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Dolphins Rush Defense

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kilgore Trout

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A Jet Fan




AFCE Trends: Dolphins' Run Defense

Published: Wed, July 2, 2008 - 1:48pm EST
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By Randy Lange

Lange is editor-in-chief of newyorkjets.com. He covered the Jets for 13 years for The Record of Hackensack, N.J.

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File Under: Jason Taylor, Miami Dolphins, Bill Parcells, Vonnie Holliday, Joey Porter, Jason Ferguson, Tony Sparano

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07/02 — If this is July, it must be time to take a quick look back and ahead at the Jets and their AFC East brethren in the weeks before the opening of NFL training camps.
This is a little project I undertook last year that helped us wile away the last idle hours of summer with quirky examinations of each division team — one Radar entry on a good trend of a given team from last season and another entry on a not-so-good trend that the team in question will want to correct in the coming season.
Today I'll kick off my precamp crafts project with a look a tendency the Miami Dolphins will want to turn around.
Of course, when a team goes 1-15, there are many such tendencies. But one that rushed to the forefront for the Dolphins in 2007 was their running game. It ran on empty in finishing 32nd and last in the NFL, allowing 153.5 yards per game.
How un-Fin-like is that? Very. Since the 1970 merger, the Dolphins have flirted with the lowest rung on the rushing defense ladder several times, but the last time they finished last was back in their first two seasons of existence, when they came in ninth in 1967 and 10th in '68 in the AFL.
In fact, Miami hadn't been last vs. the run at any time during a season since at least 1995, until last season when the Fish checked in at 32nd seven times, including the final five weeks of the season.
Here are the lowest-ranking Dolphins run defenses in the 38 seasons since the merger:
SeasonFinal NFL RankingYds/G 198627th (next to last)155.8 199127th (next to last)143.8 200431st (next to last)143.9 200732nd (last)153.5There are several reasons this trend is unlikely to continue. For one, new head coach Tony Sparano brought in Paul Pasqualoni from Dallas to be his defensive coordinator. With Pasqualoni contributing as linebackers coach to the Cowboys' defense from 2005-07, the 'Pokes run defense improved from 15th to 10th to sixth.
Sparano has also established an intensive new strength program that should benefit a Dolphins D that had many injuries last season and whose top two players, setting aside the Jason Taylor situation, are DE Vonnie Holliday, 34, and LB Joey Porter, 31.
"I haven't done some of this stuff since college," said Holliday. "We're in the sand pit every day, working on our small muscles, and then in the weightroom lifting free weights, doing squats, dead lifts. It's been brutal. But I feel great. My knees used to bother me. They feel strong right now."
Then there's the Bill Parcells influence. The Tuna, the Dolphins' new executive vice president of football operations, brings many good traits to the teams he's involved with, and one of them is run D — he's had 11 top-10 run defenses in the 20 NFL seasons he's been a head coach or higher (although none with the Jets from 1997-2000).
One more thing: Nose tackle Jason Ferguson is back. No, not as a Jet but as a twice-a-year opponent of the team that drafted him in 1997. After 11 pro seasons, what does the irrepressible Ferg have left in the tank? Thomas Jones, Leon Washington, Alan Faneca, Nick and Brick and the rest of the Jets' ramped-up rushing offense should find out when they run into him on opening day at Dolphin Stadium.
These features will run twice a week up through the week that the Jets' full squad begins practicing July 24. This is the schedule:
Week of July 1 — Miami Down, New England Up
Week of July 7 — Buffalo Up, Jets Down
Week of July 14 — Miami Up, Buffalo Down
Week of July 21 — New England Down, Jets Up


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Our run defence needs a MLB... Channing "underachieving" crowder and Akin "aging" ayodele won't cut it, Laurinaitis or Maualuga will wear teal, white and orange in 09
 
Because nothing fixes an NFL Defense quicker than NCAA underclassmen who haven't played a down in the NFL!
 
RUDEbyallMEANS said:
That's what I'm talking about.... Preferrably Maualuga though.
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If anything, we need either Cushing (sp?) or Malcolm Jenkins. We need help in the secondary or a good replacement for JT. That being said, if we can pick up someone in FA next season like Asomuga, I'd be all over either one of them.
 
Valandui said:
If anything, we need either Cushing (sp?) or Malcolm Jenkins. We need help in the secondary or a good replacement for JT. That being said, if we can pick up someone in FA next season like Asomuga, I'd be all over either one of them.
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I agree, the secondary is the most pressing position in need of talent, but IMO I cannot fathom a 3-4 defensive team passing on Maualuga because the kid is very versatile and probably the best prospect for an ILB in the 3-4 from college that I've seen in a long time.
 
RUDEbyallMEANS said:
I agree, the secondary is the most pressing position in need of talent, but IMO I cannot fathom a 3-4 defensive team passing on Maualuga because the kid is very versatile and probably the best prospect for an ILB in the 3-4 from college that I've seen in a long time.
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You are right. Rey Maualuga, at 6-2, 260 lbs. is exactly the thumper you need at ILB in the 3-4.

Jason Ferguson, although a little long in the tooth, will be valuable as your new defense starts to gel. He was always a great NT that was instrumental in stopping the run and should be able to play mentor to a young player.
 
Akin Ayodele is 28 years old. This will be his 6th NFL season.

Suddenly that is "aging"? Jesus, the OSU agenda on this board is getting seriously out of hand. Crowder isn't underachieving. He's a 3rd round draft pick thats been playing out of position and has looked really good at times. He was born to play MLB in the 3-4, and I think he will prove to be solid.
 
Crazy685 said:
Akin Ayodele is 28 years old. This will be his 6th NFL season.

Suddenly that is "aging"? Jesus, the OSU agenda on this board is getting seriously out of hand. Crowder isn't underachieving. He's a 3rd round draft pick thats been playing out of position and has looked really good at times. He was born to play MLB in the 3-4, and I think he will prove to be solid.
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Alot of people just like to act like they have a little knowledge when they have none on the subject. They never heard of a word called research and are so pessimistic they should find another team.:up:
 
We were also decimated by injuries last year worse than any season I can remember. Holliday, JP, Traylor, Bell, all our CB's except for Will Allen and we had a cluster**** of a coaching staff. Our D will make a 100% turnaround barring a non-injury plagued season like last year. The front 8 anyway, it's anyones guess how our secondary will pan out but better coaches almost guarantees improvement.
 
One more thing. With R@R healthy and being in great shape our D won't have to play as much. Our Pass D was at the top of the league because no teams had to pass against us except the Pats (whom can't run because knowing the D signals is how they succeed) and held the ball all game because we were using our 6th string HB that we signed the week before and had no chance of scoring with bad play calls and rotating QB's.
 
SpaceMountain16 said:
Because nothing fixes an NFL Defense quicker than NCAA underclassmen who haven't played a down in the NFL!
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well,take a look at how much better the chargers d got when shawn merriman arrived his first yr, also san fran when willis showed up. did those 2 make their d's stellar their first yr? no but they certainly improved. those are just 2 off the top of my head.
 
G-Force said:
We were also decimated by injuries last year worse than any season I can remember. Holliday, JP, Traylor, Bell, all our CB's except for Will Allen and we had a cluster**** of a coaching staff. Our D will make a 100% turnaround barring a non-injury plagued season like last year. The front 8 anyway, it's anyones guess how our secondary will pan out but better coaches almost guarantees improvement.
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Run defense cant get any worse really after giving up over 100 yards to Justin Fargas in the 2nd half against the Raiders last year. I'm not expecting much from our pass D because the secondary is pretty weak. I just want to see major improvement from the front 7 this season so we can then build on the secondary next season.
 
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