Grade McD: Last Season... | Page 2 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Grade McD: Last Season...

AquaHawk said:
Grier and McDaniel have been busy the last 15-months.

• Only 26 of 72 players from ‘21 final roster remain on the team
• 15 of 25 starters were replaced/upgraded:

🌟 🌟 🌟 - Significant Upgrade
⭐️ - Upgrade

OFFENSE (10 of 11 starters changed)
QB: Tua 🟰 Tua
LT: Liam Eichenberg ➡️ Terron Armstead 🌟 🌟 🌟
LG: Austin Jackson ➡️ Liam Eichenberg
C: Michael Dieter ➡️ Connor Williams ⭐️
RG: Robert Hunt ➡️ Robert Hunt
RT: Jesse Davis ➡️ Austin Jackson
TE: Mike Gesicki ➡️ Durham Smythe
RB: Myles Gaskin ➡️ Raheem Mostert ⭐️
WR1: Devante Parker ➡️ Tyreek Hill 🌟 🌟 🌟
WR2: Jaylen Waddle ➡️ Jaylen Waddle
WR3: Mack Hollins ➡️ Cedric Wilson

DEFENSE (6 of 11 starters changed)
RDE: Christian Wilkins 🟰 Christian Wilkins
NT: Raekwon Davis 🟰 Raekwon Davis
LDE: Emmanuel Ogbah 🟰 Emmanuel Ogbah
LOLB: Andrew Van Ginkel ➡️ Jaelen Phillips 🌟 🌟 🌟
LILB: Elandon Roberts ➡️ David Long ⭐️
RILB: Jerome Baker 🟰 Jerome Baker
ROLB: Andrew Van Ginkel ➡️ Bradley Chubb ⭐️
LCB: Byron Jones ➡️ Jalen Ramsay 🌟 🌟 🌟
RCB: Xavien Howard 🟰 Xavien Howard
SS: Brandon Jones ➡️ DeShon Elliott
FS: Eric Rowe ➡️ Jevon Holland ⭐️

SPECIAL TEAMS (1 of 3 starters changed)
K: Jason Sanders 🟰 Jason Sanders
P: Matt Palardy ➡️ Bailey / Turk ⭐️
LS: Blake Ferguson 🟰 Blake Ferguson
Click to expand...
It would be interesting to see this for the other AFC East teams.

Not suggesting you do it, but obviously the Jets are substantially better on paper. Buffalo is probably mostly the same. A downgrade at MLB with Edmunds gone.

New England? Seems mostly the same, although bringing O'Brien back could help their offense.
 
royalshank said:
Agree w a lot of this though the clock management thing is very real for me. Your points about culture - are spot on - and that affected the team in so many ways for the good.
Click to expand...
I would think that clock management will be an emphasis in training camp. That's fixable.

McDaniel has already indicated that he didn't run the ball enough. So, there's self evaluation there.

I think the playoff game issues were partly Thompson, but can you imagine the feather in McDaniel's cap had Miami won that game? At Buffalo with a third string quarterback and a decimated secondary? It almost happened and probably should have.

The lack of discipline penalties are my major concern. Perhaps that's a big reason McDaniel made the coaching change on the offensive line?
 
lynx said:
I think people are waaaayyy overblowing the clock management thing. For the Buffalo playoff game he gets an "F", for the entire year it's got to be better than that because it rarely came up before.
Click to expand...
I personally feel like it was around in many games, but just didn’t explode like it did in that game. So often they would barely get plays off, get a penalty, or have to call a time out. If that gets taken care of this season I'll be very happy.

Overall I give him a B+. Get a bit better with the clock, get the QB to dump the ball to a back when things aren't open, and be prepared to play with the backup QB... Then he'll get the A, even if he doesn't win every game.

Edit: I still give him an A+ as a new coach in the overall picture. First new coach I've ever felt good about since Shula. I disliked every single hire we've made over the years.
 
Last edited:
AZStryker said:
Play calling: B+

This was the most creative and fun offense we’ve seen in quite some time. The route combos and play designs were perfect at times. The lack of run to pass balance is the only thing that dropped it from an easy A.

Clock management F

How many time outs did we waste this year? We even burned on right after the start of a half. This must improve and I think it will. The F is mostly due to the 4th and inches blunder against Buffalo in the playoffs. That one still hurts.

Situational play calling: D+

Particularly the 3rd and short. The personnel grouping, formations and too many pass plays on 3rd and short were very disappointing. Grade slightly elevated due to 4th down gutsy calls.

In game adjustments: F

Sorry but there’s no other way to sugar coat this. He simply could not it did not adjust. See any December game you like, it’s glaring that he was a rookie coach learning. This will make or break him as an NFL coach imo.

Personnel management: A

Just look at the confidence he showed and gave to Tua. His post game speeches were also something to behold. He’s a player’s coach but not in any way in the negative sense. His (apparent) belief in Eich and Jackson are his only blemish in this department. Hopefully he turns out to be right and the tons of bad tape from the past 2/3 years is wrong.

Overall grade C+ to B-

He is a bright young mind so I expect improvement. I didn’t expect there to be so many areas to improve but it is what it is. If we commit to the run, especially on 3rd and short, and he gets play in on time we should be serious contenders and he’ll raise his grade to the high B (as a floor) to an A.

Personally I’m rooting for him and I think he’ll make the strides he needs to. The in game adjustments are more about letting go of the ego and listening to your coaching staff’s advice. That’ll be the hardest lesson for him to learn, but definitely not impossible.
Click to expand...
Excellent and very fair analysis! I agree completely. In game adjustments, i.e. the San Diego and San Francisco games as glaring examples, and clock management were my biggest concerns. Hopefully we see significant improvement in those areas in 2023! I have faith we will
 
lynx said:
I think people are waaaayyy overblowing the clock management thing. For the Buffalo playoff game he gets an "F", for the entire year it's got to be better than that because it rarely came up before.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Watching games across the league you see veteran coaches make egregious clock management mistakes weekly. Acting like Miami's were so much more egregious is not being aware of what happens league-wide.

Now I'm not including getting plays in too slowly which results in false starts and unnecessary TOs. Taking too long to get plays in was one area where Miami was worst than most. But that's a different category in my mind.
 
rafael said:
Agreed. Watching games across the league you see veteran coaches make egregious clock management mistakes weekly. Acting like Miami's were so much more egregious is not being aware of what happens league-wide.

Now I'm not including getting plays in too slowly which results in false starts and unnecessary TOs. Taking too long to get plays in was one area where Miami was worst than most. But that's a different category in my mind.
Click to expand...

How exactly are they different categories? We blew timeouts weekly due to us consistently having problems getting the play in on time. Wouldn’t that accurately be described as clock management issues?
 
Stop going for it in third and long on our own side of the field please and thank you.

No screen game

Stop neutering our qbs from running the football

That’s all the issues I have.

Give him a solid B+ for turning a broken Qb, (not his fault) into a legit mvp candidate
 
AZStryker said:
How exactly are they different categories? We blew timeouts weekly due to us consistently having problems getting the play in on time. Wouldn’t that accurately be described as clock management issues?
Click to expand...
IMO clock management issues are different than having a poor system for getting plays in. I define clock management issues in terms of decision-making. I look at having issues getting plays in as a procedural problem.
 
He gets an easy B+ with how well the offense looked, got us to the playoffs.

He allows us this year to again reach playoffs, with a win or two...A-

Gets us to Superbowl is an A

Win the the Superbowl is an A+

With the type of talent we have, I am hoping 🤞for a A++ (Dolphin complete 2nd undefeated untied SB winning season in franchise history). 😃
 
AZStryker said:
Play calling: B+

This was the most creative and fun offense we’ve seen in quite some time. The route combos and play designs were perfect at times. The lack of run to pass balance is the only thing that dropped it from an easy A.

Clock management F

How many time outs did we waste this year? We even burned on right after the start of a half. This must improve and I think it will. The F is mostly due to the 4th and inches blunder against Buffalo in the playoffs. That one still hurts.

Situational play calling: D+

Particularly the 3rd and short. The personnel grouping, formations and too many pass plays on 3rd and short were very disappointing. Grade slightly elevated due to 4th down gutsy calls.

In game adjustments: F

Sorry but there’s no other way to sugar coat this. He simply could not it did not adjust. See any December game you like, it’s glaring that he was a rookie coach learning. This will make or break him as an NFL coach imo.

Personnel management: A

Just look at the confidence he showed and gave to Tua. His post game speeches were also something to behold. He’s a player’s coach but not in any way in the negative sense. His (apparent) belief in Eich and Jackson are his only blemish in this department. Hopefully he turns out to be right and the tons of bad tape from the past 2/3 years is wrong.

Overall grade C+ to B-

He is a bright young mind so I expect improvement. I didn’t expect there to be so many areas to improve but it is what it is. If we commit to the run, especially on 3rd and short, and he gets play in on time we should be serious contenders and he’ll raise his grade to the high B (as a floor) to an A.

Personally I’m rooting for him and I think he’ll make the strides he needs to. The in game adjustments are more about letting go of the ego and listening to your coaching staff’s advice. That’ll be the hardest lesson for him to learn, but definitely not impossible.
Click to expand...
Thats a very fair assessment
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom