Phillip Merling in The Making!! | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Phillip Merling in The Making!!

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KillerDolphins

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First off let me say it was probably a blessing that he fell to us in the 2nd round due to the injury news that came out about him before the draft. Alot of people were hoping Miami would pickup a CB in the 2nd round but BigTuna stuck with his instincts and selected one bad *** mother of a trucker in Merling. I really think he was our best draft pick this year as far as value goes. He had first round potential and would have been drafted if not for his injury. You can almost make a case for him being #1 steal of the 2008 NFL Draft. Even Dr. Z of SI (whom i dislike) agrees that Merling was a steal in the 2nd round.

Every time i watch this kid play he reminds me of Michael Strahan. Obviously his football awareness inst up to par with Strahan's when he was a player but he has every intangible of being just as good. I actually think he's a little faster then what i seen of Strahan. Give this kid 1 maybe 2 more years and he is going to make people forget about Jason Taylor rather quickly. Jason was a great pass rusher but Merling in my opinion is going to be a great pass rusher and an even better run stopper. I'd almost guarantee him being a pro bowl DE in 2 more seasons pending any injuries.

So I throw this question out to he finheaven community,

Do you think Phillip Merling will be as good or better then JT in 1-2 years?
 
haha the 24? year old phillip merling will probably be better then th 36? year old jason taylor, but for him to be known for being a better player in their careers, its going to take a lot more then 2 years...
Lets not diss taylor haha he did us well

GO PHINS
 
Im not dissing taylor one bit, he was my favorite player on defense. I just think merling has a promising career and will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. He is the complete package as far as DE's go. If you watch NFL Replay or Dolphins Shortcut on DirecTV watch him push the blocker in front of him back everytime. The kids a monster. This just goes to show you that the Dolphins have a great group of scouts and its only going to get richer and better for years to come. I cant wait for this management to draft a linebacker next year.
 
KillerDolphins said:
First off let me say it was probably a blessing that he fell to us in the 2nd round due to the injury news that came out about him before the draft. Alot of people were hoping Miami would pickup a CB in the 2nd round but BigTuna stuck with his instincts and selected one bad *** mother of a trucker in Merling. I really think he was our best draft pick this year as far as value goes. He had first round potential and would have been drafted if not for his injury. You can almost make a case for him being #1 steal of the 2008 NFL Draft. Even Dr. Z of SI (whom i dislike) agrees that Merling was a steal in the 2nd round.

Every time i watch this kid play he reminds me of Michael Strahan. Obviously his football awareness inst up to par with Strahan's when he was a player but he has every intangible of being just as good. I actually think he's a little faster then what i seen of Strahan. Give this kid 1 maybe 2 more years and he is going to make people forget about Jason Taylor rather quickly. Jason was a great pass rusher but Merling in my opinion is going to be a great pass rusher and an even better run stopper. I'd almost guarantee him being a pro bowl DE in 2 more seasons pending any injuries.

So I throw this question out to he finheaven community,

Do you think Phillip Merling will be as good or better then JT in 1-2 years?
Click to expand...

Sorry bro, I don't count two and a half years as 'rather quickly'. That's kind of a contradiction there!:lol:

Merling looks good early, real good. I don't however think he'll be anywhere near the pass rusher JT was. But only a handful ever will be in fairness. In terms of stuffing the run, with Langford on the other side, who I think was actually the real steal of this draft and big bad NT this or next year, we could be one of the best teams against the run there is.
 
Merling's strongest assets are his motor, quickness and length. Taylor has an equally impressive motor, more speed and as much quickness, and more length. All in all though, Taylor played as much like an OLB as he did a DL, he just did so from a variety of stances. I think Merling has a nice future ahead of him, yes. But, I don't think he has as much pass rushing potential as Taylor had.

They are different players. Merling has more core strength and is more of a threat to get pressure from the inside, whereas Taylor was a pure edge rusher. But to me, the fact that we are even reasonably discussing this one speaks volumes for Merling's rookie season. I am curious to see how Merling reacts to the rookie wall though. He was rotated a bit at Clemson, so the longer season will definitely be a challenge for a guy who was injured for some of the off-season.
 
i don't really miss JT at this point in time, nor zach...

will always love them guys, but they gone now brotato
 
i think he'll be a fine player but I haven't seen anything so far that would have me compare him to JT. I'm not saying he's incapable, he's a good young player....but through the first few games in JT's career, people were saying that he reminded them of Charles Haley (extremely high praise)

I hope you're right though....cause if he is that means we hit the jackpot and he joins a short list of the best defenders we've ever had here.
 
KillerDolphins said:
First off let me say it was probably a blessing that he fell to us in the 2nd round due to the injury news that came out about him before the draft. Alot of people were hoping Miami would pickup a CB in the 2nd round but BigTuna stuck with his instincts and selected one bad *** mother of a trucker in Merling. I really think he was our best draft pick this year as far as value goes. He had first round potential and would have been drafted if not for his injury. You can almost make a case for him being #1 steal of the 2008 NFL Draft. Even Dr. Z of SI (whom i dislike) agrees that Merling was a steal in the 2nd round.

Every time i watch this kid play he reminds me of Michael Strahan. Obviously his football awareness inst up to par with Strahan's when he was a player but he has every intangible of being just as good. I actually think he's a little faster then what i seen of Strahan. Give this kid 1 maybe 2 more years and he is going to make people forget about Jason Taylor rather quickly. Jason was a great pass rusher but Merling in my opinion is going to be a great pass rusher and an even better run stopper. I'd almost guarantee him being a pro bowl DE in 2 more seasons pending any injuries.

So I throw this question out to he finheaven community,

Do you think Phillip Merling will be as good or better then JT in 1-2 years?
Click to expand...

I think you're confusing Merling with our 3rd rounder Kendall Langford. Langford has been dominant while Merling has been more of a spot player. If anything, he'd be the steal.
 
As of now Merling is still a backup, so comparing him to not just starters, but pro-bowlers and future-hall-of-famers is certainly premature.

I like Langford, and he has better size than Merling. Merling is quicker than Langford, and hence has more potential in the long run.

I like what I've been seeing out of Merling recently. He's been getting a lot of tackles. I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the year, or perhaps next season... if Merling becomes the starter, and Langford becomes the backup. When Holliday leaves, perhaps both guys will start on opposite sides.
 
Digital said:
Merling's strongest assets are his motor, quickness and length. Taylor has an equally impressive motor, more speed and as much quickness, and more length. All in all though, Taylor played as much like an OLB as he did a DL, he just did so from a variety of stances. I think Merling has a nice future ahead of him, yes. But, I don't think he has as much pass rushing potential as Taylor had.

They are different players. Merling has more core strength and is more of a threat to get pressure from the inside, whereas Taylor was a pure edge rusher. But to me, the fact that we are even reasonably discussing this one speaks volumes for Merling's rookie season. I am curious to see how Merling reacts to the rookie wall though. He was rotated a bit at Clemson, so the longer season will definitely be a challenge for a guy who was injured for some of the off-season.
Click to expand...

Apples and oranges really :up:
 
i think it would be smarter to ask if he will turn out to be the better overall player b/c very few in the history of the league can rush a QB like taylor. taylor is great but you can make an argument that he is one dimensional. merling might turn out to be great against the rush and pass.
 
AZStryker said:
I think you're confusing Merling with our 3rd rounder Kendall Langford. Langford has been dominant while Merling has been more of a spot player. If anything, he'd be the steal.
Click to expand...

Langford and Merling great looking set of bookends for years to come...
 
AZStryker said:
I think you're confusing Merling with our 3rd rounder Kendall Langford. Langford has been dominant while Merling has been more of a spot player. If anything, he'd be the steal.
Click to expand...


No sir, im not confused. I watched alot of Clemson games the last 2 years and this kid always stuck out to me. If Merling keeps doing what he is doing, by this time next year you will see him at his best. In college the bull rushing and stuffing the RB's behind the line was the normality for this kid. If he dedicates himself like he did at Clemson in the off season i dont see why he cant become a pass rusher as well. As someone already mentioned, he has a high motor working in his favor. Well right now that motors a V6-SuperCharged. Come next season he will be displaying a V8 Turbo Charged and punishing the opposing QBs. Now pending any injuries i still think this kid is the steal of the draft. Langford is good but imo hes lining up vs the oppositions RT's where as Merling is taking on the opposing teams best linemen in most cases. Its something to ponder but hell who knows they both might end up being great. I just hope neither one of them get the Oguneleye treatment.
 
We're in good shape with both of them.
 
KillerDolphins said:
Im not dissing taylor one bit, he was my favorite player on defense. I just think merling has a promising career and will be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. He is the complete package as far as DE's go. If you watch NFL Replay or Dolphins Shortcut on DirecTV watch him push the blocker in front of him back everytime. The kids a monster. This just goes to show you that the Dolphins have a great group of scouts and its only going to get richer and better for years to come. I cant wait for this management to draft a linebacker next year.
Click to expand...

I think last years draft was a combination of excellent scouting but also a result of being a bad football team all over the field. In fact I would say that Donald Thomas and Langford were the 2 absolute steals that this Admin. pulled off... Cudos to the staff on those picks... I am still gutted Thomas went down...

Let's face it we had (still do) needs everywhere... The philosophy coming in was reload both sides of the line which they did in spades... Merling though was really a surprise to no one... What was a surprise was that he slid out of the first round but there were some injury concerns... I think where we got him there was NO other option and the war room probably did a little TD celebration when he was there in that spot. he is a NICE player no question but a very different one than JT...

love the positive vibes though and it is nice to be talking about a few young dolphin players in this light.
 
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