A major objective of Miami Dolphins’ offseason has been to put together a smarter team Read more he

[MDFINFAN]

The Dolphins believe they have a smarter team this year than they did in 2016.

We’re not talking about Albert Einstein split-the-atom intelligence here. We’re talking football smarts.

We’re talking don’t run out of bounds with a minute left in the game when your team is clinging to a three-point lead. Don’t score a go-ahead touchdown and give up valuable yards on the ensuing kickoff because you lost your head and taunted the defender after the score, drawing a flag.

The Dolphins coaching staff was happy with last year’s 10-6 record. But the same coaches were bitterly frustrated because they’re convinced the Dolphins could have been better if they’d been smarter.
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Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/s...-salguero/article149513349.html#storylink=cpy

 

[Digital]

Wow, I wonder if they were referring to Damien Williams (who does the running out of bounds thing when he should stay in bounds) when they wrote this? Overall I'd agree that Asiata, McMillan, Harris and Ford seem to have it. But, I'll reserve judgement on Tankersley, Taylor and Godchaux.

I do like that we intend to move to a smarter team. Shula won a lot of games by coaching smart players to do the right things in the right circumstances. Bill Arnsparger got the most out of his defenses by getting smart people to play within the scheme. Belichick gets a lot of mileage out of getting his guys to learn and execute sound assignment football. Those are some pretty good examples of one way to get a competitive edge in this era of parity.

 

[Gsmack_42]

I think it has to do with Landry aswell.

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

This article might be interesting, especially for the SPARQ proponents who were disappointed with some of our draft selections on athletic grounds. It's heavily implied that the #1 trait the Dolphins were looking for with off-season acquisitions was football intelligence.

The Dolphins coaching staff was happy with last year’s 10-6 record. But the same coaches were bitterly frustrated because they’re convinced the Dolphins could have been better if they’d been smarter.

That’s why one of this offseason’s primary goals in adding talent was also adding football smarts.

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/armando-salguero/article149513349.html

...

 

[phintim]

Well I like the picks from a need position stand point, a realitive injury free history standpoint plus a history of solid performance at the college level. This article just makes the draft look that much sweeter

 

[Michigan Mike]

The biggest improvement in the "smarts department" I would like to see is the elimination of most of the before and after the whistle penalties. Way too many of these either extended the opponents drives or killed our own. I like the fire that Landry plays with but sometimes you need to keep your head and not do something stupid to get penalized. That was the biggest reason I didn't mind seeing Olivier leave for the huge contract the Giants gave him.

 

[mithga13]

I like this, draft talent no doubt, but you have to have guys that will do what they are supposed to do or the whole thing breaks down.
And you end up with numerous big plays in a road playoff game to get blown out. 5 yard TFL's are nice, but we need dlineman that can make stops at the line rather than leave holes. We need linebackers and safeties that can make tackles even giving up a few feet rather than whiff and give up 30 YAC. A pulling guard or center not making the right read in a secondary block is often the difference between a 6 yard run and a 25 yard run.
Pats have preached football IQ for years above all else. Receivers need to catch the ball, or the athletecism means nothing. Brady makes a living off 5 or 7 yard passes that are always caught moving forward by receivers that run good routes and don't drop the ball.
I hate preaching NE football, but when you've been to the Super Bowl 7 times in 16 years, there is no other standard worth mentioning.

 

[Dolphindrew]

Fairly certain this is the main advantage the Patriots have over other teams with similar skills - intelligence. I have sensed an extremely low football IQ on the Dolphins for many years. I like this news.

 

[Lilseb93]

They allow so many drives to continue because of dumb penalties. Even though they won 10 games and that was awesome, there were so many times during the season I thought some of these guys have absolutely 0 football common sense. You don't need Pro Bowlers at every position. You just need smart, decent football players. One of the reasons I was fine with losing Olivier because he had so many bonehead penalties here.

Just watch the ending of the Buffalo game in Miami last year. So many dumb penalties.

 

[Michigan Mike]

The question I would ask to follow-up on this conversation; what STUPID players have departed and how are they going to up the intelligence for some of those remaining that didn't play too smart?

 

[CalDolFan10x14]

As opposed to with Joe Philbin where we always seemed to be getting dumber on the field...

:roflmao

 

[phintim]

The question I would ask to follow-up on this conversation; what STUPID players have departed and how are they going to up the intelligence for some of those remaining that didn't play too smart?

Year 2 will help in the muscle memory area of the returning players plus with more emphasis on the celebral part of the game with the new players it should rub off on some of the veterans.

 

[spiketex]

A really interesting player we have picked up in the Draft is Raekwon McMillan from Ohio State. Although only 20, he was a Defensive captain on a top ranked team for the past 2 years. One should not build excessive expectations before we see him on the field. However, he sounds incredibly calm, settled, sensible and really smart. Watch the Congemi interview - Raekwon comes across as a confident natural leader, who's happy to be a Dolphin. There is a reason why Urban Meyer gave him such big responsibilities in making Defensive calls at such an early age (i.e. 18 years old) and he wasn't let down. The more I see of McMillan, the more I love this Draft pick.

 

[spiketex]

Wow, I wonder if they were referring to Damien Williams (who does the running out of bounds thing when he should stay in bounds) when they wrote this? Overall I'd agree that Asiata, McMillan, Harris and Ford seem to have it. But, I'll reserve judgement on Tankersley, Taylor and Godchaux.

I do like that we intend to move to a smarter team. Shula won a lot of games by coaching smart players to do the right things in the right circumstances. Bill Arnsparger got the most out of his defenses by getting smart people to play within the scheme. Belichick gets a lot of mileage out of getting his guys to learn and execute sound assignment football. Those are some pretty good examples of one way to get a competitive edge in this era of parity.

OK - Damien Williams made a few silly mistakes last year, but there were a lot fewer than the previous season and he consistently excelled on Special Teams. Check out the ST big plays and who is right in the action with Walt Aikens setting things up. Damien is still to re-sign but he shouldn't be discarded. He made good progress last year.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

To me, this shows that Adam Gase gets it.

I'd guess that the Patriots have the smartest group of players in the NFL --- at least in terms of football smarts. That does win games.

I know a lot of younger media types will look at old-timers like Bob Griese and dismiss his greatness based on stats, but one thing Griese did so well was steal first downs by drawing teams offsides. He was a master at that. The little things do add up, like getting those extra yards instead of going out-of-bounds, knowing how to run out the clock etc.

Smart and physical seems to be the mantra of this offseason for the most part. Have to like that.