Zim’s Grades For The Game: Preseason Game 1 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Zim’s Grades For The Game: Preseason Game 1

DZimmer000

DZimmer000

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Well….Football is back! That’s the good news….. The OL….That’s the bad news. These grades are based on the people who played in this game. Not on the potential of the guys that sat.

QB’s - B - : Tua looked VERY good behind a bad OL. The interception was a bad decision. Questioning his arm strength shows me you know nothing about football. Brisett looked good and had a great TD throw. Sinnet is PS material at best.

RB’s - C : Brown is slow and has limited vision in this game. Everyone else was as good as they could be behind what I consider a PUTRID OL.

TE’s - D + : Gesicki with a nice long catch. Other than that they were quiet. The run blocking from this group is a problem though.

WR’s - D : I didn’t see any separation from our receivers….. Just like last year. Tua had to fit throws in to tight windows. No throws to Waddle at all. Not an impressive game by any means by our receiving squad. We need to get guys healthy here.

OL - F - : Wow. This unit is just BAD. My thoughts right now are that this unit has regressed. We might actually be worse off than last year. Austin Jackson has shown ZERO improvement. That’s concerning. Jessie Davis should seriously consider retiring before he gets someone killed. I saw Kindly move a couple people….But he got worked in pass pro a few times. This is past the point of concerning. If you’re a Dolphin fan…. you should be scared right now.

DL - B - : The starters were good/great. Very nice effort here. I like Ledbetter. He flashed. Potentially a VERY good unit based on today. They dropped a letter grade because the 3rd stringers got no push and gave up some long runs.

LB’s - B - : Not a bad game at all. I’m looking for a big year out of Baker this year. I liked his game today. McKinney is a thumper.

DB’s - A - : Nik Needham played great. Noah made one play then got burned on another. BUT….At least he made a play. I actually see a little progress out of him. This is an ELITE unit in the NFL. Period.

ST’s - A : Waddle is fast. He’s gonna be dangerous. Jakeem Grant looked good. Sanders was perfect. Palardy is an upgrade over Haack. Good coverage today as well.

Coaching - B : It’s preseason.

GM/Front Office - F : I have been critical of Grier for a long time. What bothers me is that It’s turning out that it’s justified. As of this writing, Austin Jackson and Noah Igbo are wasted picks. That is really frustrating. The OL is, as of now, worse than last year. Malcolm Brown looks like a waste of money. Need I go on? Either we need to fire every one of our scouts, or we have to start thinking about replacing Grier. I know there are a lot of people that are going to say that I’m over-reacting. If that’s your take…..Tell me when it’s OK to call Grier out. I’ll be waiting.
 
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I think the Dolphins win this game with first team all the way. The Miami D shut down the Chicago offense and Miami was able to move on offense down the field, but it is worrying that the Bears kept leaking in behind the line and forcing Tua to make hurried throws. I hope that the Bears defense is actually really good, rather than the Dolphins O-Line is really bad, which I fear it is.
 
Those long runs by Chicago in the 2nd half, when the RB slipped through the DL, I thought the Miami LB's were nowhere to be found to clean that up. But I do agree I thought Ledbetter, as well as Strowbridge flashed. Miami is deep in the secondary and just might be as deep along the DLINE?
 
QB: B+: Didn't like the one INT throw from Tua, but he looked a lot more comfortable overall than last season. Brisset looked well enough, and I don't care about Sinnett because if your 3rd string QB is relevant you're most likely screwed to begin with.

RB: C: Gaskin looked fine when he had a hole, Brown had no holes to run through, I thought everyone basically didn't have much to work with to begin with so its tough to be too critical.

TE: C Though they didn't do much consistently, Shaheen was open early in his route for a potential TD and Mike had our biggest play. They blocked no better or worse than expected.

OL: C+: They only get a C+ because I expected the Bears overall talent on the defensive line to make us look entirely incompetent. The run blocking wasn't there, but they gave Tua enough time on average against a strong front without any real gameplanning.

WR: D+: Hollins looked good, our main guys weren't out there. I wouldn't expect that unit to shine. These were all the guys fighting for a roster spot playing with the starting unit.

DL: B: Did their job and kept the Bears offense from moving the ball. Weighting this one towards the guys I actually expect to play this year in the rotation.

LB: B: Solid most of the game but unspectacular.

DB: A: Considering the fact that our main guys didn't play I thought they did an excellent job early on and deserve some credit.

Special Teams: A: Positives every time the unit saw the field, including some impressive kickoff coverage.

Coaching: N/A
 
I thought the WR unit looked good. Hollins and Bowden did a good job. Perry did all right. Perhaps none of them will be on the team, but those three played well. I'd give the WRs a B-.
 
Rafiki said:
I thought the WR unit looked good. Hollins and Bowden did a good job. Perry did all right. Perhaps none of them will be on the team, but those three played well. I'd give the WRs a B-.
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Hollins is a classic tweener type WR. I think he makes the team over Foster.
 
Sirspud said:
If Foster makes the roster it will be because of ST. You definitely don't make the team if you're a middling receiver prospect and you drop your only pass.
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He still should have caught it probably, but he was interfered with on the play in just about every way imaginable. There was defensive holding and pass interference separately by the same defender on the play.
 
GhostArmOfMarino said:
He still should have caught it probably, but he was interfered with on the play in just about every way imaginable. There was defensive holding and pass interference separately by the same defender on the play.
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Foster plunged his body into the defender and drove him ten yards downfield before turning around...back in my day that was clear OPI but I know the NFL hates impeding offenses anymore, especially when teams make receivers contacting and moving defenders basically an every play occurrence.
 
Sirspud said:
Foster plunged his body into the defender and drove him ten yards downfield before turning around...back in my day that was clear OPI but I know the NFL hates impeding offenses anymore, especially when teams make receivers contacting and moving defenders basically an every play occurrence.
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Id need to watch the play again before I said that didn't happen to be quite honest, so I'll just say from what I saw it seemed the defender initiated most of the contact but like I said at the start I'd need to rewatch it.

A WR has the right to the space, so to speak. As far as I saw Foster never used his hands to push or create separation, just free himself from the illegal contact downfield.
 
Haven't seen the game yet, but appreciate the write up.

Not good to hear about the offensive line being horrible. Obviously, still early but maybe truth to Miami looking for an offensive tackle.
 
GhostArmOfMarino said:
Id need to watch the play again before I said that didn't happen to be quite honest, so I'll just say from what I saw it seemed the defender initiated most of the contact but like I said at the start I'd need to rewatch it.

A WR has the right to the space, so to speak. As far as I saw Foster never used his hands to push or create separation, just free himself from the illegal contact downfield.
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Foster definitely initiated the contact and plunged his shoulder into him, and its possible that he and the defender were engaged for longer than they should be (making it appear like DPI) which is why they sometimes just do a no-call. But maybe its because I hate the Patriots so much, I don't care whose jersey a receiver is wearing, if I see the receiver just driving into a defender, I'm definitely not pining for a defensive penalty. Give the defenders a chance.
 
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