Now that the Draft is in the Rearview Window | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Now that the Draft is in the Rearview Window

SF Dolphin Fan

SF Dolphin Fan

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Has Miami made up enough ground with the best of the AFC?

I see KC and Buffalo, then a small drop to Indianapolis. Another drop to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Miami and Tennessee. Denver in the mix if the Broncos land Rodgers.

I think the Waddle pick had a lot to do with Tyreek Hill. Hill dominated until the super bowl. He put up close to 200 yards against Buffalo. The Bills, like most teams, had no answers for Hill.

Of course, Waddle's comp is Hill, as that dynamic, take it to the house, virtually unguardable player.

Could Waddle swing the Buffalo series, and help Miami close the gap?

Phillips and Holland were arguably the best players at their respective positions. Holland screams Flores type player. Secondary check. Versatility check. Heck, he can even return kicks. Explosive check.

The draft appears so good on paper, with likely four starters factoring in Eichenberg.

Grier revamped the wide receiver room by signing Fuller and drafting Waddle and Long.

Looks like a playoff team on paper. How good do you think the Dolphins will be?
 
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At the moment no.
There are a lot of young players on the roster now, with many having the potential to lift their game as ceilings far from reached and take this team into the playoffs and one day SB.
Until proven under fire and show they have stepped up we are still a work in progress.
Even winning the AFC East will be difficult until we start beating the Bills [currently its 18-5 their way in recent times]

I have faith the we will be one of the elite but it still may take another year or two.
 
SF Dolphin Fan said:
Has Miami made up enough ground with the best of the AFC?

I see KC and Buffalo, then a small drop to Indianapolis. Another drop to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Miami and Tennessee. Denver in the mix if the Broncos land Rodgers.

I think the Waddle pick had at to do with Tyreek Hill. Hill dominated until the super bowl. He put up close to 200 yards against Buffalo. The Bills, like most teams, had no answers for Hill.

Of course, Waddle's comp is Hill, as that dynamic, take it to the house, virtually unguardable player.

Could Waddle swing the Buffalo series, and help Miami close the gap?

Phillips and Holland were arguably the best players at their respective positions. Holland screams Flores type player. Secondary check. Versatility check. Heck, he can even return kicks. Explosive check.

The draft appears so good on paper, with likely four starters factoring in Eichenberg.

Grier revamped the wide receiver room by signing Fuller and drafting Waddle and Long.

Looks like a playoff team on paper. How good do you think the Dolphins will be?
Click to expand...

I like your wording . . . "made up enough ground." First question is, 'what's ENOUGH.' Miami has certainly made up ground, although that's with cloudy vision of the future. You divide the "best" into 3 groups. I think Miami is there in group 3, undetermined against INDY. So much of that depends on the rookies and 2nd yr guys. As I've said the first 2 yrs of Flo, games 9-17.
 
I think they are solidly in the legit playoff contender area.

Last year was a bit of smoke and mirrors but i think they are now a real contender for the playoffs.

How much damage they can do once they get there will depend on how far Tua progresses.
 
Nobody knows how Indianapolis is going to look with a new QB. Buffalo could have lost any of their playoff games. I think it’s the Chief’s conference then everybody else. And I would put us up against anyone else in the conference with our roster. That said, it’s going to come down to coaching and execution.

We all know who the legit coaches are. You can’t count out the Patriots, Steelers and Ravens. But when I think about winning 10 games fielding 2-3 WRs most weeks, only having 1-2 healthy RB most games, losing our second best Cb for a spell, and losing guys across our OL throughout the season. I have to believe that our coaching staff does an outstanding job preparing our guys to win. If that translates over to the talent that we brought in, we are competing for a playoff spot. And we should be in the conversation for a division title. Maybe even the 2 seed.
 
SF Dolphin Fan said:
Has Miami made up enough ground with the best of the AFC?

I see KC and Buffalo, then a small drop to Indianapolis. Another drop to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Miami and Tennessee. Denver in the mix if the Broncos land Rodgers.

I think the Waddle pick had at to do with Tyreek Hill. Hill dominated until the super bowl. He put up close to 200 yards against Buffalo. The Bills, like most teams, had no answers for Hill.

Of course, Waddle's comp is Hill, as that dynamic, take it to the house, virtually unguardable player.

Could Waddle swing the Buffalo series, and help Miami close the gap?

Phillips and Holland were arguably the best players at their respective positions. Holland screams Flores type player. Secondary check. Versatility check. Heck, he can even return kicks. Explosive check.

The draft appears so good on paper, with likely four starters factoring in Eichenberg.

Grier revamped the wide receiver room by signing Fuller and drafting Waddle and Long.

Looks like a playoff team on paper. How good do you think the Dolphins will be?
Click to expand...
We have definitely upgraded the team and of course it will be up to Flores to get them to play to potential.

The off-season and draft have provided us with much needed pieces to compete.

Flores and his coaches need to continue what they have been doing since they got here....... coach up the talent.
 
I don't think we did enough with our pass rush.

Yes, we drafted Phillips, and that should help if he remains concussion free, but that's ALL we did, and if we made a mistake in this offseason, I think that was it.

Allen KILLED us last year because we couldn't get close to him. He had all day to find receivers-- and we have some GREAT CBs. You can't win with a great secondary alone when you are playing a top 10 QB, and the better teams all have top 10 QBs.

In today's game, you don't need one great pass-rusher... you need three.
 
While it looks like the Dolphins had a great draft that could provide the team with as many as 4 starters next year, it is far too early to tell how much if any ground thr Dolphins have made up on the top teams in the AFC.

Those teams also had good drafts and signed some of the big name free agents. So while the Dolphins should be a better team next season than they were last year. I don’t see the teams you mentioned being worst than they were in 2020.
 
For me the entire offensive unit, If Improved, should help make up some ground. Tua needs to show his true self and not take a step back. The young offensive line, needs to play more cohesive and like veterans. Limit the miss assignments and blocks. If these two things take place, Miami should make huge strides.

Defensively, Miami needs to play much better in terms of, yards allowed. If they fall off the turnover numbers without improvement in that area, it could be a long season. You can never count on turnovers, but if your good at stopping the other teams from scoring and yards, teams win lots more games. Tough hard nosed defense, usually makes for a winning attitude.
 
Feverdream said:
I don't think we did enough with our pass rush.

Yes, we drafted Phillips, and that should help if he remains concussion free, but that's ALL we did, and if we made a mistake in this offseason, I think that was it.

Allen KILLED us last year because we couldn't get close to him. He had all day to find receivers-- and we have some GREAT CBs. You can't win with a great secondary alone when you are playing a top 10 QB, and the better teams all have top 10 QBs.

In today's game, you don't need one great pass-rusher... you need three.
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People forget this team was devoid of talent just two years ago.

Sure I would love more pass rushers but building that takes a few offseasons.
 
andyahs said:
People forget this team was devoid of talent just two years ago.

Sure I would love more pass rushers but building that takes a few offseasons.
Click to expand...
That it does... and I think I'm one of the more patient ones.

I was just responding to the original question about whether we've closed the gap, and my answer is probably not, and then I listed why I don't think that we have.

If I were to get more specific, I probably would have taken Patrick Jones or Ronnie Perkins rather than Hunter Long, or better yet... traded up for Joseph Ossai, but hey... now that we've got him, I hope the coaches were right... but it doesn't mean that I won't be following the three guys that I just listed, especially Perkins, since he went to the Pattys.
 
BlueFin said:
It’s on Tua...
Click to expand...
While Tua certainly needs to continue to improve. Football is a team game and if the defense isn’t as good as last year and the offensive line doesn’t drastically improve, it won’t matter how good Tua is next year. They will still be looking up at the Chiefs, Bills, and the other top teams in the AFC.
 
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