enigmatics
Go get me a juice box!
............Finally got to watch my first Dolphins game of the year. I had to work, but gotta love DV-R.
At any rate, the following are my obersvations from the game:
The Offense: I'll start with the O-line. Plenty of beef up front, no doubt about that. Athleticism? I think it's lacking quite a bit in that department, more specifically the interior. I saw Hadnot and Anderson getting blown up quite a bit. Bennie was blocking air during a few instances, just showing a complete lack of concentration when attempting to lock up with his man. Now, in my opinion, the Panthers field a Top 3 D-line and Jenkins is by far the most disruptive D-lineman in the league. Yet, I came away so disappointed with the interior of our line. Pass protection was solid all-around, it was the run-blocking that lacked so much. I was very disappointed in that little 4th-and-1 that we got stuffed on. The announcers had it right, what were we pulling guards for on a goaline play like that?
Daunte Culpepper amazes me. If nobody mentioned anything about his injury, you would have never known. He and McMichael appear to be on the same page, but he's still working on his timing with the other recievers. Every time I see Marty Booker out there on the field, I keep thinking to myself how underrated this guy is. He simply makes plays. I liked the looks Ronnie was getting out of the backfield catching passes. Justin Peele made a great catch knowing he was gonna get walloped.
Joey Harrington impressed me. The big knock on him is locking on to recievers or not making his progressions, but I didn't see any of that tonight. He throws a bullet as well. I was interested to see how he'd fair with the first unit and to me he looked comfortable. I'm not saying annoint him as the starter, but if he had to come in the game, after what I saw I'd be confident he could hold the fort down. You gotta love his energy out there as well.
Cleo................well in his limited action he looked unstable out there.
The recievers looked solid. I'd definately agree that Hagan is quite the route runner for a rookie, but I do believe there's a little bit of a concentration issue when it comes to him bringing the ball in. I love watching Chris Chambers run. I swear the guy looks like a giant rubberband has flung him forward whenever he gets the ball and takes off. We're obviously very deep at this position. I didn't get to see much of Gibson, Russel, Arosh, or Murphy since the starters played most of the game. Gibson, looks like a beast. I hope we can find some way to get this guy factored into the gameplan.
The runningbacks were ok. Brown showed he's a hard cat to take down, but he's still showing just a little bit of indecisiveness behind there, especially with the run-blocking struggling.
The Defense: I love our D. I'm telling you, teams should be jealous of how deep we are on the D-line, especially at DT. I love how much Saban moves the guys around, constantly giving the O-line's a different look. Nearly every DT we put out there, from Big Daddy to Kevin Vickerson, was getting such a great push on the pocket. I'm also confident the secondary is going to be vastly improved. We've got some hitters back there. Hill and Tillman showed me alot tonight when it comes to play recognition, blowing up screens in particular. I also love the seconardary's run support. Will Allen and Andre Goodman get after those backs. I really like Goodman. He's new blood at #29 and I think we're going to get quite a bit out of him this year. Eddie Jackson was horrid when he was out there. That guy simply should not make this team. He looks so awkward out there.
Roth finally got his act together in the second half. He get great upfield push, made a few plays and helped to blow up others.
All in all I liked what I saw of the starters. I also think this is going to be one of the deepest teams we've fielded at nearly every position except runningback.
At any rate, the following are my obersvations from the game:
The Offense: I'll start with the O-line. Plenty of beef up front, no doubt about that. Athleticism? I think it's lacking quite a bit in that department, more specifically the interior. I saw Hadnot and Anderson getting blown up quite a bit. Bennie was blocking air during a few instances, just showing a complete lack of concentration when attempting to lock up with his man. Now, in my opinion, the Panthers field a Top 3 D-line and Jenkins is by far the most disruptive D-lineman in the league. Yet, I came away so disappointed with the interior of our line. Pass protection was solid all-around, it was the run-blocking that lacked so much. I was very disappointed in that little 4th-and-1 that we got stuffed on. The announcers had it right, what were we pulling guards for on a goaline play like that?
Daunte Culpepper amazes me. If nobody mentioned anything about his injury, you would have never known. He and McMichael appear to be on the same page, but he's still working on his timing with the other recievers. Every time I see Marty Booker out there on the field, I keep thinking to myself how underrated this guy is. He simply makes plays. I liked the looks Ronnie was getting out of the backfield catching passes. Justin Peele made a great catch knowing he was gonna get walloped.
Joey Harrington impressed me. The big knock on him is locking on to recievers or not making his progressions, but I didn't see any of that tonight. He throws a bullet as well. I was interested to see how he'd fair with the first unit and to me he looked comfortable. I'm not saying annoint him as the starter, but if he had to come in the game, after what I saw I'd be confident he could hold the fort down. You gotta love his energy out there as well.
Cleo................well in his limited action he looked unstable out there.
The recievers looked solid. I'd definately agree that Hagan is quite the route runner for a rookie, but I do believe there's a little bit of a concentration issue when it comes to him bringing the ball in. I love watching Chris Chambers run. I swear the guy looks like a giant rubberband has flung him forward whenever he gets the ball and takes off. We're obviously very deep at this position. I didn't get to see much of Gibson, Russel, Arosh, or Murphy since the starters played most of the game. Gibson, looks like a beast. I hope we can find some way to get this guy factored into the gameplan.
The runningbacks were ok. Brown showed he's a hard cat to take down, but he's still showing just a little bit of indecisiveness behind there, especially with the run-blocking struggling.
The Defense: I love our D. I'm telling you, teams should be jealous of how deep we are on the D-line, especially at DT. I love how much Saban moves the guys around, constantly giving the O-line's a different look. Nearly every DT we put out there, from Big Daddy to Kevin Vickerson, was getting such a great push on the pocket. I'm also confident the secondary is going to be vastly improved. We've got some hitters back there. Hill and Tillman showed me alot tonight when it comes to play recognition, blowing up screens in particular. I also love the seconardary's run support. Will Allen and Andre Goodman get after those backs. I really like Goodman. He's new blood at #29 and I think we're going to get quite a bit out of him this year. Eddie Jackson was horrid when he was out there. That guy simply should not make this team. He looks so awkward out there.
Roth finally got his act together in the second half. He get great upfield push, made a few plays and helped to blow up others.
All in all I liked what I saw of the starters. I also think this is going to be one of the deepest teams we've fielded at nearly every position except runningback.
. Morris is no Barry..theres no way without good run support that he will be able to do much of anything.
