Needs for miami next year..

[MDFINFAN]

After reading you guys post on wants, I've taken the time to look at needs.. without going into a lot of detail or justification, here's what I see us needing.

On Defense:

1. A replacement for Ferguson, who can also get sacks. This does not mean we get rid of Ferguson next year, but find a replacement with upside. That's why Ferguson was available from Dallas, they had that guy..we need one too.

2. A replacement for Ayodele.. We need a stud there. or a stud to take Crowder's place and let Crowder move into Ayodele's place, and of course a Joey porter replacement.. he's getting up there too..we need someone who rushes the passer like him, but is better in the run than Porter.. So I'm basically saying that our LB's need upgrading.. I'll give Rott another year before I count him out, he is good in run protection and sets the edge well.

3. While I love our Safeties, there's no ed reed back there.. and that makes a difference.. both safties are up in age and have not shown that kind of play capabilities, they are solid, but not special..

4. After next year we will need CB.. if we can get some in the draft or a good one in FA this year great..

So on D.. I see us needing 2 Lb's at a minium, one OL and IL..
We need at least 1 safety.... and 1 NT, 1 cb for a total of 5 improvement players on D..

On Offense:

1. This is hard because we didn't get to see Smiley and Donald Jones play guard the whole year together.. but I venture to say, we need one more good one, and I think the guys we have now can produce another good back up.

2. I'm torn at Center. Stalele has so many attributes, but strength is not one of them. We play a lot of 3-4 teams with the monster nose tackle...he willing wasn't moving them this year, maybe another year on the strength program may help...thank goodness for Ferguson this year helping in his development.. but as I said on D. Ferguson isn't the stud he use to be.

3. A big body WR with speed who can break tackles...and can catch. That's a big order, but for long balls with Pennington, he's going to have to be able to out phyical the DB's for jump balls.. That dynamic changes with Chad henning.. both Ginn and who ever becomes big in the deep passing attack.

4. One more Tackle who's just about on a starting level if not a starting backup. We are thin there, and that's not good.

The rest of the O is pretty young and should do well for years to come.

So on O I'm looking for a strong center, a big body receiver with speed and good hands, another guard and tackle for a total of 4 improvement players for the O..

So if I had my way, I would be looking for 9 impovement players this offseason.. That's a miniumum as I see it.. I'd prefer 15 improvement players.. but that's harder because of cap and drafting position, the best we'd be in the 1st round is 20th provided SD goes farther than us, if not, we'll be 21st at best.

Positions I didn't name.

DT--Holliday, because of Merling
DE-- Langford, obvious reason, he's a rook.
RB's--We have 3 good ones with a rook on the ps.
TE's-- All of them are young..and growing..

Our team is a lower top 12 team this year, not a dominant team..We'll have to grow into that, but we need what we need to do it...and in order to get to that next level of dominants it might take Henning taking over at QB at some point, to make the whole field of play have to be defended, not just the first 40 yards from scrimage.. We can play a west coast type O right now, but teams are learning to shut down those kinds of Os..unless you have a strong arm Donovan type QB.. Chad will have to continue to be super smart with the ball...

 

[Geforce]

This looks like another list of wants and not needs.

There is only one Ed Reed if you are looking for another one, you will be looking for a very long time.

Al Johnson talked about Satele when he arrived and he said Samson's problem is that he needs to work on being more consistent with his technique. With good technique a player can overcome any perceived lack of strength.

 

[MDFINFAN]

This looks like another list of wants and not needs.

There is only one Ed Reed if you are looking for another one, you will be looking for a very long time.

Al Johnson talked about Satele when he arrived and he said Samson's problem is that he needs to work on being more consistent with his technique. With good technique a player can overcome any perceived lack of strength.

I think it more of a need that wants........ I used Ed Reed as a illustration of type of special safety, not neccessarily that safety.. Let's face it, our db's give up too much yardage, which is why we can't get off the field, and of course that include pass rushers.. Satele as I said has a lot of intangibles, but even with technigue you need strength.. I'm not saying he won't get there.. he's just not there right now.. so I'm in limbo with him..

 

[Geforce]

I think it more of a need that wants........ I used Ed Reed as a illustration of type of special safety, not neccessarily that safety.. Let's face it, our db's give up too much yardage, which is why we can't get off the field, and of course that include pass rushers.. Satele as I said has a lot of intangibles, but even with technigue you need strength.. I'm not saying he won't get there.. he's just not there right now.. so I'm in limbo with him..

The reason I say this looks more like a list of wants is because you are looking for a NT that can get sacks. Getting sacks is not usually the role of a NT especially in this type of 3-4 defense we run. The NT is responsible for occupying blockers and freeing up others to make plays. Any sack they may get is plus.

I think we do need to upgrade the LBs but I would like to see one of the upgrades be at OLB because 1. Porter is getting up their in age and 2. Roth is still an unknown at SOLB because at time he seems to have trouble getting off blocks and sealing the outside as much as he should.

I agree about OG because of the question marks surrounding Smiley next year.

Also wanting a big body receiver with speed sounds like a want and more of the trendy thing to say. As long as the receiver can make plays...I'm all for obtaining him and I don't care if he 6'4" 215 or 6'0" 195.

 

[Ronnieisabeast]

Very good analysis. I agree on almost everything you said except a few. Although Bell is no Ed Reed, he really does have some of those play-making skills that Reed does have. I do think that we need a safety to replace Hill. Allthough improved I just don't think he is good enough. As you said I just think Ferguson is too undersized for a 3-4 NT. Akin has done a better job than people think he has, but I think we do need another ILB(torbor looks awful too). London could be that big wr we need, but that reminds to be seen.

 

[BARF]

our defense have a good mix of vets and youngsters but we need more playmakers on defense, especially in the secondary, i still think jason allen might become that safety, call me crazy but with some coaching he is that playmaker in the secondary

 

[Soupy Campbell]

Sign tj Houshmandzadeh and mlb Bart Scott from Baltimore and draft secondary help,remember we have and extra 2nd rounder for the dancer who went to WASHINGTON BECAUSE HE WANTED TO PLAY FOR A A WINNER!!!!!

 

[$lillew#27$]

i like dat plan untouchable

 

[Breed]

Sign tj Houshmandzadeh and mlb Bart Scott from Baltimore and draft secondary help,remember we have and extra 2nd rounder for the dancer who went to WASHINGTON BECAUSE HE WANTED TO PLAY FOR A A WINNER!!!!!

Houshmandzadeh isn't worth the contract he's going to command. That money would be much better spent on one of the big defensive free agents like Bart Scott.

 

[Phinja]

I think were in good shape in a lot of those places. Your not going to find frontline replacements for 9 positions on a playoff team in one offseason.

Couple of things.

#1 We really only need one LB. Crowder will be back, JP is coming off his best year, and Ayodele is serviceable in the middle. I would like to see Suggs as a passrusher opposite of Porter, but I dont know if that will happen.

#2 The secondary could use a player or two, but I think our firstline guys are set. Goodman and Allen have come into their own, and Bell is making plays all over the field. Hill has gotten better all year.

#3 NTs dont get sacks in the 3-4. They eat space. Ferguson still does this. He is 34 and we could use some youth there, but it doesnt have to be some extreme athalete at the position.

#4 We need depth along the Oline, but that doesnt need to happen imediately. We did make the playoffs with injuries at both starting guard positions. We will get Thomas, a guy Parcells said was a "God send", back hrom injury and hopfully at 100%. If thats the case, I think that were ok at those positions.

#5 I do wonder about Satele. He has that potential, and you can tell he knows what he's doing, making protection calls and what not, but I do wonder if he's big enough. I guess we'll have to trust BP on this one.

#6 Everyone would love to have that big Calvan Johnson type WR. That is usually why those guys go in the first 5 picks. If TGJ can take that next Steve Smith type step (and both the catches he made in the Jets game reminded me of him) We should be ok here to. On that, I think that London could become that big guy we need.

Well there you go. I think we find 2-3 starters this offseason and build depth.

 

[luduporcu]

You all are missing too much.

(1) FERGUSON is a JIM BURT type of NT. He's strong as an ox, has quick feet and good work w/his hands. And he's smart, and plays w/leverage. So, just like JIM BURT on BILL PARCELLS' SB Champion N.Y. GIANTS, you can't overpower him consistently even w/ a G and C, he's strong and quick enough to split the double-team and either compete w/the HB as to who gets the handoff, or flush the QB from the inside out. And under HIS tutelage, SOLIAI is looking more and more like a solid NFL NT. Because of his age (34), NT can be considered a need, but not yet a big need.

(2) The way our WRs are developing, including LONDON (who is fast enough that he can't be ignored deep, and who blocks like a demon out of hell), WR may not be a need at all. But certainly not a big need: get one only if a special one falls into our lap, so to speak.

(3) ILB is a BIG need. Don't fault TORBOR too much: if you'll recall, he excelled w/the N.Y. GIANTS as AN OLB. We really didn't HAVE a for-real back-up ILB, until PARCELLS & CO. found that proverbial "aging veteran with some gas left in his tank, who still wants to play NFL football". So, our depth at ILB is a 34 year old vet who was solid--how much he's got left, no one knows yet. And I don't fault AYODELE at all. He's like GARY REASONS was on PARCELLS' SB N.Y. GIANTS team. "PEPPER", LT (Lawrence Taylor, that is), and even CARL BANKS, got the headlines: REASONS just seemed to be "in the right place at the right time" all the time, to correct any mistake made by the "Front 7"--to clean up the mess. AYODELE i/m/o is similar. He's NOT the "star" ILB: that's CROWDER's job. We can use another really solid ILB, or maybe two. That'd make 4 ILBs at the least.

OLB i/m/o, isn't a need at all yet. In 2 or 3 years, it will be. ROTH and ANDERSON on the strong side bring different skills to the same position. But if both TORBOR and MOSES fail to develop into another great pass-rushing OLB, PORTER'll be all we have, at age 35. MIAMI should get one, especially if he falls into our lap, but I wouldn't be depressed if it didn't happen in the upcoming preseason. We have quality at OLB: there's time.

(4) OL- With the development of ALLEMAN and IDDYPOOKU (or whatever his name is) and the return of THOMAS and SMILEY, G might not be such a problem, especially since S SATELE seems to be a natural, fast, "pulling G". BUT, C and T are. Because IDDYPOOKU seems to be much better T prospect than a G prospect, AND MIAMI has no one else who has shown as much at either T position; and SATELE can't play G and C at the same time. So, MAYBE 1 decent G for depth, but DEFINITELY getting a T and C, as an upgrade or for depth, is essential. Even THAT assumes that we re-sign V CAREY, which, together w/re-signing CROWDER and BELL, and extending PENNINGTON's contract, is JOB ONE even now.

(5) FS- I don't really think that our CBs are so terrible at all. Nor the SS position. But we NEED a killer FS: HILL isn't it. I'd re-sign HILL for depth. If HILL was MIAMI's FS depth, and it had found a noticeably better starter, I'd rate the Secondary as solid, and no longer a problem.

Well, that's it, as I see it. One NT, one OT, one C, one or two ILBs, and one FS. MIAMI's most urgent needs, i/m/o, are (1) ILB, and (2) FS. ILB, i/m/o, is THE BIGGEST NEED by far.

 

[MrEd]

You all are missing too much.

(1) FERGUSON is a JIM BURT type of NT. He's strong as an ox, has quick feet and good work w/his hands. And he's smart, and plays w/leverage. So, just like JIM BURT on BILL PARCELLS' SB Champion N.Y. GIANTS, you can't overpower him consistently even w/ a G and C, he's strong and quick enough to split the double-team and either compete w/the HB as to who gets the handoff, or flush the QB from the inside out. And under HIS tutelage, SOLIAI is looking more and more like a solid NFL NT. Because of his age (34), NT can be considered a need, but not yet a big need.

(2) The way our WRs are developing, including LONDON (who is fast enough that he can't be ignored deep, and who blocks like a demon out of hell), WR may not be a need at all. But certainly not a big need: get one only if a special one falls into our lap, so to speak.

(3) ILB is a BIG need. Don't fault TORBOR too much: if you'll recall, he excelled w/the N.Y. GIANTS as AN OLB. We really didn't HAVE a for-real back-up ILB, until PARCELLS & CO. found that proverbial "aging veteran with some gas left in his tank, who still wants to play NFL football". So, our depth at ILB is a 34 year old vet who was solid--how much he's got left, no one knows yet. And I don't fault AYODELE at all. He's like GARY REASONS was on PARCELLS' SB N.Y. GIANTS team. "PEPPER", LT (Lawrence Taylor, that is), and even CARL BANKS, got the headlines: REASONS just seemed to be "in the right place at the right time" all the time, to correct any mistake made by the "Front 7"--to clean up the mess. AYODELE i/m/o is similar. He's NOT the "star" ILB: that's CROWDER's job. We can use another really solid ILB, or maybe two. That'd make 4 ILBs at the least.

OLB i/m/o, isn't a need at all yet. In 2 or 3 years, it will be. ROTH and ANDERSON on the strong side bring different skills to the same position. But if both TORBOR and MOSES fail to develop into another great pass-rushing OLB, PORTER'll be all we have, at age 35. MIAMI should get one, especially if he falls into our lap, but I wouldn't be depressed if it didn't happen in the upcoming preseason. We have quality at OLB: there's time.

(4) OL- With the development of ALLEMAN and IDDYPOOKU (or whatever his name is) and the return of THOMAS and SMILEY, G might not be such a problem, especially since S SATELE seems to be a natural, fast, "pulling G". BUT, C and T are. Because IDDYPOOKU seems to be much better T prospect than a G prospect, AND MIAMI has no one else who has shown as much at either T position; and SATELE can't play G and C at the same time. So, MAYBE 1 decent G for depth, but DEFINITELY getting a T and C, as an upgrade or for depth, is essential. Even THAT assumes that we re-sign V CAREY, which, together w/re-signing CROWDER and BELL, and extending PENNINGTON's contract, is JOB ONE even now.

(5) FS- I don't really think that our CBs are so terrible at all. Nor the SS position. But we NEED a killer FS: HILL isn't it. I'd re-sign HILL for depth. If HILL was MIAMI's FS depth, and it had found a noticeably better starter, I'd rate the Secondary as solid, and no longer a problem.

Well, that's it, as I see it. One NT, one OT, one C, one or two ILBs, and one FS. MIAMI's most urgent needs, i/m/o, are (1) ILB, and (2) FS. ILB, i/m/o, is THE BIGGEST NEED by far.

I agree with everything except that OLB is a little more important. The fact that MIA tried to sign Calvin Pace shows that they want to find a better compliment for Porter and his eventual replacement. So I would make OLB our #1 need then all the ones you stated...:up:

 

[MrEd]

Also, the fact that MIA kept Dotson "and" Wright on the roster and decided to not risk putting them on the practice squad and even were willing to only carry "one" backup ILB for "both" our starters told me something....

Vonnie Holiday is not going to be our our opening day roster next season. They are most likely going to release him to free some more cap space.

Langford and Starks will probably be your opening day starters...with Merling, Dotson, and WRight as the 3 rotating backups at DE. I expect us to carry 2 backup ILBs next season.

I also expect a NT to be brought in to battle it out with Soliai as Ferguson's top backup. But wouldn't be surprised if we carry 3 NTs: Fergy, SOliai, "and" the draft pick.

The fact that the staff kept Soliai and refused to release him when they suspended him twice this year shows me that they see potential Ferguson replacement in Soliai...so...

 

[GoonBoss]

Parcells builds along the middle. I think we will pick a DT, or two next draft. Right now, that's the #1 position to adress.

 

[DolfanDaveInMI]

Here's what I see.

OFFENSE

QB -- We're set with Pennington and Henne. Maybe Beck stays, maybe we use a late pick on another developmental QB.

RB -- We're set with Brown, Williams, Cobbs, and Polite. Does Hilliard make it to active roster in 2009?

TE -- We're set with Fasano and Martin. Maybe a 7th-round pick to compete with Haynos?

WR -- MAJOR NEED. Ginn is not a #1 receiver, and Camarillo and Bess are better suited for slot duties. We must get a big possession receiver (maybe two?) who can run the 10-15 yard patterns across the middle and be a red-zone presence.

OL -- MAJOR NEED. I think we're in good shape at left tackle and the guard positions, especially if Al Johnson gets healthy and we can then move Satele over. We must add three players this offseason: a center, a right tackle (we won't overpay for Carey), and a swing tackle. One in free agency, two in draft.

DEFENSE

DL -- I think we've got good depth at the ends, even if we release Vonnie Holliday. We may add one more but I'm not sure. Nose tackle is the big question. A month ago, I would have used our top pick on one. But after Soliai got suspended the second time, it looks like the light bulb has finally come on. I think it is a position we will scout thoroughly leading up to the draft but may not necessarily pull the trigger if Soliai's off-season participation is good. I say 80% chance we draft a NT.

LB -- If we don't re-sign Crowder, we will definitely draft an inside linebacker. I think we'll also pick up another strong-side backer for depth behind Roth.

DB -- MAJOR NEED. Will Allen and Goodman have been great and Jones has come on late, but you can't win in today's NFL with three corners. We'll need to draft at least one pretty early, and possibly a second later if we decide that Jason Allen is valuable only as a gunner. At safety, I like what we have with Bell, Hill, and Culver, but again, we need to draft one more.