Jevon Holland highest graded rookie in the league week 1

[Beach Bum]

BEAST.

Woot! :-)

 

[Ray R]

I think I read somewhere that Grier does not make a pick without Flores’ approval

Probably here and more then likely wrong.

Most likely there is a lot of collaboration, but the final choice is the GM's!

 

[Lionstone]

16 points is a solid game. But be real, it was about to be 19 (or more) and an "L" if not for our star defensive stud X. Paper thin margin there.
Might have been even more if not for the other fumble. Something very uncharateristic of NE.

No adjustments throughout the game or on NE's final drive.

Defensive scheme most certainly WAS an issue.

Conversely, the offense was missing Will Fuller and has major issues on the line.
What's the defenses excuse? They have a solid d-line and some of the best DB's in the league. Yet allowed a rookie QB all day to dink and dunk them to wide open receivers.

Do not care if it was going to be 19 and a loss. It was 16 and a win.

 

[Lionstone]

I continue to believe Holland will be a long time top level player for our team. Everything I saw during the game reinforces that opinion.

 

[lbmclean_nocal]

He flipped Jonnu Smith and he fumbled, the Pats recovered though. I think youre thinking of one of the fumbles we recovered.

Was that the fumble that Phillips went by? Maybe he was going too fast to react

 

[Ray R]

Do not care if it was going to be 19 and a loss. It was 16 and a win.

Actually, we were likely to score the remaining minute IF they made that field goal, so it would have been either 20-19 Dolphins (FG) or 23-19 Dolphins (TD) or 24-19 Dolphins (TD+EP) or even 25-19 (TD & 2 point conversion) Dolphins if we wanted to rub it in.

Thanks for reminding me. - LOL

 

[tay0365]

BEAST.

Defensive Rookie of the year...step 1.

 

[BenchFiedler]

Grier stil sucks at picking Offensive Linemen…..But this was a home run pick. Holland might eventually be as good as Fitzpatrick.

He is the best when it comes to drafting undrafted free agents.

 

[phinfan40353]

I'm not sure how many possessions you think are going to happen in a game where the other team has 3 FOURTEEN play drives.

Edit: And just to wet your whistle a little bit, ignoring the 2 QB sneaks designed to only get 1 yard, and the 3 kneel downs at the end of the game, we averaged ~5.5 yards per play which would have been good for 18th last season. Considering this came against a team that has a much better defense than 18th best, I'd say our offensive performance was therefore "fine".

But to Mach2's point, some of those 14 play drives existed because of a tired defense.

I'd also like to point out that our D's philosophy is "bend don't break". Thus, we will allow long drives consistently in most games.

However, our team philosophy also relies on our O sustaining long drives, as well. The O doing their part doesn't mean 1 long drive for every 3 of the opponent.

Regardless how many playcallers we have on O, that side of the ball needs to step it up and start playing like they have a dominant WR and TE corps. They need to play like they are designed. 202 yards of passing offense is pathetic.


I also don't like hearing about how good the Pats D. That Pats D can be had. We did it last year with less talent.

This O needs excuses made for it, when it needs a swift kick in it. Flo needs to tighten the screws on O and get all these shiny toys playing like a dominant unit.

Gesicki was almost non-existent. I'm tired of watching them shift extra blocking TEs to help with the OL. You can also help the OL by getting Gesicki loose in the middle of the field on 3-5 yard catches to make the DL stop pinning their ears back and rushing with abandon. You can slow an attack by counterattacking. And we are NOT good it. But have TONS of weapons to do it.

I'm tired of this O playing scared and to not lose the game. Uncork this beast and let these guys feed. It's like we are scared of trying to win.

 

[phinfan40353]

There's just a bunch of people that are so frustrated that we didn't look like the 85 bears and dominate for 4qtrs that they can't help but **** on every little positive thing. Throwing shade to squelch the flames of their own rage. Apparently every throw should've been 50 yard dimes and score every drive. THEN we would be OK to be positive about anything.

It's not always a measure of totality. I for one don't ignore how great the D is developing when I criticize the O.

I KNOW we have a dominant D. I'd like another Ogbah or two to create pressure and I hope we develop depth behind Davis while he is out. But those units don't need nitpicking when you've got one of the Top WR and TE corps in the league and you only pass for 202 yards.

That's playcalling, execution and mindset. I WANT the O to be as great as the D.


We have poured just as much resources into the O as we have the D. It is not unfair to expect the same development of the O as the D.

I focus on the O BECAUSE the D is so great I don't have to worry about it.


Sometimes critiquing one side of the ball isn't in lieu of impending criticism for the other. Sometimes it is because the other side of the ball is so dominant, and based on the effort by the team to improve both simultaneously, one is showing insufficient improvement in relation to what the other has achieved.


Does anyone not disagree that we should expect to see an "Xavien Howard" on our Offense? Is it too much to ask for someone on O to step up and lead this team with dominance on the field?

And that's not to say we have just ONE X on D. We've got a few guys who are ascending to X's level quickly. So, about that O.....

 

[GhostArmOfMarino]

16 points is a solid game. But be real, it was about to be 19 (or more) and an "L" if not for our star defensive stud X. Paper thin margin there.
Might have been even more if not for the other fumble. Something very uncharateristic of NE.

No adjustments throughout the game or on NE's final drive.

Defensive scheme most certainly WAS an issue.

Conversely, the offense was missing Will Fuller and has major issues on the line.
What's the defenses excuse? They have a solid d-line and some of the best DB's in the league. Yet allowed a rookie QB all day to dink and dunk them to wide open receivers.

To be fair, even if they allowed 19 or 22 points that's still a game you should win in the NFL.

If those drives resulted in TDs rather than FG or fumbles as they did obviously its a different story.

In my opinion you need to be able to put up 24-27 points minimum as an offense in the NFL to have a real good shot at winning each week without a stellar defensive performance.

 

[Burt Macklin]

He'll probably be a better safety than Fitzpatrick was a QB.

I love the optimism, but it has been 1 game and he played like 40% of the snaps in that game. Fitzpatrick is/was an All-Pro. This is classic Homer talk.

This is no different that Pats fans calling Mac Jones "the next Brady" or "better than Brady" after 1 game, albeit a strong performance.

When you build up these lofty expectations, players inevitably under-perform and get labeled busts.

 

[Kamelion4291]

But to Mach2's point, some of those 14 play drives existed because of a tired defense.

I'd also like to point out that our D's philosophy is "bend don't break". Thus, we will allow long drives consistently in most games.

However, our team philosophy also relies on our O sustaining long drives, as well. The O doing their part doesn't mean 1 long drive for every 3 of the opponent.

Regardless how many playcallers we have on O, that side of the ball needs to step it up and start playing like they have a dominant WR and TE corps. They need to play like they are designed. 202 yards of passing offense is pathetic.


I also don't like hearing about how good the Pats D. That Pats D can be had. We did it last year with less talent.

This O needs excuses made for it, when it needs a swift kick in it. Flo needs to tighten the screws on O and get all these shiny toys playing like a dominant unit.

Gesicki was almost non-existent. I'm tired of watching them shift extra blocking TEs to help with the OL. You can also help the OL by getting Gesicki loose in the middle of the field on 3-5 yard catches to make the DL stop pinning their ears back and rushing with abandon. You can slow an attack by counterattacking. And we are NOT good it. But have TONS of weapons to do it.

I'm tired of this O playing scared and to not lose the game. Uncork this beast and let these guys feed. It's like we are scared of trying to win.

Again, you're getting caught up into meaningless totals. Look at the efficiencies. And to your "scared of trying to win" point, Tua's ypa from that game would have been top 5 last season. We were aggressive. Why are you pretending like we just wanted to run the ball the whole time or throw before the sticks? We didn't.

 

[phinfan40353]

Again, you're getting caught up into meaningless totals. Look at the efficiencies. And to your "scared of trying to win" point, Tua's ypa from that game would have been top 5 last season. We were aggressive. Why are you pretending like we just wanted to run the ball the whole time or throw before the sticks? We didn't.

Who said I was pretending?

As far as "meaningless totals", who cares about YPA if you are 20th in the league in Passing Yards Per Game, 15th in Offensive Points Game and 22nd in Rushing Yards Per Game? Talk about meaningless stats (YPA). If we were aggressive, then where are the other passing stats that prove it, instead of one cross section?

2020 Season Team Stats

I know explosive offenses when I see them. I know dominant offenses when I see them. This ain't it. Put Waddle, Parker, Gesicki and Wilson on the Chiefs in Week 1 and we would be laughing at the difference in stats.

Again, he were go with the Dolphin Fan Mafia trying to convince us we are seeing greatness when we are witnessing PEDESTRIAN and AVERAGE offense on the field.

Just because we have a "bend don't break" defense, doesn't mean we have to concede Time Of Possession like it's an "okay" thing.


This Defense is elite. But I'm quickly seeing that no matter how many weapons we add, we are still seeing pedestrian output. Eventually, the finger needs to be pointed at Tua, QB Coach and the famed dual headed OC Monster.

This is starting to become reminiscent of watching Zach, JT, Madison and Surtain's primes waste away as we WAIT for an offense to arrive.

The problem with that regime is they didn't dedicate resources and develop talent on offense. We wanted Ricky to save us (all eggs in one basket).


THIS team has had immense resources placed on the offensive side of the ball in players, coaching and scheme. Yet here we stand, 276 yards total offense after a complete training camp (last year's excuse), new weapons (last year's excuse), an offense DESIGNED for Tua (last year's excuse) and offensive coaches tailored to Tua's strengths (last year's excuse).


And what is the new narrative? Same as the old narrative; Wait, it takes time.


If you can't watch this offensive and critique the SUM of all plays to determine we are pedestrian, AGAIN, then keep feeding stats and bring up a couple of plays to overcast the plethora of examples that prove otherwise.



Mike Gesicki's line for NE: 0/0 0yds on 3 targets.


I can't wait for fans' heads to explode when he asks for Top 5 money and they complain "where are the stats?!". You can't catch what isn't thrown to you. And you can't catch standing on the sideline.

Our lack of use of our weapons falls COMPLETELY on the Offensive Coaching Staff; ever how many we have this week on the payroll.


Gesicki doesn't have to block. He can bust the seam, quick slant behind the blitzer and do a ton of AGGRESSIVE plays to exploit an over aggressive DL. Not using him is a tragedy.

And that's just one example.


Tua was outplayed by his backup in college. And it falls on the opportunities he wasn't given to take control of the game; coaching playing scared.

 

[EJay]

Do not care if it was going to be 19 and a loss. It was 16 and a win.

It was. And I’m grateful.

But still I am not going to ignore how easily it could have gone the other way. Hopefully the Dolphins staff doesn’t either. That’s how you don’t learn and grow from mistakes and are doomed to repeat them.