DKphin
Club Member
Miami vs. Minnesota
By some quirk in the schedule, the Dolphins opened the season with two road games. Sunday they played at Minnesota, who many had as the favorite for the NFC North. They may have been favorites on paper but reality is they are 0–2. In 2009, the Vikings were able to get away with Favre missing training camp. It’s different this year. The Vikes don’t have Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin is less than 100 percent and that makes it easier to defend them. The Dolphins intercepted Favre three times and made stops when they had to.
Going into the season, Miami had two rookie starters on defense. First-round pick Jared Odrick was injured in their first game and will miss a few games. Still, second-round pick Koa Misi is a starter. Third-round pick John Jerry starts at guard.
Koa Misi
ICONDolphins LB Koa Misi
Misi starts at strongside OLB. He does play in a rotation but still seems to play about 75 percent of the defensive plays. He plays both up and down. When Miami goes to its sub package, he often lines up as a DE in a 3-point stance. Misi was a down lineman at Utah so there is an adjustment for him to play on his feet at the NFL level. The major adjustment is in pass coverage. Misi easily has the athleticism to play in coverage but on Sunday I noticed he didn’t consistently get proper depth in his drops. He also lacks top receiver awareness. This will come with game and practice experience.
He plays the run well. He reacts quickly and has good instincts. He’s strong in the upper body and is able to disengage from blockers. He plays with a good motor and is always running to the ball. As a pass rusher he uses his speed and power effectively. He can close quickly off blocks. In Sunday’s game, he had a pressure and two hits on the quarterback and recovered a Favre fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
Overall, Misi had a good game. He hasn’t scratched the surface of how good he can be. He will be a very productive player in that scheme. He gets a strong B+ for the game.
John Jerry
Jerry starts at right guard for Miami. He had experience at both guard and tackle while at Ole Miss. I wasn’t a big fan of Jerry’s last year. I thought he was too heavy and didn’t play with enthusiasm. He is playing much better this year. He is a naturally strong player. He has good snap reaction and gets into his run blocks quickly. In this game he was up against one of the best defensive tackles in the business in Kevin Williams and more than held his own. Williams is very strong himself, but there were times when Jerry was able to turn him and get movement. Jerry did a good job keeping his hands inside and showed good leg drive.
In pass protection he showed some inexperience. Williams was able to beat him with some change of direction moves and there was one play when Jerry didn’t pick up a loop stunt. Still, he showed good anchor. Probably the weakest part of his game is pulling. Twice on pulls to the right, he lunged at his opponent and missed. You have to keep your feet under you and not lose body control to be an effective puller. He did have a good pull to the left in the third quarter. Overall, Jerry deserves a solid B. He played better than I expected but there still is much room for improvement.
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Week-2-rookie-report-card.html
By some quirk in the schedule, the Dolphins opened the season with two road games. Sunday they played at Minnesota, who many had as the favorite for the NFC North. They may have been favorites on paper but reality is they are 0–2. In 2009, the Vikings were able to get away with Favre missing training camp. It’s different this year. The Vikes don’t have Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin is less than 100 percent and that makes it easier to defend them. The Dolphins intercepted Favre three times and made stops when they had to.
Going into the season, Miami had two rookie starters on defense. First-round pick Jared Odrick was injured in their first game and will miss a few games. Still, second-round pick Koa Misi is a starter. Third-round pick John Jerry starts at guard.
Koa Misi
Misi starts at strongside OLB. He does play in a rotation but still seems to play about 75 percent of the defensive plays. He plays both up and down. When Miami goes to its sub package, he often lines up as a DE in a 3-point stance. Misi was a down lineman at Utah so there is an adjustment for him to play on his feet at the NFL level. The major adjustment is in pass coverage. Misi easily has the athleticism to play in coverage but on Sunday I noticed he didn’t consistently get proper depth in his drops. He also lacks top receiver awareness. This will come with game and practice experience.
He plays the run well. He reacts quickly and has good instincts. He’s strong in the upper body and is able to disengage from blockers. He plays with a good motor and is always running to the ball. As a pass rusher he uses his speed and power effectively. He can close quickly off blocks. In Sunday’s game, he had a pressure and two hits on the quarterback and recovered a Favre fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
Overall, Misi had a good game. He hasn’t scratched the surface of how good he can be. He will be a very productive player in that scheme. He gets a strong B+ for the game.
John Jerry
Jerry starts at right guard for Miami. He had experience at both guard and tackle while at Ole Miss. I wasn’t a big fan of Jerry’s last year. I thought he was too heavy and didn’t play with enthusiasm. He is playing much better this year. He is a naturally strong player. He has good snap reaction and gets into his run blocks quickly. In this game he was up against one of the best defensive tackles in the business in Kevin Williams and more than held his own. Williams is very strong himself, but there were times when Jerry was able to turn him and get movement. Jerry did a good job keeping his hands inside and showed good leg drive.
In pass protection he showed some inexperience. Williams was able to beat him with some change of direction moves and there was one play when Jerry didn’t pick up a loop stunt. Still, he showed good anchor. Probably the weakest part of his game is pulling. Twice on pulls to the right, he lunged at his opponent and missed. You have to keep your feet under you and not lose body control to be an effective puller. He did have a good pull to the left in the third quarter. Overall, Jerry deserves a solid B. He played better than I expected but there still is much room for improvement.
http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Week-2-rookie-report-card.html