Issues threatening Miami Dolphins' process of being good | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Issues threatening Miami Dolphins' process of being good

DKphin

DKphin

Active Roster
Joined
Aug 10, 2008
Messages
14,535
Reaction score
6,353
Location
Pattaya, Thailand
The Miami Dolphins keep telling me this team-building they are doing now is a process and it will come together and it will lead to a good team. They tell me the offense will be good. They tell me the defense will tackle.

So now you know what I keep hearing from the team.
But, as I write in my column today, life happens. And the process, which the Dolphins see as this unstoppable downhill rolling avalanche, looks more like a herd of pebbles that are losing steam as one pebble breaks off here and another detours over there.
And what is causing the pebbles to lose their momentum?

1.The Mike Pouncey injury not only affects his position, but suddenly it becomes more important with the ongoing mixing and matching of guards along the line. With Pouncey gone for the line the rest of the preseason, we now can say with certainty the Dolphins offensive line will not find that chemistry everyone says is so vital for OL success before the regular-season begins.

Meanwhile the Dolphins still want Laremy Tunsil to be the starting left guard. (Me, too). But they're not ready to anoint him yet because he's simply not there yet.
And so the line that was supposed to come together by now so it can build that chemistry is not even built.

2.I told you how the plans to get Xavien Howard in that starting CB job opposite Byron Maxwell is not exactly taking a direct route to its intended destination. Well, what does that mean?

It means you might have Tony Lippett starting that first game at Seattle.
And with respect to Lippett, he is simply not ready for that. Lippett is a three-year project player who was drafted late after playing as a college wide receiver his final year at Michigan State. He is learning to be a cornerback. He is on course. But that does not make him a starting caliber cornerback right now. Or by September 11, which happens to be opening day.

3.Then there is the running back position. Jay Ajayi hasn't gotten great work in the preseason because something has seemingly always gone wrong when he's been in the games. (Not with him, but other guys). And so this preseason Ajayi is averaging 3.1 yards per carry. No biggie, but this is a second-year player who needs to be successful and build on that.

Arian Foster doesn't need to have success to gain confidence. But he needs to play to be ready for the season. And yet the Dolphins are walking that delicate line of giving him enough work to get ready but not so much work as to get him hurt. This because Foster has been injury-prone throughout his career.
Not. Optimal.
Another injury-prone back -- rookie Kenyan Drake -- is going to miss this week of practice and the game Thursday against Atlanta. He has been shut down going on three weeks now because of a hamstring injury. And because it is the second time he has this injury since he joined the Dolphins -- my God, he hasn't even played in a game yet -- the team is being cautious with him so that when he comes back, his chances of running into another setback are slimmer.
I say put him on IR with the designation to come back and move on. That way you can keep someone such as Isaiah Pead, who has performed this training camp and has impressed coaches. Pead, by the way, is an example of something that's gone right for the Dolphins this preseason.
A bust with the St. Louis Rams, out of the league in 2014, Pead is Miami's leading rusher this preseason and even got first-team snaps in the Dallas game. That is a sign, by the way.

4.I heard a lot about how far ahead of schedule Cameron Wake is as he continues to come back from the Achilles' tear that ended his 2015 season prematurely. And it is true. Less than a year removed for the injury, Wake is practicing and showing no ill effects.

But he hasn't played. And he might not play this entire preseason now. The decision on his status for Thursday night has not been made. And if he doesn't play Thursday, he's almost definitely not playing in the throw-away final preseason game the following week.
Click to expand...
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...ay-the-course-do-what-were-taught-and-ha.html
 
#1 and #2 are the ones i'm concerned with. Setbacks on oline are worrisome given our history, and with corner we have not yet seen answers. I think the RB position and Wake will be good.
 
Its the run and the ability to stop the run. The same thing as last year
 
nick1 said:
Its the run and the ability to stop the run. The same thing as last year
Click to expand...

Yup, that and the ability to stop the pass. As well as the ability to pass, if the OL has another collapse.

Other than that -if special teams do improve from last year- we're fine.
 
DKphin said:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...ay-the-course-do-what-were-taught-and-ha.html
Click to expand...
I've said elsewhere . . . OL, DBs, LBs will take a while to gel. Doesn't mean they'll be GOOD, but it means they'll be better as they play. My list of issues are as follows . . . all players getting experienced enough they can play without thinking, tackling, catching, injuries. If those 4 things could magically improve (or be avoided), fans would see the REAL Dolphins team. How good would they be? No idea, but evaluation would be much easier.
 
usa-today-8911674.0.jpg
 
Well... at least we can all rest easy knowing we at least don't have to deal with this nonsense anymore:

Eagles K Caleb Sturgis (concussion) returned to practice Monday.
Sturgis suffered a concussion after getting hit in the head by a ball during warmups before last week's preseason game. Now healthy, he will resume his competition with Cody Parkey.
 
NyPhan23 said:
Well... at least we can all rest easy knowing we at least don't have to deal with this nonsense anymore:

Eagles K Caleb Sturgis (concussion) returned to practice Monday.
Sturgis suffered a concussion after getting hit in the head by a ball during warmups before last week's preseason game. Now healthy, he will resume his competition with Cody Parkey.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a bad scene from the movie "Grease". Hey, Danny! Can you be my second?
 
This is not rocket science and every new coach and GM we keep churning through here keeps conviincing the fans it is. All the regimes players were bums there fore don't expect us to win until we replace them all and then messure the results. The problem is it takes 3 years if you believe in this scheme. BS First you do churn your roster of productive younger players, you keep them until you can find and coach up their replacedments. This allows you to target more deficient areas on the ballplug rather then creating a hold and "hoping you can fill it in the draft and free agency". This new regime GM and Gase also have a tendancy to obtain players that appear to be talented but with a lonig history of injuries and motivational issues. News update all the talent in the world does not help if its sitting on the bench of not motivated. We could have kepts the majority of our free agents I am sure if Gase and Tannabaum gave them lots of love that they were wanted here along with what they got to walk to other teams with OV being the exception. So immagine this trean with Miller, Grimes, Mathews, Shelby and maybe even OV still on it. Subtract some of the draft picks we used on filling their positions and instead injected this team with more guard, linebacking depth, another cornerback and others in this years draft and this team would look alot more optomistic. Because we created these holes we gave away 3 extra draft picks one for Caroo the wide reciever, one for Maxell the CB from Baylor (just coming back from injury) and the running back from Alabama (currently hurt) just because we let our guys walk. We could have waited and probably still gotten thes guys if needed and others and had a much more competive roster. So here we go churning the roster and really churning the fans hoping we stick around. All players can be coached up but few coaches have the abiltiy is the bottom line.
 
This team is going to start slowly and get better as the season progresses.
Hopefully we can make a couple plays in key moments to steal a couple games early in the season.
Anyone thinking we are going to beat Seattle in game 1 is overly optimistic. I hope we do, but this team will still be sorting out the parts for a few games to start the season.
Play error free offense, and hope for no injuries to our playmakers on offense.
 
phintim said:
This is not rocket science and every new coach and GM we keep churning through here keeps conviincing the fans it is. All the regimes players were bums there fore don't expect us to win until we replace them all and then messure the results. The problem is it takes 3 years if you believe in this scheme. BS First you do churn your roster of productive younger players, you keep them until you can find and coach up their replacedments. This allows you to target more deficient areas on the ballplug rather then creating a hold and "hoping you can fill it in the draft and free agency". This new regime GM and Gase also have a tendancy to obtain players that appear to be talented but with a lonig history of injuries and motivational issues. News update all the talent in the world does not help if its sitting on the bench of not motivated. We could have kepts the majority of our free agents I am sure if Gase and Tannabaum gave them lots of love that they were wanted here along with what they got to walk to other teams with OV being the exception. So immagine this trean with Miller, Grimes, Mathews, Shelby and maybe even OV still on it. Subtract some of the draft picks we used on filling their positions and instead injected this team with more guard, linebacking depth, another cornerback and others in this years draft and this team would look alot more optomistic. Because we created these holes we gave away 3 extra draft picks one for Caroo the wide reciever, one for Maxell the CB from Baylor (just coming back from injury) and the running back from Alabama (currently hurt) just because we let our guys walk. We could have waited and probably still gotten thes guys if needed and others and had a much more competive roster. So here we go churning the roster and really churning the fans hoping we stick around. All players can be coached up but few coaches have the abiltiy is the bottom line.
Click to expand...

And the suck continues...

Me think it has a lot to do with Ross.

BNF.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom