Would You Accept A Down Year If......

[rickd13]

Would you except a down year if...... it gets Tannenbalm and Gase fired and we got a top 3 pick and selected a new QB?

Yes where do I sign up

On the Jets website.

 

[Adam Strange]

Well what exactly would you have us do besides accept whatever the hell happens this year?

This team has been awful for about 15 years hasn't been in a conference championship game in 25 years, hasn't been to a Superbowl in over 30 years, and hasn't won one in almost 45 years. The people who are still around are going to accept whatever happens-- even if the team wins 2 games and look like clowns doing it. Everyone else gave up on this team a long time ago.

Is there really anyone here who's going to give up being a Dolphins fan if they add another bad year on top of the mountain of bad years they've already had? What would be the point?

 

[Dolph N.Fan]

Accept a down year? Another one? Why not. We can accept it, get a top pick and talk about how RT just needs support around him and not draft a QB again.

When Tannehill is 37, Miami might finally have competent coaches and players around him.

 

[brumdog44]

In a day and age where every year there seems to be a team that goes from worst in the division to first, every team should have the playoffs as a goal.

 

[royalshank]

Playoffs are the measuring stick for me. Need to make the playoffs.

 

[Awsi Dooger]

I would absolutely accept a down year if it meant we moved on from Ryan Tannehill.

I don't like his resume. I've said that dating prior to when we drafted him. Far too much sucker material, and it has played out that way, actually far beyond my worst nightmares, kind of like the current administration. I don't care about arm strength and stature and accuracy and all of that scouting stuff, the things that lead to so many poor evaluations. I love early brilliance. If the guy hasn't started a college season opener at quarterback until beyond his 23rd birthday then I'd going to comfortably ignore all the outlier examples, and say I don't want him. Much more likely than not, something is wrong...something that can't be fixed and none of the adjustments will account for.

On the other hand, I think there is plenty of reason to believe Adam Gase could be special. A young arrogant points-greedy guy at that job is ideal. Once we had a prodigy quarterback I think most of the promising possessions would work out gloriously, and we wouldn't have to spend day after day and thread after thread debating what we have at the position. I'm reminded of when-you-are-explaining-you-are-losing. Tannehill fans around here explain all year long.

 

[AdamD13]

Accept it or suffer.

I have no expectations Miami will get to the playoffs unless they buy tickets to watch a Pats game.

I expect Miami will be just good enough to get a pick in the 10-13 range, miss out on the opportunity to draft a franchise type QB.

Miami will then draft a non impact player and then we will read in the off-season how Tannehill has really stepped up his leadership for next season and improved hishis understand of the offense.

 

[MiamiDolfan85]

Imo, Gase erased his first season because of the Cutler decision. I thought it was going it be bad, it actually turned out to be horrendous...

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

So I voted "offense needs to be top 10" but only because my real choice wasn't in the poll.

IMHO, Gase proved himself his first year, taking a injury riddled team switching its offensive and defensive schemes dramatically and coached 10 wins out of a season that should have only had about 5 or 6. Last year, he had no QB and failed, going 6-10 with 8-8 talent. But, his specialty is QB's, he joined because we had a QB, and his gamble on Cutler proved to be a bad decision. So, I cut him a little slack … but QB's go down in the NFL, so you need a solution that keeps you above the 6 win threshold.

This year is the year where I evaluate what he has built. He's now got "his guys" and that includes his QB who knows the system and is still in his prime. Every coach has a 3 year plan … this is the year we judge them. I'm hoping and expecting a 10 win year, but realistically we have about a 9 win roster, so if we don't have a winning record, that looks very bad for Gase. But, if we reach double-digit wins, that helps confirm what we saw his first season … that he can coach out more wins than the roster really has in it.

For the Dolphins to be great, yes, we need top talent. But, we also need a great coach, and the jury is still out on whether Gase is a great coach. I think he is … but this is the year he needs to prove it. If he does, he will be able to attract better and better coordinators and position coaches. Bellichick will eventually retire, and Gase may just inherit the division year after year. But, it all starts this season. Let's see what we've got.

Well said, Digital. For me, it really comes down to a couple of things. One, is the offense taking off. That's Gase's specialty and the talent level is at least a little above average on that side of the ball. Secondly, I want to see a more disciplined team. That is a tough one because the team is young, but I want to see some pretty major progress there. Too many opportunities were lost last year by penalties and mistakes.

I can see the offense being above average and the defense being really bad, though. I don't like the look of the front seven, although there could be some surprises. I think there will have to be for at least an 8-8 season.

 

[gofins60]

I'd love to see a "down year" just to force Ross to clean house COMPLETELY (Tannenbaum, Grier, Gase, and most of their Front Office personnel who can't evaluate talent need to go). I chose "other" in the poll because the ONLY way I'd keep the current regime is if they can go at least 11-5 AND win one or two playoff games. Any crappy team can get lucky and sneak into the playoffs as a wild card (Miami-2016), but they usually get knocked right out because they don't belong there. However, IMO there's no way that a Gase-led offense is going to score enough points to overcome the handicap of their pathetic defense and make some noise in the post-season.

I'd be perfectly happy with an anti-perfect 0-16 season. The hiring of Philbin was IMO the worst thing to ever happen to this team. He (and Coyle) ruined a decent defense, and they've never been the same. His short pass dink-and-dunk offense has resulted in slow starts, an inability to consistently sustain drives (couldn't convert 3rd and short if you gave them 3 tries!), a stubborn refusal to establish a STRONG running game, and a completely idiotic tendency to throw a 3 yard (or behind the line of scrimmage) pass on 3rd and long. I remember one Philbin-led game where due to a penalty Miami had 8 plays from just inside the 10 yard line. They threw 8 passes, and turned the ball over on downs. That was Philbin-style football at its finest, and IMO Gase is just another Philbin clone... the only difference is that Gase is more animated on the sideline. I've watched 6 years of the same offensive philosophy that has usually resulted in far too many 3rd and longs and 2 or 3 score deficits at half-time.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

A top-10 offense, please! The slow grinding games take a toll.

That's what I'm thinking. Obviously I'd love a playoff run. I think that's possible, but I believe the offense will have to be top 10 for that to happen. I don't see a lot of talent on defense, but I do think the secondary could be a strength. Love Howard and the Fitzpatrick draft pick.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

Would you except a down year if...... it gets Tannenbalm and Gase fired and we got a top 3 pick and selected a new QB?

Yes where do I sign up

What if Miami has a down year, but Tannehill and the offense are top 10? I see that as a possibility. There could be some nice defensive pieces in the draft and that's where it looks like the team could be weak. Hopefully I'm wrong and there are some nice surprises. Maybe Harris starts to become the pass rusher many expected, maybe the defensive tackles are better than expected etc.

 

[Digital]

Well said, Digital. For me, it really comes down to a couple of things. One, is the offense taking off. That's Gase's specialty and the talent level is at least a little above average on that side of the ball. Secondly, I want to see a more disciplined team. That is a tough one because the team is young, but I want to see some pretty major progress there. Too many opportunities were lost last year by penalties and mistakes.

I can see the offense being above average and the defense being really bad, though. I don't like the look of the front seven, although there could be some surprises. I think there will have to be for at least an 8-8 season.

Well if we consider that we're typically playing the nickel most of the time these days, it's only a front 6, and our back 5 is pretty solid, so that helps. With Reshad Jones at SS, Minkah Fitzpatrick at FS, Xavien Howard at CB1, and Bobby McCain at Nickel, that's 4 of the back 5 we're feeling pretty darn good about.

Then with Quinn and Wake on the edges, we actually have two good edge rushers. That's a solid group and key positions we are strong at talent-wise. While I wholeheartedly agree with you about our weakness at DT, and our hit and miss nature of our LB's … there's still enough talent surrounding them to make this a decent defense. We just have to hope that we stay healthy and that the rest of that front 6 can be solid role players. Fingers crossed.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

I would absolutely accept a down year if it meant we moved on from Ryan Tannehill.

I don't like his resume. I've said that dating prior to when we drafted him. Far too much sucker material, and it has played out that way, actually far beyond my worst nightmares, kind of like the current administration. I don't care about arm strength and stature and accuracy and all of that scouting stuff, the things that lead to so many poor evaluations. I love early brilliance. If the guy hasn't started a college season opener at quarterback until beyond his 23rd birthday then I'd going to comfortably ignore all the outlier examples, and say I don't want him. Much more likely than not, something is wrong...something that can't be fixed and none of the adjustments will account for.

On the other hand, I think there is plenty of reason to believe Adam Gase could be special. A young arrogant points-greedy guy at that job is ideal. Once we had a prodigy quarterback I think most of the promising possessions would work out gloriously, and we wouldn't have to spend day after day and thread after thread debating what we have at the position. I'm reminded of when-you-are-explaining-you-are-losing. Tannehill fans around here explain all year long.

It is an interesting point. I accept that Tannehill is mid-level quarterback with maybe a year or two where he could reach top 10 depending on the talent around him. But, here's the question. Miami picked #11 last year. The team was in a prime position to trade up a few spots if they wanted a quarterback.

Do you think Miami didn't like the quarterbacks other than maybe the top two or three, or do you think Gase and company think they can win with Tannehill? I mean this very respectfully BTW. It's a question I've asked myself as well because I really expected a quarterback there. Love the Fitzpatrick pick, though, so it really isn't even about him.

 

[Blake the great]

Taking major steps means playoffs. Playoffs or bust.