MMQB: 10 Things I Think About The Miami Dolphins | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

MMQB: 10 Things I Think About The Miami Dolphins

JakeMcAwful

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http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/09/07/nfl-miami-dolphins-2016-scouting-report

1. Everyone seems to have forgotten that Ryan Tannehill had shown steady annual improvements until last season, when Miami’s offense crumbled around him.

Tannehill’s inconsistent ball placement and decision-making deserves some of the blame, but some of the instability had to do with the coaching staff, O-line and receivers.

The O-line is all but guaranteed to improve now that
Ja’Wuan James is back healthy at right tackle (Jason Fox was a major liability). Also, first-rounder Laremy Tunsil at least injects talent into the problematic left guard position.

Also consider: new head coach Adam Gase’s system is predicated on three- and five-step timing, which naturally nullifies a pass rush. That helps the receivers, as well as Tannehill.

4. In Miami, Gase has a different type of receiver to build his route combinations around than he had in Chicago or Denver.

Instead of a big-bodied X-iso type target like
Alshon Jeffery or Demaryius Thomas, it’s a shifty, five-tool shallow and intermediate weapon, Jarvis Landry.

The previous regime frequently used Landry in motion and on shifts, including the backfield. Presnap movement is not a defining characteristic of Gase’s system.

However, a defining characteristic of Gase himself is humility and adaptability. It’d be surprising if he didn’t construct an extensive movement-based package for his new third-year star receiver.

9. Included in the Maxwell trade from Philadelphia was linebacker Kiko Alonso. After missing his 2014 sophomore NFL season in Buffalo with a knee injury, Alonso took most of 2015 to regain his form.

Overall, he never played well enough to eliminate doubts about his potential for 2016. (Hence Philly’s decision to trade him.)

If Alonso can become what he was in Buffalo, the Dolphins will have a fast and fluid linebacker patrolling the middle alongside up-and-coming fourth-year pro
Jelani Jenkins.

If Alonso is more like what he was in Philly, the Dolphins will have real concerns, not just in nickel, where most of Alonso’s snaps will come, but also in their base 4-3, where the scheme demands that linebackers stack and shed blocks inside.

Decent read, no new information provided - pretty much outlines most of the concern areas for the team.

I definitely get the feeling that knowledgeable media-types are optimistic about this team if a few key additions (Foster, Williams, Maxwell, Alonso) play at a good-calibre level.
There's a lot of if's though.

Coaching is rarely called into question, so obviously a lot of respect for Gase around the league. I have low expectations, but honestly I'm not sure what will happen this year.




 
Gase gets a TON of respect around the league.

If you consider that the shell of a coaching staff was able to get 6-8 wins out of a relatively comparable, if not inferior, roster, there's reason for optimism.
 
Respect has to be earned with this team. Gase will be crucified if we go sub 500 imo
 
Same writer has been tweeting a lot today. Will post:

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He may still post more later.
 
Good article. Thanks ks for the link.
 
I always like Peter King's thoughts on the dolphins, seems like a closet fan. Especially on point #1 he is dead on
 
I always like Peter King's thoughts on the dolphins, seems like a closet fan. Especially on point #1 he is dead on

This was Andy Benoit actually, he does alot of "Game strategy" articles for Peter King's website.
 
King's a Pats guy, but he's pretty non-controversial in his writing. Kind of just puts his thoughts out there without being overly pandering or critical of any particular team, player, or coach. Not really a fan or a critic.
 
Notes: Tannehill must get more consistent in his ball placement and decision-making. Two worst areas for a QB to be inconsistent.

Some people just cant grasp the fact that those issues are due to the o-line, gatorade chick and all coaches. This all just tanny hater bashing.

This guy has it right. These are two of tanny's bigest issues and both are qb killers. He has to show improvement, significant improvement on one or both of these or no matter what happens with every other position, this season will be a wash.
 


Some people just cant grasp the fact that those issues are due to the o-line, gatorade chick and all coaches. This all just tanny orange bashing.

This guy has it right. These are two of tanny's bigest issues and both are qb killers. He has to show improvement, significant improvement on one or both of these or no matter what happens with every other position, this season will be a wash.

Not really. He is failing to address a few major red flags of Lazor's offensive system that caused the passing dysfunction in 2015.

First one was mentioned above concerning the QB's drop. Under Lazor, Tanehill frequently used 2,3 & 5 step drops which allegedly nullifies a pass rush. For the record, no OC has incorporated consistent 7 step drops into their systems since Mike Martz hung Jay Cutler out to dry in 2011. The increase in defensive speed laid deep drops to rest. Plus, anyone who has witnessed the line play over the past few years knows that claim does not hold true and in no way shape or form did it help negate the pass rush.

If you want to talk about inconsistency you have to look no further than the disheveled route concepts of Lazor. Take this for example:

Spread%20Mesh_zpscupildsb.png


It's a generic mesh concept, one that was very common with Lazor. For discussion purposes Z - Stills, X - Matthews, H - Landry, Y - Cameron, F - Mi . . Mil . . . MMMiller :boohoo: That said, any receiver can be tagged to run the mesh route and the routes can vary on the perimeter.

H (Landry) was the motion man here. It's generally used to ID man or zone. If a defender follows it's man, if the defense remains static it signifies zone. But all in all it's not that simple lest using specific defensive alignment rules, you can actually dictate to the spread offense and force their hand thru adjustments and disguised coverage. This held especially true for Lazor's offense as their was no way to audible out of a bad play in which the defense had cornered you in to. Lazor may have had dozens of formations and literally hundreds of plays to defend, but the one fact that rang true was that only a handful (maybe two) of concepts were used. Once a defense is rehearsed in those concepts they become much simpler to defend as opposed to trying to decipher individual plays.

Anyways, back to the play. Running the mesh, receivers are typically taught to run shoulder to shoulder as they cross setting a natural pick which can be successful vs man coverage. Problem here is that defenses often played zone vs the Fins and were able to dictate the route depth they desired by the depth in their drops into hook zones. Depending on the plays tag, defenses could force the mesh routes to run under or over their coverage and ultimately into their hands. Also realize that the Fins were most often defended by safe zones where they only had to rush 4
(or sometimes a pathetic 3 - .gif here
mathissack_zpsrsc2phii.gif
:bobdole:)
while dropping 7 in cover 2 with 5 underneath and it made the the Mesh and other shallow crossing concepts nearly impossible to execute. Hence the numerous amount of check downs to the flats. An area in which defenses dictated Lazor's offense into succumbing to.

One thing should be blatantly obvious: players do what they are coached to do. When a QB drops back into the pocket, progresses past a covered pass option, and hit outlet receivers, it’s most likely because he does it every day in practice, not because he was born with that skill. Likewise, when a QB looks for one receive and they have no plan of action if that receiver is covered, it is, again most likely a byproduct of his coaching.

Though despite this and the faulty concepts that Lazor tried to establish, Tannehill was still able to set the NFL record for consecutive completions. Not exactly what I would refer to as someone who needs to improve on decision making and ball placement. Those issues stemmed from a problematic offensive system and a former tyrannical offensive coach.

But hey, what do I know, I'm just full of ****.
 
Not really. He is failing to address a few major red flags of Lazor's offensive system that caused the passing dysfunction in 2015.

First one was mentioned above concerning the QB's drop. Under Lazor, Tanehill frequently used 2,3 & 5 step drops which allegedly nullifies a pass rush. For the record, no OC has incorporated consistent 7 step drops into their systems since Mike Martz hung Jay Cutler out to dry in 2011. The increase in defensive speed laid deep drops to rest. Plus, anyone who has witnessed the line play over the past few years knows that claim does not hold true and in no way shape or form did it help negate the pass rush.

If you want to talk about inconsistency you have to look no further than the disheveled route concepts of Lazor. Take this for example:

Spread%20Mesh_zpscupildsb.png

Awesome post! Always love it when posters bring proper football knowledge and tape here, as someone trying to learn the game better.
 
Awesome post! Always love it when posters bring proper football knowledge and tape here, as someone trying to learn the game better.

Thanks. It's rather scatter-brained but somewhat got the point across. :brewskis:
 
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