RoninFin4
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Examining the Roster post Tampa Bay
Given the week’s developments, I thought I’d re-examine the Dolphins after the 17-6 loss to the Buccaneers. From the bits and pieces I saw I’ve come away with these tidbits:
- John Beck and Chad Henne both looked pretty good; though I wish they’d open the passing game up a little more. Obviously a number of drops didn’t help either.
- Matt Roth looks like he can handle playing the SOLB spot in certain situations. While I don’t think he’ll be a man that will end up with more than 4 or 5 sacks, he can certainly play there in goal-line and short-yardage situations allowing Porter to move back to the WOLB spot in those situations.
- Lastly, Kendall Langford looks like the real deal out there – I’ve loved this pick from day one, that’s all I say about him.
Obviously there’s been some news since that game, and what we know in terms of roster moves is that Chad Pennington is now here at the QB spot; Kelvin Smith is done for the year; Maurice Fountain was obtained from the Arena League; and Jay Feely is no longer our kicker – Dan Carpenter an UDFA from Montana is.
A quick note about the roster and what I find most impressive is this, when looking at the first draft class (all picks included) of the Parcells, Ireland, Sparano regime you get:
1. Jake Long – starting LT
2. Phillip Merling – rotational DE, but a probable starter as early as mid-2008.
2. Chad Henne – backup for now, but a chance to start at some point in 2008.
3. Kendall Langford – still holding the starting LDE spot.
4. Shawn Murphy – backup G, probably an inactive, but he makes the roster.
4. Anthony Fasano & Akin Ayodele – starters at TE and ILB.
6. Jalen Parmele – probable 3rd RB and special teams contributor.
6. Donald Thomas – starting RG; again, what a steal.
6. Lex Hilliard – probable cut; but he might make the practice squad.
6. Jason Ferguson – starter at NT.
7. Lionel Dotson – a chance to make the roster depending on the # of DL kept.
7. Shawn Murphy – yuck!
FA. Davone Bess – probably makes the team as 5th WR.
FA. Dan Carpenter – now the starting kicker.
Just through the draft picks used (including those traded) and UDFA’s you get this: 7 players that are current starters (Fasano, Long, Langford, Ferguson, Ayodele, Thomas, Carpenter), 2 probable starters in the near future (Merling, Henne), 3 backups (Parmele, Murphy, and Bess), and another 2 players that might make the roster or practice squad (Hilliard, Dotson). All in all that accounts to 12 players who should be on the roster in week 1; not bad at all! I know there was a stink over trading Lorenzo Booker, but ask you this…would you rather have two starters at key positions (TE and LB) than a 3rd down running back? I know I would. I think it tipped the scales slightly in our favor in the end giving up Booker, despite the fact that it was used toward gaining Shawn Murphy – yes I’m still bitter about him. There’s always a pick or two in each draft that just doesn’t make sense to me. In 2007 it was Mauia; in 2008 it was Murphy and Hilliard. But I digress – I’m impressed with the amount of players this class offers.
For this column, I’ve just decided to make comments about the positions themselves. I didn’t get a chance to see the whole game, so it’s unfair for me to comment on each player. As you may notice, my roster is comprised of just 49 players for right now, and I feel confident that barring trades or injury, these 49 will make the roster for week 1 vs. the New York Jets. I’ll comment on the final 4 spots of the roster and the candidates to make them at the end of the present depth chart.
OFFENSE:
QB: 3 keepers – of note; citing the Cincinnati Enquirer’s other NFL news section (the AP) reported that in 11 on 11 drills, of 54 total snaps, Pennington took 28; Henne took 21; while Beck and McCown split the last 5…I found that to be interesting, though it didn’t mention if it was Henne’s turn to be up – if in fact they’re still doing that. Doesn’t sound like it according to this from the Palm Beach Post: 8/12 live practice blog.
1. Chad Pennington
2. Chad Henne
3. John Beck
RB: 3 keepers – Welcome back Ricky Williams! Brown still has to work out some kinks, though I’d rather him be as fresh as possible for week 1. I was impressed with Jalen Parmele; we’ll see if he can keep it up.
4. Ronnie Brown
5. Ricky Williams
6. Jalen Parmele
WR: 5 keepers – how many drops did they have? David Kircus is making it tough for Camarillo and Foster to stick around. Wilford drops to #3 for now. I’ll keep you posted on Chris Henry sightings while I’m still in Cincinnati.
7. Ted Ginn
8. Derek Hagan
9. Ernest Wilford
10. David Kircus
11. Davone Bess
TE/H-back: 3 keepers – I was wrong about David Martin in my previous column. He played a lot more than I expected, and he played better than I expected. I’ll keep my eye on him.
12. Anthony Fasano
13. David Martin
14. Sean Ryan
OT: 3 keepers – Jake Long looked pretty solid going against Gaines Adams without much help by way of a TE or RB. Vernon Carey was opening holes back at RT. Ike Ndukwe threw the best “Lookout!” block of the night; Henne got sacked as a result.
15. Jake Long
16. Vernon Carey
OG: 4 keepers – Just Smiley concerns me (LeCharles Bentley is still out there…j/k, I think). Donald Thomas needs more game reps, but his play was on par with what I expected out of a late 6th round rookie starting against a solid D.
17. Justin Smiley
18. Donald Thomas
29. Shawn Murphy
20. Trey Darilek
OC: 2 keepers - Nothing much to say here. I like McKinney as veteran depth and I like Satele to anchor the line for the next 8-10 years.
21. Samson Satele
22. Steve McKinney
DEFENSE
DE: 5 keepers – Holliday, while solid, is past his prime and I look forward to the day this season that Phillip Merling and Kendall Langford are both out there starting; Langford should continue to hold his spot down which leads me to believe Matt Roth will mostly play at SOLB. Randy Starks is a valuable rotational guy who can play DE and NT, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up starting at NT if Ferguson gets injured or wears down throughout the year. After the mass outcry for Rodrique Wright and watching his performance, he’s back on the list for now.
23. Vonnie Holliday
24. Kendall Langford
25. Phillip Merling
26. Randy Starks
27. Rodrique Wright
NT: 2 keepers - I was pretty impressed by Ferguson and Soliai's play. Conditioning with both might be an issue, but I'm confident for now. Randy Starks will also play some NT in certain situations.
28. Jason Ferguson
29. Paul Soliai
OLB: 4 keepers – Charlie Anderson has a sore hammy; Joey Porter has a sore back. Quentin Moses and Matt Roth really didn’t impress me; but they didn’t disappoint me either. Maurice Fountain was added to this bunch, but I just don’t see anyone worth keep past these four at this point.
30. Charlie Anderson
31. Joey Porter
32. Quentin Moses
33. Matt Roth
ILB: 4 keepers – Kelvin Smith’s done for the year, and now we have 6 of Mueller and Cameron’s 10 picks left on the roster from 2007 (Ginn, Beck, Satele, Soliai, Fields and Mauia). Crowder, Ayodele, and Torbor had pretty good nights. They’ll need to make more plays when the bullets are live come week 1. Miles' special teams play should earn him a roster spot now that Smith is gone.
34. Akin Ayodele
35. Channing Crowder
36. Reggie Torbor
37. Edmond Miles
CB: 5 keepers – as scary bad as the names of this unit look on paper; I have an odd sense of confidence about them – I’m not sure why. We know Will Allen was a bright spot in 2007, though he still needs to make more INTs. Andre’ Goodman looked solid and I pray he goes back to his 2006 self. As for now I feel fine with Lehan, Daniels, and Jones as the remainder of the group, though Lehan’s injury has been troublesome for some time now.
38. Andre Goodman
39. Will Allen
40. Michael Lehan
41. Travis Daniels
42. Nathan Jones
S: 4 keepers – If Jason Allen can put it all together and Yeremiah Bell plays like his ’06 version, we have a nice tandem here. Crocker and Davis are solid backups and can provide some roles filled on special teams.
43. Jason Allen
44. Yeremiah Bell
45. Chris Crocker
46. Keith Davis
SPECIAL TEAMS
47. Dan Carpenter
48. Brandon Fields
49. John Denney
The Final Four
You probably noticed that two main components of the roster were left off of my list in the depth chart; and I can almost guarantee that those two components will fill two spots. They are the FB position, and the 3rd, or “swing” tackle position. The other two spots at this time aren’t quite apparent to me other than the fact that the contributors will probably be inactive members of the 53 man roster or they’ll have to be factors on special teams.
The Candidates and possible positions:
RB: do we keep 4? This boils down to Patrick Cobbs vs. Lex Hilliard. If it comes to that, I give the nod to Cobbs given that he’s proven his special teams capabilities and ran well in stretches last year. Hilliard is a talent without a true position. I think he’s destined for the practice squad with a chance to bulk up and come back as a FB candidate in 2009. Cobbs would be a tough cut.
FB: 1 keeper – Mauia offers you a good, in-line blocking FB who doesn’t represent very much by way of the passing game or special teams play. I’d only keep a player like that if his name was Lorenzo Neal, Tony Richardson, or Mack Strong. Grigsby offers you special teams play – I think we’ll see him get some looks there after the poor performance against Tampa Bay. I still like Grigsby to win the role, but he needs to improve his blocking when he gets chances.
WR: do we keep a 6? Parcells did for a while in Dallas, but 3 were core special teamers. Ginn is a return man, and I’m not sure why we’d remove him from that role. Kircus and Wilford might offer some value, but that’s about it. The question becomes, are there any more WRs who can make contributions. I see two: Greg Camarillo the 2007 hero, and Jayson Foster. Camarillo may get lost in the numbers game with Bess and Kircus. Foster only makes it if he can prove a more valuable returner than Davone Bess, who adds more value at WR while backing up Ginn.
OT: Ike Ndukwe seems to be more of a G prospect than a T. Darren Heerspink would be very unlikely, so I think the team looks outside the current roster a la the Cory Lekkerkerker signing last year. Again, my favorite is Pat McQuistan of Dallas, or whoever the odd man out there is. Joe Berger, remember him, could be a possibility as well.
DL: Lionel Dotson – is it worth stashing him on the roster like Fred Evans in 2006 just to keep him inactive? I think it could worth it if a NT were to be injured. On the other hand, Matt Roth can still contribute as well, so a spot might not be fully necessary. I don’t think Anthony Toribio would be as likely. The practice squad is a better place for him.
OLBs: Junior Glymph, Rob Ninkovich, Titus Brown, and Maurice Fountain…who? Are any of these four worthy of keeping to be a backup/special teamer. Let’s face it; I have a hard time picturing Matt Roth dropping into coverage and solely think he’s going to be a backup LB and maybe contribute along the DL in specific situations. Clearly, Langford, Merling, and Starks are better fits for DE in the 3-4. As for the rest, only Ninkovich strikes me as a capable roster spot.
DB: This one is also interesting. By my current roster, Renaldo Hill would be a cut. Do you keep him and deactivate a CB on game days (remember Hill played CB in Oakland prior to becoming a Dolphin)? Would Hill be inactive? It doesn’t make sense to pay him that kind of money merely to watch from the sidelines. Joey Thomas is the other likely candidate. He didn’t look very good against Tampa Bay, but you can’t deny his speed and his special teams abilities. Again, I think he’s in an indirect competition with Cobbs for a special teams spot.
And the final four spots go to:
50. Boomer Grigsby - FB
51. Greg Camarillo - WR
52. Pat McQuistan/other - OT
53. Lionel Dotson – DE
Well there you have it Dolfans. We’ll see what happens next week, though I may hold off on my final depth chart column until after the 3rd preseason game. At that point we’ll get a chance to see who’s starting and getting the bulk of the backup reps.
