flintsilver7
Sack Monster
First, I understand this will be a one-star thread for certain. If I've learned anything about Finheaven in the past three years, it's that there are legions of fans who will swallow hook, line, and sinker any move the management makes. It doesn't matter that moves (in either direction) like Gus Frerotte, Daunte Culpepper, Stockar McDougle, L.J. Shelton, Ricky Williams, Joey Harrington, Patrick Surtain, Sam Madison, and so on were made. Some turned out OK - the pass defense, while not nearly as good as with Surtain and Madison, is still pretty good. Some (all of the quarterback moves) have so far been unmitigated disasters.
Now, I haven't been at all sold on Cameron. I had thought at first that after Saban, anybody would be an upgrade. Then Cameron started talking. He started talking about being pass-happy. I, for one, hope that his actual numbers on executed plays in San Diego are more indicative of what we will do than what Cameron said.
The main problem entering this draft was the fact that the offensive line was going to have a brand new left side. People complained about James and McIntosh all the time. That doesn't change the fact that they were actually pretty good at what they did. Also, history shows that an average offensive line playing together for a length of time will almost automatically improve, while shuffling an offensive line is usually a recipe for disaster. Last year, the line started out poorly, but improved almost immediately when it was changed back (at least as much as possible) to the 2005 version. This year, Cameron goes and announces that Carey will enter training camp as the starting left tackle. Letting McIntosh walk was bad enough. Now we've got Carey at LT, when it is pretty clear that the guy is much better suited to play RT. So we're currently sitting with a minimum of three positions changed from last year (including both tackles). That'll be a wonderful combination for a guy who's known to hold on to the ball too long (who as far as I know is currently our starting quarterback).
Of course, there is the question of Trent Green. We've already tried burning a second-round pick on a guy who wasn't a starter. We cast him into the fire and gave him one chance to prove himself - on a team with the worst offensive line in NFL history and no running game - and then promptly discarded for not succeeding where Jesus probably couldn't have. We've tried burning a second-round pick on a guy who may never be healthy enough to play an NFL game again. He doesn't look like it to this point, and it's been a whole season. Now I guess we'll try on a 37 year old quarterback. Who knows? Maybe the third time's a charm. Makes more sense to take a shot at a franchise quarterback than a two-year stopgap, but what do I know?
And what about Randy McMichael? We'll see the effect on that. I'm a huge believer that wide receivers and tight ends can't succeed without a decent quarterback - something we haven't had. It's clear from his time in the NFL that McMichael has incredible talent but has never been consistent. Personally, I think it would've made more sense to keep a guy like that and try to get him somebody to throw him the ball.
The draft makes very little sense to me. My father and I were shocked when they announced Ted Ginn. Not only was Ginn a reach at that point, WR is among Miami's positions of least need. Ted Ginn, assuming he is actually healthy enough to play (having hurt himself doing an endzone celebration), is a good returner. However, he's not a good receiver. He doesn't have good hands, and he's way too small to play in the NFL like that. Ginn's known weaknesses, aside from his total lack of size, are his 1) bad hands and 2) bad route running. Great pick for a receiver, huh? Who the hell takes a special teams man with the 9th pick? Well, not that it matters now. People complain about Chambers left and right, but Ginn has a lot of the same drawbacks of Chambers. He's faster, but everything else makes him worse - and Chambers wasn't a #9 pick either.
So then they get to John Beck. According to the geniuses who make the decisions, they had Beck rated higher than Quinn. They thought Beck had better accuracy. Both are four-year starters. Both have similar numbers. Quinn is three years younger, bigger, and did not have the luxury of playing Tulsa, San Diego State, UNLV, Wyoming, or Utah. How anybody could think Beck would be better than Quinn is beyond me. I could of course be wrong, but that remains to be seen. All signs at this point point to Beck being the wrong decision, and I don't think I've seen draft analysts universally say a team made such a poor decision since Minnesota forgot how to pick a few years ago.
I'm a certified sports nut, not an NFL front office man, so I always allow for the fact that I may not actually know what I'm talking about. However, in most cases, hardcore fans have a pretty good idea of what's going on. Miami does deserve, at least, the benefit of the doubt - even after the pathetic debacle that was Saban. I hope they go 14-2 and win the Super Bowl with all of my aforementioned concerns being completely wrong. I just don't, realistically, see that happening.
Now, I haven't been at all sold on Cameron. I had thought at first that after Saban, anybody would be an upgrade. Then Cameron started talking. He started talking about being pass-happy. I, for one, hope that his actual numbers on executed plays in San Diego are more indicative of what we will do than what Cameron said.
The main problem entering this draft was the fact that the offensive line was going to have a brand new left side. People complained about James and McIntosh all the time. That doesn't change the fact that they were actually pretty good at what they did. Also, history shows that an average offensive line playing together for a length of time will almost automatically improve, while shuffling an offensive line is usually a recipe for disaster. Last year, the line started out poorly, but improved almost immediately when it was changed back (at least as much as possible) to the 2005 version. This year, Cameron goes and announces that Carey will enter training camp as the starting left tackle. Letting McIntosh walk was bad enough. Now we've got Carey at LT, when it is pretty clear that the guy is much better suited to play RT. So we're currently sitting with a minimum of three positions changed from last year (including both tackles). That'll be a wonderful combination for a guy who's known to hold on to the ball too long (who as far as I know is currently our starting quarterback).
Of course, there is the question of Trent Green. We've already tried burning a second-round pick on a guy who wasn't a starter. We cast him into the fire and gave him one chance to prove himself - on a team with the worst offensive line in NFL history and no running game - and then promptly discarded for not succeeding where Jesus probably couldn't have. We've tried burning a second-round pick on a guy who may never be healthy enough to play an NFL game again. He doesn't look like it to this point, and it's been a whole season. Now I guess we'll try on a 37 year old quarterback. Who knows? Maybe the third time's a charm. Makes more sense to take a shot at a franchise quarterback than a two-year stopgap, but what do I know?
And what about Randy McMichael? We'll see the effect on that. I'm a huge believer that wide receivers and tight ends can't succeed without a decent quarterback - something we haven't had. It's clear from his time in the NFL that McMichael has incredible talent but has never been consistent. Personally, I think it would've made more sense to keep a guy like that and try to get him somebody to throw him the ball.
The draft makes very little sense to me. My father and I were shocked when they announced Ted Ginn. Not only was Ginn a reach at that point, WR is among Miami's positions of least need. Ted Ginn, assuming he is actually healthy enough to play (having hurt himself doing an endzone celebration), is a good returner. However, he's not a good receiver. He doesn't have good hands, and he's way too small to play in the NFL like that. Ginn's known weaknesses, aside from his total lack of size, are his 1) bad hands and 2) bad route running. Great pick for a receiver, huh? Who the hell takes a special teams man with the 9th pick? Well, not that it matters now. People complain about Chambers left and right, but Ginn has a lot of the same drawbacks of Chambers. He's faster, but everything else makes him worse - and Chambers wasn't a #9 pick either.
So then they get to John Beck. According to the geniuses who make the decisions, they had Beck rated higher than Quinn. They thought Beck had better accuracy. Both are four-year starters. Both have similar numbers. Quinn is three years younger, bigger, and did not have the luxury of playing Tulsa, San Diego State, UNLV, Wyoming, or Utah. How anybody could think Beck would be better than Quinn is beyond me. I could of course be wrong, but that remains to be seen. All signs at this point point to Beck being the wrong decision, and I don't think I've seen draft analysts universally say a team made such a poor decision since Minnesota forgot how to pick a few years ago.
I'm a certified sports nut, not an NFL front office man, so I always allow for the fact that I may not actually know what I'm talking about. However, in most cases, hardcore fans have a pretty good idea of what's going on. Miami does deserve, at least, the benefit of the doubt - even after the pathetic debacle that was Saban. I hope they go 14-2 and win the Super Bowl with all of my aforementioned concerns being completely wrong. I just don't, realistically, see that happening.
