BrazForPhins
Perennial All-Pro
I’ve been anxiously waiting for the end of LaVar’s drama, to post this thread, cause he’d be a part of it if signed with us. Well, time to move on. Good we at least did not overpay. But, gladly, he’s not the subject of this. I was waiting for qb Joey Harrington's story end too, but it seems he’ll be with us, sooner or later, so I’ll consider it.
I was wondering how much of an upgrade Saban did to this team since his first second of work. What he did his first offseason, and what he’s doing now, to wonder where we’ll head to… .I’m not a great evaluator, so what I’ll try to do here is simple: list Nick´s personnel moves. The improvement he’s seeking after each step.
I’ll do some bold analysis, and I’ll let the better inputs for you guys.
OK, so then let’s check the moves coach Saban did his first offseason to breach with the Wanny era. Just reminding I’m not going into accountancy of ALL the players that left or arrived, but the starters and main backups, I guess it’s enough for us to make some fair judgments.
PLAYERS/COACHES WHO LEFT 2004/2005
-Offense
QB Jay Fiedler
QB A.J. Feeley
FB Doug Easlick
FB Rob Konrad
FB Jamar Martin
RB Brock Forsey
RB Lamar Gordon
RB Leonard Henry
RB Vick King
G Greg Jerman
G Taylor Whitley
OT John St. Clair
TE Donald Lee
TE/LS Ed Perry
WR Derrius Thompson
WR Ronald Bellamy
-Defense
DT Tim Bowens
DT Larry Chester
DT/DE Bryan Robinson
DE Jay Williams
DE Ronald Flemons
LB Brendon Ayanbadejo
LB/S Tony Bua
LB Morlon Greenwood
LB Renauld Williams
CB Patrick Surtain
CB Jimmy Wyrick
S Antuan Edwards
S Arturo Freeman
S Sammy Knight
-ST
P Matt Turk
-Staff
HC freakin Dave Wannstedt
DC/HC Jim Bates
OC Chris Foerster
RB coach Joel Collier
QB coach Marc Trestman
OL coach Tony Wise
WR coach Jerry Sullivan
DL coach Clarence Brooks
LB coach Bob Sanders
TE coach Bernie Parmalee
Defensive NP Bill Lewis
Assist. S&C Brad Roll
Sorry if one of these guys left before the Saban signing, cause I remember Wanny waived some guys during the season, as Jim Bates when he took over, like Lamont Brightful (the punt returner, who fumbled three kicks in one game) and linebacker Corey Jenkins. But I don’t remember all of them, so feel free to point it out if you remember more guys and I’ll edit the post deleting these players from the list.
So, looking at the list we can see that Saban eliminated some good amount of dead meat. Fiedler was a must to go due to his consumed relation with the fans and incompatibility with Linehan’s offense. And Feeley, although have battled during camp for a starter spot, was shipped early in the season to SD.
As painful as it looked, Saban showed how wasted our picks were by the last regime, when he released Lamar Gordon. Rob Konrad was an effective guy when playing, but that was his problem, never healthy, so, released.
The offensive line hadn’t a huge shakeup, with a few releases, what kept the critics and part of the fans with not much faith on it for 2005.
TE was an interesting spot as Donald Lee was gone with so many drops, and Ed Perry. The long snapper release was viewed by many people here as the first bad move by Saban. I didn’t agree with that label, as some others. This was the right year to make these risky moves, the debut year, when you’re building the base of a team. Imagine if we had to do it next year? On a possibly verge of a SB run….props to saban, as lately it panned out fine with John Denney.
Derrius Thompson was shown the door too. Despite his TD catch against NE, he have pissed some people bad with so many drops.
With an awful inoperative offense we could say Saban just cleaned the house.
On the defensive side of the ball, I’d like to point out, first of all, that some losses were inevitable losses due to injury: Timbo and Chester. Guys that anchored that defensive line for many years sadly had to leave.
Saban cut some key guys in the backfield: Freeman and Knight.
Linebacker Morlon Greenwood was the first big signal of the Sabans “non-overpaying” attitude. He was not re-signed and hit the market. The guy was solid for us when with Miami, let’s be honest, he was a very good backup, but that’s it, nothing more than that to deserve the 5 year 22.5 million contract the Texans gave him. Talk about overpaying.
Tony Bua who was a fan favorite didn’t earn a spot, showing that charisma was not enough..btw good memory from that Rams’ game double hit.
Now, although with an obvious salary cap move here, we still see some “I miss Patrick Surtain” threads popping up..Saban genuinely mastered a trade from this one. He didn’t bounced back from his high demand for Pat and got his 2nd round pick for him after a long time discussion with interested teams, especially the chiefs.
The Matt Turk release was simply not much felt later on.
Saban got Bates’ defense, which was the up side from the Wanny Era, and started some serious remaking. It was clear that the defense was still carried by Jimmy Johnson’s players in Zach, Surtain, Madison and JT..and Wanny was not adding necessary talent to it through the years. Poor tackling and late collapses were some goals to overturn.
The staff needs a good laugh, just for wanny himself. And where were we going to, with Chris Foerster and Tony Wise? Justice to be made, Marc Trestman, Jerry Sullivan and Jim Bates paid off some good help to this staff.
PLAYERS/COACHES WHO ARRIVED 2004/2005
-Offense
QB Gus Frerotte
QB Cleo Lemon
RB Kay-Jay Harris
RB Ronnie Brown
RB Ricky Williams
FB Heath Evans (released during the 2005 season)
FB Kyle Eckel (went to Army and might be back, Idk the process)
FB Darian Barnes
TE Will Heller
TE Lorenzo Diamond
TE Jason Rader
C Alonzo Ephraim
OT Anthony Alabi
OT Stockar McDougle
-Defense
DE Kevin Carter
DE/LS John Denney
DE Vonnie Holliday
DE Matt Roth
DT Keith Traylor
DT Manuel Wright
DT Kevin Vickerson
LB Channing Crowder
LB Jason Glenn
LB Donnie Spragan
CB Travis Daniels
CB Eddie Jackson
CB Shirdonya Mitchell
S Travares Tillman
S Tebucky Jones
S Lance Shulters
S Norman LeJeune (?)
-ST
P Donnie Jones
-Staff
HC God Nick Saban
OC Scott Linehan
DC Richard Smith
Assist. HC/Def Will Muschamp
Assist. HC/WR coach Charlie Baggett
OL coach Hudson Houck
OL Assist. Tim Davis
QB coach Jason Garrett
TE coach Derek Dooley
LB George Edwards
S&C Assist. Eric Fears and Bert Hill
DL coach Dan Quinn
DL Assist. Travis Jones
RB coach Bobby Williams
D. Quality Control Glenn Pires
Just Reminding!
As we know, WR Wes Welker was brought in by Wanny, not Saban.
Judd Garrett (O. Quality Control), Keith Armstrong (special teams) and Mel Phillips (secondary) already were part of the previous staff.
First off, it’s amazingly clear the upgrade factor at almost all areas of the team, just staring at the lists. Despite CB, we could say all the positions were upgraded (considering talent wise + cap hit) or at least kept almost in status quo.
The RB backfield went from a shameful Lamar Gordon/Travis Minor/Sammy Morris committee (not undeserving Morris, who’s a solid player) to one of the best RB tandems in Ricky and Ronnie.
Gus may not be an ideal starter, but he was what could be brought in on that time..familiar with the system, he could at least play the offense without the learning curve growing pains, and could be considered a fine band-aid.
The receivers were kept, and funny how Chambers suddenly lived up to the expectations, still without a great QB. The change of systems and coaches were enough to it. Here comes Linehan, who brought a more deep passes oriented offense. Although his playcalling was not reliable at some point, he was a MAJOR upgrade over the last few years of “RUN, RUN, PASS, PUNT” offense we had.
I think there’s no need to measure here the difference maker HH with our oline, do I need? Although the biggest offseason Offensive Line signing, OT Stockar McDougle, was a bust, Houck got almost the same linemen from 2004 and turned a goddamn awful line into an average line, very effective in pass-protection, which stayed in 4th place in sacks allowed if I’m not mistaken.
Richard Smith didn’t bring much to this defense, but as most people said when he was signed: this is Saban’s defense. Not much to worry about it.
Lots of new faces to the defense, lots of key players. The DL was like an entire new line, with the exception of Taylor. Saban signed the high drafted duo Holliday and Carter, who fitted in as DE’s(especially Carter), though both could play as DT too(especially Holliday). To clog up the middle, Keith Traylor came from the Pats, and was one of the most effective guys on the defense, making some urgent 3rd and short stops. Matt Roth came in with high expectations, and started developing by the end of the season, so we will probably see what he’s made of...next season.
And as developmental projects there are DT’s Manuel Wright, from the Sup. Draft who played well at the end of the season with little playing time, and Vickerson, who was praised by the coaches and Kevin Carter; so we can find some golden upside from these two.
The LB corps remained leaded by Zach, but with the additions of Crowder and Spragan. Seau was almost a non-factor due to age/injuries. Pope, kept, did a good job as a backup.
The backfield was the one to give us some nightmares. Howard being burned, safeties being burned. Even though I got the feeling that Saban took off milk out of rocks. Madison was the only reliable vet CB, but didn’t fit well the scheme, and Daniels, who was the good surprise, didn’t do what you expect of a great shutdown corner, but did very well, considering the limitations of a 4th round rookie.
The safeties, in general were burned most of the season, despite Schulters making some determining plays (whether lets not forget he was burned too). But giving me some hopes, Tillman and Bell played fairly well in the end of the season, what might explain the departures of Tebucky (cap hit here too) and Schulters..and the retaining of the other two.
Punter Donnie Jones and long snapper John Denney did well. No problem here, at least we could free some cap.
So, for the rookie coach Nick Saban, this was a great debut. What a hard task it was to turn a wanny 4-12 team into a 9-7 6-win streak team. Even harder I think, was to turn around the critics opinions. But well he did. Check the list of newcomers again and point it out how many of them made some good impact on this team, for the short term. You can count at least 7. Now check the ones with good upside for the long term, at least 7 again.
Tell me when it was the last time that Wanny brought in one season half a dozen guys with good upside. It explains the excitement and confidence in the locker room.
NOW, ON TO 2006.
PLAYERS/COACHES WHO LEFT 2005/2006
-Offense
QB Gus Frerotte
QB Sage Rosenfels
FB Heath Evans
C Alonzo Ephraim
OT Stockar McDougle
TE Will Heller
WR David Boston
WR Bryan Gilmore
-Defense
LB Jason Glenn
LB Junior Seau
CB Sam Madison
CB Reggie Howard
CB Kiwaukee Thomas
S Lance Shulters
S Tebucky Jones
-ST
None
-Staff
OC Scott Linehan
DC Richard Smith
Assist. HC/Def Will Muschamp
PLAYERS/COACHES WHO ARRIVED 2005/2006
-Offense
QB Daunte Culpepper
QB Joey Harrington (highly potential signee)
FB Fred Beasley
TE Teyo Johnson
TE Justin Peele
OT L.J. Shelton
OT Joe Berger
WR Fred Gibson
WR Kelly Campbell
-Defense
DT Josh Shaw (up and down with practice squad)
DT Orrin Thompson
LB Sedrick Hodge
LB Mike Labinjo
CB Will Allen
CB Andre Goodman
CB/S Renaldo Hill
S Siddeeq Shabazz (allocated Europe)
S Deke Cooper
S Jack Hunt
-ST
None
-Staff
OC Mike Mularkey
DC Dom Capers
S coach Kirby Smart
Assist. Strength coach/Assist. DL coach Bo Davis
GM Randy Mueller (Although being signed in June of 2005, I’m considering Mueller more of a 2006 acquisition cause that’s when his input will be started to be felt)
Just Reminding!
As we know, OT Tony Pape, OL Wade Smith and CB Will Poole, who will all be back this season are from the last regime.
OK, so now these days.
The departure of Scott Linehan might not do any offensive dropoff. Mainly because the offensive system will remain the same, but as well because of the Mularkey signing. The guy was a successful OC with HC experience, which gives him some other perspectives, and came in with one route: Add his input to what was an already good offense.
Speaking of coordinators, Dom Capers was one of the best of our offseason acquisitions, arguably the best. Like Mularkey, Capers was a successful DC with HC experience, and came in with the same route: Add his input to what is an already good defense, Saban’s defense. Of course our defense was not great last year, but the lack of personnel was imminent, and it’s being fixed now. His defense was built in 3 years or so in Cleveland, and turned into a great defense. We can imagine what will it look like now, whether he’s now the HC.
Looking at the departures, we can say we didn’t loose much…a backup QB and a couple defensive guys that didn’t fit the scheme or were injury prone.
But we kept the “good” guys from 2005 and signed more impact guys again.
With the additions of Culpepper, L.J. Shelton and Beasley the offense looks more explosive. The oline, despite Shelton, remains almost the same, what’s at least good for chemistry. Let’s see what Houck will do again.
The QB is the hot spot. With the potential signing of Harrington, we’re heading into easily the best QB scenario we’ve had since Marino. Pepper and Joey bring respectively, talent and value to the position.
It’s been widely said that we need a 3rd receiver. Really, it’s a hole, but nothing comparable to the tons of holes from the beginning of 2005. And that’s something that will probably be addressed via draft or after june cuts, since Saban already stated this necessity.
The DL, last years’ strength, is basically the same. The age might be catching the older guys, but I think that can be compensated with the development of the youngsters.
Sedrick Hodge comes as another solid LB corps backup, who with a scenario change might be a good surprise.
The backfield is renewed. Personally I’m much more comfortable now. Saban did some smooth moves, getting relatively cheap, versatile, fast guys in Allen, Goodman, Hill and Cooper. I’m comfortable cause Saban choosed these guys. It’s not like last year, when he haven’t had another option, but to work with what he had in hands. Plus guys coming back of injury Mitchell and Poole. And there’s Sideeq Shabazz, who’s playing solid overseas, will battle at training camp for a roster safety spot.
Of course, some of the arriven guys won’t last until the season. And there are some others that look like camp fodder, so I didn’t include here..but just to have some idea.
And the most important thing, there’s still the DRAFT! This offseason is not over yet, but we already can state something: Saban drastically improved the team his first year, and he’s doing the same his second year.
If he loves picks or not, one thing it’s getting clear like water, he uses each of them looking for an upgrade. And not only the picks, the cap space.
Offensive Statistics
...........................2004.......2005.......2006
Passing .................21st.......16th....... ?
Rushing .................31st.......12th....... ?
Overall (YPG)........29th......14th....... ?
Defensive Statistics
...........................2004.......2005.......2006
Passing..................2nd........17th........ ?
Rushing.................31st........12th........ ?
Overall (YPG)........8th........18th ....... ?
Purely by these basic stats we can see the Offense improved overall. A little bit in the passing game, though with huge strides with the running game.
The defense had a considerable drop off. But imo that’s due the whole cleaning the house process. Despite that, just like the running game, the rush-defense got a lot better, not really a surprise here..as the DL was the best area on defense, alongside some good linebacking help.
The pass-defense got a lot worse. We were deeply burned often. Our biggest strength through the years is now the aspect to improve. Saban had to show the door to the best CB we had in Surtain, and work with guys stucked on the roster, Sam and Howard. And rookie Travis Daniels. We also saw some stop-gap safeties, FS Schulters and SS Jones. It’s clear that Saban is building now HIS backfield, which we’ll lead us to some inevitable improvement there.
But for the first time in many years, this was a more balanced team.
So, that’s it. Saying it again, I’m not a great evaluator. I’m just trying to point some obvious things out so we can discuss on it. I re-wrote the upgrading track and I’ll let the deep thoughts for you all.
Go Phins!
And don’t forget to remind me if there’s something wrong with the departures/signings so I can fix it and make the post the most accurate possible. Thanx in advance.
Braz
:dolphins:
I was wondering how much of an upgrade Saban did to this team since his first second of work. What he did his first offseason, and what he’s doing now, to wonder where we’ll head to… .I’m not a great evaluator, so what I’ll try to do here is simple: list Nick´s personnel moves. The improvement he’s seeking after each step.
I’ll do some bold analysis, and I’ll let the better inputs for you guys.
OK, so then let’s check the moves coach Saban did his first offseason to breach with the Wanny era. Just reminding I’m not going into accountancy of ALL the players that left or arrived, but the starters and main backups, I guess it’s enough for us to make some fair judgments.
PLAYERS/COACHES WHO LEFT 2004/2005
-Offense
QB Jay Fiedler
QB A.J. Feeley
FB Doug Easlick
FB Rob Konrad
FB Jamar Martin
RB Brock Forsey
RB Lamar Gordon
RB Leonard Henry
RB Vick King
G Greg Jerman
G Taylor Whitley
OT John St. Clair
TE Donald Lee
TE/LS Ed Perry
WR Derrius Thompson
WR Ronald Bellamy
-Defense
DT Tim Bowens
DT Larry Chester
DT/DE Bryan Robinson
DE Jay Williams
DE Ronald Flemons
LB Brendon Ayanbadejo
LB/S Tony Bua
LB Morlon Greenwood
LB Renauld Williams
CB Patrick Surtain
CB Jimmy Wyrick
S Antuan Edwards
S Arturo Freeman
S Sammy Knight
-ST
P Matt Turk
-Staff
HC freakin Dave Wannstedt
DC/HC Jim Bates
OC Chris Foerster
RB coach Joel Collier
QB coach Marc Trestman
OL coach Tony Wise
WR coach Jerry Sullivan
DL coach Clarence Brooks
LB coach Bob Sanders
TE coach Bernie Parmalee
Defensive NP Bill Lewis
Assist. S&C Brad Roll
Sorry if one of these guys left before the Saban signing, cause I remember Wanny waived some guys during the season, as Jim Bates when he took over, like Lamont Brightful (the punt returner, who fumbled three kicks in one game) and linebacker Corey Jenkins. But I don’t remember all of them, so feel free to point it out if you remember more guys and I’ll edit the post deleting these players from the list.
So, looking at the list we can see that Saban eliminated some good amount of dead meat. Fiedler was a must to go due to his consumed relation with the fans and incompatibility with Linehan’s offense. And Feeley, although have battled during camp for a starter spot, was shipped early in the season to SD.
As painful as it looked, Saban showed how wasted our picks were by the last regime, when he released Lamar Gordon. Rob Konrad was an effective guy when playing, but that was his problem, never healthy, so, released.
The offensive line hadn’t a huge shakeup, with a few releases, what kept the critics and part of the fans with not much faith on it for 2005.
TE was an interesting spot as Donald Lee was gone with so many drops, and Ed Perry. The long snapper release was viewed by many people here as the first bad move by Saban. I didn’t agree with that label, as some others. This was the right year to make these risky moves, the debut year, when you’re building the base of a team. Imagine if we had to do it next year? On a possibly verge of a SB run….props to saban, as lately it panned out fine with John Denney.
Derrius Thompson was shown the door too. Despite his TD catch against NE, he have pissed some people bad with so many drops.
With an awful inoperative offense we could say Saban just cleaned the house.
On the defensive side of the ball, I’d like to point out, first of all, that some losses were inevitable losses due to injury: Timbo and Chester. Guys that anchored that defensive line for many years sadly had to leave.
Saban cut some key guys in the backfield: Freeman and Knight.
Linebacker Morlon Greenwood was the first big signal of the Sabans “non-overpaying” attitude. He was not re-signed and hit the market. The guy was solid for us when with Miami, let’s be honest, he was a very good backup, but that’s it, nothing more than that to deserve the 5 year 22.5 million contract the Texans gave him. Talk about overpaying.
Tony Bua who was a fan favorite didn’t earn a spot, showing that charisma was not enough..btw good memory from that Rams’ game double hit.
Now, although with an obvious salary cap move here, we still see some “I miss Patrick Surtain” threads popping up..Saban genuinely mastered a trade from this one. He didn’t bounced back from his high demand for Pat and got his 2nd round pick for him after a long time discussion with interested teams, especially the chiefs.
The Matt Turk release was simply not much felt later on.
Saban got Bates’ defense, which was the up side from the Wanny Era, and started some serious remaking. It was clear that the defense was still carried by Jimmy Johnson’s players in Zach, Surtain, Madison and JT..and Wanny was not adding necessary talent to it through the years. Poor tackling and late collapses were some goals to overturn.
The staff needs a good laugh, just for wanny himself. And where were we going to, with Chris Foerster and Tony Wise? Justice to be made, Marc Trestman, Jerry Sullivan and Jim Bates paid off some good help to this staff.
PLAYERS/COACHES WHO ARRIVED 2004/2005
-Offense
QB Gus Frerotte
QB Cleo Lemon
RB Kay-Jay Harris
RB Ronnie Brown
RB Ricky Williams
FB Heath Evans (released during the 2005 season)
FB Kyle Eckel (went to Army and might be back, Idk the process)
FB Darian Barnes
TE Will Heller
TE Lorenzo Diamond
TE Jason Rader
C Alonzo Ephraim
OT Anthony Alabi
OT Stockar McDougle
-Defense
DE Kevin Carter
DE/LS John Denney
DE Vonnie Holliday
DE Matt Roth
DT Keith Traylor
DT Manuel Wright
DT Kevin Vickerson
LB Channing Crowder
LB Jason Glenn
LB Donnie Spragan
CB Travis Daniels
CB Eddie Jackson
CB Shirdonya Mitchell
S Travares Tillman
S Tebucky Jones
S Lance Shulters
S Norman LeJeune (?)
-ST
P Donnie Jones
-Staff
HC God Nick Saban
OC Scott Linehan
DC Richard Smith
Assist. HC/Def Will Muschamp
Assist. HC/WR coach Charlie Baggett
OL coach Hudson Houck
OL Assist. Tim Davis
QB coach Jason Garrett
TE coach Derek Dooley
LB George Edwards
S&C Assist. Eric Fears and Bert Hill
DL coach Dan Quinn
DL Assist. Travis Jones
RB coach Bobby Williams
D. Quality Control Glenn Pires
Just Reminding!
As we know, WR Wes Welker was brought in by Wanny, not Saban.
Judd Garrett (O. Quality Control), Keith Armstrong (special teams) and Mel Phillips (secondary) already were part of the previous staff.
First off, it’s amazingly clear the upgrade factor at almost all areas of the team, just staring at the lists. Despite CB, we could say all the positions were upgraded (considering talent wise + cap hit) or at least kept almost in status quo.
The RB backfield went from a shameful Lamar Gordon/Travis Minor/Sammy Morris committee (not undeserving Morris, who’s a solid player) to one of the best RB tandems in Ricky and Ronnie.
Gus may not be an ideal starter, but he was what could be brought in on that time..familiar with the system, he could at least play the offense without the learning curve growing pains, and could be considered a fine band-aid.
The receivers were kept, and funny how Chambers suddenly lived up to the expectations, still without a great QB. The change of systems and coaches were enough to it. Here comes Linehan, who brought a more deep passes oriented offense. Although his playcalling was not reliable at some point, he was a MAJOR upgrade over the last few years of “RUN, RUN, PASS, PUNT” offense we had.
I think there’s no need to measure here the difference maker HH with our oline, do I need? Although the biggest offseason Offensive Line signing, OT Stockar McDougle, was a bust, Houck got almost the same linemen from 2004 and turned a goddamn awful line into an average line, very effective in pass-protection, which stayed in 4th place in sacks allowed if I’m not mistaken.
Richard Smith didn’t bring much to this defense, but as most people said when he was signed: this is Saban’s defense. Not much to worry about it.
Lots of new faces to the defense, lots of key players. The DL was like an entire new line, with the exception of Taylor. Saban signed the high drafted duo Holliday and Carter, who fitted in as DE’s(especially Carter), though both could play as DT too(especially Holliday). To clog up the middle, Keith Traylor came from the Pats, and was one of the most effective guys on the defense, making some urgent 3rd and short stops. Matt Roth came in with high expectations, and started developing by the end of the season, so we will probably see what he’s made of...next season.
And as developmental projects there are DT’s Manuel Wright, from the Sup. Draft who played well at the end of the season with little playing time, and Vickerson, who was praised by the coaches and Kevin Carter; so we can find some golden upside from these two.
The LB corps remained leaded by Zach, but with the additions of Crowder and Spragan. Seau was almost a non-factor due to age/injuries. Pope, kept, did a good job as a backup.
The backfield was the one to give us some nightmares. Howard being burned, safeties being burned. Even though I got the feeling that Saban took off milk out of rocks. Madison was the only reliable vet CB, but didn’t fit well the scheme, and Daniels, who was the good surprise, didn’t do what you expect of a great shutdown corner, but did very well, considering the limitations of a 4th round rookie.
The safeties, in general were burned most of the season, despite Schulters making some determining plays (whether lets not forget he was burned too). But giving me some hopes, Tillman and Bell played fairly well in the end of the season, what might explain the departures of Tebucky (cap hit here too) and Schulters..and the retaining of the other two.
Punter Donnie Jones and long snapper John Denney did well. No problem here, at least we could free some cap.
So, for the rookie coach Nick Saban, this was a great debut. What a hard task it was to turn a wanny 4-12 team into a 9-7 6-win streak team. Even harder I think, was to turn around the critics opinions. But well he did. Check the list of newcomers again and point it out how many of them made some good impact on this team, for the short term. You can count at least 7. Now check the ones with good upside for the long term, at least 7 again.
Tell me when it was the last time that Wanny brought in one season half a dozen guys with good upside. It explains the excitement and confidence in the locker room.
NOW, ON TO 2006.
PLAYERS/COACHES WHO LEFT 2005/2006
-Offense
QB Gus Frerotte
QB Sage Rosenfels
FB Heath Evans
C Alonzo Ephraim
OT Stockar McDougle
TE Will Heller
WR David Boston
WR Bryan Gilmore
-Defense
LB Jason Glenn
LB Junior Seau
CB Sam Madison
CB Reggie Howard
CB Kiwaukee Thomas
S Lance Shulters
S Tebucky Jones
-ST
None
-Staff
OC Scott Linehan
DC Richard Smith
Assist. HC/Def Will Muschamp
PLAYERS/COACHES WHO ARRIVED 2005/2006
-Offense
QB Daunte Culpepper
QB Joey Harrington (highly potential signee)
FB Fred Beasley
TE Teyo Johnson
TE Justin Peele
OT L.J. Shelton
OT Joe Berger
WR Fred Gibson
WR Kelly Campbell
-Defense
DT Josh Shaw (up and down with practice squad)
DT Orrin Thompson
LB Sedrick Hodge
LB Mike Labinjo
CB Will Allen
CB Andre Goodman
CB/S Renaldo Hill
S Siddeeq Shabazz (allocated Europe)
S Deke Cooper
S Jack Hunt
-ST
None
-Staff
OC Mike Mularkey
DC Dom Capers
S coach Kirby Smart
Assist. Strength coach/Assist. DL coach Bo Davis
GM Randy Mueller (Although being signed in June of 2005, I’m considering Mueller more of a 2006 acquisition cause that’s when his input will be started to be felt)
Just Reminding!
As we know, OT Tony Pape, OL Wade Smith and CB Will Poole, who will all be back this season are from the last regime.
OK, so now these days.
The departure of Scott Linehan might not do any offensive dropoff. Mainly because the offensive system will remain the same, but as well because of the Mularkey signing. The guy was a successful OC with HC experience, which gives him some other perspectives, and came in with one route: Add his input to what was an already good offense.
Speaking of coordinators, Dom Capers was one of the best of our offseason acquisitions, arguably the best. Like Mularkey, Capers was a successful DC with HC experience, and came in with the same route: Add his input to what is an already good defense, Saban’s defense. Of course our defense was not great last year, but the lack of personnel was imminent, and it’s being fixed now. His defense was built in 3 years or so in Cleveland, and turned into a great defense. We can imagine what will it look like now, whether he’s now the HC.
Looking at the departures, we can say we didn’t loose much…a backup QB and a couple defensive guys that didn’t fit the scheme or were injury prone.
But we kept the “good” guys from 2005 and signed more impact guys again.
With the additions of Culpepper, L.J. Shelton and Beasley the offense looks more explosive. The oline, despite Shelton, remains almost the same, what’s at least good for chemistry. Let’s see what Houck will do again.
The QB is the hot spot. With the potential signing of Harrington, we’re heading into easily the best QB scenario we’ve had since Marino. Pepper and Joey bring respectively, talent and value to the position.
It’s been widely said that we need a 3rd receiver. Really, it’s a hole, but nothing comparable to the tons of holes from the beginning of 2005. And that’s something that will probably be addressed via draft or after june cuts, since Saban already stated this necessity.
The DL, last years’ strength, is basically the same. The age might be catching the older guys, but I think that can be compensated with the development of the youngsters.
Sedrick Hodge comes as another solid LB corps backup, who with a scenario change might be a good surprise.
The backfield is renewed. Personally I’m much more comfortable now. Saban did some smooth moves, getting relatively cheap, versatile, fast guys in Allen, Goodman, Hill and Cooper. I’m comfortable cause Saban choosed these guys. It’s not like last year, when he haven’t had another option, but to work with what he had in hands. Plus guys coming back of injury Mitchell and Poole. And there’s Sideeq Shabazz, who’s playing solid overseas, will battle at training camp for a roster safety spot.
Of course, some of the arriven guys won’t last until the season. And there are some others that look like camp fodder, so I didn’t include here..but just to have some idea.
And the most important thing, there’s still the DRAFT! This offseason is not over yet, but we already can state something: Saban drastically improved the team his first year, and he’s doing the same his second year.
If he loves picks or not, one thing it’s getting clear like water, he uses each of them looking for an upgrade. And not only the picks, the cap space.
Offensive Statistics
...........................2004.......2005.......2006
Passing .................21st.......16th....... ?
Rushing .................31st.......12th....... ?
Overall (YPG)........29th......14th....... ?
Defensive Statistics
...........................2004.......2005.......2006
Passing..................2nd........17th........ ?
Rushing.................31st........12th........ ?
Overall (YPG)........8th........18th ....... ?
Purely by these basic stats we can see the Offense improved overall. A little bit in the passing game, though with huge strides with the running game.
The defense had a considerable drop off. But imo that’s due the whole cleaning the house process. Despite that, just like the running game, the rush-defense got a lot better, not really a surprise here..as the DL was the best area on defense, alongside some good linebacking help.
The pass-defense got a lot worse. We were deeply burned often. Our biggest strength through the years is now the aspect to improve. Saban had to show the door to the best CB we had in Surtain, and work with guys stucked on the roster, Sam and Howard. And rookie Travis Daniels. We also saw some stop-gap safeties, FS Schulters and SS Jones. It’s clear that Saban is building now HIS backfield, which we’ll lead us to some inevitable improvement there.
But for the first time in many years, this was a more balanced team.
So, that’s it. Saying it again, I’m not a great evaluator. I’m just trying to point some obvious things out so we can discuss on it. I re-wrote the upgrading track and I’ll let the deep thoughts for you all.
Go Phins!
And don’t forget to remind me if there’s something wrong with the departures/signings so I can fix it and make the post the most accurate possible. Thanx in advance.
Braz
:dolphins:
