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Miami Dolphins running back Daniel Thomas is a star in the making.

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Sceeto, Aug 23, 2011.

  1. Sceeto

    Sceeto Well-Known Member

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    http://www.examiner.com/miami-dolph...nning-back-daniel-thomas-is-a-star-the-making

    The title may be jumping the gun just a bit, but it would be nice.

    The bold part is what I love to hear. At first I was worried a bit about this kid. When I watched more tape on him(our UD guys made a good video on him), I saw that he was, obviously, a versatile player and had good vision and was good at choosing his lanes and slashing, etc, but what really concerned me was his ability to run with power and push the pile. You didn't see a lot of that with him. He seemed to run upright and wasn't able to churn his legs enough to push the pile. At the time, I didn't think he was near what R&R could do in that dept. Then when I saw the his first action in the first preseason game, my concerns were certainly not alleviated. He did exactly what I saw on tape. He was running smack into the pile and not getting any push. He started off in the last game the same way, but then the lights went on and he started running the right way in certain situations with more power and was getting some tough yardage. That was great to see. I figured that's also probably something which can be taught. I would think, if he has a lot of the natural abilities, that a good RB coach can teach him to run low a times and keep his legs driving. From the quote. it appeared that's just what happened and that's great. Now, I think he can be solid. Granted, it was against the Panthers, but you could tell he was taught to run in a different manner at times and I think that was great and very important for him. We'll see how it continues, but we do need him, at times, to be more of a power back and get those tough yards. It was very encouraging to see how he progressed in that game and I really think we will see his progression continue. What's funny is that when I watched a lot more tape, I was so impressed with his natural abilities as a receiver. He caught the ball effortlessly and made some good YAC and in that first game, he made a sweet catch and run on that swing pass. That was great, but I wanted to see more power running from him and we did. When he first was at the goal line and was running right into the pile and getting no push, I was like: "see, just like on tape", but as I previously mentioned, I think that's something which can be coached up and it apparently is being done so. Let's hope it continues. :up:
     
  2. Pandarilla

    Pandarilla Purist Emeritus

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    He should lose the feauxhawk and go full on Gumby...
     
  3. Boik14

    Boik14 Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I would like to believe the article but I havent seen that kind of play from him yet that I would hail him a star in the making. Hes really only had 4-5 good runs all preseason. Hes got to run with a better pad level and keep the ball in better position.
     
  4. Larryfinfan

    Larryfinfan 17-0...Priceless Club Member

    "A star in the making" might be a little premature. We really haven't seen that from him just yet. That's not to say that he doesn't have it in him. We'll just have to wait and see. Anyway you look at it, it going to be fun to watch. LJ is considered one of the backs he looks up to, so there may be a method to their madness.
     
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  5. Alex13

    Alex13 Tua Time !!! Club Member

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    what is this about the lack of power thing everyone is talking about, when there was a lane he dragged defenders with him all game last friday
     
  6. Itsdahumidity

    Itsdahumidity X gonna take it from ya

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    This is the first thing I noticed about him. His carrying arm moves way too much. There's no calmness to his running style in that regard. IMO he'll be a fumbling machine.
     
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  7. NaboCane

    NaboCane Banned

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    :lol: That headline.

    It's not that we wouldn't love it if it did happen, but in the body of that article there isn't even a hint of what that headline portends. It's like the article was walking down the street, minding its own business, and somebody dropped that headline on it from a high window.

    Nice article, though.
     
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  8. Bpk

    Bpk Premium Member Luxury Box

    Well. Not much to discuss here. It's a feel-good, hopeful piece but most of us agree it's not something we agree with.

    And we're Miami fans.
     
  9. NaboCane

    NaboCane Banned

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    It's not that I don't agree, necessarily; it's that the article itself says:
    ...which is all fine, it's just a nice article.

    But it's that headline that just doesn't jive with anything at all about the content; that's what's funny to me.

    It's like a professional journalist wrote the decidedly understated article, but right before publication DJ stuck the headline on.

    :wink2: You know I love you, Doug.
     
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  10. Nappy Roots

    Nappy Roots Well-Known Member

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    LMAO...one article proclaims Thomas' greatness, the other talks about how disappointing hes been...
     
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  11. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    SMH.

    I did a radio appearance for FINS Radio with Jesse Agler, and Jeff Darlington and Troy Stadford were guest co-hosting. They wanted me on to talk about Pat Devlin and Nic Grigsby. I talked about Grigsby's pad level and how it wasn't great in college and the coaches will try and get him to lower his pads a little, which interestingly enough they'll already be working on with Daniel Thomas. Afterward, when my call was done, I popped a listen to hear their reactions to my reports. Darlington started ripping into my assessment of Devlin's arm strength as being below average for an NFL starter, and then Troy Stradford started ripping into my assessment that the coaches would try and coach Grigsby and/or Thomas to lower their pads, saying that's like asking a person to change how they walk or how they carry themselves, they are who they are and pad level isn't changing.

    I see the coaches don't agree with Troy.

    [/bone to pick]
     
  12. Bpk

    Bpk Premium Member Luxury Box


    Lol, hey instead of just cutting on me tell me what YOU think of the kid. Seriously. When you see him do you think he looks like a star?

    I watched his college film. So it's not like I've only seen 12 carries by the guy. lol.

    Some players jump out at me, some don't. I don't get excited and say "This kid's gonna be a star!" when I see this guy.

    Last runningbacks I was excited about were MJD and Jerious Norwood.

    Hey one outta two ain't bad. lol.

    I still see Thomas in the same group as the Rashad Jennings and Jonathon Dwyers of the world.

    And, before you ask, no I do not believe they are stars in the making. And yes, I have seen them play more than two pre-season games.
     
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  13. Bpk

    Bpk Premium Member Luxury Box

    Wish they'd have that discussion with you 'to your face' on the air. It would be better radio, plus be a healthy debate, rather than disagreeing once you've left the building. lol.

    Anyways, they may have poorly communicated that what they really think is that though the coaches may TRY to change the guys pad level, that the coaches won't be able to change his pad level. That it's too ingrained.

    Not that it isn't true that he'll be coached to do so. Just that he'll FAIL to do so.
     
  14. texanphinatic

    texanphinatic Senior Member

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    It might actually be the case. Many editors will use their own headlines on a journalists work to grab eyes. They like to sensationalize or blow things up more than the article may be about.
     
  15. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    The impression I got from having listened was that Stradford just thought that I was off base period in my saying that the coaches would try and get Grigsby and Thomas to work on their pad level. And Armando's pal Jeff Darlington made himself pretty clear that he doubted my assessment about Devlin's arm strength period, because he read a quote from Mike Mayock.
     
  16. Dol-Fan Dupree

    Dol-Fan Dupree Tank? Who is Tank? I am Guy Incognito.

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    Shouldn't that be #bonetopick?
     
  17. Bpk

    Bpk Premium Member Luxury Box

    Feel bad for the journalist, in that case. Makes it look like they titled their article douchily misleadingly. lol.
     
  18. Bpk

    Bpk Premium Member Luxury Box

    I have to say, I'd read a bit about Devlin's arm and watched some college stuff and here's what confuses me. Sometimes he seems to have velocity over the middle and I'm like, oh, he has enough zip to play at the next level! and then sometimes it looked like a 'college arm'. My only guess is that he is a guy who has to use his feet and legs properly to get that zip out of his arm, which is why he is capable of it, but it's not consistently displayed.
     
  19. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Are you trying to get me to limit my message board posts to 140 characters? :shifty:
     
  20. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    He doesn't have a natural big arm. He's got to have his foot mechanics and posture just right to get good zip on the ball, which is a way of saying he needs a clean pocket to do his best damage and tends to wilt under pressure. The ball comes out inconsistently off his hand.
     
  21. Bpk

    Bpk Premium Member Luxury Box

    I don;t like asking this question, but I will: are there any NFL QB's (current or former) he reminds you of?


    (and to stay on thread: Good luck Daniel Thomas!)
     
  22. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    I compared him to a Marc Bulger, if he can become a little more fearless under pressure, and can sharpen his anticipation and reading of defense to the level Bulger had going in St. Louis.

    I think T.J. Yates is currently and will be a lot better of a quarterback.
     
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  23. Sceeto

    Sceeto Well-Known Member

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    Totally CK. Thanks bro. I think some are really focusing way too much on the thread title. I already mentioned in the OP that they were, obviously, jumping the gun a bit with that title, but big deal. That's besides the point. The point is really what I mentioned about him being taught to run with a different style at times to get more power. By what he mentioned in the article and what you kind of confirm here is the point and that's cool to hear. I think RB, as others, is a position where certain subtleties and changes can be coached up. It's good to see that's what they were doing and I think it was obvious. At the beginning of the last game, he started out kind of the same way as the first game, but you could see there was an obvious change in the way he started running and it was effective. It just appeared to me that he was being coached up or instructed to run in a different style with better power. That's understandable and it was great that they did so.
     
  24. Sceeto

    Sceeto Well-Known Member

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    ...and that's the point B. I agree with you, but it did appear that, during the last game, he was being instructed to run with a better pad level, etc, and this is a bit of a confirmation of that and he was certainly more effective and ran in a different manner as the game went on.
     
  25. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Yeah I mean the very first thing that came to my mind when Troy Stradford started saying pad level never chances was, "Then how come I see it improve in college players all the time?"

    Daniel Thomas is one of the example of guys whose pad level improved in college. He was better with it in 2010 than 2009, visibly. So, they'll keep trying with him and keep coaching him, and see what happens. I think he's got upside. But I've always maintained that he's so raw in his transition from being a wildcat QB to a real tailback, that it's folly to expect him to be a big time contributor this year.
     
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  26. Nappy Roots

    Nappy Roots Well-Known Member

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    I still wish we could have got Yates.
     
  27. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    Yeah that's the baffling thing about this Draft. OK, you're not sold on any of the 1st round guys. But no developmental guy? No guy that you just have this nagging feeling is a heck of a lot better than people think? Even Ryan Mallett at the very tail end of the 2nd round would have qualified as that. But T.J. Yates would have as well.

    The Patriots have drafted more QBs from 2002 to present than the Dolphins have, and they've had Tom Brady that whole time while we've had crap.
     
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  28. Nappy Roots

    Nappy Roots Well-Known Member

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    Ron Wolf said once that you should draft a QB every year.....Seems like the successful way to do it.
     
  29. NaboCane

    NaboCane Banned

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    Exactly.

    The Pats drafted Brady when they still had Beldsoe playing pretty well, IIRC.

    That's worked out okay.
     
  30. Bpk

    Bpk Premium Member Luxury Box

    I was hoping they'd take Ricky Stanzi this year. Agree that getting one every year's not a bad idea. Every other year at the least.

    Of course... there WAS Pat White.

    (ducks)
     
  31. Fineas

    Fineas Club Member Luxury Box

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    Not really.

    Wolf himself didn't draft a QB every year. He had several years in GB in which they didn't draft a QB. None of the QBs he did draft ever really helped the Packers on the field. A lot of that had to do with Favre and his durability, but the point is that those guys didn't make the Packer team better on the field. Several were just late round wash-outs. A lot is made of the guys they were able to trade, but they didn't get all that much for them either. Brunell was a 5th round pick who netted them a 3rd and a 5th round pick two years later. So they got some trade value out of him, but not all that much. Aaron Brooks was a 4th round pick who got traded with another player for a 3rd rounder and a player the following year. I think the exchange of other players was pretty much considered a wash, so Brooks basically netted the Packers the difference between a 3rd and 4th rounder after a year. Considering that teams often trade a pick that is a round higher in the next year's draft for a pick now, that isn't much. Hasselbeck was a 6th rounder in 1998. Three years later the Packers traded Hasselbeck plus the 17th pick of the draft and a 7th rounder for the 10th pick and a 3rd rounder, so Hasselbeck was basically worth a 3rd rounder plus 7 spots in the middle of the first round. Again, that's some value, but not a ton of it considering that Hasselbeck took up a roster spot and gave them nothing for 3 years.
     
  32. schmolioot

    schmolioot Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Nothing?

    How about being a good backup QB who then got you a nice draft pcik?
     
  33. Nappy Roots

    Nappy Roots Well-Known Member

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    LOL. See, to me, you just tried to argue against it and instead explained exactly why it is valuable to select QBs in the draft.
     
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  34. djphinfan

    djphinfan Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    lol..listen here Nabo, when I project a player, or what my team can and won't do, I pride myself on accuracy, and I'll would let my record do the talking on player evaluation..

    I have had discussions with his coach in college though, and reported them here, cause that's how I do..

    Luv u too u bastard..
     
  35. Killerphins

    Killerphins The Finger

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    Who knows if DT becomes a star. Maybe we get Jabbar early career production or he goes elsewhere and turns into Priest Holmes later.
    Maybe he flops like John Avery. :wink2:
    Thomas is taking a little bit of heat too early here IMO and two preseason games is a real small sample size.
    Ronnie Brown was considered a star RB in Miami. Mostly annointed by the fan base and he was a decent back..... Sometimes good but not great.
    It was totally a fluff title but it depends on what level folks consider "Star" status.
     
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  36. Starry31

    Starry31 Phins and Heels.

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    All aboard the "Trade for Yates Bandwagon"? Too early? Had a nice pass on the almost TD first game and second game... well, he executed the QB kneel down pretty well imo.
     
  37. BigJP

    BigJP New Member

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    Didnt seem to be the fastest guy in the world, he also had a little less power than I expected. Although seemed to patient and have good vision, I'm rooting for him
     
  38. ckparrothead

    ckparrothead Draft Forum Moderator Luxury Box

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    I really liked what he did in that first game. He threw the TD pass that won the game. I thought it was a TD personally, dunno why the replay officials didn't think so, but it doesn't matter because it was a hell of a pass, back shoulder placement and everything...put it where only the receiver was going to get it.

    What I liked about his game was that some other passes he missed, they were not easy passes and he only just missed them, as if the chemistry just wasn't quite there yet, but with the promise of it being there. Maybe this is a result of the Chad Henne experience but I'm coming to appreciate a lot more quarterbacks that throw the ball to receivers that aren't facing the quarterback. It takes touch and ball placement to do that. But aside from that Yates showed the things I always loved...the near perfect mechanics and fundamentals, quick feet setting up in the pocket, good decision-making and super quick release.

    Jon Gruden criticized one play where he said Yates could have thrown the deep vertical but he instead chose the check down. But you know what? That check down was timed and placed perfectly to where Lawrence Vickers gained 22 yards easily. On the other hand, looking at the overhead, it seemed to me that any deep vertical he threw could have been challenged by the safety in the area, and if it was underthrown then it could have been challenged by the corner too. I agree that he could have been aggressive and thrown the deep ball there but it wouldn't have been the most correct choice. The most correct choice was exactly what he did...gained 22 yards to the underneath guy once the vertical guy had cleared the defenders out.

    You don't have to worry about Yates not taking the deep ball when it's given to him. That was a specialty at North Carolina. He throws a great deep vertical, as evidenced by that 27 yard game winning pass to Lestar Jean. Yates was a star 3-point shooter in basketball. He brings that to the football field when he's throwing deeper passes.

    Honestly...he's already better than Matt Leinart and I feel like he's going to be a starter one day. Even his weakness against pressure, he seemed like he's already improved that to manageable levels. 2 of his 6 incomplete balls were throwaways where he sensed the pressure pretty early, in time to run out of the tackle box and throw the ball away.

    That was one of the most impressive rookie QB perfromances I've seen this preseason. Ponder had a good one in his first week, too...and Mallett of course had a good one in his first week.
     
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