Our best LB this year.... was Roth.

[Decleater]

Rank
1. Roth
2. Porter
3. Ayodele
4. Crowder

Roth made a great transition from end to LB this season. Teams had to game plan the run away from him all year, and only one (Denver) was able to exploit him (actually the system) in the pass. Aggressive on the bull rush, Roth forced tight end protection instead of a half back. As the year went on he got better in coverage, batting the ball at the line and getting a couple pd's late in the year..
Grade: Run- A Pass- B Pass Rush- C+

Porter was in my opinion the most over rated player on MIA this year. Was garbage against the run which forced him and Roth to switch sides on every down depending on where the TE lined up, and was very inconsistent with his pass rush. Most of his sacks were because of coverage or against bad teams, and he was invisible against Baltimore in a game you want your leaders to stand out. Bottom line got worse as the season progressed.
Grade: Run- C Pass- B Pass Rush- B+ (yeah right)

Ayodele was a surprise for me, wanted to rate him second but Porter did have a bunch of sacks even if he sucked on almost every other down. Was pretty average but didn't make alot of mistakes, and the interceptions are huge.
Grade: Run- B Pass- B+ Pass Rush- C

Crowder while solid in fundamentals, sadly had a sub par year for a (I)MLB in the NFL. With the insticts of the extinct dodo, Channing often fell for misdirection, was slow off play action and generally was unable to make a difference on 1st or 2nd down. He performed better in designed blitzes or zone coverage, but when the guy lined up right behind you (Y.Bell) gets all the tackles it says something. Especially when Roth was funnelling them inside all year. Sad.
Grade: Run- C Pass- C Pass Rush- B

Conclusion: The defensive system that MIA used was completely dictated by the players they had this year, influenced by what they had in the LB core. Roth would stop the run, Porter would rush the QB, the ILB would do a little bit of both. 11-5 does imply success, but in reality the entire Lb core was vulnerable, as each had a strength and a weakness. To be great you need players that can perform multiple roles, and right now at linebacker the dolphins are average at best. Congrats to Sparano and company, you gameplanned yourself to 11 wins.

 

[tennesseefin]

Roth is good at holding his ground but that's about it. Zero chance of him covering a te or) in space and I can still see rbs bounce outside of his tiny outstretched arms...:)
I do hope the light comes on and he can really play instead of reacting...

 

[Buff]

Ban this clown.

17.5 sacks against - 5 maybe! I don't know, but it wasn't many.

Voted by his peers to the pro bowl. Roth was voted to the.....nothing bowl.

Please, JP was used correctly this year, and the results followed. And the same will happen next year, except Roth will be elsewhere.

 

[GoonBoss]

Roth was terrible dude. He was good at one thing; setting the edge to spill of turn in outside runs to his side. Nothing else. He was completely lost in space and coverage.

 

[Kdawg954]

1. Porter
2. Crowder
3. Ayodele
4. Roth

Roth isn't a 3 down LB . . . I was impressed that he was able to do as well as he could at SOLB because I honestly think he couldn't handle it, but he was bad at times. Good depth, but he is probably the first guy we need to replace on this defense.

 

[3rdandinches]

You must have purchased a new Roth Jersey because the Porter's were all sold out!

 

[petefins]

Crowder a C against the run? Did you miss the KC game where they ran all over the fins because crowder wasn't present.

 

[phinfan33]

Crowder a C against the run? Did you miss the KC game where they ran all over the fins because crowder wasn't present.

then in the 2nd half of that game our defense shut KC down,even without Crowder in there...

 

[Kdawg954]

then in the 2nd half of that game our defense shut KC down,even without Crowder in there...

Because of coaching . . . bringing Yeremiah Bell up closer to the line of scrimmage.

In our base set . . . we were horrid against the them in the first half. And they put up 28 points.

Bell pretty much played LB in the second half.

 

[phinfan33]

Because of coaching . . . bringing Yeremiah Bell up closer to the line of scrimmage.

In our base set . . . we were horrid against the them in the first half. And they put up 28 points.

Bell pretty much played LB in the second half.

i guess what i'm getting at and have said before,is that it won't hurt my feelings one bit,nor will i lose any sleep if we let Crowder go...

 

[juniorseau55]

This is the reason why I leave and come back to finheaven. Too much biase... Roth? haha

 

[juniorseau55]

i guess what i'm getting at and have said before,is that it won't hurt my feelings one bit,nor will i lose any sleep if we let Crowder go...

If he's available at a good price then we can definately sign him. Neither the Jets or Raven plan to resign Bart or Barton, just to let you know how many of these players are just either average or how easily they are replaced in a 3-4 scheme. I can understand we can replace Crowder from some of your perspectives as fans but as far as upgrading our position with "Bart" then you will be solely mistaken as long as we have an average nose tackle working our defense.

 

[JimToss]

Rank
Porter was in my opinion the most over rated player on MIA this year. Was garbage against the run which forced him and Roth to switch sides on every down depending on where the TE lined up, and was very inconsistent with his pass rush. Most of his sacks were because of coverage or against bad teams, and he was invisible against Baltimore in a game you want your leaders to stand out. Bottom line got worse as the season progressed.
Grade: Run- C Pass- B Pass Rush- B+ (yeah right)

Joey is our weakside linebacker. By defination that is what he does.

Also, I think your out of your mind:
1)Porter (I agree he is overrated tho, but still the best we got.)
2)Crowder (Hard to argue with production)
3) Akin (Solid LB who came up with some big plays)
4) Roth (Had a really hard time seperating from blocks. Also seemed a little confused at times, which is reasonable switching just this year. Liability in pass coverage. Did not see Roth make a big play all year.)

I agree with your rankings if your talking "Most surprising preformance"
Never expected Roth at SOLB. Joey with 17.5 sacks was surprising. Akin stepped up. I expect that type of production from Crowder. Nothing huge, but solid.

 

[Kdawg954]

i guess what i'm getting at and have said before,is that it won't hurt my feelings one bit,nor will i lose any sleep if we let Crowder go...

I mean it is a business, and the Front office has to do what they got to do. I just don't want people to think he is easily replaceable, because I don't feel that way . . . and like junior is saying, there isn't much of an UPGRADE out there . . . not Scott or Barton or even Dansby, not if we don't get a beastly NT.

I am concerned with the knee starting to act up again and I don't think he is worth TOP ILB money . . . but I would prefer to resign him.

He was a 3rd round pick and a starter for FOUR years at LB. The man deserves his pay day . . . I laugh when people say he isn't worth it . . . but I can feel people if they don't want to sign him for that money . . . but no doubt in my mind he deserves his money. Consider he is not a millionaire (just barely if he is) and Jason Allen is a multi millionaire. Just another reason why the rookie system is flawed.

 

[dlockz]

I mean it is a business, and the Front office has to do what they got to do. I just don't want people to think he is easily replaceable, because I don't feel that way . . . and like junior is saying, there isn't much of an UPGRADE out there . . . not Scott or Barton or even Dansby, not if we don't get a beastly NT.

I am concerned with the knee starting to act up again and I don't think he is worth TOP ILB money . . . but I would prefer to resign him.

He was a 3rd round pick and a starter for FOUR years at LB. The man deserves his pay day . . . I laugh when people say he isn't worth it . . . but I can feel people if they don't want to sign him for that money . . . but no doubt in my mind he deserves his money. Consider he is not a millionaire (just barely if he is) and Jason Allen is a multi millionaire. Just another reason why the rookie system is flawed.

So true and Im just wondering what fans think he is worth. If Smiley and Starks are worth thier money then Crowder has to be somewhere in Smiley range at least. People truly overrate bart scott and just dont realize he plays alot of 4-3 outside.