What Are Your Top 3 Disappointments And Top 3 Reasons For Optimism From This Season? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

What Are Your Top 3 Disappointments And Top 3 Reasons For Optimism From This Season?

Swollcolb

Swollcolb

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just curious on everyone’s opinions, in order, I will start it off:

Reasons for optimism
1: Xavien Howard interceptions, X has been a ballhawk and one of the most entertaining CBs we’ve had in a long time hope he can keep the Ints rolling.
2: Albert Wilson and his elite RAC ability, man before he got hurt he was hitting his stride and looked like he could breakout into a star WR for us, he brings so much excitement to our stale offense.
3: Jerome Baker, he still has a ways to go but it’s nice watching him make plays with his elite speed from the Lb position. Pick 6 game and 2 sack game where great performances, he’s also chased WRs down from behind preventing long TDs.

Most disappointing things
1. Mike Gesicki, I had such high hopes for him I still do. But ugh it’s been rough, the fumble today or him just trying to jump over people instead of running for extra yards has been frustrating. TEs take awhile to develop but watching Mark Andrews and Dallas Goedert produce makes it tougher to swallow.
2. Injuries, like every single game it’s someone else, losing Wilson and Sitton were huge blows. Having to watch Osweiler start 1/3 of the season rough too.
3. Coaching, more so Burke’s defense and the wide 9, I love that we’ve forced so many turnovers but it’s like if we don’t get a pick or a fumble we can’t stop anyone. On offense there has been some horrible play calls throughout the year. I do think gase was handicapped some with personnel from injuries but regardless it’s like he just can’t figure out when to be aggressive and when to be conservative.
 
You summed it up above. Optimism is in small pieces where the greater picture is always pessimism. It is success to be a 8 or 9 win team and out of it by the halfway point whether mathematically possible or not but always out of it.
 
1) Howard playing like a franchise CB, 2) Tunsil elevating his play 3) a chance at a decent draft class (Fitz, Baker, Sanders); hopefully they don't regress.

2) Disappointments are more difficult to say, as I had us booked between 7-9 & 9-7 depending on luck, injuries and strength of schedule. When you build a team with a low ceiling and high floor mentality you will generally get seasons that look like this one does. Gesicki would be on the list, although I don't expect much from rookie TEs (although this season has been the exception to the rule for some teams). His blocking is non-existent and as a result is losing snap counts to practice squad fodder. Our LBs are a disappointment as well as our DL generating anything that resembles a pass rush.
 
Optimism.

X
Tunsil
Minkah (but he better learn to get that head around)

Disappointments

Mike lb lack of range is getting exposed every week same for the cover
Blown assignments by the d
Took too long from this coaching staff to realize smythe should play over gesicki
 
Positives are that there's only 5 more games.

Negatives is that Ross will keep the same FO which in turn will keep the same coaching staff which in turn will keep the same QB and roster and nothing will change.
 
Disappointments:
1. Injured OL - Sitton and Kilgore powered a good OL that protected our QB and opened up run lanes for our talented RB's. When they got injured so soon, our OL failed to consistently generate a run game and our pass protection was less effective. What could have been for this offense disappeared.
2. Albert Wilson injury - He was really proving to be a difference maker, and more effective for us than even Jarvis Landry whom he replaced … but when he went down, then Grant went out, our offense lost a lot of oompf.
3. Tankersley's regression - He was really showing improvement and flashing good skills last year, but his loss of confidence really threw a monkey wrench in what would have been an exceptional secondary.

Optimism:
1. Xavien Howard - Continuing to prove he was an excellent addition.
2. Drafting - Every one of our draft picks looks to be a positive addition. Some, like Fitzpatrick, look instantly excellent, while others, like Gesicki, Baker, Smythe have flashed potential. I'm finally happy with our drafting braintrust, led by Grier.
3. Kris Kocurek - He really did get the most out of Vincent Taylor and Davon Godchaux, which looked to be our area of greatest need when the season started. While Wake is showing his age, Quinn has produced pressures but not sacks, Hayes is injured again, Branch and Harris look mediocre … and all in all our DE's have been very disappointing this year (despite a good secondary), I'd say our DT's have been a very positive surprise.
 
Few other honorable mentions of positives: Cam Wake still reliable and producing, Jason Sanders has been solid, Minkah looks like the real deal, and Gore has really surprised me I didn’t think he’d have a major role for us boy was I wrong (sometimes it’s to a fault as once again today proved we NEED drake to be a focal point in our O)
 
positives:
-duo of albert wilson/jakeem grant, if used correctly, can be real dangerous weapons
-minkah fitzpatrick/jerome baker...both are having pretty good rookie seasons, both look to be good picks, even tho our defense sucks theyre getting meaningful reps learning on the fly, im excited to see how they progress moving forward
-xavien howard, hes a stud...great coverage and very good ball skills, we need to lock him up as soon as we can

negatives
-tannehill, although injured half the games, hasnt taken the next step we all wanted to see, while we can go back n forth on him all day, it looks like he wont be in the plans long term and either this year is his last or next year most likely will be....some probably will list this as a positive but its a shame that all that potential never materialized. It looked like he was trending up before the injury but its looking like a breakup is inevitable at this point. Lets just hope Gase isnt hand picking the new qb because it will just buy him more time as hc.
-it looks like gase bought at least another year...yes there was alot of injuries throughout the roster but his offense has been the same for 3 years and it doesnt work...i dont know if i can watch another season of wr screens every 3 plays. He is terrible situation-wise and cannot adjust or adapt ever. He really is out of his league being a head coach, i defended him and gave him the benefit of doubt but the people who said he was a fraud was right. Ive seen enough. Move on now and get a jump on the inevitable half assed rebuild.
-offensive line, it looked promising at the beginning of the year, then sitton got hurt, then kilgore, james and tunsil banged up. The problem is sitton and kilgore arent getting any younger, the offensive line as a whole still commits alot of penalties. The backups have actually done a decent job this year filling in, but they arent starting material, we need depth too but we need actual starting caliber linemen. Its such a shame after so many 1st round picks(long, pouncey, tunsil, james) the line has been atrocious for so long. I do blame Philbin a bit for his years here because he always had players playing multiple positions with different groupings and never building any chemistry and cohesion to play as a unit. We have to make this a top priority because any offensive success begins here, and no qb will succeed here if hes running for his life constantly and having no running game. We need to build a line of big maulers, not these wimpy finesse zone blockers.
-Mike Gesicki...i watched every game at penn state. I am a little biased toward penn state guys but im not seeing the same player i saw in college. He isnt playing as fluid, quick, or confident as he did in college. He hasnt really gotten many opportunities to catch the ball but one that stands out is how bad he looked on that poorly thrown fade by tanny in the endzone, he got manhandled by the db half his size and fell on his face. Bad throw but equally as bad of an effort by Gesicki here. He has freakish ability but i think its gonna be another next year or the year after that we seewhat hes all about. He needs to add some bulk to him tho. I dont think hes a bust but i am disappointed in his play this year and the way he has been used. With all the injuries to wrs why is he not lined up at receiver in the slot or something? at least get him some reps running routes...
 
Top 3 Reasons for Disappointments:

1. Gase is coaching not to lose, rather then playing to win. (Where has the aggressive Gase gone?)
2. Defense is too inconsistent, then need to start playing like an NFL quality D.
3. Seems serious Injuries are always around the corner, or ready to happen for the Dolphins every game.

Top 3 Reasons For Optimism:

1. Tannehill in the game gives Miami a chance to win.
2. Though Gase is coaching not to lose, he is a much better a HC then people think when he has a QB.
3. Though the O-line and D-line are missing players, they are not playing that bad.
 
Swollcolb said:
just curious on everyone’s opinions, in order, I will start it off:

Reasons for optimism
1: Xavien Howard interceptions, X has been a ballhawk and one of the most entertaining CBs we’ve had in a long time hope he can keep the Ints rolling.
2: Albert Wilson and his elite RAC ability, man before he got hurt he was hitting his stride and looked like he could breakout into a star WR for us, he brings so much excitement to our stale offense.
3: Jerome Baker, he still has a ways to go but it’s nice watching him make plays with his elite speed from the Lb position. Pick 6 game and 2 sack game where great performances, he’s also chased WRs down from behind preventing long TDs.

Most disappointing things
1. Mike Gesicki, I had such high hopes for him I still do. But ugh it’s been rough, the fumble today or him just trying to jump over people instead of running for extra yards has been frustrating. TEs take awhile to develop but watching Mark Andrews and Dallas Goedert produce makes it tougher to swallow.
2. Injuries, like every single game it’s someone else, losing Wilson and Sitton were huge blows. Having to watch Osweiler start 1/3 of the season rough too.
3. Coaching, more so Burke’s defense and the wide 9, I love that we’ve forced so many turnovers but it’s like if we don’t get a pick or a fumble we can’t stop anyone. On offense there has been some horrible play calls throughout the year. I do think gase was handicapped some with personnel from injuries but regardless it’s like he just can’t figure out when to be aggressive and when to be conservative.
Click to expand...

Reasons of optimism.
Miami actually looked like an NFL team for 3 quarters.
Scored on 1st drive.
A number of players looked good.

Pessimism
Gase did what Gase does. Ghost of FistPump and Philbin, Get a lead and play not to lose.
There is talent on the team. Misused, but it's there.
Evidence of a game plan

This 'n that
What's the deal with Burke and his abhorrence of blitzes? He doesn't even SHOW a blitz and back out.
I'm not as down on Gesicki. Gase knew he was getting a receiving TE. No surprise. But, he seems to have decided he won't use him as a receiver until he's at least an average blocker. He won't be. That's just stubborn. He has a guy who's good at something but won't use him that way until he's also good at something else. What HS coach does that? Play to a guy's strengths.
Still saw no effort to take advantage of mismatches. No effort to get the receivers open.
How many games have fans heard a commentator say something similar to 'none of the receivers got separation.' Seldom is there much separation when Grant and Wilson were in. I'm beginning to think it's the play calling and scheme.
 
Positives: Albert Wilson, Laremy Tunsil, Xavien Howard, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Jerome Baker, Godchaux/Taylor, Jason Sanders, Matt Haack, Rizzi & his unit. Watching Gore has been refreshing.

Negatives: Ownership, front office, Adam Gase, Matt Burke, still not having a franchise QB, all the injuries, bonehead/unprepared penalties every week, and the fact that we've meaninglessly won 5 games already and will probably end up picking in the teens when we desperately need elite talent. Parker, McMillan, Harris, Tankersley, & Gesicki are the huge duds for me -- all high potential guys at key positions who have either shown nothing, or simply can't stay on the field (Parker).
 
Optimism:

1. Xavian Howard confirmed he is a top level CB, hopefully he remains that way after we break the bank for his extension this offseason.

2. Darren Rizzi and his special teams unit is amongst the league best. The kicker, punter, return and coverage units are all near the top of the league. Great finds.

3. Speed kills - It sucks that our two speedsters got injured, but a healthy Grant, Wilson, Stills and Drake is a matchup nightmare for teams, so I get what we were trying to do . . . It fits with the explosive NFL. Guys have to be durable but the pieces are there to be explosive.

Pessimism:

1. QB - Not much needs to be said. The position has been neglected since before the original Tannehill injury but it became criminal neglect afterwards. Nobody knows the real intent going forward.

2. The front 7 is in awful shape. There are some young role player pieces but Miami has nowhere near a young star anywhere amongst those 7 spots. If the QB is not there in the 2019 draft they have to get a star in the first round for the front 7.

3. Offensive philosophy - Even when Miami won 7 of 8 with Ryan in 2016, we weren’t slaying anybody and we got punished by good defenses/teams. This is an offensive scoring league and if you can’t manufacture points at a higher clip you have no shot. Whether that means new coach, new playcaller, new QB . . . .I don’t care . . . It needs to be fixed and is the biggest detriment on this team. In addition, while the speed is a blessing, I won’t trade speed for actually physicality. Gesicki has proven to be the poster child for this. We are constantly getting beat up and it needs to stop.
 
Top 3 disappointments:

1. Our pass rush - It's been pretty much non-existent throughout the year.
2. Raekwon McMillan - I know this is essentially his rookie year, but after all the hype coming from camp last year, I expected his play to be much better than what it's been so far.
3. Injuries to our top free agents - Losing Hayes, Sitton and Wilson has hurt us big time. Injuries are always expected, but these 3 in particular were killers.

Top 3 reasons for optimism:

1. Hopefully, HOPEFULLY our FO learned its lesson and will find a better plan B at the QB position next year than Osweiler or Fales. At least draft a developmental prospect please.
2. Xavien Howard has been amazing this year. We need to lock him up long term and draft a CB to play opposite of him.
3. We have a good group of young guys on defense with X, Godchaux, Taylor, Minkah, and Baker. All drafted by our FO. Need to keep drafting good defensive players and add talent to that unit.

Overall, I think the three keys this offseason should be:

1. Find some competition for Ryan in next year's draft. Since it's a poor QB class, don't spend a high pick unless you're convinced you've found your next franchise QB, but definitely spend a 2nd or 3rd day pick on a developmental prospect with some upside. The QB class should be more prolific in 2020, but we can't stay put at the QB position again like in 2018.

2. Fix the damn defense. Burke needs to go. So does his scheme. We need to add plenty of talent at key positions like CB, DE, DT and LB. It's a great draft for defensive players, so Grier needs to hit on his high picks in 2019 in order for our defense to get better. Hiring an experienced DC should also be a priority.

3. Keep looking to upgrade your OL. For the most part, this year our line hasn't been as terrible as previous years, but we need to add talent to this unit as well. Even though Sitton and Kilgore will be back in 2019, we can't neglect the guard and center positions in the offseason. Keep looking to improve at the trenches. That should always be our motto.

I don't expect Gase to be fired at the end of the year unless we go 5-11 or 6-10. BUT I will say this: Ross hired him cause he wanted a flashy offense. That's always been his dream. Think of what the Rams or the Chiefs have, that's what Ross has been looking for. Gase hasn't delivered.

Even when we've been healthy, our offense hasn't been that explosive-score over 30 points consistently-kind of offense.

I believe Ross will keep Gase for another year due to the injuries, especially at the QB position. But make no mistake, Gase is definitely not as secure as he was when the season started. He has failed to produce the kind of offense that Ross wants, on top of having an extremely poor defense as well.

If 2019 doesn't change that, he will be gone. So both Gase and the FO need to really handle things the right way in the offseason. The margin for error will be very, very small moving forward.
 
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One of the biggest things people are getting wrong about Gesicki that concerns me is this - they just point out stats of other first year TE's and say "See look! 1st year TE's rarely produce!!"

Well, that's true. However, it's not the lack of production that more astute observers are necessarily questioning. It's the way he's playing the game and what he looks like on the field as a football player. He's not playing football out there. He's playing athlete.

Production can typically come eventually for young TE's as they develop, if they're already playing football. He's not. This is squarely on the coaching staff, and also on Gesicki.
 
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