adamprez2003
FinHeaven VIP
I am somewhat optimistic that we will have the beginnings of a turnaround and if things break right may flirt with 8 wins. However, realistically, injuries will happen and certain growing pains will occur so I will be happy with 6 wins if we show improvement not just in the play but philosophy. Here is my breakdown of the team
Coaching - Saban will bring excitement to the playing style. He favors an attacking philosophy both on offense and defense and more importantly isn't afraid to take chances and be unconventional when the situation calls for it. I think he is pretty effective in recognizing personnel mismatches and will know how to exploit them in the course of a game. The aspects I will be watching for are his game preparation which I feel will be above average and his in-game adjustments which to me are the wild card right now. He may need a year to get used to the pressure that coaching the Dolphins can bring. Then again, he may just get it right. He seems to be a guy that isnt effected by pressure and I am optimistic that we have the first coach who can truly carry the torch that Shula left this team. I would welcome any comments from fans who have actually watched the LSU Tigers the last couple of years to offer assesments of his coaching style. I personally don't remember his time in Cleveland and have only seen a few games each year involving LSU so I'm going mostly on the ten or so games I've seen and what I have read.
Offensive Coordinator - Scott Linehan brings an attcking style of offense that should be great news to the misused receiveing corps. Plays of 20 or more yards should double at least under Linehan. The one area of concern for me is Linehan hasn't shown me in his years in Minnesota that he understands the running aspect of the game. The Minnesota offense has put up decent rushing numbers under him but they tended to be ineffectual inside the twenty and in short yardage situations, which is where a running game counts. Having Brown, Gordon and possibly Williams to work with seems to be a nice upgrade from what he had in Minnesota so it will be interesting to see whether he spends more time emphasizing the run in Miami. My gut feeling is Saban is going to want a tougher running game than Minnesota had but only time will tell what kind of offense will be played in Miami.
Defensive Coordinator- I have no clue as to what to expect from Richard Smith, but from what I have read, this is really going to be Saban's defense. Saban probably doesn't have the full squad of players he needs to run the defense he wants so we will probably see a sort of a half transition to the defense we will be playing in 2006. What we know is that ideally, Saban will come at you from every angle and concentrate on taking away your strengths first. This is the formula that all championship teams have so even if the results don't show it, this is a welcome development for the franchise after suffering through the vanilla schemes we used in the past (no disrespect to Jim Bates who I felt did a great job working under a horrible coach. The Dolphin defense started attacking more after Wanny left) If anybody has any insight to Richard Smith and his style of coaching please let me know.
Quarterback - This is an area that draws the most controversy at FinHeaven. It seems to me that people love or hate Feeley and nothing that is said will influence anyone so feel free to let me have it if you disagree. I believe Feeley is the quarterback the team is rooting for to win the training camp battle. This is his make or break year and if he fails he is probably gone next year. He starts training camp behind Frerotte due to his lack of familiarity with the new system. Saban indicated that he was happy with his progress but that could very well be for the press. I myself hope Saban was speaking the truth. What he is going to have to improve upon is pocket presence, his tendency to birddog receivers, and adjusting the arc on his passes. He proved his toughness to me last year and that counts for alot in this league. His consistency must improve and will make or break him. Frerotte is an above average backup but an average starter. Perhaps he can have a Rich Gannon type of resurrection but I doubt it. He knows the system however and has proven that at the least he can be effective as a starter. This position may not be an area of strength for us but I don't think it will be horrendous either. Feeley will be better than last year and Frerotte is adequate as a fail safe. Plus the system will be benefit their play rather than hinder it like last year.
Running Backs - This could be an area of strength. Brown's most intriguing skill for us will be his hands and ability to catch out of the backfield. Linehan is going to have a lot of fun putting Brown in position to make alot of catches. Gordon needs to stay healthy to produce, a big question for him. If he has an injury free year he has ability and will be a great backup. Williams is a wildcard and I dont know what kind of shape he's in so I'll use Brown and Gordon as my starter and backup. At worst it's the same talent that Linehan had in Minnesota. At best it could be special.
Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends - Chambers, Booker and McMichael will put up good numbers this year. They all have talent and will fianlly be in a system that can showcase it. Boston, Thompson, Gilmore and Newson are wildcards to me. I believe Boston won't be fully recovered from his injury, Thompson might be effective simply because of the system, Gilmore- who knows, and Newson I hope can come back. Barring injury, a good to very good unit
Offensive Line - We have depth, a topnnotch coach, and another year of experience playing together. I expect vast improvement from this unit. This unit holds the key to our offensive production I believe. I dont think its as important who starts as it is that each player left on the roster knows his assignments and can do what's asked of him. The physical talent is there to field at worst a middle of the road line.
Defensive Line- This is somewhat difficult to forecast in terms of the fact that I am not sure how we will look in the 3-4 formations that Saban will occasionally use. The defensive end positions should be very good to excellent with Taylor, Roth, Carter and Holliday all being used. The Defensive Tackle/ Nose Tackle position scares me. I am not positive on Chester being able to recapture his great play. Traylor is having a tough time with the Miami heat. We may have trouble here but there is reason for hope. Carter will be used somewhat at the tackle position, Traylor if effective is a load to push around, and Chester may be able to get some playing time in. Overall we will probably get a great pass rush from the ends and have some difficulty stopping the run up the gut
Linebacker - Crowder will be a monster pickup. Coupled with Zach, Junior, Pope, Moore and Spragan we should be fine even if we take some injuries. This will be an area of strength for us.
Secondary - This could be a disaster area for us. Losing Poole and Surtain will be tough to replace. Madison is a year older and Howard and Edwards aren't going to scare anyone. Travis Daniels needs to take over the starting position opposite Madison for us to have a good pass defense. The reviews from minicamp, which doesn't mean anything, were positive and hopefully a sign of good things in the preseason. I have a good feeling that Saban knew what he had in the kid and he will flourish in Saban's defense. If he's any good we might be able to overcome our safety positions which look pretty weak to me. Tebucky Jones seems to be the best of the lot and that's not saying much. Hopefully Yeremiah Bell can progress enough to help. If not this is the area other teams are going to target
Special Teams - Probably average as far as kicking and punting but hopefully our coverage units do the job. Welker and Bua are fun to watch and hopefully will have some more ESPN moments
Coaching - Saban will bring excitement to the playing style. He favors an attacking philosophy both on offense and defense and more importantly isn't afraid to take chances and be unconventional when the situation calls for it. I think he is pretty effective in recognizing personnel mismatches and will know how to exploit them in the course of a game. The aspects I will be watching for are his game preparation which I feel will be above average and his in-game adjustments which to me are the wild card right now. He may need a year to get used to the pressure that coaching the Dolphins can bring. Then again, he may just get it right. He seems to be a guy that isnt effected by pressure and I am optimistic that we have the first coach who can truly carry the torch that Shula left this team. I would welcome any comments from fans who have actually watched the LSU Tigers the last couple of years to offer assesments of his coaching style. I personally don't remember his time in Cleveland and have only seen a few games each year involving LSU so I'm going mostly on the ten or so games I've seen and what I have read.
Offensive Coordinator - Scott Linehan brings an attcking style of offense that should be great news to the misused receiveing corps. Plays of 20 or more yards should double at least under Linehan. The one area of concern for me is Linehan hasn't shown me in his years in Minnesota that he understands the running aspect of the game. The Minnesota offense has put up decent rushing numbers under him but they tended to be ineffectual inside the twenty and in short yardage situations, which is where a running game counts. Having Brown, Gordon and possibly Williams to work with seems to be a nice upgrade from what he had in Minnesota so it will be interesting to see whether he spends more time emphasizing the run in Miami. My gut feeling is Saban is going to want a tougher running game than Minnesota had but only time will tell what kind of offense will be played in Miami.
Defensive Coordinator- I have no clue as to what to expect from Richard Smith, but from what I have read, this is really going to be Saban's defense. Saban probably doesn't have the full squad of players he needs to run the defense he wants so we will probably see a sort of a half transition to the defense we will be playing in 2006. What we know is that ideally, Saban will come at you from every angle and concentrate on taking away your strengths first. This is the formula that all championship teams have so even if the results don't show it, this is a welcome development for the franchise after suffering through the vanilla schemes we used in the past (no disrespect to Jim Bates who I felt did a great job working under a horrible coach. The Dolphin defense started attacking more after Wanny left) If anybody has any insight to Richard Smith and his style of coaching please let me know.
Quarterback - This is an area that draws the most controversy at FinHeaven. It seems to me that people love or hate Feeley and nothing that is said will influence anyone so feel free to let me have it if you disagree. I believe Feeley is the quarterback the team is rooting for to win the training camp battle. This is his make or break year and if he fails he is probably gone next year. He starts training camp behind Frerotte due to his lack of familiarity with the new system. Saban indicated that he was happy with his progress but that could very well be for the press. I myself hope Saban was speaking the truth. What he is going to have to improve upon is pocket presence, his tendency to birddog receivers, and adjusting the arc on his passes. He proved his toughness to me last year and that counts for alot in this league. His consistency must improve and will make or break him. Frerotte is an above average backup but an average starter. Perhaps he can have a Rich Gannon type of resurrection but I doubt it. He knows the system however and has proven that at the least he can be effective as a starter. This position may not be an area of strength for us but I don't think it will be horrendous either. Feeley will be better than last year and Frerotte is adequate as a fail safe. Plus the system will be benefit their play rather than hinder it like last year.
Running Backs - This could be an area of strength. Brown's most intriguing skill for us will be his hands and ability to catch out of the backfield. Linehan is going to have a lot of fun putting Brown in position to make alot of catches. Gordon needs to stay healthy to produce, a big question for him. If he has an injury free year he has ability and will be a great backup. Williams is a wildcard and I dont know what kind of shape he's in so I'll use Brown and Gordon as my starter and backup. At worst it's the same talent that Linehan had in Minnesota. At best it could be special.
Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends - Chambers, Booker and McMichael will put up good numbers this year. They all have talent and will fianlly be in a system that can showcase it. Boston, Thompson, Gilmore and Newson are wildcards to me. I believe Boston won't be fully recovered from his injury, Thompson might be effective simply because of the system, Gilmore- who knows, and Newson I hope can come back. Barring injury, a good to very good unit
Offensive Line - We have depth, a topnnotch coach, and another year of experience playing together. I expect vast improvement from this unit. This unit holds the key to our offensive production I believe. I dont think its as important who starts as it is that each player left on the roster knows his assignments and can do what's asked of him. The physical talent is there to field at worst a middle of the road line.
Defensive Line- This is somewhat difficult to forecast in terms of the fact that I am not sure how we will look in the 3-4 formations that Saban will occasionally use. The defensive end positions should be very good to excellent with Taylor, Roth, Carter and Holliday all being used. The Defensive Tackle/ Nose Tackle position scares me. I am not positive on Chester being able to recapture his great play. Traylor is having a tough time with the Miami heat. We may have trouble here but there is reason for hope. Carter will be used somewhat at the tackle position, Traylor if effective is a load to push around, and Chester may be able to get some playing time in. Overall we will probably get a great pass rush from the ends and have some difficulty stopping the run up the gut
Linebacker - Crowder will be a monster pickup. Coupled with Zach, Junior, Pope, Moore and Spragan we should be fine even if we take some injuries. This will be an area of strength for us.
Secondary - This could be a disaster area for us. Losing Poole and Surtain will be tough to replace. Madison is a year older and Howard and Edwards aren't going to scare anyone. Travis Daniels needs to take over the starting position opposite Madison for us to have a good pass defense. The reviews from minicamp, which doesn't mean anything, were positive and hopefully a sign of good things in the preseason. I have a good feeling that Saban knew what he had in the kid and he will flourish in Saban's defense. If he's any good we might be able to overcome our safety positions which look pretty weak to me. Tebucky Jones seems to be the best of the lot and that's not saying much. Hopefully Yeremiah Bell can progress enough to help. If not this is the area other teams are going to target
Special Teams - Probably average as far as kicking and punting but hopefully our coverage units do the job. Welker and Bua are fun to watch and hopefully will have some more ESPN moments
