Why our injuries are the best thing that happened this year. | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Why our injuries are the best thing that happened this year.

islandah

islandah

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I think most rational fans would admit that we were never going to challenge for a Superbowl this year, and that continued improvement and growth and a feeling of being competitive were admirable goals.
Well, considering the rash of injuries we had and that we are even now still technically alive in the playoff hunt going into the final game, I'd call that at least competitive. As for growth and improvement, consider the ramifications of the following injuries:

Starting QB: We all love ChadP for what he did for us last year and as Henne's mentor, but we all knew he wasn't the future, his arm strength was a real physical limitation, and we hoped, but didn't know, if Henne was our guy. Getting Henne in for the bulk of the year showed us he is our guy and gave him basically a free year to make and learn from his mistakes. (Peyton led the league in interceptions his rookie year, going 3-13). As a side benefit, we were also able to see if Ginn was a viable option with a strong armed QB. While we did get a couple deep balls out of him, I think we've seen that it's not enough to consider him a #1 or 2 WR. And Henne has shown he has the physical and mental tools to build on.

Starting RB: As much as it hurt to lose Ronnie, it did a couple positive things for us. It forced us to stop relying on the Wildcat and to grow up and run a more conventional offense. The Wildcat was really used to hide a talent gap, and we've shown we're getting closer to closing the gap and being able to run a real offense, with a strong line and a promising young QB. Selfishly, it might also raise some injury doubts about Ronnie, allowing us to resign him a little cheaper.

Starting CB: Losing Will Allen put 2 rookie CB's right in the soup immediately, and they got a heck of an education this year! Week after week, they faced pro-bowl and HOF receivers. Got toasted some, sure, but also showed some ridiculous promise, especially Vontae (any other rookie cb pick off Brady-to-Moss....twice!?). A trial by fire that hopefully they've learned a lot from and should be a solid tandem for years to come.

Starting NT: Losing Ferguson was a matter of when, not if, and will force us to address this position with a little more urgency.

Starting Center: Grove going down forced us to use our backups, shuffle the line, and y'know what? They did pretty good. Those multi-use players paid off.

Starting ILB: I realize Crowder just went down, but we seem to only appreciate his play when he's out and we get run all over. Even if you argue he's not that great, he's clearly the best we got, so if nothing else, it highlights the glaring weakness which is our ILB crew.


So I say celebrate these injuries! They either forced us to give our young guys a much needed apprenticeship, or pointed out our glaring needs, all in a year where we knew we weren't going anywhere anyway! And all the while, we were in almost every game, scared both of the elites (Indy and NO) and are even still mathematically alive for playoff contention. Not a bad year at all, in the grand scheme of things!
 
The phins dealt with adversity ..We did ok 7 and 9 or 8 and 8 is ok ...We had alot of key injuries..

I just hope this is not a reoccuring theme..

Also with the lack of depth that we had really hurt us in certain postions..

NT..TE

So I feel we did ok even with those injuries..
 
i will certainly not celebrate our players getting hurt, but you could make a case that those injuries were a blessing in disguise.
 
The Pennington injury was certainly for the best, but the Ronnie Brown one wasn't.
 
I'm going to have to disagree with the Ronnie Brown injury. Yes we relied on the Wildcat maybe a little too much, but it was still effective and once we abandoned it that was one less thing opposing teams had to prepare for.

One blessing in disguise though is that we've actually been able to see Hilliard on the field, despite starting the season as the 4th running back.

It's a questionable stance on here but I like what I've seen from Hilliard. He's quick and very shifty but sometimes gets tackled too easily. He also is a great receiving threat.
 
I completely agree with the original poster. Injuries saved us an entire year of scrutiny of all rookies and backups!
 
greasyObnoxious said:
i will certainly not celebrate our players getting hurt, but you could make a case that those injuries were a blessing in disguise.
Click to expand...
Of course, that's what I meant. "Blessing in disguise" is better put than "celebrate these injuries."
 
"Celebrate our injuries" :lol: No. But I do agree with the premise of this thread. You raise some valid points. Though I think we were already aware of the NT and LB issue. The valuable experience Henne and the rookie CBs got was a great trial by fire, and should only speed up their progress.

And the wildcat, god I'm sick of it. I hope it doesn't make a comeback. It was fun, and useful for awhile, but it can't last in the NFL unless it is seldom used. It was making me sick that we were still trying to run it with Ricky. Damn you Henning.
 
One thing is certain, the injuries revealed the depth of this team is not just good but excellent ... it also proves the naaaaaaaa sayers' of the BP run F/O; that they actually know what they are doing ... and with another offseason to add more talent and depth to the weaker positions (WR and ILB) i can see a very strong team for many years to come ... IMO Pennington should be brought back as a backup, giving the team unheard of depth at QB ... although I think it's very unlikely he'll be back!!!
 
It always sucks to have injuries to key players but it definately was a blessing in disguise. The fact Henne, Sean Smith, Vontae all played all year or most of the year really sped things up a little bit for us. Theres not so many questions going into this offseason and next year about what these guys can do. I liked Chad Pennington and wasnt happy he went down but in reality...it really helped this team in the long run. Some can argue it also helped in the short run because we didnt look very good when he was in either. Henne definately opened up the field alot more. I like Henne. I think hes gonna be very good if/when they get him some legitimate weapons.
 
If it actually takes season ending injuries for the likes of Ireland and Parcells to figure out what we have behind these players, then so be it. The team is definitely finding out what they have, and in many cases what they have still requires either more maturity and development or a completely new player.
 
callaway1234 said:
I'm going to have to disagree with the Ronnie Brown injury. Yes we relied on the Wildcat maybe a little too much, but it was still effective and once we abandoned it that was one less thing opposing teams had to prepare for.

One blessing in disguise though is that we've actually been able to see Hilliard on the field, despite starting the season as the 4th running back.

It's a questionable stance on here but I like what I've seen from Hilliard. He's quick and very shifty but sometimes gets tackled too easily. He also is a great receiving threat.
Click to expand...

We lost Ronnie and Cobbs, both of whom were vital to our Wildcat offense. I agree Hilliard looks decent, but not enough to knock off the 3 in front of him. Losing Ronnie also unfortunately pointed out what a huge waste the Pat White pick turned out to be. The "WildPat" was a resounding dud!

I think the Wildcat will be back to a small degree next year, assuming Ronnie is back, but I think now it will be used rightfully as a change of pace or situational strategy. Assuming any kind of valid receiving option I think our offense will have caught up to the league next year.
 
Having these young guys playing almost a full season will payoff big down the road. as one of the poster said above, there will be less question marks going into the off season for the front office since they have a good idea what the rookies and 2nd year players can and cannot do.
 
I'm still not happy with the recievers and they were healthy.
 
I would Chad p. getting injured to see we have in Chad H. I would say also Will Allen because it gave Smith and Davis a lot experience.
 
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