Comparing This Year's Offense to Last Year's

[Da 'Fins]

Here's what I see at each position (+ for improvement; = for staying the same; and - for worse):

RB - RW (Will be just as good, but should have a better year). +

FB - Konrad (they keep saying they will get him the ball more in the passing game - I will believe it when I see it). =

QB - Fiedler/Feeley (If Feeley starts, I think it will be a definite improvement - b/c he'll have beat out last year's starter). Either way, I think there will be improvement here b/c of 1) A good QB coach (Trestman); 2) A better OL and running game; 3) Improved WR's. +

OL:
LT - Wade Smith (Improved over last year) +
LG - Jeno James (better than anyone on the OL last year) +
C - Seth McKinney (Will improve and be better than Ruddy last year; he's more physical if not as experienced) +
RG - Question mark here. But, compared to Todd Perry last year? I don't think it can get much worse. =
RT - T. Wade had his worst year, imo, worse than his rookie year. I think, if Vernon Carey wins the spot, he'll be no worse and by the latter half of the year will be better than Wade was. =/+

TE: McMichael (I think he'll come into his own this year and that the OC will utilize the TE position more effectively as they did at Indy). +
I also give a plus b/c the backups will be improved. Especially with Perry back as the longsnapper.

WR: Chambers (should improve under tutilege of Sullivan) +
WR: Boston (still a big question mark. But, consider, can he be ANY worse than Thompson was last year? No way, imo). +
WR (backups): I think Thompson will be better, especially if he's not starting. And, I think the young guys will be even more competitive than last year. +

O-Coaching/Coordinator: The fact that we are keeping in tact Norv's system is a positive. It's like having a part of Norv still around. I like some of the new ideas that will come in from the three new coaches. I think we'll have a bit more balance in the playcalling (didn't think Norv did a great job there last year). The difficulty will be molding all the new players and coaches into a cohesive unit - especially if things start slowly. I don't think we'll lose a lot, if any, with the new ideas and with the improved position coaches (QB/WR). =/+

There's no doubt that we all would have liked to have seen even greater improvement on the offense in general. But, barring major injuries which is always a factor, the offense should be improved at all positions over last year, especially as we get into the 2nd half of the season. Will it be enough to win it all? I'm skeptical of that at this point. But, it could be good enough to win the division and possibly get a bye, if the defense improves (Which, I think it will).

Welcome thoughts of others on these points.

 

[Patrick]

Wow, that's positive!

you don't even have a RG and it's not a -.


that's impressive.

 

[finregime]

I don't know how much our philosophy will change but alot depends on the QB production which nobody can gauge yet.I still think Ricky will avg. better than 4.5 ypc and Chambers will see 1,000+ yds. I would think Mc Mike can hit 600 yds if healthy and Boston Im scared to predict. We'll see!

 

[Dol-Fan Dupree]

Wow, that's positive!

you don't even have a RG and it's not a -.


that's impressive.

we didn't have one last year.

 

[Nublar7]

RG will be settled after June 1st. Walker from Tampa anyone?

 

[dolphan39]

I like your analysis but still worry that Feeley may take a while to get used to the O, the OL will take a while to get used to each other and D Boston will take a while to get down to taking 50 supplements from 80.

You are certainly leaning toward the best case occasionally, but still by the end of the year, you c/b pretty on

 

[Dolphan_B]

RB - RW production will be based on calling a balanced game between pass and run as well as improvements in the OL, both of which were missing last year.

FB - If Miami adopts many of the WCO changes that Trestman is practicing, Konrad may get the ball more in the passing game. Long past time...

QB - Fiedler will start the season. Feeley isn't close to pressing Jay for the start yet, I don't see him starting against Tenn. In order for Fiedler to suceed, he needs to (1) stay healthy for once and (2) Miami needs to go back to the balanced play calling of 2002. If Boston turns out to be the real thing, that would also help alot.

OL:
LT - Wade Smith should improve with a year of experience and gaining another 15 pounds.
LG - James is atleast as good as Nails in 2002. Great pickup.
C - Seth McKinney still has to prove himself. He could not win the job last year as he should have. St. Clair is an intriguing alternative.
RG - Who knows? The best case scenario is that McIntosh gets back early and plays ORT and Carey moves inside to ORG. The worst case scenario is that we bring back Todd Perry because the offseason pickups suck.
RT - Carey or McIntosh can handle this position just fine. Carey would be an upgrade in runblocking.

TE: McMichael is a complete stud. He was the #2 deep threat on the team by the end of last season.

WR: Chambers is the #1 based on his freakish physical abilities. Hopefully, Sullivan can help his route running and make him into an elite WR. Miami needs to resign Chris before that happens.
WR: Even at his substandard SD performance, Boston is twice the WR of Thompson. If he drops the frigging weight and responds to Sullivan, he could compete with Chambers and give Miami the best WR duo since the Marks Brothers.
WR (backups): This is a big question mark, but Miami plays 3 WR sets so seldom that it doesn't matter much.

O-Coaching/Coordinator: THIS IS THE KEY to Miami's chances this year. Can Forrester call a game anywhere close to Norv and, if so, will Wanny let any OC call a balanced, agressive game in big games? If we can duplicate the 27.1 PPG Fiedler and the starting offense averaged in 2002, this team can go far.

 

[miamirw]

I agree with everything except for the third wide receiver spot. McKnight was our guy last year and while inconsistent, he was still a playmaker. That's going to be difficult shoes to fill. Look for the Fins to give a hard look to either Muhammad or Northcutt, either which could transform this position (3rd receiver) into a real threat.

The bright side of this issue is that we will be using very few three receiver sets. Of course if we land the big free agent, that could change things.

Let me dig into the defensive analysis:


DE - It looks like Ogunleye is going to be offered a sizeable deal. Let's hope he bites so that we can use the franchise tag exclusively on Chambers if need be. Reports out of Dolphins camp are that JT is off the charts. That could spell improvement on what already is a strong suit of the team. Still, it would be very difficult to top the production of last year. We'll give this unit an = because the bar is set so high. =

DT - This one kind of scares me a bit. Timbo, who is the rock of the entire defense is overweight. That's not good news. However the guy usually trims down right before camp, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Chester ballooned to near 400 lbs last year. He got a trainer and a nutritionist and seems to be pretty slim as of today. That's a huge positive for us. Zgonina and Romero are solid backups. My big concern is Timbo or Chester breaking down mid season. I hope they train hard and prepare for this off season. I will give this unit the benefit of the doubt as well and call it a wash. =

LB - Okay, so we lost Zach's back up in Tommy Hendricks, but in my opinion, Hendricks was a big drop off anyway. I want to see Moore step into that role and play well. Obviously it all depends on the foot. Right now it's not looking good, however, the coaches and trainers have said that Moore should be healthy by the time the pads come on, so we can cross our fingers there. Jenkins has been the story of the minicamps with this unit. Some say he's ready to compete right now for a starting role. I've always liked Jenkins, back to his days at South Carolina. After a year of seasoning he looks to make a huge leap this year. As for Bua? I guess we'll see if he's the next ZT when the hitting begins. Overall I'd give this unit a + if I thought that Moore was completely healthy because I think he's an upgrade over Hendricks, however, because that's still a question mark, I give the unit another =, and if Moore doesn't return in TC, then this shifts to a huge -. =

Secondary - This is the unit that drew the most attention by the FO in the off season and boy did we improve. Going from a starting six (in the dime set) of Marion, Knight, Madison, Surtain, Buckley and Fletcher to a more solid set of Freeman/Edwards (I'll be watching that battle in camp very closely), Knight, Madison, Surtain, Howard and Poole. That's a vast improvement especially at the Free Safety (Marion's old post) spot and the sixth DB spot (Fletcher). This is a big upgrade, perhaps the biggest on the team outside of the Oline. Now we will really be able to stand up to the three and four receiver sets the Patriots will throw at us. Count this as a big +.

So in review, it looks like this:

DE: =
DT: =
LB: =
DB: +

Overall, IMO it all depends on the OLine now. If they are as good as advertised (Smith's improved strength, James attitude, McKinney's veteran mind set, Carey's Junior year tackle talent), and McIntosh at the guard spot, we could be much improved over last year's team. Just think of the difference of a team that has half the three and outs that we had last year - think what that does to our defense. Wow.

 

[saves]

Going from a starting six (in the dime set) of Marion, Knight, Madison, Surtain, Buckley and Fletcher to a more solid set of Freeman/Edwards (I'll be watching that battle in camp very closely), Knight, Madison, Surtain, Howard and Poole.

I don't remember Fletcher playing at all last year, I think he was hurt. Freeman was in the dime package all year but I can't remember him doing anything above average.

 

[phins054]

I know this is for fun and relatively for the most part...just something to do, but how can you compare this years O when you haven't seen them in action...This just sounds ridiculous and it is just like all the supposed "experts" that make their picks before preseason...

Until I see our O-line play I wouls say that we are still where we were last season. We've made no significant upgrades on offense ( until Boston proves otherwise) and the draft was only average.

We won't know how we've improved...or regressed until the season starts.

 

[RUDEbyallMEANS]

DE: =, Difficult to improve from having 28 sacks from the starters last year
DT: (-) As of right now with Timbo's fatness
LB: = Eddie Moore looks to be healthy, but would essentiall make him a rookie for this year. Very, Very, young and inexperienced in the backup roles. Pope, Bua, Jenkins and Moore.

Secondary: ++++ Fantastic. Miami plays 65 % of the time in the nickel role.

I don't like the depth at DT and LB on defense. Those are the positions that get banged up alot during the course of a year because of the physical nature of both positions. With Timbo already starting out very heavy, it doesn't bode well for his knees and ankles for season play. Let's hope he dedicates himself to losing pounds before the season starts.

 

[iceblizzard69]

Our offense is definitely more talented than the one we had last year. The biggest concerns for me are if our offensive linemen will have good chemistry with one another, if Wade Smith improves, who our RG is, and the quarterback position. I think our offense will be more productive than it was last year.

 

[Da 'Fins]

So in review, it looks like this:

DE: =
DT: =
LB: =
DB: +

Overall, IMO it all depends on the OLine now. If they are as good as advertised (Smith's improved strength, James attitude, McKinney's veteran mind set, Carey's Junior year tackle talent), and McIntosh at the guard spot, we could be much improved over last year's team. Just think of the difference of a team that has half the three and outs that we had last year - think what that does to our defense. Wow.

I agree with your defensive analysis. The DB improvement will help the DL be more productive as well. I also think LB could be better if Moore is healthy, as you note. Good analysis of the D. I think it was dead on.

 

[Da 'Fins]

I know this is for fun and relatively for the most part...just something to do, but how can you compare this years O when you haven't seen them in action...This just sounds ridiculous and it is just like all the supposed "experts" that make their picks before preseason...

Until I see our O-line play I wouls say that we are still where we were last season. We've made no significant upgrades on offense ( until Boston proves otherwise) and the draft was only average.

We won't know how we've improved...or regressed until the season starts.

Of course, you are correct that we won't know for certain until the season. Actually it won't be when the season starts but really a few games in, maybe even 6-8 games in before we can see what improvement there will be, if any.

But, I have to disagree with you. We are not still where we were last season on the OL, imo, for the following reasons:
1) We got rid of 4 guys who basically did NOTHING last year. Nails was ineffective b/c of the achilles. Ruddy was worthless as a blocker and spent more time on his butt than any OL in the league. Perry got beat physically as regularly as ANY OG in the league. And Wade, while physically solid, was slow of foot and got burned alot b/c of it, and made a slew of mental errors.

2) Wade Smith will certainly be better than last year - I don't see how anyone can think otherwise.

3) The bottom line reason I think we'll be better is that we can't be worse! It's not like the OL was productive last year. They were horrific! I thought they were one of the 3-4 worst OL's in the league.

4) I think we can clearly say at least two other positions will be upgrades, along with LT and Wade Smith in his second year: LG - A huge upgrade with James; C - McKinney played very well last year and his line call problems were over-rated. A friend did a film analysis on him and he made some excellent blocks. I think Wanny was worried about mental errors and knew he could trust Ruddy not to make any - but I also think McKinney felt he wasn't as bad on the calls as Wanny made it sound.

5) You can't get worse at RG than Todd Perry. I'll take Whitley, Jerman, St. Clair, McIntosh or whoever over Perry. He simply cannot block!

One final point on the three guys we released (Nails, Ruddy, Perry). The fact that ZERO teams have shown even a smattering of interest in signing these guys is proof positive that they are considered worthless around the league (to go along with just watching them play! I took a couple of games and just watched the OL on tape - they were sickening to watch!). The only guy who has any upside is Nails if he comes to a full recovery of the achilles. I think teams recognize what the injury did to him and have shied away. If he does get in shape and can return to 90-95% of what he was, I would like to see us re-sign him and see him have a go at RG. But, if we don't, I think it will be a sign that the team doesn't think he'll get close to a full recovery.

 

[Dol-Fan Dupree]

I think Miami's line last year was one of the worst of all time. It really surprised me how much better they looked when the back ups were all in.