Hayden Fox's Preseason Week One Assessment

[SF Dolphin Fan]

I want to see more of Jordan Tripp. Phillip Wheeler should be a backup, but is Tripp ready to start? That's what I want to find out.

 

[Zounds]

McCain looks nice. Very intriguing player. He's got a pretty sweet burst to him and can explode to the ball carrier. Did a good job rushing the QB as well. I like him a lot.

I thought be made several mistakes. He also looks too thin and lanky for someone with his build. He played good on ST but after watching the game twice already, I thought he played poorly at LB.

---------- Post added at 10:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:27 AM ----------

Phillip Wheeler has gotten no better. He needs to get cut.

He missed several tackles again and had a costly penalty. I'm done with Wheeler. I dont want him on this team anymore.

 

[Zounds]

Gillislee is making moves to move up past D Thomas as long as he is out.

I got the opposite impression from Gillislee. I though he looked slow, couldn't cut, and had no vision. I'm thinking he is more on the bubble than DT. I thought Damien Williams was looking good until his injury. I would have him ranked him higher than DT and Gillislee depending on his injury.

 

[LANGER72]

* The LB's worry me more than the Oline at this point. The LB's miss too many tackles, take horrible angles to ball and never seem to be a position to make plays. There is little depth behind the starters that are ready to play full-time at this point. While there are a couple vets available on the FA scrap heap, I do not see this team making a move. This group will hold the defense back this year. No matter where you line up Wheeler, Misi and Dannell Ellerbe, they are simply not good enough to help the Dolphins.

Nice analysis.
This was my biggest fear going into the season. I knew that the oline would get all the emphasis, as it should since scoring was a major issue as well as protection.
I feel that the offense is much improved with the addition of Lazor, and the growth of RT and Miller, and the solidify of the oline.

The defense will be our Achilles heel. Hopefully the offense will score more points.
Apart from Grimes, our secondary is a hodge podge of mediocre players that cannot make the tackle or make a big play.
Finnegan looks like a high energy player, but he looks smallish and had problems tackling. I hope he cleans that up.
Rashad Jones getting suspended is a huge blow.
Our LB's are a mess. Ellerbee and Wheeler were a huge mistake that will haunt this team for 2 more seasons. Misi is servicable at OLB, but he is not a MLB. We will see that play out.
Our only hope is that our young LB's get plenty of playing time and get up to speed. Someone has to step up as MLB to allow Misi back at OLB. Wheeler should be back on the bench.

 

[LANGER72]

I got the opposite impression from Gillislee. I though he looked slow, couldn't cut, and had no vision. I'm thinking he is more on the bubble than DT. I thought Damien Williams was looking good until his injury. I would have him ranked him higher than DT and Gillislee depending on his injury.

Early in the game Gillisee had some good runs. Williams also played well with the back ups. I would like to see both guys getting reps with the 1st team in the next few games.
Both players did well when their number was called. I hope that Williams injury isnt serious.

 

[Zounds]

* The line played well tonight. Without question, there will be much tougher defenses than Atlanta on the horizon. However, the line gave a clean pocket, allowed little pressure and made some holes for Lamar Miller.

I think they did great in pass pro, but they didn't move anyone in the run game, particularly the right side. I'm going to watch the game again and just watch the OL unit.

* Too many missed tackles. Koa Misi stands out the most in that he was totally faked out in the back field against Jacquizz Rodgers and missed a tackle for a loss.

Misi def left some plays on the field, but I was still impressed with his overall play. He had a nice sack (which was negated by our CB making contact beyond 5 yards) and he penetrated the line on several running plays. He just needs to break down and wrap up and I'm sure he knows it.

 

[phintim]

Will Davis, Dallas Thomas and Mike Gillispee 3 players basically written off as wasted draft picks last year actually contributing and appearing to play fairly well in most instances last night was fairly impressive to me. I would throw Jamar Taylor in there and probably should but in the first 3 guys I read here quite regularly were Ireland rejects that would never amount to nothing and to see them shine a little as actual NFL players was huge to me last night. The offensive line is actually smelling like we may have a little depth developing with the likes of Turner, Brenner, Gardner, Smith but my major concern there is Alberts injury prone history and who is his backup. In terms of the linebackers Tripp, McCain and Jenkins provide some depth moving forward which gives you a bit of hope if Wheeler is to be replaced and Msi goes out injured like he does about every year. So that gets us to the secondary which now becomes a worry with Jone out and Clemons gone. For those of you who have been around for awhile while Clemons was not a talent at the safty position the entire backfield played much better when he was in there so seeing how that develops is important. Currently until Jones returns I guess Wilson is safty and Taylor will be the nickle.
Fedee may help missing Jordan the first 4 games and I hope Johnson might help out loosing big Paul S., and James was not standing out like Jake Mathews was last night for the Falcons so those are gains there and Laundry was special on that punt return.
Of this years draft class I would say so far Hazel is the one pick on the outside looking in, Aikins 4 round pick will protect him while he learns the safty position and Lynch needs to get healthy so we can see what we have there.
Pretty impressive we could stay in the game as much as we did last night with our 4th string QB playing the entire game outside of the 1st series.

 

[gregorygrant83]

People keep talking about how good Damien Williams looked before he was injured... Are we so tainted by last year that we really think six carries for two yards is a great game? He made a few nice catches out of the backfield but as a runner I don't see what people were so impressed with?

 

[Lee2000]

I thought be made several mistakes. He also looks too thin and lanky for someone with his build. He played good on ST but after watching the game twice already, I thought he played poorly at LB.

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He missed several tackles again and had a costly penalty. I'm done with Wheeler. I dont want him on this team anymore.

I know McCain made mistakes, but he looked generally good. I think "poor" play is your opinion, but not the popular view.

---------- Post added at 03:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:17 PM ----------

I don't like Coyle as defensive coordinator. Haven't liked him since last year.

 

[RobertHorry]

McCain did have mistakes but he is also a rookie. He flashed way more than Dion Jordan did, who was basically a ghost.

 

[johngarryvo]

Lamar Miller was decisive? when.. falling down?!

 

[Dick Pepperwood]

As the team screams for more LB help, it is somewhat disappointing to see that Jason Trusnik has never developed into more than a front line special teamer. One would think that Trusnik being around the game as much as he has, he might develop into a player capable of pushing a starter. That is simply not the case.

Good read dude. Could not agree more with this..

 

[LANGER72]

McCain did have mistakes but he is also a rookie. He flashed way more than Dion Jordan did, who was basically a ghost.

Jordan is a bust. We should trade him now while he is still a mystery to the league. Playing him for another season will reduce his value to zero.
I would trade him (if SF is willing) for Carlos Hyde. We need a big back to compliment Miller and Moreno.
We have pass rushers in Shelby, Freeny and Fede.
Jordan was a reach and a bad value pick for the team. Probably Irelands worst pick.
Trade for someone who can help us this year.

 

[AL R]

To be fari, Coyle's D always seems to keep teams from scoring TD's. I will give him that. They seem to yield rushing yards, miss tackles not get off the field quick enough nor make huge game changing plays…but in the end, they keep the opponent off of the scoreboard.

And haven't seen a ton of quick over the top scoring plays either. One that sticks out is in the Pittsburgh game. Hope this doesn't change with the safery situation.

 

[nick1]

We also were missing vernon who is doing very well according to reports. He will help the pass rush. The defense will be fine. Finnegan and grimes are gonna have a ton of picks combined