Dolphins free agent report card so far | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Dolphins free agent report card so far

dlockz

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Justin Smiley-Our biggest free agent signing has been solid and is starting. Our line has been our strength so maybe signing an injured player to 25 mill over 5 years is not so bad. B

Randy Starks-Has been a good rotation player but is getting paid starter money. Have always liked him and hope he can be our future DT, still only 24 years old. C+

Ernest Wilford- Cannot crack one of the worst receiving groups in the NFL and has one catch with a 6 million dollar bonus. F

Josh McCown- Really made no impact as a veteran Qb. Only true value was garnering a late pick but this should not cost you three million. D+ only for draft pick.

Sean Ryan- You dont expect much from a guy like Ryan but was not worth the effort of signing. C-

Reggie Torbor- Was signed to pretty decent money due to his super bowl appearance. Has not been much of a factor as a backup and seems to be just another guy to make money off of one game. D +

Charlie Anderson- Has never been anything but a role player and is overpaid in that role. D+

keith davis- just another player that made some bonus money on no results. D+

Nate Jones-Bottum rung player who at best is a dime corner.At least he made the team. C-

Tab Perry- The most overrated nothing signing in the team's history.
Went back to the only place he has ever made much impact in the NFL the injured reserve. D+

Boomer Grigsby- never expected much although still think he has potential as an NFL player , just not sure of the potition. C-


I think as you can see the success of this team's front office has been mainly through the draft and trades but they have found 2 solid NFL players in free agency.


Overall in Free agency I would give them a C- . we only found one starter but we did find some role players
 
Nice write up and I generally agree with your analysis but what about Pennington, Carpenter, and Crocker?

(Unless I dont understand what you were doing)
 
Nice write up and I generally agree with your analysis but what about Pennington, Carpenter, and Crocker?

(Unless I dont understand what you were doing)


Pennington was signed after cuts as was Crocker.
I am talking about the free for all period when any team can sign any player.


Pennington-Best miami qb since marino. Will be a good leader for a young team, we just need better weapons at Wr. A plus

Crocker- Ok contributer, we got for very little. Obviously a better safety than Keith Davis who we signed in the offseason. C plus

Carpenter was a rookie free agent I did not include them
Bess was also.
 
Put Bess in there, and i'd give a B grade for him... he's returning kicks and is our 3rd receiver... being an undrafted free agent i'd have to say he suprised by what he's accomplished thus far (even though, yes, he's kind of a role player)
 
Have Torbor and Charlie Anderson even contributed this year? I cant recall one time seeing them on the field or hearing their names called...

And what Sean Ryan? Another guy I havent heard anything from. Thats an F in my opinion.
 
Have Torbor and Charlie Anderson even contributed this year? I cant recall one time seeing them on the field or hearing their names called...

And what Sean Ryan? Another guy I havent heard anything from. Thats an F in my opinion.

anderson has been out on a lot of 3rd down...ever wonder why the pass rush doesn't seem as effective on third downs sometimes ? :rolleyes:

our suposedly "pass rush specialists" include quentin moses and him... with JP and roth obviously
 
anderson has been out on a lot of 3rd down...ever wonder why the pass rush doesn't seem as effective on third downs sometimes ? :rolleyes:

our suposedly "pass rush specialists" include quentin moses and him... with JP and roth obviously

I'd say its pretty obvious he's making no impact, I watch each game pretty attentively and dont see them doing anything.
 
Have Torbor and Charlie Anderson even contributed this year? I cant recall one time seeing them on the field or hearing their names called...

And what Sean Ryan? Another guy I havent heard anything from. Thats an F in my opinion.
Both have seen the field quite a bit, but neither have made any impact plays yet to get noticed. I definetly expected more out of Torbor.
 
Charlie Anderson and Reggie Torbor were billed as inside linebackers of the future, when really they're just special teamers at best.
 
Sean Ryan isnt even on the team anymore no way should he be a C he deserves an F. How can a guy thats not on the team be rated higher than players that are still on the team, even though they havent done anything.
 
What a joke. Boomer Grigsby and Sean Ryan aren't even on the team, and they get C-, grades while Charlie Anderson plays LDE every time we get into a pass rush set, and he gets a D+ citing how "expensive" he was, which is the same grade that Reggie Torbor gets despite being way more expensive and getting half the playing time...the same grade as Keith Davis, who also is not on the team, and the same grade as Tab Perry, injured and waived.

Meanwhile, Randy Starks probably averages the most snaps per game of anyone on the DL, or at the very least in the top 3, has been making impact plays against screen passes, in pass rush, even picking off a ball...and he gets a C+.

Justin Smiley - A
Making all kinds of waves as a puller, and is easily the best offensive lineman we have when it comes to playing in space. Smiley's pulling and blocking in space has been absolutely critical in the success of this newfound gimmick formation which has taken a putrid offense and turned it into one of the most effective offenses in the NFL. Anything less than an A grade for this player is, simply put, a joke.

Randy Starks - B
He is not quite making the impact that a Justin Smiley is making, however he may have the highest snap count of all of our defensive lineman, judging by things that Tony Sparano himself has said. He plays as much or more than the "starters" on our defensive line (more than Vonnie Holliday). His versatility as a defensive tackle in the 3-4 and a defensive end in the 3-4 are what make him able to play that many snaps. He's easily the best defensive lineman we have at redirecting and sniffing out screens, he has made plays both against the run and the pass. Calling this signing simply "average" with a C grade is ridiculous. These are the signings that turn 1-15 football teams with the worst defense in the NFL into 2-3 football teams with a "decent" defense.

Charlie Anderson - C
How anyone wants to give this a below-average grade, I'm really not sure. It's not like the guy is making HUGE money here, not in today's salary cap denominations. He's signed for 3 years, $7.5 million, and the bulk of that probably back-loaded. He competed for and lost a starting job, but has since been the primary go-to guy at Left Defensive End when the Dolphins go into a 4-man pass rush set. He has done ok getting pressure from there, but hasn't made a big impact. This is the very definition of "average".

Nate Jones - C
I am rather tempted to give a D here but the fact of the matter is you have to take money into consideration and the D spots are mostly reserved for players that either didn't make it for injury reasons, or players that did make it but are significantly underperforming their contract. Nate Jones is a utility player in the secondary. He signed for pittance. He's performing at par. That's an average grade.

Reggie Torbor - D
Bottom line here, is the guy actually signed a pretty significant contract, and he's rewarded us with fewer tackles than everyone's favorite bust, Jason Allen. When you sign a guy to a 4-year, $14 million deal, with a $4.4 million signing bonus, you expect more than 1 tackle a game, primarily on STs. He's not as bad as Ernest Wilford, mind you...but, is he really that much better, in the early grading?

Josh McCown - D
I agree he only gets a D here because we managed to fetch a late round pick for him in trade. Otherwise, it would be an F. He was a disappointment. I would think about giving an F anyway because they actually signed him to perhaps start and he's barely rosterable...but again, that late round draft pick is nice to get for someone you only just signed a few months ago.

Ernest Wilford - F
I'm as disappointed with Ernest Wilford as anyone and I was tempted to just give him a D grade because he's still on the team. His contract total value is a bit overblown, it was 4-years, $13 million, again probably back loaded...however, $6 million (nearly half) of the contract was bonus, which means when they signed him they made a rather strong commitment to probably keep him for multiple years. It's that little extra that gives him an F rather than a D. If it had been more like a $3 or 4 million bonus, different grade.

Tab Perry - F
He's not on the team. Need I say more?

Keith Davis - F
Also didn't make the team. Why would you give him anything more than an F?

Sean Ryan - F
Where is he? Not in Miami. Sooo...yeah, F.

Boomer Grigsby - F
What's he doing right now, fixing kitchen sinks? Did Joe the Plumber hire him to help out?


And I'll add three that should have gone into the original grading.

Yeremiah Bell - A
He's starting and he might be the best player in the secondary. Miami made the decision to re-sign him during the off season, and it was one of the best decisions they made in the entire off season.

Ikechuke Ndukwe - B
Often overlooked because of his unheralded beginnings, he has been thrust into a starting role due to injury, gone up against some of the best DTs in the game, and done pretty well at times. Is he an awesome guard? No. But, there are a lot of guards out there making WAY more money and looking a LOT worse. He's not an A grade, but for the money, he's definitely a B.

Chris Crocker - D
I think Todd Bowles hand picked the guy because he was involved with drafting him in Cleveland and he thought he could be his starting FS. When he got the chance, he failed. He'd get an F but he's still on the team, and he's actually performing a lot better now that he's just a role player again.


But, there was a lot more left out in the original analysis. What do you do with guys like Anthony Fasano and Akin Ayodele, Jason Ferguson? Not quite free agents, but they were veteran acquisitions. What about guys like Casey Cramer, Joey Haynos, Evan Mathis and Lousaka Polite? I don't think we got any of them off waivers. We got Brandon London, Andy Alleman, Nate Garner and Brannon Condren off waivers. We got Dan Carpenter and Davone Bess as UDFAs.
 
I agree with CK much more. Starks is a beast and has been seeing an increased role. This guy is a definite starter at DE next year. Holliday will be a role player at best if he is here next year. Starks is at least a B only because he started slow. Smiley and Starks were clearly great signings.

You also have to factor in Fasano and Akin because they supplemented the FA signings. If they didn't make that trade they may have picked some other folks up. Fasano has been a B+ to an A and Akin I'd say a B.

For those bagging on Torber this kid has potential and while he may spend this year learning the system and a role player IMO he may be starting inside next year when Crowder leaves for his pay day. Don't count him out just yet into the teams long term plans.

CK mentioned YBell and that was big. WIthout him I"m not sure where this secondary would be.

The results showed this FO is very good at building through the draft. Stop with all of the trade ideas and FA pickups. They don't work very often. Stick with the draft and in a couple of years this team will be loaded.
 
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