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The Real Problems

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FinFan57

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As we all sober up from the hangover we felt Sunday morning after watching our beloved Dolphins give away the football 7 times, Nick Saban is faced with the reality of finding 53 players that are worth keeping, rather than cutting players with great talent. Make no mistake about it, this is (and there can be no doubt) a rebuilding year. That said, here are the real problems facing us this year.

1) The Miami Dolphins have replaced more players than any team in the NFL this year.
2) It appears 7 out of 11 starters from last year's offense and defense (14 out of 22 total) will be replaced this year. That comes to about a 64% turnover in less than a year. Tough for any team to make that adjustment.
3) We may find a servicable QB in Feeley or Frerotte, but we do not have a true starting QB, any team's most important position.
4) Unless McKinney sticks (and I hope not), 3 out of 5 starters from last year's O-line will change this year (60% turnover). Houck is a great coach, but he is not a magician. It takes time for an O-line to come together. Unfortunately, an offense is built around the O-line, without good line play, everything else suffers.
5) We play in the best division in the NFL. The other 3 teams in our division could all be playoff teams this year.

On a positive note, we have one of the best coaching staffs in the NFL, our defense appears to be much better than we thought they might be. Our special teams should be very solid and we have a lot of good, young players who will improve with time. Our backfield could evolve into one of the most talented in the NFL, if they have reasonable blocking. I'm also encouraged by Boston's progress. We could have a very nice 3-receiver set if we get the blocking.

I agree with Saban (not that he really cares). In spite of the many challenges we will face this year, if our O-line comes together, amazingly, I still think we could do very well. If that happens, it will be a major tribute to Saban and staff to overcome a 60+% turnover, compete in the toughest division in football, and assemble a young staff into a new system with great success. Here's hoping......
 
good post, nice to read something that doesn't involve cutting, trading, drafting, or otherwise obtaining/losing players
 
Great Thread


If the O line comes together I think we could be in the early rounds of the
play-offs. There is so much talent on the offence that once the starting QB gets comfortable, we could even have a high scoring offence. Here's hoping :cool:
 
Agreed about the Oline. However many of these new players have only signed 1 year contracts. So it goes without saying that many of them realize they probably won't be here next year. While this would make one look and think they would be playing lights out to get resigned or on to another team, you can also think that they won't be playing all out to hope to prevent injury and crash their future.
It just seems to me that this is merely a test season and next year we'll start seeing them put together a team that will stay a team.

Of course, lets not forget about the salary cap problem too. That has something to do with quality players.
 
Well said. I don't think people realize how hard it is when you have a lot of turnover. Even a team like the Vikings, who will have a lot of new faces and better players on defense, could take awhile to gel.

This is not an easy task for Saban with some of the better players aging and not yet enough good young players to step up in their place. Plus, as you mentioned, quarterback appears to be a major need. Even if Ferrotte has a pro-bowl year at 34 he is not the qb of the future. There are question marks at DT, in the secondary, at LT, at center, and overall depth. Great coaching can overcome some of that, but Miami will need players to step up.

Lots of questions, but I think the team will be competitive and around .500. I'm predicting 7-9 if the team stays relatively healthy. With another great draft, Miami might be in the playoff hunt a year from now.
 
yea that about sum's it up... I agree 100 percent w. you... especially that this is a rebuilding year and it will be year's until you guy's are contender's again
 
No apostrophe after the s in years, but hey...you're a Bills fan, we wouldn't expect anything different.
 
Finally an objective quality post. Lets not forget that even with the horrible team and record last year, we were in almost every game except one. A little coaching and less turnovers and there's your difference
 
Lots of questions, but I think the team will be competitive and around .500. I'm predicting 7-9 if the team stays relatively healthy. With another great draft, Miami might be in the playoff hunt a year from now.[/QUOTE]

Agree, playoffs would be nice but this is what I'm expecting.
 
i disagree with the "best coaching staff in the NFL" part. but that was a well said post.

and the fins needed to change a lot of players after last season.
 
Yep, great post.

Ricky Brown said:
good post, nice to read something that doesn't involve cutting, trading, drafting, or otherwise obtaining/losing players
Click to expand...

So true. From what I've heard around here we would have no players left on the team this year, but we'd have 53 draft choices next year ;)
 
The best to hope for this year is if by midseason the team starts to play together and look as if they're getting comfortable in the new systems. If that happens they will start to give the opposition trouble the second half and you'll know the plan is working. But be prepared for a painful season. And all you playoff hopefuls, keep that good weed handy, you'll need it.
 
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