Miami Dolphins take training wheels off of Merling | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Miami Dolphins take training wheels off of Merling

DKphin

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If Second-year defensive lineman Phillip Merling can be tough against the run and effectively rush the quarterback, he has an opportunity to start.
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Vonnie Holliday was more than the Dolphins' dependable defensive end.
He was an example for their young linemen -- and, more specifically, Phillip Merling -- to follow.
With Holliday as their starter, the Dolphins could keep the training wheels on Merling, a second-round pick out of Clemson.
The rookie took roughly a third of the defensive snaps and was solid, but far from spectacular. It was his time to learn and develop as a player in the hopes of someday taking over the starting role.
But when the Dolphins and Holliday parted in March, it was a clear sign that the future is now, if Merling can handle it.
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http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/football/story/1130185.html
 
I remember when I first had the training wheels taken off. I must of fell off the bike about 3,000 times.

Let's hope he can get the hang of it early.

(what a dumb name for an article)
 
Why does everyone disregard Randy Starks? I realize Miami staked a #32 overall on Phil Merling but they also staked something like $4-5 million a year on Randy Starks. Those investments balance pretty well with each other. Looks to me like they wanted to have three guys. They might have thought Starks and Merling would eventually be the guys and Langford would be the third guy, found out how good Langford is...so now I think Merling's the third guy. They're giving him a shot at the starting job but I think it still belongs to Starks.
 
ckparrothead said:
Why does everyone disregard Randy Starks? I realize Miami staked a #32 overall on Phil Merling but they also staked something like $4-5 million a year on Randy Starks. Those investments balance pretty well with each other. Looks to me like they wanted to have three guys. They might have thought Starks and Merling would eventually be the guys and Langford would be the third guy, found out how good Langford is...so now I think Merling's the third guy. They're giving him a shot at the starting job but I think it still belongs to Starks.
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I don't think anyone's disregarding him....Everyone is looking forwards and not backwards. Starks is backwards. I'm not saying he won't be a nice guy to have....But he's not who people are looking at as the next star DE, are they?
 
Backwards, isn't he a five year vet and 26 years old?? I think Starks is defintely part of the three man rotation for quite sometime.
 
GoonBoss said:
I don't think anyone's disregarding him....Everyone is looking forwards and not backwards. Starks is backwards. I'm not saying he won't be a nice guy to have....But he's not who people are looking at as the next star DE, are they?
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Starks is 25 years old. I grant you he has 5 years of experience, but I am not sure looking backwards is correct. I will grant you that Merling's capacity and potential talent may be higher.
 
I'm with CK here. While I have high hopes for Merling, Starks played very well last season - arguably our best DE. So, if Merling is ahead of schedule, and outplays Starks, great: We already know that Starks plays at a high level, so Merling must be playing at a very high level. But, I'd hardly say they've removed the 'training wheels.'
 
GoonBoss said:
I don't think anyone's disregarding him....Everyone is looking forwards and not backwards. Starks is backwards. I'm not saying he won't be a nice guy to have....But he's not who people are looking at as the next star DE, are they?
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Why wouldn't they? He's been better than Phil Merling, thus far. The best odds are always that the better player will continue to be the better player. I'm not saying the worse player won't become the better player, I'm just saying the odds are usually better for the best player continuing to remain the best player.
 
ckparrothead said:
Why does everyone disregard Randy Starks? I realize Miami staked a #32 overall on Phil Merling but they also staked something like $4-5 million a year on Randy Starks. Those investments balance pretty well with each other. Looks to me like they wanted to have three guys. They might have thought Starks and Merling would eventually be the guys and Langford would be the third guy, found out how good Langford is...so now I think Merling's the third guy. They're giving him a shot at the starting job but I think it still belongs to Starks.
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In all seriousness Randy Starks is a beast and light years better than merling to me.
 
Now that Merling has fully recovered from his sports hernia injury and is able to participate fully in off-season activities, I expect Merling to be much better at the point-of-attack.

With Langford, Merling, Starks and McDaniels, the Dolphins should have a pretty good rotation at DE which should keep everyone fresher and hopefully healthy for the entire season.
 
ckparrothead said:
Why wouldn't they? He's been better than Phil Merling, thus far. The best odds are always that the better player will continue to be the better player. I'm not saying the worse player won't become the better player, I'm just saying the odds are usually better for the best player continuing to remain the best player.
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The guy that was so good the Titans couldn't use him. I know his 29 tackles and 3 sadks were like an unholy cleaver through offenses....Excuse me if I'm not overly convinced.

I'm certainly not saying Merling is going to be the better player...I guess I just don't see Starks as this beast that others see him as...Or at least the definition of "Beast" has changed.
 
GoonBoss said:
The guy that was so good the Titans couldn't use him. I know his 29 tackles and 3 sadks were like an unholy cleaver through offenses....Excuse me if I'm not overly convinced.

I'm certainly not saying Merling is going to be the better player...I guess I just don't see Starks as this beast that others see him as...Or at least the definition of "Beast" has changed.
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He was a DT for the Titans and stuck behind Haynesworth.
 
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