traptses
Starter
When I sign on here, I'm greeted with a page full of negative topics. Believe me, I'm not going to argue the fact that we have some obvious questions. There is no doubt about that. However, I feel people are only looking at what was NOT addressed, and not many people are looking at what WAS addressed.
Entering the off-season this past year, we had plenty question marks and plenty obvious needs. Our defense was beyond solid last year, so there wasn't much work to be done here. Our offense was clearly in need of change. Most posters on the board wanted this change to come in the form of a QB, but let's be honest, the QB's that were available were not really much of an upgrade over Henne. So here we are, standing pat at QB. Disappointing, but here comes my optimistic point of view...
The Dolphin's defense finished in the top 10 last year, and the only starter lost was Channing Crowder. To replace him, we signed Kevin Burnett. I feel the same way most of Finheaven feels, he is a significant upgrade at linebacker. We have a very promising, young secondary that is led by Vontae Davis, who has shown that he can be a shutdown corner in this league. The defensive line was likely the Dolphin's strongest point on the team. The only change made to that, is 2010 first round pick Jared Odrick returns from injury. The line is only going to be stronger than last year. Another signing was bringing back long time Dolphin, Jason Taylor. He likely won't play a significant number of snaps, but he DOES offer an upgrade in pass rush. I don't see how this unit will be worse than last year's top 10 unit.
Now comes the offense. No real effort was made to upgrade at QB, and our O-line is full of question marks. There is certainly reason to worry. However, while I am worried a bit, I am also VERY excited about this.
Lost are runningbacks Ronnie Brown, Patrick Cobbs, and Ricky Williams. This didn't leave much at the position, so Miami traded up in the draft to select Daniel Thomas. He is expected to be the bell-cow back, carrying a majority of the touches. Miami then traded to get Reggie Bush from the Saints. Now, do I believe he is the type of runningback you can depend on the get the tough yards between the tackles? Absolutely not. What he DOES offer though, is something that fans have been complaining about for years.
For the longest time now, Finheaven has constantly been in desire of the "Devin Hester type" playmaker. The type of player that can change the pace of the game with a single juke move. Miami signed Reggie Bush to be that player out of the backfield, and also drafted Clyde Gates to add the speed that was desired at the receiver postion. I'm very excited to see what these guys bring to the field.
So, while we stay put at the shaky QB position and fiddle around with our line a bit, I don't see how this team is not heading in the right direction. Looking around our division, I don't really see how any other team really improved themselves either. The Jets, I feel, actually went backwards.
So I'll end my little rant there. Basically, to sum it up, I think we are focusing too much on what we DON'T have, and not enough on what we DO have. Maybe I'm just being a little too optimistic (I usually am lol) but I'd rather go into the season with high hopes, than just expecting to lose.
I'll also add, I HATE the "Suck For Luck" talk. I don't care if we are 15-0 or 0-15. I don't care if we have Tom Brady at QB, or if we are putting Cleo Lemon out there. When ANY and EVERY game rolls around, I'm wearing my Dolphins jersey proudly, yelling and rooting my team on. I will NEVER root for my team to lose, no matter what the outcome means.
Entering the off-season this past year, we had plenty question marks and plenty obvious needs. Our defense was beyond solid last year, so there wasn't much work to be done here. Our offense was clearly in need of change. Most posters on the board wanted this change to come in the form of a QB, but let's be honest, the QB's that were available were not really much of an upgrade over Henne. So here we are, standing pat at QB. Disappointing, but here comes my optimistic point of view...
The Dolphin's defense finished in the top 10 last year, and the only starter lost was Channing Crowder. To replace him, we signed Kevin Burnett. I feel the same way most of Finheaven feels, he is a significant upgrade at linebacker. We have a very promising, young secondary that is led by Vontae Davis, who has shown that he can be a shutdown corner in this league. The defensive line was likely the Dolphin's strongest point on the team. The only change made to that, is 2010 first round pick Jared Odrick returns from injury. The line is only going to be stronger than last year. Another signing was bringing back long time Dolphin, Jason Taylor. He likely won't play a significant number of snaps, but he DOES offer an upgrade in pass rush. I don't see how this unit will be worse than last year's top 10 unit.
Now comes the offense. No real effort was made to upgrade at QB, and our O-line is full of question marks. There is certainly reason to worry. However, while I am worried a bit, I am also VERY excited about this.
Lost are runningbacks Ronnie Brown, Patrick Cobbs, and Ricky Williams. This didn't leave much at the position, so Miami traded up in the draft to select Daniel Thomas. He is expected to be the bell-cow back, carrying a majority of the touches. Miami then traded to get Reggie Bush from the Saints. Now, do I believe he is the type of runningback you can depend on the get the tough yards between the tackles? Absolutely not. What he DOES offer though, is something that fans have been complaining about for years.
For the longest time now, Finheaven has constantly been in desire of the "Devin Hester type" playmaker. The type of player that can change the pace of the game with a single juke move. Miami signed Reggie Bush to be that player out of the backfield, and also drafted Clyde Gates to add the speed that was desired at the receiver postion. I'm very excited to see what these guys bring to the field.
So, while we stay put at the shaky QB position and fiddle around with our line a bit, I don't see how this team is not heading in the right direction. Looking around our division, I don't really see how any other team really improved themselves either. The Jets, I feel, actually went backwards.
So I'll end my little rant there. Basically, to sum it up, I think we are focusing too much on what we DON'T have, and not enough on what we DO have. Maybe I'm just being a little too optimistic (I usually am lol) but I'd rather go into the season with high hopes, than just expecting to lose.
I'll also add, I HATE the "Suck For Luck" talk. I don't care if we are 15-0 or 0-15. I don't care if we have Tom Brady at QB, or if we are putting Cleo Lemon out there. When ANY and EVERY game rolls around, I'm wearing my Dolphins jersey proudly, yelling and rooting my team on. I will NEVER root for my team to lose, no matter what the outcome means.
