster with other players. And, he did this in a year where the Dolphins were among the top 5 or 7 worst salary cap situations in the NFL.

Nick Saban could not have given a more poignant accusation of personnel ineptitude had he stood on a soap box and began shouting obscenities at Rick and Dave.

BTW, of the 28 players that are still on the Dolphins, 12 of them were just acquired in 2004. Some time when I get home I'll give a final breakdown of what Saban's personnel moves have done to the Dolphins' height.

For those that remember I broke that down before while we had 75 players or so

By the same token, if you look at when JJ took over this team after Shula, the turnover was quite comparable (I remember only because I did a paper about it when I was in college). Do you think that JJ was saying the same thing about Shula?

 

[finsnchips]

thats amazing.. even more changes next year... I cant see a Mr Adam Joshua Feeley being around with a $3.5M salary next year.

 

[Aqua and Orange]

That's awesome. I was ready to toss out half of this team at the end of last year.

Fishnchips (or anyone who knows), what are the 'finheaven pirahnas'?

 

[phinfan2003]

In fact, if you look at these rosters, the difference between Shula's 53 man roster in December (it's the earliest that I was able to find) and JJ's in december is 28 players. Here it is for you to check out if you like:



www.phins.com/personnel/droster95.html

www.phins.com/personnel/droster96.Dec.html


As much as the Wanny Spielman experiment could be characterized as a failure, I think the turnover can be more closely attributed to a change in philosophy. The same can be said for the transition from Shula to Wanny.

 

[Jimmy James]

I think the more damning number for the Wanny era is that only 16 of the 28 came to the team on his watch as GM. For the amount of crap he takes, Rick improved performance from the GM role in his time with control.

 

[Rich22]

I think the more damning number for the Wanny era is that only 16 of the 28 came to the team on his watch as GM. For the amount of crap he takes, Rick improved performance from the GM role in his time with control.

RS crushed us! - the Feeley and Gordon trades - probably 2 worse in franchise history when you look at what they gave up and they were such high picks in the rds AND these guys became non factors so fast. Gordon was already CUT! Feeley already 3rd string!

 

[LarryFinFan]

I think the more damning number for the Wanny era is that only 16 of the 28 came to the team on his watch as GM. For the amount of crap he takes, Rick improved performance from the GM role in his time with control.

Look out...folks on this board think it is blasphemous (sp) to in any way defend Wanny or Speilman...you're gonna get blasted for this..

 

[touborg]

I think the more damning number for the Wanny era is that only 16 of the 28 came to the team on his watch as GM. For the amount of crap he takes, Rick improved performance from the GM role in his time with control.

I agree completely. He might have been horrible when it came to knowing the value of picks, but he wasn't a bad talent evaluator.

 

[SSnowman]

I agree completely. He might have been horrible when it came to knowing the value of picks, but he wasn't a bad talent evaluator.

Isn't that part of being a good talent evaluator? Knowing the value of talent?

 

[SF Dolfan]

By the same token, if you look at when JJ took over this team after Shula, the turnover was quite comparable (I remember only because I did a paper about it when I was in college). Do you think that JJ was saying the same thing about Shula?

Shula was a great coach for the Dolphins for many years, but he also shot himself and the team in the foot for close to 10 years by sticking with his buddy Tom Oivadotti and never implementing an aggressive scheme. It was time for him to move on. He left this team in a terrible position if I remember correctly. We were over the cap and had a roster filled with never-were's and overpaid former early round draft pick who never really panned out-- Gene Atkins, Eric Green, JB Brown type guys, but there were more also, and I don't have time to look it up at the moment. The team needed to be gutted then as it did this past offseason. My complaint with JJ is that the O was still pretty good and he would've been better served to leave it be and revamp the defense which was, truthfully, an absolute disaster. JJ fixed our weakness, but ruined our strength.

Saban inhereted some talent, but we weren't successful on either side of the ball last season. He has a big job.

 

[Jimmy James]

RS crushed us! - the Feeley and Gordon trades - probably 2 worse in franchise history when you look at what they gave up and they were such high picks in the rds AND these guys became non factors so fast. Gordon was already CUT! Feeley already 3rd string!

I agree the Gordon trade was terrible, but Rick very likely saw the writing on the wall at that point and knew that he had to take a 100 to 1 shot that Gordon would be a hero and save the season (and Rick's job).

I don't agree that the Feeley trade was that bad. This team needed a QB early in the offseason, and Rick made a list. Washington tied up his top two marks, and Feeley was the third and final option. The choice was between getting Feeley and getting nothing. Getting nothing meant going through another season with a Brian Griese coming in late and not learning the offense. We know how that worked out. Again, I think it was a matter of doing what he had to do to save his job. Somebody here pointed out that the real mistake was giving Wanny a do or die year. That is what led to Rick becoming GM (to take that off of Wanny's plate) and what led to desperate moves. I don't blame Rick for being desperate -- he was getting one shot and had to try to make the most of it. Do you actually think that he'd still be here if he had made trades more popular with the fans or had kept those picks? I don't -- Saban wanted his guy in the job, which is totally natural.

When a GM can get a team a starting guard in the 6th round, a backup LB in the 7th, and a starting CB in the 4th, he's a pretty darn good GM in my book.