I agree, it is time to stop killing Tannehill and even the departed Philbin, even though his vision helped build this train wreck to a large degree. However, its the lack of overall strategic thinking by the GM and President of this organization that made winning a wild card in a very mediocre year for the AFC nearly impossible.
How do you go into this year with the manure heap of a back seven and hope to make a run? You had to go get a veteran corner with some length or take one in the second round (hello Eric Rowe) Maybe the coaches liked smaller corners ala McCain Taylor and even Grimes but they, per usual, were wrong and should have been overruled by a stronger GM. Tall receivers/TEs like Marshall and Gronk will continue to kill us until we get some non-midgets in the back end of our defense.
I can't kill the FS position too much as Delmas got hurt and its too much 20/20 to say they should have had a stronger backup but the entire depth of this team is paper thin and to keep trotting the awful, piss poor, Walt Aikens out there is a testament to the failure of both past and present coaching staffs and the front office. I have no idea what the kid does in practice but his little 10 game resume is so dreadful he brings to mind the horrid safety play of Mean Gene Atkins. But at least Atkins hit somebody once in awhile and made a play every blue moon. Aikens makes mistake after mistake and runs past rbs and wrs like they're radioactive.
The LBers are almost as bad. Misi and Jenkins are often hurt and as good as Shepard's stats are with PFF, I see him as a guy who can't get off blocks and who makes tackles seven yards downfield. Misi is a good player who doesn't make enough impact for what they're paying him and I'd like to see Jenkins back but if he's your best LB, you aren't going to have a great or even good defense. Why has this not been a priority in the offseason or on draft day. LBers are playmakers and you don't see NE or NY relying on veterans and UDFA's like Vigil and Hewitt. New England has 2 first rounders starting and a second rounder at LB. we can't stop the run with smallish DE's and these LB's.
I could talk all day about our OL. It sucks and is mainly the fault of our coaches, past and present. I think/hope/pray a new coach will figure out how to make this soft, small, underachieving bunch play with a little pride and passion but have to say these are the guys, especially Thomas, who Philbin wanted
Ross ain't gonna fire Tannenbaum but Tannenbaum has to hire a strong coach with a GM pal who can help him fix this disaster of a roster. They might have to go rebuild like an expansion team and get a lot of low cost FA's to compete for starting jobs but whoever the next personnel guy is better have a smarter vision of what this team needs because Hickey and Tannenbaum/Philbin/Ireland left it as thin as Trump's hair.
How do you go into this year with the manure heap of a back seven and hope to make a run? You had to go get a veteran corner with some length or take one in the second round (hello Eric Rowe) Maybe the coaches liked smaller corners ala McCain Taylor and even Grimes but they, per usual, were wrong and should have been overruled by a stronger GM. Tall receivers/TEs like Marshall and Gronk will continue to kill us until we get some non-midgets in the back end of our defense.
I can't kill the FS position too much as Delmas got hurt and its too much 20/20 to say they should have had a stronger backup but the entire depth of this team is paper thin and to keep trotting the awful, piss poor, Walt Aikens out there is a testament to the failure of both past and present coaching staffs and the front office. I have no idea what the kid does in practice but his little 10 game resume is so dreadful he brings to mind the horrid safety play of Mean Gene Atkins. But at least Atkins hit somebody once in awhile and made a play every blue moon. Aikens makes mistake after mistake and runs past rbs and wrs like they're radioactive.
The LBers are almost as bad. Misi and Jenkins are often hurt and as good as Shepard's stats are with PFF, I see him as a guy who can't get off blocks and who makes tackles seven yards downfield. Misi is a good player who doesn't make enough impact for what they're paying him and I'd like to see Jenkins back but if he's your best LB, you aren't going to have a great or even good defense. Why has this not been a priority in the offseason or on draft day. LBers are playmakers and you don't see NE or NY relying on veterans and UDFA's like Vigil and Hewitt. New England has 2 first rounders starting and a second rounder at LB. we can't stop the run with smallish DE's and these LB's.
I could talk all day about our OL. It sucks and is mainly the fault of our coaches, past and present. I think/hope/pray a new coach will figure out how to make this soft, small, underachieving bunch play with a little pride and passion but have to say these are the guys, especially Thomas, who Philbin wanted
Ross ain't gonna fire Tannenbaum but Tannenbaum has to hire a strong coach with a GM pal who can help him fix this disaster of a roster. They might have to go rebuild like an expansion team and get a lot of low cost FA's to compete for starting jobs but whoever the next personnel guy is better have a smarter vision of what this team needs because Hickey and Tannenbaum/Philbin/Ireland left it as thin as Trump's hair.
