infiltrateib
TV Doctor
My Long Term Plan would be:
1. Sort out the mess at OL. Find out who can play and who can't, and cut any fat. Right now we seem to have a lot of first-day talent (McKinney, Wade Smith, Carey, Taylor Whitley, McDougle). They showed something, or they wouldn't have been drafted where they were. Houck is the guy who can sort all that out. He's the best in the business. The good thing is, these guys are marginal starters right now but phenomenal backups. So if 2-3 can step up (Carey and Smith, I'm guessing), we have a good OL and very, very good depth. I'm guessing when all is said and done we have an OL that looks like: Carey/McIntosh-James-McKinney-St.Clair-McDougle/Carey. LT next year.
2. Keep energizing the defense. One thing we saw this draft, I think, is that Saban goes after guys who want to play football. I'm not ready to make an assessment of Carey just yet, but I am 99% sure that he is not a guy Saban would have drafted. In that position, I have a very strong feeling he would have also avoided Vince Wilfork, since he seems to stay away from questionable-intensity players. I think his pick would have been Udeze... another guy who has the talent and the drive but a slight injury scare. And yes, I know Udeze is having surgery this off-season, but he played decently well last season for a rookie DE.
My point is that right now, I look at needs like this (1 being no need, 10 being urgent):
QB - 3-7. Tough to tell right now. We don't need a backup, at all (Frerotte and Feeley would both be excellent backups), but we need a starter. I think AJ can do it, but we have to see.
RB - 1. Gordon is an excellent backup and Brown will hopefully be the real deal.
WR - 5. Chambers is locked in for a long time, and I think Marty Booker will be too. We could slide Booker to #3 if we get another good deep threat. Booker is an excellent possession receiver and has deceptive speed. Will play better this year.
TE - 2 or 7, depending on Randy's future. I think he stays, but he needs to be more consistent.
OL - 8. I want to see a franchise LT in there. We have plenty of guards. Need a center if McKinney doesn't step up.
DT - 8. Bowens is out, Carter is a temporary solution, and Chester is not a sure thing with his ACL. I would expect a 2nd round pick next year to be spent on a big DT.
LB - 2. We're set with youth: Crowder and Pope and Moore. I think Crowder is groomed to replace Seau at OLB next year, with Moore in the other slot. Pope hopefully will be groomed to eventually replace Zach. I like the training and talent here.
CB - 4. Poole and Madison will likely start and Howard is still a good nickel CB. I think we should groom someone to replace Madison eventually. Similar story to Zach/Pope.
S - 7. Specifically, we need a free safety. SS is easy to come by and Bua/Bell should suffice. We need a center fielder.
3. Cut the fat. We have some big contracts coming up. Zach cannot continue to be paid like he is. He's great, but we have a lot of needs to fill. He's going to need to take a paycut. I want him to retire a Dolphin, and I think he wants to retire a Dolphin, so let's make it happen. JT is a monster, and is paid what he deserves, but he might need to be eventually traded to make way for youth. I don't expect it, but it's possible. Madison will probably stick around. He has made his dedication to the team (see: restructuring) very apparent.
4. Settle with Randy. Look, Randy, you're inconsistent and not the best TE in the league. We'll pay you like the fifth-best or you walk. We can't lock up an insane amount of money into a position like TE. I want to pay him, but not like the player he THINKS he is. He's good, but he's not as consistent as Crumpler or Heap. He CAN BE on their level, but he needs focus. I like his nose for the first down marker and ability to create athletic mismatches. Find out what to do with him.
5. Next year's draft: LT, DT, S, CB, WR, in that order, unless Feeley bombs. CB might have to be put on hold until we can afford a first-round pick on it, since late-round CBs RARELY make it in this league. And I list those priorities, but of course we look at BPA above all else.
6. Find out who the starting QB is. No dilly-dallying, get them into camp and make a decision. We don't need a controversy. I think it will be Feeley - they're on par with current production (ignore stats, they were on TOTALLY different offenses), I think, and Feeley has much more upside.
7. Play Gordon this preseason. I want to see what he can do. I know what we have in Brown but if we can, I'd like to get something for Gordon if he's too good to be a backup. Brown is good enough to be on the field on all 3 downs, so Gordon is just a change-of-pace (eh, actually they're pretty similar in style) or "spelling" back.
8. No more playing games. No more locker room outbursts and questioning the team. I know that was a Wanny Era thing, but we can't have it. No more stupid penalties (false starts, holding, and personal fouls), and no more going to the media (not that there was much of it, but still). Saban drafted guys who want to play football. It doesn't matter who you are, Saban has no allegiances. Play the game or get out.
9. Mix it up. I know Linehan will do this, but it's absolutely essential that we become less vanilla. I want to see an open offense. We've got Chambers, McMichael, and Ronnie Brown. All of those guys are stars (we'll see on Brown, but I've got a feeling...). Feeley can make all the throws, and Brown is known for being great on the hot read and being a checkdown safety valve. No more wad-ball. Let's open it up on offense and mix in some blitzes on D. All of our LBs are fast and athletic. Roth and JT both have an amazing ability to read the snap count and have two amazingly quick first steps. They'll be in the backfield on the second step. I want to see a LB coming through to flush the QB into DE bait.
10. Play with controlled emotion. I want to see Randy happy and I want a team swagger. No need for unnecessary penalties, but I want fans in the seats and I want teams to respect us. Play the game, but play it with heart. Throw your body around, hit like a truck. I want Bua and Crowder hits that you can feel. I want Roth throwing RTs to the ground. I want a nasty OL that runs to the second level like a mack truck looking to knock somebody down. I want controlled passion.
1. Sort out the mess at OL. Find out who can play and who can't, and cut any fat. Right now we seem to have a lot of first-day talent (McKinney, Wade Smith, Carey, Taylor Whitley, McDougle). They showed something, or they wouldn't have been drafted where they were. Houck is the guy who can sort all that out. He's the best in the business. The good thing is, these guys are marginal starters right now but phenomenal backups. So if 2-3 can step up (Carey and Smith, I'm guessing), we have a good OL and very, very good depth. I'm guessing when all is said and done we have an OL that looks like: Carey/McIntosh-James-McKinney-St.Clair-McDougle/Carey. LT next year.
2. Keep energizing the defense. One thing we saw this draft, I think, is that Saban goes after guys who want to play football. I'm not ready to make an assessment of Carey just yet, but I am 99% sure that he is not a guy Saban would have drafted. In that position, I have a very strong feeling he would have also avoided Vince Wilfork, since he seems to stay away from questionable-intensity players. I think his pick would have been Udeze... another guy who has the talent and the drive but a slight injury scare. And yes, I know Udeze is having surgery this off-season, but he played decently well last season for a rookie DE.
My point is that right now, I look at needs like this (1 being no need, 10 being urgent):
QB - 3-7. Tough to tell right now. We don't need a backup, at all (Frerotte and Feeley would both be excellent backups), but we need a starter. I think AJ can do it, but we have to see.
RB - 1. Gordon is an excellent backup and Brown will hopefully be the real deal.
WR - 5. Chambers is locked in for a long time, and I think Marty Booker will be too. We could slide Booker to #3 if we get another good deep threat. Booker is an excellent possession receiver and has deceptive speed. Will play better this year.
TE - 2 or 7, depending on Randy's future. I think he stays, but he needs to be more consistent.
OL - 8. I want to see a franchise LT in there. We have plenty of guards. Need a center if McKinney doesn't step up.
DT - 8. Bowens is out, Carter is a temporary solution, and Chester is not a sure thing with his ACL. I would expect a 2nd round pick next year to be spent on a big DT.
LB - 2. We're set with youth: Crowder and Pope and Moore. I think Crowder is groomed to replace Seau at OLB next year, with Moore in the other slot. Pope hopefully will be groomed to eventually replace Zach. I like the training and talent here.
CB - 4. Poole and Madison will likely start and Howard is still a good nickel CB. I think we should groom someone to replace Madison eventually. Similar story to Zach/Pope.
S - 7. Specifically, we need a free safety. SS is easy to come by and Bua/Bell should suffice. We need a center fielder.
3. Cut the fat. We have some big contracts coming up. Zach cannot continue to be paid like he is. He's great, but we have a lot of needs to fill. He's going to need to take a paycut. I want him to retire a Dolphin, and I think he wants to retire a Dolphin, so let's make it happen. JT is a monster, and is paid what he deserves, but he might need to be eventually traded to make way for youth. I don't expect it, but it's possible. Madison will probably stick around. He has made his dedication to the team (see: restructuring) very apparent.
4. Settle with Randy. Look, Randy, you're inconsistent and not the best TE in the league. We'll pay you like the fifth-best or you walk. We can't lock up an insane amount of money into a position like TE. I want to pay him, but not like the player he THINKS he is. He's good, but he's not as consistent as Crumpler or Heap. He CAN BE on their level, but he needs focus. I like his nose for the first down marker and ability to create athletic mismatches. Find out what to do with him.
5. Next year's draft: LT, DT, S, CB, WR, in that order, unless Feeley bombs. CB might have to be put on hold until we can afford a first-round pick on it, since late-round CBs RARELY make it in this league. And I list those priorities, but of course we look at BPA above all else.
6. Find out who the starting QB is. No dilly-dallying, get them into camp and make a decision. We don't need a controversy. I think it will be Feeley - they're on par with current production (ignore stats, they were on TOTALLY different offenses), I think, and Feeley has much more upside.
7. Play Gordon this preseason. I want to see what he can do. I know what we have in Brown but if we can, I'd like to get something for Gordon if he's too good to be a backup. Brown is good enough to be on the field on all 3 downs, so Gordon is just a change-of-pace (eh, actually they're pretty similar in style) or "spelling" back.
8. No more playing games. No more locker room outbursts and questioning the team. I know that was a Wanny Era thing, but we can't have it. No more stupid penalties (false starts, holding, and personal fouls), and no more going to the media (not that there was much of it, but still). Saban drafted guys who want to play football. It doesn't matter who you are, Saban has no allegiances. Play the game or get out.
9. Mix it up. I know Linehan will do this, but it's absolutely essential that we become less vanilla. I want to see an open offense. We've got Chambers, McMichael, and Ronnie Brown. All of those guys are stars (we'll see on Brown, but I've got a feeling...). Feeley can make all the throws, and Brown is known for being great on the hot read and being a checkdown safety valve. No more wad-ball. Let's open it up on offense and mix in some blitzes on D. All of our LBs are fast and athletic. Roth and JT both have an amazing ability to read the snap count and have two amazingly quick first steps. They'll be in the backfield on the second step. I want to see a LB coming through to flush the QB into DE bait.
10. Play with controlled emotion. I want to see Randy happy and I want a team swagger. No need for unnecessary penalties, but I want fans in the seats and I want teams to respect us. Play the game, but play it with heart. Throw your body around, hit like a truck. I want Bua and Crowder hits that you can feel. I want Roth throwing RTs to the ground. I want a nasty OL that runs to the second level like a mack truck looking to knock somebody down. I want controlled passion.
