OK, so now that the real season has started, and we got our first real look of the Fins vintage 08, there are some obvious (albeit very preliminary) observations regarding this team’s composition:
#1 Youth and inexperience tend to equal mistakes and inconsistent play. This team will tend to struggle with mistakes and inconsistency for a good part of the year. No doubt, as in Sunday, this will translate into some frustrating losses --- wins that might have been.
#2 It’s safe to say our outside skill players are both (a) outclassed and (b) underdeveloped when compared to the league standard. This fact combined with Pennington’s arm means we will be defended aggressively against the run unless and until we make things happen down the field. For all the hype and hopeful expectations, Ginn remains a project with speed. Hagan has yet to prove he can be a reliable NFL receiver. And our “big” FA acquisition couldn’t crack the active roster. In general, this could be a dismal team situation barring some real positive developments --- and that’s all we can really hope for right now because there’s very little evidence of emerging greatness demonstrated on the field.
#3 A good portion of the roster is “filler” and not the ultimate answer to this team’s competitiveness. Preseason (especially going 3-1) always means exaggerated optimism, and its best to keep in mind this team is still several highly productive drafts from being built in its ultimate projected image. For all intensive purposes, this team is a stop-gap solution right now, and it’s silly to not understand we’re smack-dab in the middle of rebuilding --- and that means…be patient or you’ll throw a brick through your LCD!
#4 Tony Sparano is a rookie head coach on a team with very marginal overall talent. Chances are he’s going to make some mistakes (even with the vaunted Tuna in the background), and chances are components of the coaching staff may evolve with time. Either way, this team’s youth, inexperience and talent depravation will expose itself (certainly at inopportune times) and tend to put the coaching staff in a less than flattering light. Bottom line, as with Cameron last year, great talent makes coaches look a lot better, and bad talent is a death blow to any coach’s career. No defense of Cameron, but he did have Flacco prepared as a rookie starter yesterday --- and got the win. My bigger point here is this --- it’s a player’s game and we’re still missing a number of players. And even Tuna & Company need players to actually win games.
#5 On the bright and sunny side, its just one game and at least we featured a bunch of rookies and young players. One way or the other, this team does have substantial updraft potential. Exactly how far “up” is impossible to say --- but there’s a reasonable chance this team can be 25-35% “better” by years end. We just have to hope that the youth on the roster is “scalable” to that kind of highly positive development. However, it’s also likely there will be some disappointments on the developmental side, and some of the young talent on the roster won’t stick in Tuna-Dolphin V2 (‘09).
Simple truth is…a big chunk of this team is on a long audition and not a permanent placement.
#1 Youth and inexperience tend to equal mistakes and inconsistent play. This team will tend to struggle with mistakes and inconsistency for a good part of the year. No doubt, as in Sunday, this will translate into some frustrating losses --- wins that might have been.
#2 It’s safe to say our outside skill players are both (a) outclassed and (b) underdeveloped when compared to the league standard. This fact combined with Pennington’s arm means we will be defended aggressively against the run unless and until we make things happen down the field. For all the hype and hopeful expectations, Ginn remains a project with speed. Hagan has yet to prove he can be a reliable NFL receiver. And our “big” FA acquisition couldn’t crack the active roster. In general, this could be a dismal team situation barring some real positive developments --- and that’s all we can really hope for right now because there’s very little evidence of emerging greatness demonstrated on the field.
#3 A good portion of the roster is “filler” and not the ultimate answer to this team’s competitiveness. Preseason (especially going 3-1) always means exaggerated optimism, and its best to keep in mind this team is still several highly productive drafts from being built in its ultimate projected image. For all intensive purposes, this team is a stop-gap solution right now, and it’s silly to not understand we’re smack-dab in the middle of rebuilding --- and that means…be patient or you’ll throw a brick through your LCD!
#4 Tony Sparano is a rookie head coach on a team with very marginal overall talent. Chances are he’s going to make some mistakes (even with the vaunted Tuna in the background), and chances are components of the coaching staff may evolve with time. Either way, this team’s youth, inexperience and talent depravation will expose itself (certainly at inopportune times) and tend to put the coaching staff in a less than flattering light. Bottom line, as with Cameron last year, great talent makes coaches look a lot better, and bad talent is a death blow to any coach’s career. No defense of Cameron, but he did have Flacco prepared as a rookie starter yesterday --- and got the win. My bigger point here is this --- it’s a player’s game and we’re still missing a number of players. And even Tuna & Company need players to actually win games.
#5 On the bright and sunny side, its just one game and at least we featured a bunch of rookies and young players. One way or the other, this team does have substantial updraft potential. Exactly how far “up” is impossible to say --- but there’s a reasonable chance this team can be 25-35% “better” by years end. We just have to hope that the youth on the roster is “scalable” to that kind of highly positive development. However, it’s also likely there will be some disappointments on the developmental side, and some of the young talent on the roster won’t stick in Tuna-Dolphin V2 (‘09).
Simple truth is…a big chunk of this team is on a long audition and not a permanent placement.