Kudos to Grier/Flores | Page 4 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Kudos to Grier/Flores

IMO, getting it right would have been a second quarterback. Jones fell beyond the 12 slot that we briefly owned, and Fields fell within a cheap ladder back up. Obviously that's impossible to pinpoint ahead of time. But with 5 highly rated quarterbacks I think Miami's priority should have been to come away with one of them. I am not a believer in arbitrarily calling a guy a franchise quarterback then waiting around for him. How can anyone argue there's not enough time or reps in practice based on what we've experienced recently, when reporters covering those events didn't have any trouble proclaiming that Fitzpatrick was well ahead of Rosen, etc? It's a ridiculous cop out to pretend you don't know anything unless both guys have equal footing in game situations with the first team.

Trey Lance is a really impressive guy. Frankly I didn't know a darn thing about him until watching the interviews and clips. He's extremely well spoken and seems to be sharp. From a football standpoint he holds the ball low and he's got too long of a windup. That stuff needs to be cleaned up. He also needs to put on some weight. Right now he's built like a Fresno State quarterback. That's the look they always send out recently, an athletic kid who technically also throws the ball.

I think Grier got stuck on the notion of wide receiver and playing hopscotch instead of grasping the immense value of the 3 pick, especially given 5 quarterbacks in play. Or maybe 3 quarterbacks since 2 would be gone. He should have taken his best shot in terms of identifying who he preferred among Jones/Fields/Lance and then maneuvered accordingly. Or don't maneuver at all if you think you can only get him at 3. It seemed obvious late that Justin Fields would slip somewhat. He's got the great downfield capability but hindered by the awful high elbow crank. This organization needs a specialized coach who understands mechanics at every position and can evaluate stuff like Lance's long delivery and Fields' poor backswing.

We are now drafting impressive human beings, and not glassy eyed airheads like Dion Jordan. That's the greatest difference I see recently. My youth featured the same type of thing. We were considered the smartest most resourceful team in the league in those days and it was immediately apparent as soon as you heard them speak. Then somehow for decade after decade we brainstormed to draft guys who made me cringe upon the first sentence or two out of their mouth. Even if I wasn't thrilled with the Hunter Long pick there's no question he fits the blueprint of type of guy who Flores will appreciate because he's got a lot of Flores in him.

Tua's college tape looks very ordinary the more I look at it. That's the concern. Not the passes themselves but the effort required and the overall level of athlete delivering the ball. Last season I didn't care about YPA or anything else compared to the shocking aspect that Tua looked a bit overmatched out there. Contrast to Bon Griese who never looked out of place for one second. I wouldn't have been intent on a second swing at quarterback without those images of Tua as lacking. Now he just needs to prove me wrong via all the adjustments like strength training and one year further removed from injury. In the meantime I wish we had someone like Justin Fields or Trey Lance or Mac Jones on the roster even if it meant forfeiting Jaylen Waddle.
It's an interesting perspective. Lance does seem impressive and SF is a great landing spot for him.

In all honesty Tua didn't play as well as I expected last year. But his high points, best moments, were impressive. I think and hope that is what he becomes.

It's certainly not like he had much talent around him last year.
 
The biggest weakness, IMO, is the QB position right now.

I'm a big Tua guy but the amount of pressure he will face once the season starts will be borderline unfair given his expedited recovery timeline and having his rookie season hampered by COVID rules.

I'm certainly bullish on Miami - Last year at this time I thought they should contend and/or be in the playoff race with Fitzpatrick at the helm.

This year, even with an improved and cohesive roster I'm worried that Tua will be facing expectations that will be difficult to achieve. It's essentially playoffs or bust for Miami in 2021. And if the answer is bust I'm not sure Tua gets another chance.
Why are we treating Tua like he's holding a football for the first time in his life?
We picked him 5th because of his character traits and his capability to step up in the big game.
I expect him to be much better this season given proper time to train and be ready.
Additionally he has an upgraded offense now and he understands what he needs to bring.
Just have to see how the new tandem OC is going to work for the offense.

Making the playoffs is a team effort and not on one player, so if everyone balls out we should be good there.
 
If we have a bottom 20-25% in the league run game then something went drastically wrong with our line, pass game or both. I think it's going to be shocking and refreshing for us to watch how honest defenses are going to have to play us now having added two legit play-making speed demons. Tua will be able to torture defenses with the short stuff all day but be able to go over the top anytime. Would have been quite helpful to have that down the stretch last year as Grant dropped, what, 4 or 5 fifty yarders game after game just killing any offensive momentum or continuity.

Gaskins and the crew are good enough to be average if our line is actually good this year and not a liability and with this speed addition. Plus we have two additional backs for depth and the all important short yardage situation. Not perfect but should be a heck of an improvement on last year and can be solved once and for all hopefully with just one high RB pick down the road if that really is all we lack. I like starting with play making speed at WR and a good OL, average backs will look fine in that situation.
If we are bottom 25% then we would be ranked 24th in running, and if we’re able to do that, and our pass offense is above 15th or so, then our OL is doing it’s job.

I don’t think enough people understand that our talent level at RB is bottom 5 *at best* but more like bottom 3. If we get close to 20-24 in ranking out of the run it’s because our pass game and OL picked it up for them.

All three of our RBs are solid and would be good as backups but none are good as a starter. Not even close.
 
Tua's college tape looks very ordinary the more I look at it. That's the concern. Not the passes themselves but the effort required and the overall level of athlete delivering the ball. Last season I didn't care about YPA or anything else compared to the shocking aspect that Tua looked a bit overmatched out there. Contrast to Bon Griese who never looked out of place for one second. I wouldn't have been intent on a second swing at quarterback without those images of Tua as lacking. Now he just needs to prove me wrong via all the adjustments like strength training and one year further removed from injury. In the meantime I wish we had someone like Justin Fields or Trey Lance or Mac Jones on the roster even if it meant forfeiting Jaylen Waddle.
I cut your post down a little to counter your point about Tua and drafting another qb. It would have been completely asinine for this team to draft another qb short of Trevor Lawrence for the reasons given. First, they've built this team almost in Tua's image. The commitment is real and the draft and Fa targets support that. A QB was rightly the last thing this team thought about,

As to his college tape, there is no way anyone saw him throw and think ordinary. I don't care if he had to shot put the ball and then somersault to get it to where it was going, it did and they weren't floaters. Not saying he has a big arm but it was plenty good. Saban changed his entire mindset because of Tua. This is not rose -colored glass talk, it's real IMHO. He needs to improve. Of that I agree, but I think he can/will and it'll be very good for the Dolphins.
 
Back
Top Bottom