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Rookie trio earning high marks in Miami

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jim1

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After years of futile drafts under different regimes, the Dolphins' braintrust of Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano scored great success with its first rookie class of 2008. Two draft picks, OT Jake Long and DE Kendall Langford, earned starting jobs, and DE Phillip Merling and OG Donald Thomas are slated for starting honors heading into their second training camp.

The early returns from the 2009 class are just as encouraging, even though there’s less of an opportunity to make a dent in the Dolphins’ lineup this season seeing as how the club is coming off an AFC East-winning campaign as opposed to a 1-15 debacle.

Three rookies stood out in particular: CBs Sean Smith and Vontae Davis, and WR Patrick Turner. Smith, the latter of the club’s two second-round picks, flashed his playmaking ability throughout the spring. A long-limbed converted wide receiver, the 6-foot-3 Smith’s fluidity was a bit of a pleasant surprise. With hands that enabled him to notch nine interceptions his last two college seasons, the threat of the takeaway and what he can create off the turnover were expected. Now, after his quick absorption of the scheme and showing natural movement skills, word is he has a slight edge on winning the starting job opposite Will Allen.

http://www.profootballweekly.com/2009/07/16/rookie-trio-earning-high-marks-in-miami
 
I would be shocked if Sean Smith wins the other starting corner spot. But also pleasantly surprised.
 
phinphan4life said:
I would be shocked if Sean Smith wins the other starting corner spot. But also pleasantly surprised.
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Why? He's big, quick, and talented, also a ball hawk, and can go up against the likes of TO and Randy Moss. I think that V Davis will turn it on and win the starting job opposite Will Allen, but I wouldn't be shocked at all if Smith takes it.
 
jim1 said:
Why? He's big, quick, and talented, also a ball hawk, and can go up against the likes of TO and Randy Moss. I think that V Davis will turn it on and win the starting job opposite Will Allen, but I wouldn't be shocked at all if Smith takes it.
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The knock on him is supposedly his physicality though. We'll see how it turns out in a couple weeks.

In tag football I've knocked down a 215 lb dude.. that obviously changes when pads come on :lol:

Basically, we've still seen nothing.. even with Eric Green (hopefully)
 
SRM said:
Basically, we've still seen nothing.. even with Eric Green (hopefully)
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yes we have, his last 2 years in Arizona.

If the guy can't keep people in front of him with shorts and a t-shirt on, hard to believe he's going to turn it around with pads on.
 
jim1 said:
Why? He's big, quick, and talented, also a ball hawk, and can go up against the likes of TO and Randy Moss. I think that V Davis will turn it on and win the starting job opposite Will Allen, but I wouldn't be shocked at all if Smith takes it.
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I can't say that I would be overly surprised if Smith won the starting job. However, if I had to pick who would start b/t the two rooks Smith and Davis, I still tip my hat to Davis. Vontae will be allowed to be more in-your-face and physical when the pads come on, which will help his body of work. The big thing to keep in mind however is that Vontae I believe is able to play all three corner spots while Smith, as of right now, is strictly a boundary corner.

IMHO, Davis and Allen likely start on base defenses. When nickel and dime situations come up, Smith comes in and takes either Davis' or Allen's spot on the boundary, freeing one of those two to move inside and cover the slot more effectively. I know Goodman played well for us, but we needed someone else on the outside/boundary to play good pass defense when Will Allen moved inside to handle the slot receivers. With Smith and Davis, Miami bought itself a lot of flexibility.
 
Schleprock said:
yes we have, his last 2 years in Arizona.

If the guy can't keep people in front of him with shorts and a t-shirt on, hard to believe he's going to turn it around with pads on.
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When camps feature players in their 'pajamas' (shorts and teeshirts) often the receivers find themselves in a position of advantage over the CB's. I'm not saying Green will become a great/good player for us, but he is a corner that likes to get his hands on the WR, something that will be more allowable and easier once the pads come on at training camp. For now its best to take a wait-and-see with Green. Again, I know given his performance last year he is not likely to magically become a really good corner. However, when pads come on, I think his physical style of play will enable him to be a solid depth addition (and perhaps even temporary starter until Davis or Smith takes the job mid-season or whenever they are ready)
 
Schleprock said:
yes we have, his last 2 years in Arizona.

If the guy can't keep people in front of him with shorts and a t-shirt on, hard to believe he's going to turn it around with pads on.
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Well he did play on a pretty good Arizona defense that kept our receivers from scoring a td and held us to 10 pts. He started that game and they only gave up one reception over 20 yards.
 
jim1 said:
After years of futile drafts under different regimes, the Dolphins' braintrust of Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano scored great success with its first rookie class of 2008. Two draft picks, OT Jake Long and DE Kendall Langford, earned starting jobs, and DE Phillip Merling and OG Donald Thomas are slated for starting honors heading into their second training camp.

The early returns from the 2009 class are just as encouraging, even though there’s less of an opportunity to make a dent in the Dolphins’ lineup this season seeing as how the club is coming off an AFC East-winning campaign as opposed to a 1-15 debacle.

Three rookies stood out in particular: CBs Sean Smith and Vontae Davis, and WR Patrick Turner. Smith, the latter of the club’s two second-round picks, flashed his playmaking ability throughout the spring. A long-limbed converted wide receiver, the 6-foot-3 Smith’s fluidity was a bit of a pleasant surprise. With hands that enabled him to notch nine interceptions his last two college seasons, the threat of the takeaway and what he can create off the turnover were expected. Now, after his quick absorption of the scheme and showing natural movement skills, word is he has a slight edge on winning the starting job opposite Will Allen.
Click to expand...

Makes sense. Two of those guys face your weak receiving corps in practice and the other one faces your equally weak secondary.:lol:
 
BillzzTroll said:
Makes sense. Two of those guys face your weak receiving corps in practice and the other one faces your equally weak secondary.:lol:
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I'm confused...are you talking about the weak WR corp that helped torch you guys for 300+ passing yards in October? Or the weak secondary that held you guys to 79 passing yards in December?? :d-day:
 
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burger13 said:
I'm confused...are you talking about the weak WR corp that helped torch you guys for 300+ passing yards in October? Or the weak secondary that held you guys to 79 passing yards in December?? :d-day:
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Yeah, that's right, use my lousy Bills as the barometer for having a potent receiving/secondary corps. Now you're ready to rule the world!!!
 
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