BeatMan
I'll be your huckleberry
Right free agency didn't look that great cept for Colledge
just going to play devils advocate here while saying I think Hickey did a fine job in the draft and he took a OL without finheaven blues cryin going on. That is the ireland effect IMHO.
Dallas Thomas will start on the Oline. Thats Ireland's pick. Rookies under Philbin dont usually get PT. That is on Philbin at least half the time.
Dion Sims is making his move. Ireland.
Stole Lamar Miller in the 4th. Starter. as of now anyways. Ireland.
I think OV makes Brady pissed off Sept. 7. Ireland.
I could go on all day but the argument will be about the 2nd round picks. Hickey will miss too. dont kid yourselves.
Bottom Line: Ireland not well liked and any failures last year could be easily blamed on him in the eyes of the fan.
Conclusion: We fixed what needed fixing with lazor and drafting OL and in Free agency. If Moreno has 3/4 the season he had last year, then Hickey nailed FA as well.
Moreno
Colledge (philbin guy)
Satele
Delmas (attacking style)
The DT. forgot his name. friggin preseason.
Still too early too tell for us, but it could be a solid draft with 2 or 3 potential starters...James, Landry, and Turner/Tripp
After watching the Jags game last night, I think its safe to say they nailed it, even after just 2 preseason games.
Juwan James, in 2014, makes or breaks this draft. If he can't hold his own in the reg season then all is lost. He was the one guy drafted to start immediately and he's either ready to go or Miami loses 9 games or more. If that happens then Ross fires everyone (possibly).
Unless Tripp can actually start & succeed, our LBs suck and will cost us games. It's another 1st round starting-caliber position we could have drafted.
Having said this, it's hard to feel like these players aren't having a great camp. They do look good and with a guy like Tripp or McCain showing starter-caliber ability, if not polished skill, as well as Landry showing what we thought he was capable of being, our draft is a feel-good story, for sure.
That's great cuz our 1st-round pick from last year continues to majorly disappoint.
The draft looks promising. James looks like he'll be a solid RT, Landry I think will make an impact this year, I think Turner could win a starting job next year if not later this year, I'm intrigued by what Tripp can become. I think Tripp, with an off season getting stronger and more adjustment to the speed of the NFL, will push for a starting spot next year. Aikens seems to be settling in at Safety. Fede may have been a real find in the 7th. Normally if you hit on 2 or 3 of 7 drafted players you're about league average. We've got James, Landry, Turner and possibly Tripp as guys that can either start or make an impact on the team...that's really good. Fede could develop into a really good backup, he's athletic, instinctive and has a high motor...just needs a lot of work on technique. Aikens I'm not so sure about but reports are the light is starting to come on and Coyle is pretty good developing DBs so we'll see.
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While coaches and Gm's absolutely deserve the blame for dropping the ball, the owners are the ones that give those individuals the jobs in the first place.
Ross passed on, among others, Mike McCoy to hire Joe Philbin. Ross also failed to convince Jeff Fisher and Jim Harbaught to join...to say nothing of the disaster that was our GM search. Im still not sure what the hell happened there, especially after potential candidates we hired took jobs with lesser roles than the one we did.
Huizenga made even worse decisions, even though his logic was a lot more sound. We can start with the hires he made:
Jimmy Johnson was a incredible successful coach and had a personal interest in South Florida(college coaching).
Dave Wannstedt was Jimmy's hand picked heir and had experience.
Nick Saban was a coach everyone wanted.
Cam Cameron was highly respected for leading a extremely successful Chargers offense to success.
Bill Parcells achieved some measure of success every place he landed.
None of those were insane hires. Obviously mistakes in hindsight, but only in hindsight. In my opinion Huizenga's major crime was passing over Ken Whisenhunt and Mike Tomlin for Cameron(god that hurts), but, again, it did have some measure of logic involved.
Until we get a savvy owner who understands the business that is football we likely wont have much success. Which is one of the major reasons why i was praying the politicans of South Florida would slap down Ross' stadium renovations, as the man is more interested in hosting a Superbowl than this team going to one, his dreams being dashed would have lead to the possibility that he would sell to someone capable of hiring a competent regime. But, much to the approval of many, Ross was able to pass the renovations. Now we are stuck with him for another decade.
My one last hope is that Ross goes after Harbaugh again after this season. Unless Harbaugh wins the Superbowl, there seems to be a legitimate chance of prying him loose from them. Unfortunately it would cost us a busload of draft picks. But what can you do.
We won't know for three years or so, but early indications sure look good. I can't remember the last time we had this many rookies making an impact immediately in camp. No mental adjustment problems, no "adjusting to the speed of the game," just guys making plays right away.
Even the undrafted guys are impressing.
In the words of our beloved Parcells, "If they don't bite as pups...."