Mandich on Sports Jam

[PhinBeck]

Oh and as far as Bioston goes, his missing practice was the result of bleeding in his leg. What exactly has he done? He has participated in all offseason workouts hasnt he? That was his major beef in SD.

 

[TRUDOLFAN54]

i am amazed how some people can be so negative my god we finished one mini camp

 

[Alxphins]

Maybe it is being negative, but please explain to me, given the series of problems that have occurred over the last few months, how can we praise the front office. It seems to be one issue after another and that is a fact. I wish it wasn't. Look if Spielman is right on his picks, 1) Feeley goes from 3rd string to good starter; 2) St. Clair becomes a good starter after having problems in St. Louis and being benched or the either Jerman or Whitley step up and become good starters; 3) Mickinney develops into a solid starter and learns how to make line calls; 4) if Carey steps in as a rookie and plays better than Wade Smith did last year; 5) if wade smith improves; 6) if Boston lives up to his potential does not cause disruptions and takes pressure off of chambers; and 7) if we can develop some continuity with rotating Offensive coordinators THEN Spielman will be GM of the year and we will have a shot. I REALLY HOPE THIS HAPPENS........But I simply think that it is improbable that ALL of those things will happen. I can see 2 or 3 but ALL...... I just do not see it and part of this is based on the track record of this front office and their poor judgment calls in the past. I simply get really frustrated because we have a very good defense and we are wasting the careers of players like Surtain, Thomas, Taylor, Bowens, Madison etc. but not providing an offense team that can consistently perform.

 

[GMP-AGAIN]

Last night on Sunday Night Sports Jam with Jimmy Cefalo and Jim Mandich, Mandich said this is the most bizarre offseason in the history of the Doilphins. Between the Marino thing, the O Coordinator, Ricky's pot thing, all of it is unsettling.

I agree. I have been a fan for 34 years and can not remember so much uncertainty and irratic activity.

This is not what we are use to from out team. The Dolphins have long been considered one of the elite organizations in the NFL. I hope this all does not translate to poor performance on the field.

Regardless of what happens this year, we need stability in this oganization.
Lets hope Wayne brings this thing under control.

I agree. I've been a fan since the team's inception. This has been an eerie off season. As long as Dave Wannstedt is the coach and Jay Fiedler is the QB, I see this team going nowhere. I love the Fins and pull for them always, but that's how I feel about this year. After this year, both Wanny and Fiedler will be gone. Maybe then they can get back to trying to be a first class organization.

 

[fin-atic]

Boston: Head case making an early case for bust move of the year.

How can you say Boston is the bust move of the year? He didn't cost us much of anything. The reward oppotuntiy is much greater than the risk. :shakeno:

I didn't say he was a bust. What I said is he is pulling some of his old crap and is a candidate if he doesn't get his act together. I think it is serious enough that it is well known that the Fins are pursuing another WR.

Thanks everyone for posting. I want to stress that I am not saying we will be that bad or that some of these guys won't pan out.

My point is that no one can say with any confidence that we are better, because most of these players are of a risky nature.

It is my answer to the many posts that keep saying "we are so much better this year".

Fact is we could be no better or worse. The reasons are there. We also could go all the way...but I think most experts and fans would be suprised.

 

[rafael]

Quote:

"Question marks always exist. You could probably take the AFC or NFC probowl roster and come up with a question mark for everyone of those players. If you want guarantees then go look somewhere else b/c they don't exist in the NFL."​

I agree that there are no guarantees in the NFL, but there is a significant difference between getting a proven player (woody, tait, turley, sammy knight etc.) versus getting an unproven player (feeley, St. Clair, Mintocsh -- becuase of the injury, McKinney, Jerman, Whitley) and relying on an unproven player to come through at a number of positions, including quarterback. In my opinion we are "reaching" at too many position with the hope that we just happen to find "diamonds in the rough." Maybe it will work but the odds are against us.

You do realize that Woody is coming off of an injury. Tait was questioned by many people here. Why don't you ask Boomer how overrated Tait is? Turley is a loose cannon. Sammy Knight lacks speed. Every player has some question mark. If you don't like the player, that ? is all important. If you do like the player, it's an insignificant risk. That's why it's easy for anybody to be negative if they want to.

 

[Dajesus]

The offseason when we signed Eric Green for a bundle of money was pretty unsettleing. Wasn't that the same year we cut Cox and Vincent?

I am not buying in to the AJ and Boston bad reports yet. These mini camps mean absolutely nothing. They are for rookies, and to get the team back together and familiar with each other. No one has ever made a team in mini camp. Every year the guys that look great in these things never make the team, and no one remembers how the vets looked. Didn't we have like 5 guys last year that were starters that didn't even take part in any of these besides the last one?

I will get concerned toward the end of the preseason if the reports on these guys stay the same. I am going to reserve any evaluation on Boston untill the 2nd or 3rd week as long as he stays are #2 guy. This guy has never played on a team that had a chance. He has also never played with this many stars who know how to get it done. If this guys head isn't in the game ealy on I have faith in Ricky, Zach, JT, Bowens, Madison, Seau, and Feidler to get this guys head on straight. Great athleats are usually pushed to new level when they get around other great athleats. He has always been a star with no one around him. Lets see how he reacts when he has to work his tail off just to get noticed with guys Randy, CC, Williams setting the bar to see who gets the ball.

As far as AJ goes lets see how he looks in the 4th preseason game. Thats all Jay needed to earn his job. Their has to be a buffer zone to get used to getting this many reps, learning a new offense, moving from Philly to Miami, and getting to know a new group of guys on offense. He has a stronger arm and is just as athletic as Jay, so lets see if he can digest this offense.

 

[Alxphins]

Quote:

"You do realize that Woody is coming off of an injury. Tait was questioned by many people here. Why don't you ask Boomer how overrated Tait is? Turley is a loose cannon. Sammy Knight lacks speed. Every player has some question mark. If you don't like the player, that ? is all important. If you do like the player, it's an insignificant risk. That's why it's easy for anybody to be negative if they want to."


Look I am not saying that Tait and Woody or Turley are guarantees, what I am saying is that iot is much more likely that if you plugged them in to our offensive line that they would perform better than St. Clair, Jerman, etc. That is all. Turley played better than Wade Smith did last year didn't he? Wade Smith may end up being a solid player but he made some critical mistakes last year at critical times and I do not blame him I blame our coaches for throwing him in there too soon. But hell we saved money and didn't overpay and we missed the playoffs. Sure you can say Tait is overrated (rated as a premier tackle by ESPN in free agency - Drafted: 1999, 1st Round, 14th Pick by Kansas City Chiefs) and Turley is a loose cannon (Turley was a 1998, 1st Round-- 7th Pick by New Orleans Saints and is only 28) but in all honesty who would you rather have as your offensive tackles this year Turley and Tait or Smith and St. Clair? Ask ricky williams that question.

Last years failure, in my opinion, was based on our front offices failure to address an offensive line problem that was glaring! I heard it last year, Dixon will be back, Nails will return to form we don't need to pick up a veteran and overpay and I actually believed it. Truth is, and I will admit it, if this was a new coach and new GM (I know spielman is new but to me it is the same old thing as evidence by the fact that fiedler stayed) I would give them the benefit of the doubt with all these moves, BUT SOME ONE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW YOU CAN GIVE THESE GUYS THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT...they have a track record...and it is not good....James is the only solid free agent pick on the offense side of the ball (Boston could be a HUGE STEAL and I actually believe he will be good) but 3/5 of our line relies on guys who have not proved that they could start consistently in this league and that worries me. Call me negative, I think it is more in line with being a realist.

 

[rafael]

Quote:

"You do realize that Woody is coming off of an injury. Tait was questioned by many people here. Why don't you ask Boomer how overrated Tait is? Turley is a loose cannon. Sammy Knight lacks speed. Every player has some question mark. If you don't like the player, that ? is all important. If you do like the player, it's an insignificant risk. That's why it's easy for anybody to be negative if they want to."


Look I am not saying that Tait and Woody or Turley are guarantees, what I am saying is that iot is much more likely that if you plugged them in to our offensive line that they would perform better than St. Clair, Jerman, etc. That is all. Turley played better than Wade Smith did last year didn't he? Wade Smith may end up being a solid player but he made some critical mistakes last year at critical times and I do not blame him I blame our coaches for throwing him in there too soon. But hell we saved money and didn't overpay and we missed the playoffs. Sure you can say Tait is overrated (rated as a premier tackle by ESPN in free agency - Drafted: 1999, 1st Round, 14th Pick by Kansas City Chiefs) and Turley is a loose cannon (Turley was a 1998, 1st Round-- 7th Pick by New Orleans Saints and is only 28) but in all honesty who would you rather have as your offensive tackles this year Turley and Tait or Smith and St. Clair? Ask ricky williams that question.

Last years failure, in my opinion, was based on our front offices failure to address an offensive line problem that was glaring! I heard it last year, Dixon will be back, Nails will return to form we don't need to pick up a veteran and overpay and I actually believed it. Truth is, and I will admit it, if this was a new coach and new GM (I know spielman is new but to me it is the same old thing as evidence by the fact that fiedler stayed) I would give them the benefit of the doubt with all these moves, BUT SOME ONE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW YOU CAN GIVE THESE GUYS THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT...they have a track record...and it is not good....James is the only solid free agent pick on the offense side of the ball (Boston could be a HUGE STEAL and I actually believe he will be good) but 3/5 of our line relies on guys who have not proved that they could start consistently in this league and that worries me. Call me negative, I think it is more in line with being a realist.

You are being negative. If you were being realistic then your reasoning wouldn't be as emotional. The fact is that Spielman is in his first year at GM. B/c JF stayed doesn't mean that this isn't Rick's first year. It just means he made a decision you didn't agree with. Since it is his first year, there is no track record. You already said that you would give a different GM the benefit of the doubt with these exact same moves, so why not Rick? The answer is that you have an opinion/feeling as to what happened in the FO. You have no facts, just feelings. When you assume a negative outcome based on emotions and not facts you are being negative. I don't mean this as a slam. When I lack sufficient facts to draw a conclusion I usually go with my gut feeling. It's just believe it's important to recognize when I'm going with my gut and when I'm relying on objective facts.

 

[Nicky Napoleon]

I love how everyone bashes St. Clair, the guy lost his job to Kyle Turley.(last time I checked he was pretty good) St. Clair can also play all 5 positions on the OL, so I fail to see how adding a guy that can fill in anywhere is a bad thing. McIntosh was signed with minimum cap casualty if he dosnt pan out we can cut him without wrecking the cap. Boston on his worst day is better than any WR we had last year, so to say he is the biggest bust in the making is not a fair judgement. He will be better than our #2 and #3 WR last year combined, will he be back to his Cards days no because he isnt the center of the offense will he be a very productive WR yeah. Carey has a shot to be a stud for years. As for Tait and Woody had we signed one we WOULD NOT have been able to reisgn Ogun, they would have killed our cap and for not doing that I applaud RS. Were they good players yes but were they so much better that they were worth a 15 million dollar signing bonus over the 300,000 we gave McIntosh. If Carey wins the RT spot then McIntosh wont have to rush back and can return at 100%. Now for Feeley it has been said that he has a better arm and quicker release than Fiedler so its only a matter of time before he overtakes Jay, I hope that Jay starts(did I just say that?) and that AJ isnt rushed into the lineup where he will make more mistakes than Jay. If this happens everyone will scream for his release and it really is not necessary, let him sit for a while even if its the first year and learn under Trestman cut Jay next year and hand him the job. Jay in our system is a decent QB 10-6 isnt bad, he will rarely win or lose a game but he plays with in his ability. TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE PANICING AFTER MINI CAMP.....STOP IT AND STOP IT NOW. Its MINI CAMP wait till Septemeber to claim the sky is falling.

 

[Alxphins]

First of all they went out and picked up Turley because St. Clair played so poorly. Some say he was the sole reason Warner will never be good again. St. Clair did not play well for St. Louis. I agree he may be good for depth but he is earmarked as our starter. I agree that McIntosh was signed with minimum cap casualty and if he dosnt pan out we can cut him without wrecking the cap, but we need starters not "players we can cut" if they don't work out. I agree that Boston will be good. By the way I would take Tait and Woody and give up Ogun (I think that would have been a no brainer.) but Tait and Woody were never going to come here anyway. Yeah they may have ate up our cap but now we have allot of cap space and a potentially awful O-line to a potentially good O-line versus having a potentially good o-line to a potentially great O-line with no cap space. If Carey wins the RT? If McIntosh even makes it back? IF Feeley goes from 3rd sting to starter? That is my point too many "IFS". I know Feeley has a better arm and quicker release than Fiedler...but didn't Jeff George have a quicker release and stronger arm than most of the Quarterbacks playing today?

I am not panicking I am venting...call it negative or whatever but the past is prologue….


Here are some facts that serve as my basis for my opinion:

Chicago Past….

“The right decision was made, however, as McCaskey did fire Wannstedt as he had Mike Ditka 6 years earlier. Wannstedt addressed the crowd, stating that the atrocious personnel moves weren't all his decisions. He also went on to state that part of his problem may have been in keeping too many Super Bowl Bears around too long, a curious statement considering he only kept several around longer than '94. At this point, many fans breathed a sigh of relief, and looked to an exciting future.â€Â

Dolphin Past:

· The Dolphins have regressed every year of Wannstedt's tenure.
· In 2000, Miami advanced to the second round of the playoffs, but lost to Oakland 27-0.
· In 2001, they lost to Baltimore 20-3 in the first round.
· In 2002 they missed the playoffs; losing the final two games to Minnesota and blowing a 24-13 lead in New England.
· In 2003 they were eliminated two weeks before the season ended. They won the last two meaningless games to make them look better than they really are.
· In 2003 Wannstedt's personnel decisions caught up with him this year.
· In 2003 the offensive line has been ignored and that caught up with them this year.
· In 2003 Derrius Thompson's signing as a free-agent wide receiver was a total flop.
· In the 2003 offseason, Wannstedt added to the defense, but did little to help the offense and it caught up with the Dolphins.

Dolphin present:

· Strong pick up in James and Howard
· Every other offensive free agent pick has a substantial question mark in either ability, attitude or injury
· Issues with McIntosh Injury
· Issue with Marino leaving
· Issue with Offensive Coordinators


Explain to me why we should be positive about the leaders of this franchise? Maybe I should give Spielman the benefit of the doubt, but Wanny is still the coach and that, I think, is the problem.

 

[Nicky Napoleon]

I honestly want Wanny gone as much as everyone, that has no bearing on this conversation. St. Clair is PENCILED in as the starter not earmarked, the coaching staff has said all off season that it will be a competition and I see Carey winning that job. I also see Pape moved to G, where he will give us competition for the RG spot. If McKinney falters at C this is where the signing of St. Clair is so signifigant, he was an all american C in college. This also gives him protection on either side of him for any mistakes. Let me ask you this what player on our OL is a downgrade from last years OL? There is not one, there are questions about whether they are better, but they are all at least as good with the potential to be better. So the OL that was horrible helped us win 10 games, and this years OL will be no worse but POSSIBLY better. The WR position has been seriously upgraded with Boston sliding DT to the 3rd WR. As for the QB here again with the retention of Fiedler we are as good as last year with AJ possibly working out to improve the position. Yes there are alot of "IFS" but the ifs are only as to whether or not they can live up to their potential, not "IF" they are better than their predecessor.

 

[Alxphins]

Quote

“I honestly want Wanny gone as much as everyone, that has no bearing on this conversation. St. Clair is PENCILED in as the starter not earmarked, the coaching staff has said all off-season that it will be a competition and I see Carey winning that job. I also see Pape moved to G, where he will give us competition for the RG spot. If McKinney falters at C this is where the signing of St. Clair is so significant, he was an all American C in college. This also gives him protection on either side of him for any mistakes. Let me ask you this what player on our OL is a downgrade from last years OL? There is not one, there are questions about whether they are better, but they are all at least as good with the potential to be better. So the OL that was horrible helped us win 10 games, and this years OL will be no worse but POSSIBLY better. The WR position has been seriously upgraded with Boston sliding DT to the 3rd WR. As for the QB here again with the retention of Fiedler we are as good as last year with AJ possibly working out to improve the position. Yes there are allot of "IFS" but the ifs are only as to whether or not they can live up to there potential, not "IF" they are better than their predecessor.â€Â


I agree about Wanny…so lets move on…You make some very good points about the acquisitions and how they relate to last years roster.

LT – Smith should improve
LG – James significant upgrade
C- possible upgrade, but I agree no worse
RG – very possibly better, but could be worse…I mean PAPE is a rookie
RT – Very easily could be worse...Wade was not spectacular but very solid. St. Clair not a good tackle, Carey could be better but could struggle as a rookie.

So two potential downgrades at RG and RT, but I will admit could be better at RG. I agree about WR being upgraded.

As for the most important position QB we either are stuck with Fiedler who has proven over the last four years that he is not good enough either because of performance or durability so being as good as before is not going to be good enough. Then we have Feeley who is truly a huge unknown and could very easily be worse.

Thinking back about the off-season I am not upset about Tait and Woody because there were logical reasons not to sign them even though I would have tried harder. What gets me is rushing to sign Feeley (just does not make sense) and not trading for Welbourne from Philadelphia on draft day (sure big contract but young guard than many thought was better than Woody and would have filled a HUGE hole.) Oh well enough venting for me. Nothing I can do about it. My last word is I REALLY HOPE I AM WRONG ABOUT ALL THIS AND WE GO 13-3 and beat the PATS AND JETS TWICE EACH.

 

[rafael]

Dolphin present:

· Strong pick up in James and Howard
· Every other offensive free agent pick has a substantial question mark in either ability, attitude or injury
· Issues with McIntosh Injury
· Issue with Marino leaving
· Issue with Offensive Coordinators


Explain to me why we should be positive about the leaders of this franchise? Maybe I should give Spielman the benefit of the doubt, but Wanny is still the coach and that, I think, is the problem.

As I said earlier, every NFL player has ?. Jeno James has only done it for only one year. Howard lacks man-to-man skills. Boston has attitude problems. Mcintosh-injury. St. Clair-struggled at RT. Wilkins-struggled last year. Jones (TE)-hasn't caught many passes. etc. Your opinion of the player is the only thing that determines if a ? is substantial or not. I love the James and Howard pick-ups. I have less concern about Boston than I did about RW. The few times I watched Mcintosh he looked about equal to Wade. I don't know enough about the injury to say whether it will continue to be a problem. I choose to believe the team did its due diligence. You may choose not to. Either way niether one of us knows. St. Clair IMO should be an interior lineman. I think if we put him inside he is at least starter quality.

The marino thing, I put on Marino. He started to do the job and realized it was kind of hard and paid a lot less and he would spend a lot of time away from home. This is what my gut tells me happened. This doesn't change my opinion of the FO. Your gut may go with one of the several conspiracy theories.

OCs- Collier got sick. IMO if that wasn't the major issue, he would have fought like hell to keep the title. It doesn't make sense to me that Collier argued with Trestman so Wanny said Collier your demoted and then Collier said ok.

Look, I sometimes believe the conspiracies, but it depends on my read of the person. I've met Wayne, I've spoken to him (I used to go to school with his daughter) and he is one of the most straight forward people I've ever met. RS (whom I've never met) strikes me the same way. He chooses his words carefully but I've yet to catch him in a lie. ( I've seen accusations, but when I went back to RS's original quotes he never contradicted himself) As for Wanny, I think he is a good coach. I think the team regressed b/c the OL regressed. Wanny should have addressed it sooner. This is a personnel failing, not coaching.

Why do I have faith? B/c the pickups this team made since RS took over make sense. I'm not saying they would have been my choices, but there is logic behind them. The OL we picked up have ?s, but almost all of them can run block without question. This makes sense if you want RW to be the focus of your O. AJ wouldn't have been my choice, but they picked him using a very analytical approach. The analysis was logical and since I didn't engage in as thorough an analysis, I can't reasonably question it. We had needs at OL, QB, WR and we addressed them. what more can you ask for?

 

[Nicky Napoleon]

One thing I will disagree with in your last reply Alxphins is the "QB being the most important", while this is the case in some offenses it isnt the case in ours. Yes the QB has alot of responsibility but in our offense the most important person wears #34. We are a run first, run again, run often, and then run some more offense based around RW. The QB is important but all we need him to do is not make mistakes, he will rarely be asked to win us a game more often just not to lose the game. One thing to think about is that with an improved passing game we could have the other teams playing from behind forcing them to throw the ball more making them one dimensional, and playing into the stregnth of our defense. Boston will give either QB a second option down the field that wasnt there last year making the QB better. So with another weapon even Feidler should improve his game.