The gamble? Special Teams...

[ZOD]

Alot of us valued Robert Edwards on the team. I know I valued him more as THE substitute if Ricky happened to get injured (forgive me). The following are some snippets of explanation of why he got cut and it seems it all came down to having a player to sit on the bench waiting for injury or having a player that contributed to special teams WHILE in reserve for injury.

I still don't like the gamble but here it is.....

Herald-Jason Cole Q and A

use robert edwards as trade bait later in the season, for a higher draft pick. leonard is young enough to be williams backup in the future,and edwards could be a starter for another team. what do you think?
ron, lithia spring, ga 8/30/03

A.

I can see that. I'd keep both Henry and Edwards for now. But I'd find a way to keep a nine O-lineman.
Jason Cole 8/31/03

Q.

Could you please tell me what the dolphins see in Travis Minor to be willing to get rid of talented runners like Robert Edwards and Leonard Henry over him? Have you ever seen him break a long run? What has this guy ever done?
Bob, Yorktown Heights, NY 8/30/03


A.

A 50-yarder in Indianapolis as a rookie. Remember that. He also is a good third-down back. Mostly, Minor is an important versatility guy on the final roster.
Jason Cole 8/31/03

Q.

After reading your article about Robert Edwards, I've got to speak my mind. I think the depth chart should be Williams, Edwards, & Henry. I know all about the advantages of Minor because he can catch the ball out of the backfield, he's a scat-back, and plays special teams. Forget about all that. If Williams needs a rest or goes down, I want Edwards running and catching the ball (he catches it as well as Minor), Minor's been here for awhile and hasn't shown that much special, so I give Henry the nod over him based on his preseason and his upside. Put Minor on the trading block - in my opinion.
Doug Thews, Colleyville, TX 8/30/03


A.

Just remember, Minor does a terrific job on special teams.
Jason Cole 8/31/03
Q.

Hi Jason, Good stuff in your story about Robert Edwards today. But really backing up Ricky he won't see much action. Is there a trade in the works either involving Robert Edwards or Henry? If so, what can the Dolphins expect in return? Also, who will play fullback on this team in their base set? I look at San Diego who has Lorenzo Neal paving the way for LaDanian Tomlinson and wonder how close the Dolphins can come to that kind of a steamroller for Ricky? Thanks for the great job you are doing on this site!
Keith Christie, Helena, Montana 8/30/03


A.

The Dolphins don't really use the FB that way in their offense. As for Edwards, I think the value to keeping him is if Ricky gets hurt. It's a nice fallback position. We'll see.
Jason Cole 8/31/03

Herald article-

''You do have to have an idea of the worst scenarios,'' running-backs coach Joel Collier said. ``But when it comes down to evaluating playing now, you have to look at this as your third running back. He has to play special teams.

'Coaches tend to be pessimists, so you do think about, `What if Ricky goes down?' But you also have to worry about playing today, right now.''

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/football/6667040.htm

Palm Beach Post-

"That was one of the toughest decisions we had to make," Rick Spielman, the Dolphins' vice-president of football operations/player personnel, said of Edwards. "Robert and Leonard (Henry) both had excellent preseasons and more than enough talent to play in this league, but Henry had a slight edge on special teams."

The post also gave an assumption that has been speculated here of why a trade could not be reached.

"The key reason the Dolphins couldn't work a trade for Edwards is most teams knew he'd be available for free. Collier is convinced Edwards will be playing somewhere this season."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/dolphins/content/sports/0831dolphins.html

It seems as though our back up at running back was a role of the dice and it was less valuable than the contribution on special teams.

What happens if we see "snake eyes"?

The Herald yesterday cited the market as follows-
The market for good, backup running backs is pretty strong right now with Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas and Jacksonville all among the interested parties.

Don't be surprised if Edwards is a Bengal...:nono:

 

[Al13]

i think the long run by minor in his rookie season was against the jets and not the colts

 

[Shula Fan]

It doesn't matter. He's on the team because of special teams.
I thought Charlie Rogers solved that. :huh: :huh:

 

[Muck]

It was against the Colts. Came on 2nd down. :)

I don't think Edwards will go to Cincy. They're set with Dillon, who is very durable. Dallas, Jax, Chicago.....those are places where the RB position isn't set or have injury-prone starters. He has a much better shot at seeing the field in those places.

 

[Muck]

Originally posted by gunn34
It doesn't matter. He's on the team because of special teams.
I thought Charlie Rogers solved that. :huh: :huh:

They're not referring to returners in this case (which Henry is not). This is about playing special teams in general.

 

[bdwgroove]

I think that they're cutting off their nose to spite their face by cutting Edwards, but I do have to say that Henry is a heck of a special teams player and will help us out there.

 

[Dol-Fan Dupree]

Even with Robert Edwards at back up, I feel Miami's season is practically over if Ricky Williams is lost for half the season or more.

 

[Dolfan984]

I think the same could be said for any team with a star running back.

What happens if the Chargers lose LT? KC was a shell of itself once they lost Holmes the final two games.

 

[Dol-Fan Dupree]

I don't think that makes losing RW less relevant.

 

[ZOD]

Originally posted by Muck
It was against the Colts. Came on 2nd down. :)

I don't think Edwards will go to Cincy. They're set with Dillon, who is very durable. Dallas, Jax, Chicago.....those are places where the RB position isn't set or have injury-prone starters. He has a much better shot at seeing the field in those places.

I stated that based on a waiver claim for back up purposes. Is he unrestricted now?

I thought a waiver claim gave a team the rights.?.?.?.

 

[PhinsTD]

Well, I've always thought looked good when in there playing. He would cause us to change our offense a little and run less power stuff, but I like him and think he's a very solid all-around player.

There will be RB's available who are just as good or close to as good as Edwards available if something happens to RW.

Special teams are a third of the plays in a game, why do people seem to think they aren't just as important as other plays? Special teams wins you or loses you two games a year at least.