CChambers7284
The Biggest Fins Fan from CT
Well this year was supposed to be a dream season for the dolphins.We ended on a 6game win streak, got a "Franchise" QB in the offseason and had a solid core all around. The secondary had new starters, we got a big LT in LJ Shelton and seemed to be set up for the AFC East lead if not more. But just as soon as our optimism for the season started it ended quickly. Daunte looked like a deer in the headlights, the line couldnt block, the defensive secondary was pathetic.
Then we see ourselves at 1-6 going into a bye week. There were 5 games that I would consider winable but we came up short when it really counted.
Then a total change. A guy named Yerimiah seemed to ignite a solid but unable to spark defense.Joey Harrington seemes to have brought a love for the game and passion that we havent had at QB since Jay Fiedler but he has 3 times as much talent as jay. Ronnie looked like a 2nd overall pick and in the last four weeks the defense has won us games.
But without further adue (spelling?? haha) here are my 2006 season grades so far
Quarterback- C+
Daunte Culpepper despite playing some of the worst football he has in his career still posted solid yardage numbers being on pace for nearly 4000 yards.But he never took chances and always seemed to try to make the perfect throw. He was too physcially and mentally too play. Enter Joey Harrington. Well labeled a bust in detroit on a team with more problems and was more screwed up than any other team in football. He seemed unlike daunte too take too many chances and just wing the ball out there in his first few games. The offense seemed to be playing better as a whole but turnovers put the defense in horrible situations. But as oflate Joey has played with confidence but hasnt tried to push throws in there and has been throwing it away when under too much pressure.
Runningback B
Ronnie Brown seemed to be headed for stardom in his second season.Without ricky taking away carries Ronnie was the man.He started off slowly and was looking horrible especcially behind a sketchy at best O-line. Then in the bears game we finally saw the Ronnie Brown we all wanted to see. He continued in the KC game to run with force and power but was hurt with a pulled groin. Sammy Morris has had turnovers and many problems but vs Detroit he looked to be headed in the right direction. Darian Barnes is almost a zero factor when it comes to catching or running but Barnes has opened up holes for any RB that has been behind him.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends B-
On Paper this group looks awesome featuring two Pro Bowl wide receivers, a tight end that has had a great career thus far and one of the better slot guys in football. But Chris Chambers hasnt been the guy we saw in the second half last year. Chambers to me is the biggest disapointment this season, even more so than Daunte.Marty Booker has been solid and when givin the opportunity has been very impressive. Wes Welker has been very reliable as a number three. But in the jets game we saw his weakness when Booker was hurt. He is not very good on the outside.Hagen has looked like a future star and times and at others seems to not have his head in the game. McMike started off horribly stat wise mainly because the O-line was having so many problems McMike needed to stay back and block even on 2 WR sets. Then we started to see the Randy of old. Getting open short and making tough runs after the catch. Justin Peele has been solid and gives Miami a guy that would make you feel a little more comfortable if Randy got hurt significantly.
O-line C
Wow at the beggining of the season this was one of the worse units in all of the league. During the first 4 games i would give them an F-. They couldnt run block or pass block. But once Houck was able to work with them and get big Damion McIntosh back on the line the team made a 180 degree turn. They have given Joey enough time to make a play. They have been an A- at the least in pass blocking. Run blocking is a different story. Some games (Bears, Lions) the unit has opened up holes all over the place, while in other games (Vikes). I think that by the end of the year they could be about a B+ but that disgusting start keeps them from anything higher than a C.
D-line-A
This line to me is the most complete and experienced line in Football. They have size (Traylor, Wilkinson),Speed (Roth, Taylor) and mixes of both (Carter and Holliday).Plus great situational guys (Bowens) and tough solid vets (zgonina). Jason Taylor has been on a hunt to prove (what I knew and most fins fans knew) that he is the undisputed best defensive player in football. He is obvisuly a greatpass rusher (9 sacks) and is great against the run. He created turnovers obviously (7 FF, 2 INts both returned for TDs). But what goes unoticed is how much better he makes everyone else. Many have talked about how despite not having a single stat in the Lions game the defense had 8 sacks as a team.
The Run stoppers on this line like Traylor (who at 340 lbs+ is crazy big), Carter and Holliday have made this team nearly impossible to run right at. And if you run to JTs side you will most likely be run down by the guy who has RB speed despite planters faciatius and various injuries.
What I find funny is how the backups are as good if not better than half the starters in the NFl. The backups are technically Roth, Wilkinson, Zgonina, Bowens.
LBs B
Zach Thomas despite being too old , too small, injury prone, "losing a step", showing chinks in his armor or w/e the "experts say" has over 100 tackles and has 3 sacks. He leads the league in tackles and has more sacks than Big Bad Brian Urlacher. Channing Crowder has been solid in his sophmore year. He hasnt yet made the big play but has remained a reliable run stopper. The SLB position has been one of the things that has hurt the team.Donnie Spragan is a good special teamer but really isnt a starting LB. Hopefully Miami will draft a guy or sign a big name FA to play the SLB next year.
Secondary B-
Sure they give up yards,and maybe they dont have the talent that we would like but they all play hard. I like that Nick Saban takes borderline starters and makes the most out of them. Andre Goodman has been a huge surprise giving up 5 yards a catch if I remember correctly. Will Allen hasnt been great but is definitly not the worst CB we have had down in south FL. Im disapointed that T-Dan has been hurt most of the seaosn. He was overall our best corner last season and I was excited to see how he would do with a year under his belt. The safties were the weakness in the first half of the season. But like last year when Yerimiah Bell was put in there not only the secondary or defense but the team as a whole played better. Reynaldo hill in the last few weeks has 2 picks amd a FR for a TD. Jason Allen got a nice INT against the bears but we have yet to see him play enough to really judge Allen at the moment.
Special Teams- C+
The up and down career of Mare seemed to be on the Down. Despite being the best Kickoff man in football he has missed field goals consistenly and makes fans cringe every time he lines up for the FG. Donnie Jones has been good this year but almost lost the Vikings game for us with some horrible punts. Wes Welker remains a solidr rerturn man but doesnt seem able to break the big one. In all honesty I'd rather have a guy like Welk back there than a guy that gets a TD once every year.
Coaching C
Mularky seems to have his head up his u kno where. Saban hasnt been as impressive as I thought. Capers has been ok but not that good. In reality the players have made good plays for us to win games. It hasnt been the coaching.
That was my long post, if you agree with my grades and analysis or disagree feel free to reply.:dolphins:
Then we see ourselves at 1-6 going into a bye week. There were 5 games that I would consider winable but we came up short when it really counted.
Then a total change. A guy named Yerimiah seemed to ignite a solid but unable to spark defense.Joey Harrington seemes to have brought a love for the game and passion that we havent had at QB since Jay Fiedler but he has 3 times as much talent as jay. Ronnie looked like a 2nd overall pick and in the last four weeks the defense has won us games.
But without further adue (spelling?? haha) here are my 2006 season grades so far
Quarterback- C+
Daunte Culpepper despite playing some of the worst football he has in his career still posted solid yardage numbers being on pace for nearly 4000 yards.But he never took chances and always seemed to try to make the perfect throw. He was too physcially and mentally too play. Enter Joey Harrington. Well labeled a bust in detroit on a team with more problems and was more screwed up than any other team in football. He seemed unlike daunte too take too many chances and just wing the ball out there in his first few games. The offense seemed to be playing better as a whole but turnovers put the defense in horrible situations. But as oflate Joey has played with confidence but hasnt tried to push throws in there and has been throwing it away when under too much pressure.
Runningback B
Ronnie Brown seemed to be headed for stardom in his second season.Without ricky taking away carries Ronnie was the man.He started off slowly and was looking horrible especcially behind a sketchy at best O-line. Then in the bears game we finally saw the Ronnie Brown we all wanted to see. He continued in the KC game to run with force and power but was hurt with a pulled groin. Sammy Morris has had turnovers and many problems but vs Detroit he looked to be headed in the right direction. Darian Barnes is almost a zero factor when it comes to catching or running but Barnes has opened up holes for any RB that has been behind him.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends B-
On Paper this group looks awesome featuring two Pro Bowl wide receivers, a tight end that has had a great career thus far and one of the better slot guys in football. But Chris Chambers hasnt been the guy we saw in the second half last year. Chambers to me is the biggest disapointment this season, even more so than Daunte.Marty Booker has been solid and when givin the opportunity has been very impressive. Wes Welker has been very reliable as a number three. But in the jets game we saw his weakness when Booker was hurt. He is not very good on the outside.Hagen has looked like a future star and times and at others seems to not have his head in the game. McMike started off horribly stat wise mainly because the O-line was having so many problems McMike needed to stay back and block even on 2 WR sets. Then we started to see the Randy of old. Getting open short and making tough runs after the catch. Justin Peele has been solid and gives Miami a guy that would make you feel a little more comfortable if Randy got hurt significantly.
O-line C
Wow at the beggining of the season this was one of the worse units in all of the league. During the first 4 games i would give them an F-. They couldnt run block or pass block. But once Houck was able to work with them and get big Damion McIntosh back on the line the team made a 180 degree turn. They have given Joey enough time to make a play. They have been an A- at the least in pass blocking. Run blocking is a different story. Some games (Bears, Lions) the unit has opened up holes all over the place, while in other games (Vikes). I think that by the end of the year they could be about a B+ but that disgusting start keeps them from anything higher than a C.
D-line-A
This line to me is the most complete and experienced line in Football. They have size (Traylor, Wilkinson),Speed (Roth, Taylor) and mixes of both (Carter and Holliday).Plus great situational guys (Bowens) and tough solid vets (zgonina). Jason Taylor has been on a hunt to prove (what I knew and most fins fans knew) that he is the undisputed best defensive player in football. He is obvisuly a greatpass rusher (9 sacks) and is great against the run. He created turnovers obviously (7 FF, 2 INts both returned for TDs). But what goes unoticed is how much better he makes everyone else. Many have talked about how despite not having a single stat in the Lions game the defense had 8 sacks as a team.
The Run stoppers on this line like Traylor (who at 340 lbs+ is crazy big), Carter and Holliday have made this team nearly impossible to run right at. And if you run to JTs side you will most likely be run down by the guy who has RB speed despite planters faciatius and various injuries.
What I find funny is how the backups are as good if not better than half the starters in the NFl. The backups are technically Roth, Wilkinson, Zgonina, Bowens.
LBs B
Zach Thomas despite being too old , too small, injury prone, "losing a step", showing chinks in his armor or w/e the "experts say" has over 100 tackles and has 3 sacks. He leads the league in tackles and has more sacks than Big Bad Brian Urlacher. Channing Crowder has been solid in his sophmore year. He hasnt yet made the big play but has remained a reliable run stopper. The SLB position has been one of the things that has hurt the team.Donnie Spragan is a good special teamer but really isnt a starting LB. Hopefully Miami will draft a guy or sign a big name FA to play the SLB next year.
Secondary B-
Sure they give up yards,and maybe they dont have the talent that we would like but they all play hard. I like that Nick Saban takes borderline starters and makes the most out of them. Andre Goodman has been a huge surprise giving up 5 yards a catch if I remember correctly. Will Allen hasnt been great but is definitly not the worst CB we have had down in south FL. Im disapointed that T-Dan has been hurt most of the seaosn. He was overall our best corner last season and I was excited to see how he would do with a year under his belt. The safties were the weakness in the first half of the season. But like last year when Yerimiah Bell was put in there not only the secondary or defense but the team as a whole played better. Reynaldo hill in the last few weeks has 2 picks amd a FR for a TD. Jason Allen got a nice INT against the bears but we have yet to see him play enough to really judge Allen at the moment.
Special Teams- C+
The up and down career of Mare seemed to be on the Down. Despite being the best Kickoff man in football he has missed field goals consistenly and makes fans cringe every time he lines up for the FG. Donnie Jones has been good this year but almost lost the Vikings game for us with some horrible punts. Wes Welker remains a solidr rerturn man but doesnt seem able to break the big one. In all honesty I'd rather have a guy like Welk back there than a guy that gets a TD once every year.
Coaching C
Mularky seems to have his head up his u kno where. Saban hasnt been as impressive as I thought. Capers has been ok but not that good. In reality the players have made good plays for us to win games. It hasnt been the coaching.
That was my long post, if you agree with my grades and analysis or disagree feel free to reply.:dolphins:
