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Dolphin D

Losman7

Losman7

Greater of 2 Evils.
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Last year, as you all know, teams ran the ball on you fairly easily.

But you did have one of the best pass defenses in the league.

This year, you have added a few guys on the DL to bolster the run support, but was it enough?

And now that you've lost 3/4 ths of the secondary your pass D will suffer.

I know the goal is a balance, but has the focus shifted to far away from the secondary to the point where that will be the achilles heel?
 
Losman7 said:
Last year, as you all know, teams ran the ball on you fairly easily.

But you did have one of the best pass defenses in the league.

This year, you have added a few guys on the DL to bolster the run support, but was it enough?

And now that you've lost 3/4 ths of the secondary your pass D will suffer.

I know the goal is a balance, but has the focus shifted to far away from the secondary to the point where that will be the achilles heel?
Click to expand...

I think our D line will pan out the only worry i have ius the secondary but i see us having a top 10 offense so it should be awesome + Frerotte will be good in the Linehan system he knows it and has an arm so i say the d will keep us in the game
 
Losman7 said:
Last year, as you all know, teams ran the ball on you fairly easily.

But you did have one of the best pass defenses in the league.

This year, you have added a few guys on the DL to bolster the run support, but was it enough?

And now that you've lost 3/4 ths of the secondary your pass D will suffer.

I know the goal is a balance, but has the focus shifted to far away from the secondary to the point where that will be the achilles heel?
Click to expand...

IMO teams dont need 2 shutdown CBs. A good pass rush can make an average CB look good. Its a give and take relationship. We lost both our starting DTs last year and therefore teams ran all over us. We didnt have a great pass rush and left our CBs out there for 5-6 seconds to cover people. Thats not possible.

This year my concerns are at DT and FS. CBwise, I think we will be fine and excellent at SS. If we play more zone coverage, we dont need Pat Surtain. Im worried about FS and our DT depth. If Chester is a no-go, we have Traylor and Carter. This limits the views our front 7 can show because Traylor is the only 3-4 DT we have. A lot of articles are talking about how we can use JT, but without a pivotal DT, JT might be limited to RDE.

Your defense pivots around your DT IMO. If you get a guy who can play a 3-4 and 4-3, the possibilities are endless. Traylor CAN do that, but for how long? He is 34 and not at the peak of his career and doesnt have a backup if Chester goes down. Carter is not a pivot DT. He is more of a 4-3 DT and a 3-4 DE. I think this is a position that needs to be helped in the supplemental draft or then next years draft.

Our secondary will not be our achilles heel, the DT will be.
 
Our Pass RUsh is gonna be too much for any team (especially your team the Bills) to be able to complete downfield, thus Picking up the slack from the secondary.
 
With The Speed Of Taylor Crowder And Roth It Will Take A Lot Of Pressure Of The Db's
 
MelbournePhin said:
a stronger pass rush will help with the shortcomings in the secondary.
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Exactly, I think thats one of the keys of Saban's Defensive scheme. Put constant pressure on the QB. That will make any secondary look better.
 
Saban's system (similar to Belichick's now that I think about it..) relies on a strong pass rush and lots of blitzing, which forces the opposing QBs to make mistakes and makes the job much easier on our DBs. That is how Bill has gotten good production out of some mediocre DBs (especially last seaon with all the injuries) In today's NFL, a strong pass rush is more important then a shutdown corner.
 
I think the Dolphins defense is in a bit of a transition. The unit should be strong overall and have some dominating games. However, there are question marks at DT and at safety that could be exposed. I think Saban will find a way to make things work, but there may be some up and downs as the players learn the new system and until a few more additons come on that side of the ball.
 
Travis Daniels might do good at cb, and if he plays cb then I don't know what Miami is going to do for their FS position, I think that will be more of the weaker link. Things would have been a lot better for Miami's secondary if Will Poole didn't get injured because then Travis Daniels could perhaps play FS, but what you gonna do, thats the way things are in football, players are always injured, its just a matter of who it is.
 
We lost Both our starting DTs very early last year... so judging last years run D is a waste of time.
In the 2ndary we did lose a premiere CB, and our up and coming CB is out.. but thats all we've lost. In comes Daniels who can play CB or FS, T. Jones is the same, if not better than Knight IMO, and Freeman, Edwards were nothing special. Bell, Bigby, Bua and Parker all have lots of potential.
Overall our Run D will be a Brick Wall this year. our front 7 has greatly improved.
And our secondary won't lose a step.
 
AirChambers84 said:
We lost Both our starting DTs very early last year... so judging last years run D is a waste of time.
In the 2ndary we did lose a premiere CB, and our up and coming CB is out.. but thats all we've lost. In comes Daniels who can play CB or FS, T. Jones is the same, if not better than Knight IMO, and Freeman, Edwards were nothing special. Bell, Bigby, Bua and Parker all have lots of potential.
Overall our Run D will be a Brick Wall this year. our front 7 has greatly improved.
And our secondary won't lose a step.
Click to expand...

I thought your D-line was a weak point this year, Carter and Traylor are pretty old.

Taylor is solid, but he can still be double teamed, who is starting opposite him? Bowens? Roth could be a player down the road, but it even took Taylor some time to develop into a force.

Your LB's are suspect, ZT is still a tackle machine, but Seau hasn't been himself in four years, and now he's had the injuries, i don't see him suddenly reverting to his form of 7-9 years ago after being average for the last four, I'm sorry.

Then you have a young guy on the other side, a wildcard. It could be solidified in training camp, and could be a strength for the team. Too early to tell.

The Secondary took a big blow losing poole. Madison isn't near the CB Surtain was, maybe 6-7 years ago he was, but without having the presence of a top 5 corner on the other side he will have to raise his level of play

The safties, aside from Tillman and Tebucky who have been nothing but mediocre DBs thier entire careers, I don't really know anything about. And no need to write "YOU WILL KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THEM NEXT SEASON BARFALO JERK!!" because that says absolutly nothing.


Off topic, where would you select the Miami D in a fantasy draft...as of right now, not knowing how any of the young guys will perform, were would you rate your D?
 
Losman7 quote: "Off topic, where would you select the Miami D in a fantasy draft...as of right now, not knowing how any of the young guys will perform, were would you rate your D?"
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I think around 10th. While the defense has a few question marks this year, it will be helped by better schemes and an improved offense - having Carter opposite Taylor on most downs will be tough on opponents, moreso than Taylor/Ogunleye IMO. The D is not championship caliber IMO, but could be if Saban can find a dominating young Tim Bowens type (Bowens retired by the way and TBuck is not on the team) and perhaps a top-notch safety in future drafts. The linebackers aren't as good as Buffalo's, but I think this could definitely be an area of strength. Seau is still above average, although how he comes back from injury is a concern. Roth and Crowder could both see time there and Taylor will lineup in multiple spots. Pope showed a lot of potential as a rookie linebacker as well.
 
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