Which Part Of This Team Are You Anticipating The Most? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Which Part Of This Team Are You Anticipating The Most?

The Goat

The Goat

Trying real hard to be the shepherd.
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There's so much change with no real preview, so there's going to be a ton to look at in Week 1. A brand-spanking new OL. Revamped LB. New parts on the DL. RB who (hopefully) don't smash themselves directly into the back of the new OL. A new QB who will hopefully at some point during the year get the wrapper taken off and put into a game.

So what are you looking forward to seeing first?

For me, it's the secondary. All I hear is praise. What's most interesting is that the biggest acquisition of the offseason (Byron Jones) isn't standing out head and shoulders above his peers...but not because everyone else is playing poorly. It's because, apparently, everyone else is playing really well. Nik Needham. Iggy. Brandon Jones. Clayton Fejedefghim. Eric Rowe. Yes...even Bobby McCain. All of this is WITHOUT X really participating...the brightest spot on the whole unit just two years ago.

Is some of this hype because it's in scrimmages? Of course. But I don't think it's ALL hype when the reports are so similar coming from so many different areas.

Who are you looking forward to seeing most?
 
Starts up front for me -- OL and DL -- expecting damage inflicted by our DL

and some "refreshing" moments from our OL along with some elements of

process/growth pains.

After that -- the "new look" (scheme) on O and how we're implementing
all the new talent on D -- impacting the scheme as well as execution.

Expecting "aggression" by our D -- more pressure and attack.

Expect the O to nibble yards -- balanced run/pass and take our shots

deep with DVP and Preston going for the tall ball.

Could be a lot of fun!

BNF
 
The offensive line is the most important unit at this time. Because until they develop into a cohesive group, it is going to be very difficult for Tua to get playing time. The coaching staff just can’t afford to play him behind the type of offensive line this team has been putting on the field in recent years. I expect the OL to start very slowly because of the young players and them Just trying to adjust to playing with one another for the first time. I only hope that they become a solid unit over the course of the entire season.
 
The Goat said:
There's so much change with no real preview, so there's going to be a ton to look at in Week 1. A brand-spanking new OL. Revamped LB. New parts on the DL. RB who (hopefully) don't smash themselves directly into the back of the new OL. A new QB who will hopefully at some point during the year get the wrapper taken off and put into a game.

So what are you looking forward to seeing first?

For me, it's the secondary. All I hear is praise. What's most interesting is that the biggest acquisition of the offseason (Byron Jones) isn't standing out head and shoulders above his peers...but not because everyone else is playing poorly. It's because, apparently, everyone else is playing really well. Nik Needham. Iggy. Brandon Jones. Clayton Fejedefghim. Eric Rowe. Yes...even Bobby McCain. All of this is WITHOUT X really participating...the brightest spot on the whole unit just two years ago.

Is some of this hype because it's in scrimmages? Of course. But I don't think it's ALL hype when the reports are so similar coming from so many different areas.

Who are you looking forward to seeing most?
Click to expand...

Since you mentioned week 1, I'm going to flip the question. What I'm NOT expecting week 1 is a cohesive OL, much of a pass rush, any young guy to shock fans (pleasantly). All those will take time. I WOULD like to see hints of things to come, but above average units? Not so much.

I'll be watching a lot of things the 1st few games. RF, good or bad? In spite of a, likely, poor OL performance, how do the RBs look? Do they see holes? Do they go down on 1st contact? Gailey. Is there a 'real' game plan? On D, the run D, is the secondary as good as projected, any indication there will be good safety play? Is the entire D assignment sound? Unfortunately, any failures in any of those areas should be easy to spot.
 
This thread is so unfair. It's like taking a kid to a candy store and saying "pick just one." ;)

If I had to pick, I would say "does the offense look efficient and can consistently move the chains/put up points." If the answer to that is yes, then I know some of the finer details like the OL questions, WR health/depth, and QB play are all at least improved.
 
The offense pretty much gets a pass from me this year. The two main cogs (Fitzpatrick and Gailey) won’t even be here in a year maybe two. It will be tua and someone else. I know we’ve got playmakers so if that offense doesn’t work as a whole I don’t really care. Keep DVP, Preston, gesicki healthy and trending up. Get the oline figured out. If the scheme sucks who cares bc we’re looking at something else maybe as soon as next year anyways
 
Agree with BigNasty...It all starts with the lines. I want to see if we can stop the run and get pressure. If so the secondary will be nasty.

I want to see if the offensive line can open holes to help the running game. If they can do that I think they will be fine in pass protection.
 
The part that seems the most up in the air to me would be the OL, but that is often the case. I'm most looking forward to two things--our RB's and our DB's.

Jordan Howard and Matt Breida give us two distinct styles and a wide array of options. While our OL is all new and will take a while to learn the new offensive system and develop chemistry, they're solid run blockers. If a young QB's best friend is a running game, our RB's may make a Dolphin run game a real thing for the first time in many years. Howard's smashmouth approach and Breida's break-away speed should be a real change of pace to defenses, and I'm excited to see what they can do.

On the flip side, this multiple-formation Patriots' defense is truly amorphous and will be fun to watch. It has the potential to be solid against every type of offense--which is its strength. This defense relies heavily on strong coverage on the back end and uses many different pass rushers to scheme pressure on QB's. Unfortunately, last year we were the worst in the league at producing pressure, so our defense was horrible. But with upgrades to adequate guys like Lawson and Ogbah, plus the excellent addition of Van Noy and a second year in the system of young guys like Van Ginkel and Baker, I'm hoping we might actually generate enough pressure up front to see just how good our DB's really are. Having Byron Jones on the field makes it a lot harder for QB's to throw away from Xavien Howard. If they target X very often, he has the real potential to have a dynamite year with a lot of INT's. So, I'm excited to see hour our mega-investment in CB's pans out, because it has the potential to be a dramatic improvement.

Fingers crossed and fins up!
 
ANMoore said:
The offense pretty much gets a pass from me this year. The two main cogs (Fitzpatrick and Gailey) won’t even be here in a year maybe two. It will be tua and someone else. I know we’ve got playmakers so if that offense doesn’t work as a whole I don’t really care. Keep DVP, Preston, gesicki healthy and trending up. Get the oline figured out. If the scheme sucks who cares bc we’re looking at something else maybe as soon as next year anyways
Click to expand...

I tend to believe Flo wants some degree of continuity as he saw year in year out in NE.

That said, Gailey may not be here for more than a few years -- but a kid like Robby Brown

is in a prime position to grow into our future OC -- and I'd suspect that may be part of the

plan -- tho of course predicting 2-3 years down the line in the NFL is kinda silly.

But I expect us to keep the same "system" and not bring in an OC who changes the language

and forces us to start all over again. Consistency and continuity help a lot IMO.
 
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