first off, good post boomer!
Originally posted by Boomer
Tex - I'm glad I make you laugh buddy.
What you hear on these boards is generally worse than the Herald. There are a lot of opinions here that make the Herald seem like The Vactican Newsletter.
what you hear on these boards is a mix of opinions and links to articles on espn, nfl.com, fanball.com, and local newspapers. when you hear similar stories from multiple sources, you can't assume its always speculation.
The majority of people talking about Philip Rivers were people that had ONLY seen him in the Senior Bowl, rather than studied him for four years. They see one game, where, against DB's that played between 10-14 yards off the line, and no blitz, he played well and all of a sudden are ready to annoit him to Canton. The majority of people with a little more nouse are a lot more cautious. And anyone who still believes that with 1 1st rounder, that we'll draft Rivers should be institutionalised.
i don't like this comment - 1 b/c its not true. 2 - i had seen him play in a couple of games.... i am not the biggest college football fan, but i catch at least one to two games a weekend, and had heard of him and seen him play... this was wayyy before i even though about us drafting a QB, but had remembered him from the game. Secondly, stats don't lie. Rivers did manage to set some records, and not every QB is able to do that.
AJ Feeley may turn out to be a non factor. But he has shown both at Oregon and for the Eagles that he can do it. If he hadn't hurt his elbow when he was with the Ducks, you are looking at nothing worse than a 2nd rounder. But he gets hurt, Joey Harington comes in and AJ ends up in the 5th.
how do you know Feeley can do it? i am not saying he can't, but unlike Rivers, i have (and most no one on these boards) has seen him play. taking the word of a couple of eagles fan who had seen him clean up for whatever mess Detmer had started doesn't count. my point here is you claiming feeley is our answer is no more valid than me claiming rivers.
Anywhere else I wouldn't believe the comment that we "slept on trades and FA" but on Fin Heaven I can. Just because you haven't heard of Howard or Chris Akins, does that make them bad signings?
not it doesn't make them "bad" signings... but i feel we could have done better with other higher-rated players available out there. yes occasionally you get the no-name player who is great, but 9 times out of 10 a big name player produces, and its a safer move. How many "no namers" have we signed in the last two years that turned out to be nobodys for us? almost all of them!
Len Pasqarelli who is about as good as it gets journalist wise listed a top 15 of best value players available in free agency. We have 3 of that list. We STILL have money to sign players later in free agency, we still have money to sign guys after June 1st, we still have money to ink Ogunleye.
what that Pasqarelli list doesn' t take into account is what we need. Marion may be considered a "top free agent prospect", but just b/c he is doesn't mean we needed him - so we cut him. we NEED O-lineman in free agency now... bet you we don't have ONE of the top 15 O-lineman in FA (well, maybe one with Jeno).... and i WANT to re-sign O-gun. i don't think getting rid of him is the answer.
This Miami team is a lot better than it was 7 days ago. We now have the best run blocking LG in free agency alongside an All Rookie LT that is going to get stronger and better and who Jeff Fisher called "one heck of a player" after watching him on film.
you can't say our team is better when we haven't even filled up the empty spots yet. you can say that cutting who we did was a good move, but until we sign someone to fill that is an unfair statment. how do you know we won't sign some schmuck in Wade or Nail's spot? if we do, then we are moving backwards. The "best run-blocking LG in free agency" is your opinion, although i don't doubt James' ability. that Rookie LT you speak of caused more fumbles last year (indirectly) than any other player on our team. Jeff Fisher complimented him after they romped us 30-something to barely 7.
We have a center, we are looking at decent quality RG's such as Bobbie Williams and the McIntosh deal will likely get worked out - this is a guy who started 2 years running at LT for the Chargers, blocking for arguably the best TB in football as he ran all over the NFL.
Bobbie Williams would not be our team's first or even second choice - seems like a "settle for" if you ask me.... McIntosh needs surgery, don't even know if he will remain on the phins, and if he does, will he be ready in time? he is another "settle for" choice anyway.. even Norv wouldn't sign him with the Raiders who need an OL just as bad as we do...
We now have 3 top notch corners - remember, the nickel back played 60% of snaps last year and Madison isn't getting any younger and Pat's knees are now a genuine concern. We cut the dross from the roster - Ruddy, Perry, Marion - we put in young guys like Arturo Freeman, who many people, myself included think can be a heck of a player.
agreed.
The comment that Woody, Tait, Brunell, Johnson, Ramsey had been raved about on these boards is neither here nor there. Last time I looked these boards weren't the front office of the Miami Dolphins.
correct, these board are not the miami dolphins, but the players the dolphins are pursuing are spoken about on these boards b/c they are read in articles on espn.com, cbs sportsline, nfl.com, fanball.com, and the dolphins website. it is known who the phins are pursuing, thats how the names come up on finheaven. when all those names come up as "meeting in florida with the phins", and they can't sign ANY of them, thats very discouraging (not all of them came to florida, i know).
Get into cap situations with Woody and drastically overpay when you have Ricky, Chambers and Randy Mac's contracts upcoming in 2005? Then people will be bitching because we have to let Chambers go or worse. "Ooh, we overpaid for Woody".
its easy to sit back and say the same thing about Fiedler and others we overpayed... but we don't. we just move on. i don't think we would have overpayed for Woody... we have the room as of now and it would have finished up our O-Line problems.
Overpay for a 30 year old RT who isn't nearly as good as these boards make out?
again, "overpay" is relative. its not overpaying if that is the position you need the most and the player in question is the best available.
Hey if you're happy with that then good for you. I'm not. These 1st week moves that the Dolphins have made are excellent, whether you like it or not. The argument that you haven't heard of the players, therefore they must be bad moves is ridiculous.
misconstruing my point - i don't mean me specifically hearing of these players. i mean they are no-namers. if they are so great at run-blocking and pass protection, how come you never hear of them? how come they never go to the pro-bowl. i mean that kind of stuff when i say we have never heard of them. (don't take me so literal).
you make good points boomer, and i applaud your efforts to be optimistic. in some respects, this FA period hasn't been a TOTAL loss, i just feel that we weren't as aggressive as we could have been, and as of now, i don't see on o-line improvement (save for Jeno) over last year. i will change my tune when i see good pass protection next year and ricky starting to get 100-yard games again and a higher than 3.5 yard per rush average.
don't think i am negative about this team... i am not (even though this aqualuv guy likes to think so.....) i
am critical of the moves made in the offseason. but thats it. and hearing his beef from a person [aqualuv] who never posts or contributes to this board is negative itself, considering he never posts anything to support his "positivity." just two negative posts out of nowhere bashing others on here. man, if you are going to start talking like that, then take the high road and do what Boomer does - make a good arguement and prove people wrong. don't just start bitching.
-tex
