Bpk
FinHeaven VIP
I was sitting in bed last night reading Sun-Sentinel articles on the draft pick signings on my laptop when I realised, the Dolphins (aka Randy Meuller, Cam Cameron and the scouting department) actually did something great this offseason.
They created just about a full offensive team out of thin air.
Sure it's not perfect, but let's compare a year ago to today.
One year ago we had an offense that could only move backwards. The only way to prevent this was by punting or turning the ball over. We had no O-line, crappy QB play, a meagre rushing game, and WR's that were running downfield for exercise alone since they never saw any balls. Points? What are those, we've never heard of them.
So what changed...?
1) Move our best O-lineman to LT, the most important anchor on the line. Add a bonafide starter (Samson Satele) to play either LG/C and draft/sign several more interior lineman, of whom at least one (Mormino? Parker?) may win the LG/C job next to Satele. We'll have 2/5 starters on this year's O-line coming from draft talent. That's a huge improvement over last year's line already. Drafting the interior linemen also tell me Cam wants to be able to run well between the tackles, which brings us to #2...
2) Draft a knock-out punch fullback to pave the road for Ronnie Brown. The fullback is underused today but in Cam's system, and with good interior linemen it lets the running back hit the second level with a full head of steam. Ronnie should be a much more effective rusher this year. The rookie will be tutored by former pro-bowl fullback Cory Schlesinger. We should be solid up the middle.
3) With a more solid middle to the O-line, some blindside protection, and a better chance and a decent running game we move to QB. First of all, Daunte has had another offseason to heal and get better and CERTAINLY being more mobile shouldn't make him play worse than last year. He may still not be the answer here, but there is upside there. Also, we acquired a quarterback known for his accuracy, hitting almost 70% of his passes. He is known for his maturity, his leadership, his toughness.. winning big games, playing through injuries, and being called a born-leader. His deep ball is too high for most scouts' liking, but he hits his receivers with those deep balls, oh, and did they mention he was throwing those 70-yard bombs while playing a season on two bad ankles? A lot of power in the throwing motion is generated through the legs, and now that his legs are healthy, I doubt we'll be complaining about this kid's deep ball.
What else do you want in a quarterback?? How about a gym rat and super hard worker who is a dedicated film room guy. He is a student of the game who obsesses about learning his playbook, watching game film, and studying his opponents. He comes from the geeky Peyton Manning school of quarterbacking, which seems to help QB's develop quickly. Not a bad pick up for a second round guy. Many teams had him rated close to Brady Quinn. Is he a Peyton Manning? No. But we did not have the #1 pick in the draft and NO ONE this year was a Peyton Manning. He'll move the ball. He'll score points. He'll WIN. Just like Drew Brees does.
Still not sure? Then trust Cam Cameron and Randy Mueller's expertise.
Randy was the guy who drafted Marc Bulger in the 6th round, and had Jake Delhomme, Jeff Blake, Aaron Brooks, and Mark Bulger all in Saints camp at once. That's not too bad. Oh, and Cam? Well, he developed Jim Harbaugh, Elvis Grbac, is credited with guiding quarterback Gus Frerotte to his only Pro Bowl appearance, developed Trent Green, Drew Brees and Philip Rivers. In fact, our new QB coach (Terry Shea) is the guy who helped Brady Quinn prepare for the draft. if HE is the one giving the Phins advice and they passed on Quinn, I have to believe he knows the inside scoop!
I think Beck will be fine.
4) How about adding some sort of deep threat? Someone who could stretch the field. An explosive player who is a threat to score every single time he touches the ball. Imagine him lining up opposite Chris Chambers. Who does the safety worry about? Sure Ted Ginn will need time to be a GREAT receiver, but he is already a much better receiver than most return men. Oh, that's right, he will also be our home-run threat on kickoff and punt returns... when he isn't breaking one for TD it'll be because they are playing him safe and giving us better field position to start every drive. But I don't want to overlook his impact at receiver... his mere presence, and using him for a few deep flys, posts, WR screens will really keep that defense opened up. Add that to a hard inside running game and an accurate QB and it sounds like a nice offense. Derek Hagan, entering his second year, should also be over his nervous rookie dropsies and a good slot receiver for us.
5) We acquired a tight end with some speed and good hands to use all that open space in the middle created by our speedy wideouts. Is he a great tight end? No. Is he good? Good enough to be a problem for defenses. Not a great blocker, which is why it was important that we improved the line, picked up a blocking fullback for when we need max pass protection. With better blocking, the tight end can be used in pass patterns more, and Martin will be.
6) How about bringing in a running back with electric big-play ability but who is a bit inconsistent? Not if he is your number one guy, but as a second-string running back it' a great pick up! He can also return kickoffs, and has the reputation of being a good blocker and pass catcher too. In other words, he adds more to the system than he hurts it by being able to do everything. Even our third string running back is a guy who had great ability in San Diego when he was in shape (under Cam Cameron) and who got out of shape the last couple years, but has shown up back at his old playing weight again. We have three backs who are very good.
7) Mularkey is no longer calling the offensive plays. Cam will be, which will immediately move the ball better. Mularkey's philosophy was for each player to win their one-on-one battles (which our talent level could not do) but Cam says "cook with the ingredients you have" so he will do what we do well, with the players we have, and respect our strengths and weaknesses while exploiting a defense's weaknesses. Seemed to work in San Diego.
SUMMARY:
Did the Dolphins get a Peyton Manning? No. Did they draft the next Jerry Rice? No. Do we have LT at tailback? No.
What we DO have is at LEAST SOMEONE decent at EVERY offensive position of need. That is a TOTAL and overall improvement over last year. We basically just brought in an entire offense in one year, which is incredible given that you have limited resources. It's easy to pick ONE great player with a high pick, but getting a LOT of good players is what is difficult. The salary cap, and the way the draft is set up means you must select from a dwindling talent pool.
What impresses me so much about this offseason is that we went into it with no offense and we have done so much at so many positions.
Pair that with a returning top five NFL defense PLUS Porter and this should be a very, very fun season.
I can't wait.
Go PHINS!!!
:tongue:
They created just about a full offensive team out of thin air.
Sure it's not perfect, but let's compare a year ago to today.
One year ago we had an offense that could only move backwards. The only way to prevent this was by punting or turning the ball over. We had no O-line, crappy QB play, a meagre rushing game, and WR's that were running downfield for exercise alone since they never saw any balls. Points? What are those, we've never heard of them.
So what changed...?
1) Move our best O-lineman to LT, the most important anchor on the line. Add a bonafide starter (Samson Satele) to play either LG/C and draft/sign several more interior lineman, of whom at least one (Mormino? Parker?) may win the LG/C job next to Satele. We'll have 2/5 starters on this year's O-line coming from draft talent. That's a huge improvement over last year's line already. Drafting the interior linemen also tell me Cam wants to be able to run well between the tackles, which brings us to #2...
2) Draft a knock-out punch fullback to pave the road for Ronnie Brown. The fullback is underused today but in Cam's system, and with good interior linemen it lets the running back hit the second level with a full head of steam. Ronnie should be a much more effective rusher this year. The rookie will be tutored by former pro-bowl fullback Cory Schlesinger. We should be solid up the middle.
3) With a more solid middle to the O-line, some blindside protection, and a better chance and a decent running game we move to QB. First of all, Daunte has had another offseason to heal and get better and CERTAINLY being more mobile shouldn't make him play worse than last year. He may still not be the answer here, but there is upside there. Also, we acquired a quarterback known for his accuracy, hitting almost 70% of his passes. He is known for his maturity, his leadership, his toughness.. winning big games, playing through injuries, and being called a born-leader. His deep ball is too high for most scouts' liking, but he hits his receivers with those deep balls, oh, and did they mention he was throwing those 70-yard bombs while playing a season on two bad ankles? A lot of power in the throwing motion is generated through the legs, and now that his legs are healthy, I doubt we'll be complaining about this kid's deep ball.
What else do you want in a quarterback?? How about a gym rat and super hard worker who is a dedicated film room guy. He is a student of the game who obsesses about learning his playbook, watching game film, and studying his opponents. He comes from the geeky Peyton Manning school of quarterbacking, which seems to help QB's develop quickly. Not a bad pick up for a second round guy. Many teams had him rated close to Brady Quinn. Is he a Peyton Manning? No. But we did not have the #1 pick in the draft and NO ONE this year was a Peyton Manning. He'll move the ball. He'll score points. He'll WIN. Just like Drew Brees does.
Still not sure? Then trust Cam Cameron and Randy Mueller's expertise.
Randy was the guy who drafted Marc Bulger in the 6th round, and had Jake Delhomme, Jeff Blake, Aaron Brooks, and Mark Bulger all in Saints camp at once. That's not too bad. Oh, and Cam? Well, he developed Jim Harbaugh, Elvis Grbac, is credited with guiding quarterback Gus Frerotte to his only Pro Bowl appearance, developed Trent Green, Drew Brees and Philip Rivers. In fact, our new QB coach (Terry Shea) is the guy who helped Brady Quinn prepare for the draft. if HE is the one giving the Phins advice and they passed on Quinn, I have to believe he knows the inside scoop!
I think Beck will be fine.
4) How about adding some sort of deep threat? Someone who could stretch the field. An explosive player who is a threat to score every single time he touches the ball. Imagine him lining up opposite Chris Chambers. Who does the safety worry about? Sure Ted Ginn will need time to be a GREAT receiver, but he is already a much better receiver than most return men. Oh, that's right, he will also be our home-run threat on kickoff and punt returns... when he isn't breaking one for TD it'll be because they are playing him safe and giving us better field position to start every drive. But I don't want to overlook his impact at receiver... his mere presence, and using him for a few deep flys, posts, WR screens will really keep that defense opened up. Add that to a hard inside running game and an accurate QB and it sounds like a nice offense. Derek Hagan, entering his second year, should also be over his nervous rookie dropsies and a good slot receiver for us.
5) We acquired a tight end with some speed and good hands to use all that open space in the middle created by our speedy wideouts. Is he a great tight end? No. Is he good? Good enough to be a problem for defenses. Not a great blocker, which is why it was important that we improved the line, picked up a blocking fullback for when we need max pass protection. With better blocking, the tight end can be used in pass patterns more, and Martin will be.
6) How about bringing in a running back with electric big-play ability but who is a bit inconsistent? Not if he is your number one guy, but as a second-string running back it' a great pick up! He can also return kickoffs, and has the reputation of being a good blocker and pass catcher too. In other words, he adds more to the system than he hurts it by being able to do everything. Even our third string running back is a guy who had great ability in San Diego when he was in shape (under Cam Cameron) and who got out of shape the last couple years, but has shown up back at his old playing weight again. We have three backs who are very good.
7) Mularkey is no longer calling the offensive plays. Cam will be, which will immediately move the ball better. Mularkey's philosophy was for each player to win their one-on-one battles (which our talent level could not do) but Cam says "cook with the ingredients you have" so he will do what we do well, with the players we have, and respect our strengths and weaknesses while exploiting a defense's weaknesses. Seemed to work in San Diego.
SUMMARY:
Did the Dolphins get a Peyton Manning? No. Did they draft the next Jerry Rice? No. Do we have LT at tailback? No.
What we DO have is at LEAST SOMEONE decent at EVERY offensive position of need. That is a TOTAL and overall improvement over last year. We basically just brought in an entire offense in one year, which is incredible given that you have limited resources. It's easy to pick ONE great player with a high pick, but getting a LOT of good players is what is difficult. The salary cap, and the way the draft is set up means you must select from a dwindling talent pool.
What impresses me so much about this offseason is that we went into it with no offense and we have done so much at so many positions.
Pair that with a returning top five NFL defense PLUS Porter and this should be a very, very fun season.
I can't wait.
Go PHINS!!!
:tongue:
