phinsforlife
Active Roster
Well, this sucks. Probably the worst one ever, because I had finally expectations. The prior 20 something years, I really didn't. You could tell we were just a mess. For a second there this go around, it felt like there was hope and we finally had it figured out. What a head fake that was. Now, we might be in an even worse spot than at any time in the prior 24 years due to all these big contracts that appear to be bad contracts that will continue to hamstring us, and leave us no easy and quick way out. Even worse, the same guys that made the mess are the ones left to try and fix it. Swell! Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. Insane is what the Dolphins and Ross are.
Making this even more painful, the schedule this year was a total joke. I do not think it is possible to have had an easier schedule. We ended up with only 1 quality win (the Rams, who must have been asleep for that game). The rest of our wins were against teams vying for the #1 pick in the draft (we actually lost games to two of these teams, and almost lost games to three more the Jags, Pats and first Jets game), and a 49ers team that is not that good and was a broken down quit mess when they faced us. It is quite possible, with a normal schedule, we could have been a 4-6 win team as opposed to an 8 win team. Ergo, despite how it looked on paper, this team might actually suck, and there is no flexibility to fix the problem, and the same bozos are still here left responsible for the whole thing. Yuck!
As Barry Jackson tweeted: "So Dolphins will close 8-9. This 6 year rebuild brought us 2 wild card losses, an incredible Tua performance in Week 2 in Baltimore 3 years ago, some entertaining 1 p.m. home games against bad teams, 1 win vs. Bills and two neat 4:25 home wins vs. Dallas, 49ers. That covers it."
Three Up:
Seiler - Not complicated. He was really good.
Calais Campbell - Was also very good. And I think an important presence in the locker room too. Would be great to have him back, but I am not optimistic.
Jordyn Brooks - Very pleasant surprise. He was very good. And tough. Also seemed like an important guy to have in the locker room.
Honorable mentions:
Jason Sanders - He was good. Not exciting when it is the kicker, but he mattered a fair bit.
Achane - Great in the passing game, less good in the running game. Not sure how much is him vs the OL, but in total, he did a lot.
Jonnu Smith - Good!
Question Mark:
Aaron Brewer - I was skeptical of the signing due to his size, and pass blocking issues. There was a point in the season where it seems like he was really good in all phases. But then, the pass blocking started to degrade, and he also started getting popped for critical holding calls. The run game degraded to terrible as well. Although he is meant to be a very good run blocker, it is probably more due to his ability to move than it is to push people backwards. At any rate, he is signed and he is the center. He is coming back. Given his profile, if he is center, we need two big nasty guards alongside him that can actually get push. So I am leaving Brewer as a question mark.
Three Down:
General point. Every single player that was handed a big new deal turned out to be varying degrees of disappointing. If that does not speak volumes, I don't know what does. Tua, Tyreek, Ramsey, Waddle, Armstead.
Tua - Pretty straightforward. Missed 6 games, including the two at the end. When he played, he was good, but not great. The completion % thing was way over-hyped. Didn't look even close to a $55mm a year elite QB. I do not fault Tua one bit for the way he got hurt. If the QB is on the field, they have to be able to run, and sometimes put themselves at risk to make a critical first down or a critical play. If you can't do that, you will never be a good NFL player. The concussion was a nothing play. Tua ran into the chest of a DB who was just standing there, and Tua knocked himself out. The problem was not the play, it was that the play knocked him out. It was a big nothing play. If you can't do that, you cannot be out there. Same thing for the play in the Houston game where he hurt his hip. A nothing play. Because they know Tua is a china doll, they can't run a real offense, and the whole thing is sub-optimized. Tua Tagovailoa has been hit 210 times since 2020. Joe Burrow has been hit 452 times since 2020. Tom Brady has been hit 211 times since 2020. I don't know how this thing ends, but end of day, if you play QB (or any position), you are exposed to risk. You cannot have a good offense if it is designed so the primary focus is to keep the QB from getting hurt. When you sign this sort of contract, you are held to an entirely different standard. You are getting paid that kind of money for a reason, and he did not come close to living up to that reason.
The offensive line - Glad you weren't worried about it Grier, but the whole thing sucked. Again.
Poyer - Awful. Even worse, we let Brandon Jones and DeShon Elliot go for nothing. And Van Ginkel for not much. I am going to vomit.
Dishonorable Mentions:
Holland, Tyreek, Waddle, Eichenberg, Rob Jones, Ramsey (fine but not good enough), Durham Smythe, Julian Hill, David Long, probably a few others.
Making this even more painful, the schedule this year was a total joke. I do not think it is possible to have had an easier schedule. We ended up with only 1 quality win (the Rams, who must have been asleep for that game). The rest of our wins were against teams vying for the #1 pick in the draft (we actually lost games to two of these teams, and almost lost games to three more the Jags, Pats and first Jets game), and a 49ers team that is not that good and was a broken down quit mess when they faced us. It is quite possible, with a normal schedule, we could have been a 4-6 win team as opposed to an 8 win team. Ergo, despite how it looked on paper, this team might actually suck, and there is no flexibility to fix the problem, and the same bozos are still here left responsible for the whole thing. Yuck!
As Barry Jackson tweeted: "So Dolphins will close 8-9. This 6 year rebuild brought us 2 wild card losses, an incredible Tua performance in Week 2 in Baltimore 3 years ago, some entertaining 1 p.m. home games against bad teams, 1 win vs. Bills and two neat 4:25 home wins vs. Dallas, 49ers. That covers it."
Three Up:
Seiler - Not complicated. He was really good.
Calais Campbell - Was also very good. And I think an important presence in the locker room too. Would be great to have him back, but I am not optimistic.
Jordyn Brooks - Very pleasant surprise. He was very good. And tough. Also seemed like an important guy to have in the locker room.
Honorable mentions:
Jason Sanders - He was good. Not exciting when it is the kicker, but he mattered a fair bit.
Achane - Great in the passing game, less good in the running game. Not sure how much is him vs the OL, but in total, he did a lot.
Jonnu Smith - Good!
Question Mark:
Aaron Brewer - I was skeptical of the signing due to his size, and pass blocking issues. There was a point in the season where it seems like he was really good in all phases. But then, the pass blocking started to degrade, and he also started getting popped for critical holding calls. The run game degraded to terrible as well. Although he is meant to be a very good run blocker, it is probably more due to his ability to move than it is to push people backwards. At any rate, he is signed and he is the center. He is coming back. Given his profile, if he is center, we need two big nasty guards alongside him that can actually get push. So I am leaving Brewer as a question mark.
Three Down:
General point. Every single player that was handed a big new deal turned out to be varying degrees of disappointing. If that does not speak volumes, I don't know what does. Tua, Tyreek, Ramsey, Waddle, Armstead.
Tua - Pretty straightforward. Missed 6 games, including the two at the end. When he played, he was good, but not great. The completion % thing was way over-hyped. Didn't look even close to a $55mm a year elite QB. I do not fault Tua one bit for the way he got hurt. If the QB is on the field, they have to be able to run, and sometimes put themselves at risk to make a critical first down or a critical play. If you can't do that, you will never be a good NFL player. The concussion was a nothing play. Tua ran into the chest of a DB who was just standing there, and Tua knocked himself out. The problem was not the play, it was that the play knocked him out. It was a big nothing play. If you can't do that, you cannot be out there. Same thing for the play in the Houston game where he hurt his hip. A nothing play. Because they know Tua is a china doll, they can't run a real offense, and the whole thing is sub-optimized. Tua Tagovailoa has been hit 210 times since 2020. Joe Burrow has been hit 452 times since 2020. Tom Brady has been hit 211 times since 2020. I don't know how this thing ends, but end of day, if you play QB (or any position), you are exposed to risk. You cannot have a good offense if it is designed so the primary focus is to keep the QB from getting hurt. When you sign this sort of contract, you are held to an entirely different standard. You are getting paid that kind of money for a reason, and he did not come close to living up to that reason.
The offensive line - Glad you weren't worried about it Grier, but the whole thing sucked. Again.
Poyer - Awful. Even worse, we let Brandon Jones and DeShon Elliot go for nothing. And Van Ginkel for not much. I am going to vomit.
Dishonorable Mentions:
Holland, Tyreek, Waddle, Eichenberg, Rob Jones, Ramsey (fine but not good enough), Durham Smythe, Julian Hill, David Long, probably a few others.
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