What do we even have in Minkah? Was he ever a leader?

[Digital]

I specifically said in Miami. Alabama aside, Minkah Fitzpatrick has not shown leadership qualities in Miami. What have we seen from Minkah in Miami other than frustration with being asked to show versatility? I agree with your posts 99.9999% of the time, but with all due respect, this sounds like more coddling and excuse making for the kid.

A frustrated, underperforming, low motivated thoroughbred just waiting to his "Sparta" speech to become a leader. lol come on, man.

If Minkah is frustrated for being set up to fail, Rosen should really be getting on the phone with his agent.

Your angry, and I get it. But as soon as Minkah Fitzpatrick arrived in Miami he started being a leader, talking about hard work and grinding, preparation, setting a tone for his fellow draftees. Was he perfect? Heck no. He complained about his own role being too unfocused--and he was right to complain about it IMHO. So I wouldn't say he hasn't been a leader for the Dolphins. I would say that he could have been a more vocal leader, or a more forceful leader, but he would have been stepping on the toes of Cam Wake, Bobby McCain, and Reshad Jones among others. Minkah was doing more of a leading by example, and he had been leading.

Today, we're not seeing much leadership from Minkah Fitzpatrick, that's true. But I hold out hope that eventually it will surface and he will help us build this team. I could easily be incorrect. At this point, I have my fingers crossed and hope he steps up, but there's no guarantees.

 

[RobertHorry]

The Dolphins are either going to come through this as the next powerhouse or turn into one of the worst professional sports teams in the history of professional sports.

Minkah needs to do his job though and not be flat footed against a fcking skinny post by Hollywood Brown. If he knew his opponents he would know how Brown isn’t the best at chopping down on comeback, curls, etc routes and will kill him on anything deep.

I don’t get how so many of our players are either dumb or don’t put in the time. The defense should know the strengths and weaknesses of every single person on the field on offense.

 

[broccoli rob]

Its gonna be hard to build the team when we cant get guys to finish out their rookie deals.

Flores needs to find a way to make this team more competitive.

This is totally unprecedented. Your 22 year old versatile "leaders" with a bright future aren't typically contacting their agents after Game 1.

 

[.....]

This is 100% speculation on my part...

In Alabama, Minkah was asked to not only learn the entire secondary, but to excel at all of it. He was asked to be a "jack of all trades," but on the college level, he could get away with being a "master of none." He also had a few years to learn the Alabama defense. He made a name for himself based on his smarts and versatility.

Fast forward to today. Minkah now is in the NFL, where the opposing talent is better, the schemes may be more complicated, and the expectations are higher. He is also on his second defensive system in 2 years. He has again been asked to be the "jack of all trades" and learn 4 or 5 positions in 2 different systems while still expected to perform at a leadership level. That's a freaking lot to ask.

My guess is that Minkah is feeling overwhelmed, disappointed in himself as he struggles to be the master of all things, and frustrated with the current situation. I don't blame him. I fully expect that he's going to be an outstanding NFL player one day once he finds some stability, familiarity, and a consistent position. However, this is the NFL, not college, and it's hard to be the "jack of all trades" without becoming the "master of none", especially in the environment he's been faced with since he got here.

 

[AdamD13]

Rebuilds involve a tear down before building it up. Right now Miami is in the teardown phase or at least sitting in the wreckage of it. They can't really start to build until this off season.

I have experienced on several occasions organizations go through a teardown phase, streamline or a workforce reduction plan. Whatever the euphemism that is used good productive employees are let go for no other reason than the company trying to save money.

It creates an unsafe environment of fear and distrust particularly for talented workers that know their skills would be appreciated elsewhere. Regardless of what supervisors and managers say to try to build moral and ease employees fears, this is not the type of environment that allows for employees to be leaders.

Complicating things further the work being done by the employees let go then starts getting pushed on to employees still there who may not be skilled or comfortable doing that work and aren't secure that day won't be their last day on the job and can't focus on their original work to begin with let alone additional duties.

Or a manager/supervisor who may be new because the one last week got let go, tries to implement a new system (similar to Miami getting new coaches implementing new offensive and defensive systems) of how to do things differently which only creates more chaos.

Many high qualified employees start looking for work elsewhere before they are let go and those that find it usually don't give notice just glad to get the hell out of there. It's a way to exercise the power they do have in an environment that leads to feeling powerless. That's how I view what is going on with Minkah and Drake and any others that want out right now. It's a normal response to a dysfunctional situation.

This is exactly where I see Miami right now as an organization. It's the price the organization has to pay for choosing to go through a teardown. To expect Minkah and Drake who are talented and young in their careers, came from a highly functional organization like the Alabama football program to embrace this type of culture is unrealistic and expecting them to be above being human which they are not.

Unless you've been through similar circumstances it is unlikely to be relatable, so making judgements and giving opinions about the way a person should be in this situation is merely ignorance and talking out off one's ass.

 

[ThePeopleShow13]

Fans forget that the modern NFL player understands the physical and mental risk playing entails. Minkah wanting to be traded has literally nothing to do with his leadership abilities. The coaching staff is putting him in a position to fail by using him as a box safety. It will end one of 2 ways; his body wears down or he fizzles out. He will NEVER be a good box safety. This is his career. If he wants another contract he needs to stay healthy and perform on the field. If he is on a team that uses him correctly he has the chance to be a much better player which translates to more financial stability down the road.

Also, expecting a 22 year old kid to be a leader of men is kind of a joke. People seem to forget guys like Peyton Manning throwing every player on his team under the bus when they lost early in his career. You forget how immature a lot of the HoF guys were when the first came into the game.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

I don't blame only Minkah & I was happy with the pick when it was made.

But at what point does the unchecked praise for his versatility and leadership stop? Shouldn't it be tempered, at the very least? lol




It feels a little like when Gase left and everyone was praising the Jets for bringing in a QB guru.

I think people take Jim Nagy too literal. He's a bit of a hype machine and it's obvious why.

But like I said the other day - Minkah wanted out. He's just going about it the wrong way. I don't agree with the way he's going about it. But there's more leaders than just Minkah failing here, that's my point.

Once Minkah is gone, you still have a huge problem.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

This is 100% speculation on my part...

In Alabama, Minkah was asked to not only learn the entire secondary, but to excel at all of it. He was asked to be a "jack of all trades," but on the college level, he could get away with being a "master of none." He also had a few years to learn the Alabama defense. He made a name for himself based on his smarts and versatility.

Fast forward to today. Minkah now is in the NFL, where the opposing talent is better, the schemes may be more complicated, and the expectations are higher. He is also on his second defensive system in 2 years. He has again been asked to be the "jack of all trades" and learn 4 or 5 positions in 2 different systems while still expected to perform at a leadership level. That's a freaking lot to ask.

My guess is that Minkah is feeling overwhelmed, disappointed in himself as he struggles to be the master of all things, and frustrated with the current situation. I don't blame him. I fully expect that he's going to be an outstanding NFL player one day once he finds some stability, familiarity, and a consistent position. However, this is the NFL, not college, and it's hard to be the "jack of all trades" without becoming the "master of none", especially in the environment he's been faced with since he got here.

There was nothing sophisticated about the Wide9. It's a technique not a scheme. It's a scam.

Alabama's defense is more complex and complicated than almost any in the NFL. The Alabama players in the NFL will tell you that.

The purpose of Minkah being moved around at Alabama was so he could communicate, not to take advantage of his physical talent. The problems with Miami's defense have nothing to do with Minkah's communication or ability to learn the defense. They're not teaching him a defense. They're using him as a whack-a-mole for all the other players that can't do their jobs. That's Minkah's point.

 

[broccoli rob]

Your angry, and I get it. But as soon as Minkah Fitzpatrick arrived in Miami he started being a leader, talking about hard work and grinding, preparation, setting a tone for his fellow draftees. Was he perfect? Heck no. He complained about his own role being too unfocused--and he was right to complain about it IMHO. So I wouldn't say he hasn't been a leader for the Dolphins. I would say that he could have been a more vocal leader, or a more forceful leader, but he would have been stepping on the toes of Cam Wake, Bobby McCain, and Reshad Jones among others. Minkah was doing more of a leading by example, and he had been leading.

Today, we're not seeing much leadership from Minkah Fitzpatrick, that's true. But I hold out hope that eventually it will surface and he will help us build this team. I could easily be incorrect. At this point, I have my fingers crossed and hope he steps up, but there's no guarantees.

He was so focused that in preseason of his first year, he filed a trademark for FitzMagic before a game with the Bucs (dumb) and then told the media he was really upset that fans trolled his Mom.... after she went on Twitter to defend him

The Bucs' fans indignation over Minkah Fitzpatrick's application found its way into social media.

"Some very unnecessary comments directed toward myself and my family," Fitzpatrick said in the Dolphins' locker room on Wednesday.

What upset Minkah Fitzpatrick about the situation were some of the comments directed toward his mother after she responded on social media to those portraying her son as a nickname usurper. The defensive back has been called FitzMagic since high school.

"It kind of upset me a whole lot because it's my mom," Fitzpatrick said. "I don't really want her to be involved in anything that's directed toward me. Anybody is protective over their mother, but she's very protective over myself.

He sounds like he's 12.

'Very unnecessary comments' upset Minkah Fitzpatrick

When the news came out earlier this week that Miami Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick had filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the term "FitzMagic," it apparently upset some football fans.

www.al.com

A little tidbit from that article I did not know, his mom was jumping on Twitter to defend Minkah from Day 1. So before even his first game in Miami, he was crying to the media about some twitter trolls that made fun of his mom and his unfocused role on the team. But Twitter only knew it was his mom after she decided to hop online and declare it to the world so she could battle the trolls lol. Who's mom is doing that?? Does this happen a lot with leaders? Two social media instances with Mommy.

For every sign of leadership, I can show you a red flag, and this is from Day 1. He is coddled by his family and by his fanbase.

 

[The Goat]

If you honestly blame only Minkah Fitzpatrick I don't know what to tell you. You have to hold the guys who drafted him accountable also.

The only winning culture people like Grier can build is having all their players want to be traded to winners.


But I completely agree with you in regards to the entitlement aspect of today's players. I see a tremendous difference in the type of players coming into the program now versus 10 or 12 years ago when Saban first got here. There ain't many Julio Jones anymore.

But this is what people wanted. This is what they got.

Here's the thing, and this is what I'm having trouble getting past:

A General Manager is supposed to set up his team to succeed. He usually does this through the head coach's vision for the team.

Last year, Grier banged the table for Fitzpatrick, and he was pretty clearly what Gase wanted for the team as well.

Now Flores/Graham want to use him in multiple positions, because they feel he's the most capable to make the team better around him when he plays at multiple positions. Grier is ONCE AGAIN trying to best accommodate his HC's vision.

Fitzpatrick doesn't like what Flores/Graham are trying to do with him, and he wasn't drafted under Flores. He wants to play somewhere else where he can settle into a specific role.

Okay.

The Fins are rebuilding. Either the Flores and Fitzpatrick can come to an agreement about what he's going to do on defense, or they can't. If Fitzpatrick doesn't want to be a part of the future, so be it. It doesn't even have to be that acrimonious. If he can figure out a trade that satisfies all parties, awesome.

 

[RobertHorry]

There was nothing sophisticated about the Wide9. It's a technique not a scheme. It's a scam.

Alabama's defense is more complex and complicated than almost any in the NFL. The Alabama players in the NFL will tell you that.

The purpose of Minkah being moved around at Alabama was so he could communicate, not to take advantage of his physical talent. The problems with Miami's defense have nothing to do with Minkah's communication or ability to learn the defense. They're not teaching him a defense. They're using him as a whack-a-mole for all the other players that can't do their jobs. That's Minkah's point.

You are not wrong here. He’s being used to cover up players weakness but he’s also not doing his job. I don’t think it’s a good match for anyone - Minkah clearly is over it, the Dolphins staff probably had high expectations for him but are also losing faith and Minkah probably is being treated the same as a practice squad player and not as the greatness he has for himself in his mind

 

[The Goat]

There was nothing sophisticated about the Wide9. It's a technique not a scheme. It's a scam.

Alabama's defense is more complex and complicated than almost any in the NFL. The Alabama players in the NFL will tell you that.

The purpose of Minkah being moved around at Alabama was so he could communicate, not to take advantage of his physical talent. The problems with Miami's defense have nothing to do with Minkah's communication or ability to learn the defense. They're not teaching him a defense. They're using him as a whack-a-mole for all the other players that can't do their jobs. That's Minkah's point.

This is spot-on. I'm disappointed that Minkah isn't choosing to ride out the development of the defense...but I suppose I can understand it. It's a little presumptuous, imo, for a second year player to do the "trade me" thing because he's not being utilized on defense as he would like.

 

[Digital]

He was so focused that in preseason of his first year, he filed a trademark for FitzMagic before a game with the Bucs (dumb) and then told the media he was really upset that fans trolled his Mom.... after she went on Twitter to defend him

'Very unnecessary comments' upset Minkah Fitzpatrick

When the news came out earlier this week that Miami Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick had filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the term "FitzMagic," it apparently upset some football fans.

www.al.com

A little tidbit from that article I did not know, his mom was jumping on Twitter to defend Minkah from Day 1. So before even his first game in Miami, he was crying to the media about some twitter trolls that made fun of his mom and his unfocused role on the team. But Twitter trolls only knew it was his Mom after she decided to hop online and declare it to the world so she could battle the trolls lol. Who's mom is doing that?? So two social media instances with Mommy.

For every sign of leadership, I can show you a red flag, and this is from Day 1. He is coddled by his family and by his fanbase.

Hey, who on earth gets to tell their mom how to act? Not sure how strong his mom is, but judging from mine … good luck with that. Mom's try to protect their kids … it often leads to the kids being horribly embarrassed, but the kids don't always get to decide how their moms act. I can't hold that against him.

The IP issue, he just wanted attention, he had to know he had no case. To me that's neither here nor there. Brian Bosworth was a leader at Oklahoma, and he draped himself in the whole NCAA controversy, and it didn't stop him from being a leader at Oklahoma back in the day. Leader's are no strangers to personal controversy … they often go hand in hand. Ask Mike Ditka, Aaron Rodgers, or Joe Namath … never stopped them from being inspirational leaders.

 

[Pachyderm_Wave]

He was so focused that in preseason of his first year, he filed a trademark for FitzMagic before a game with the Bucs (dumb) and then told the media he was really upset that fans trolled his Mom.... after she went on Twitter to defend him



He sounds like he's 12.

'Very unnecessary comments' upset Minkah Fitzpatrick

When the news came out earlier this week that Miami Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick had filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the term "FitzMagic," it apparently upset some football fans.

www.al.com

A little tidbit from that article I did not know, his mom was jumping on Twitter to defend Minkah from Day 1. So before even his first game in Miami, he was crying to the media about some twitter trolls that made fun of his mom and his unfocused role on the team. But Twitter only knew it was his Mom after she decided to hop online and declare it to the world so she could battle the trolls lol. Who's mom is doing that?? So two social media instances with Mommy.

For every sign of leadership, I can show you a red flag, and this is from Day 1. He is coddled by his family and by his fanbase.

This is part of the problem also. Him and his family need to get off social media. Or if they're going to be on it - stop taking it so seriously. You can't take it anymore serious than I do any posters on this forum. It's just profiles and handles on the internet. That's it.

These kids grow up with social media now and it's part of their reality instead of actual reality. They can't separate the two like some of the older generations can. Social media was Mack Wilson's biggest problem at Alabama. He was too busy posting on social media instead of learning his calls on defense. It cost a talented player a lot of money in the draft.

 

[broccoli rob]

I think people take Jim Nagy too literal. He's a bit of a hype machine and it's obvious why.

But like I said the other day - Minkah wanted out. He's just going about it the wrong way. I don't agree with the way he's going about it. But there's more leaders than just Minkah failing here, that's my point.

Once Minkah is gone, you still have a huge problem.

So does he sit this weekend? Now what do they do with him?

This team has fallen apart and we're still a couple days out from a massive beating from New England. This really sucks.

Not the last we've heard of these players asking for trades, either. fml.