Not sure I would flop Phillips all the way out of the league. That’s quite the depths. Certainly too much Happy patience and faith around here. I’ve been absent for a long time. Upon sampling a Phillips thread today I saw a comparison to the Billy Turner situation. Yep. Exactly what I was thinking. In fact, the same bunch.
6-5 1/2 at defensive tackle lends itself to erratic technique and effort. I’m convinced for 50 years. I emphasized it upon that 2015 draft. The intention can be wonderful. Meanwhile it’s like the Mike Tyson line of everyone having a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Tall defensive tackles have a plan until they get attacked in the legs. Then instead of a boxer dropping his hands it’s a defensive tackle making one odd choice after another to protect those legs. Nothing is inexplicable when frustration and self preservation mix.
Then all the comparisons are to later blooming defensive tackles who were the ideal 6-2 or 6-3 or thereabouts. Never told. Tape guys fooled again when they miss the big picture.
6-5 or upwards at defensive tackle is simply a low percentage move. Again, the idea is to steal a few percent here and there with astute decisions, not to require this outlier to pay off, and that outlier to pay off. I've never understood the fascination with that. Sit back and allow stupid simple to pay off. It's actually fun.
* The Godchaux types have thrived recently. Numerous mid round bargains. Fortunately we may have taken our turn. Devalued due to lack of ideal bulk and run stopping orneriness in college. That’s back stage in the pros, where gap shooting quarterback chasing frenzy is prized on the interior. Godchaux has enough instincts to make himself smaller than he is during the chase, and his vision and hand usage are excellent at the point of intersection and decision.
Not a star but very serviceable.
While here I may as well pin some other observations. I’m not going to climb one thread after another looking for a match:
* Charles Harris looked leggy and less than explosive. Very evident how he flunked some of the analytic models. He got to the outside shoulder when the tackle allowed it but that second step simply wasn’t memorable or adjustable. Sort of monotone. I kept thinking how much more dramatic the same rushes would have been if Derek Barnett had been substituted. Dip and finish. Granted, Barnett was gone. TJ Watt was not. That’s the type of dynamic versatile player the Dolphins needed, IMO. Harris is a vastly improved version of Dion Jordan but mostly I expect he’ll be like a JuWaun James type…certainly acceptable but you’re losing ground to the league as a whole and certainly the sharper teams by settling for that level in the first round. Vic Beasley was a premium pick for the other team. His skill set is markedly more explosive, which is why he aced the analytics leaving Kentucky despite huge number of subjective doubters.
* Adam Gase might try to pretend a little bit. That post game presser was as dour and lifeless as anything I remember. It was like he just crawled out from under that 16 ton anvil from Monty Python’s Flying Circus. George Wilson during the 3 win season of 1969 had fire and optimism aplenty. I wanted a young coach and supported the Gase hire but I guess this is one of the moody risks.
Woe is me in August?
* The situational guidelines pointed to major likelihood of regression. Obviously that wasn’t going to be the offseason consensus on any fan forum. Better left alone. On another site I saw one guy attacked for picking 9-7. My 2017 forecast was 8-8 before last season finished and I’ll stick with that. I really don’t believe in day to day variables. How sharp are the people atop the organization? How good is the roster as a whole? Those are the arrows. Everything in recent seasons has pointed to middle of the road, which is why I selected 8 wins, then 8 again, then 9, and then 9 again over the past four seasons. I hit the first two, missed by 3, then missed by 1. Total of 4, averaging 1 per season. Probably not tops among anyone who has participated each of those years, but likely in the top handful. Some friends and I had that contest league wide in Las Vegas for 14 seasons from ’95 to ’08. Among 12-14 guys every year I won 4 times. Not bad. Handsome return. We weren’t doing it for fun or fantasy. The adjusters often miss by 4 games or more in any given season. That’s not a criticism. It’s earned.
* I’m not a fan of Cutler’s personality and last fall I was not a fan of his announced allegiance. I could certainly understand Dolphin fans booing him every game as consequence. However, it’s actually a more interesting season in many respects. For too long we’ve accepted the same tendencies and applied the familiar rationalizations. Now there’s a guy with mostly the same basic ability level — a Crowd quarterback — but naturally there will be variances along the way, not all of them obvious beforehand. Looking forward to it.
-sarcasm-
