Hmm, this is not confidence inspiring, to keep it clean, apparently James Harrison's career means nothing to the stumble asses that are currently running the dolphins. I'm one of the few Irish fans, if this is their thought process/decision making process, may fall off of that bandwagon. Do not mind a view to the bottom line, do mind the myopicy/excuse making, pay the man morons.
Considering his history, I don't have a problem with them pushing him like this. This is always a concern with any NFL team.
I'm neutral on the issue of whether to pay Cam Wake now or later. There are age considerations there, I can totally understand letting him perform another year and then heck if you need to slap the franchise tag on him in 2012, you can do that too. But I would note that what Omar Kelly is saying that the Dolphins are concerned with is like word for word what I've been saying about Cam Wake and the need to find another pass rusher. It should surprise nobody. Wake had a breakout year, a career type year. He'll start seeing a lot more respect in the game plans. Someone, somewhere will try and turn this into me saying that people later in the schedule didn't know who Cameron Wake was. Of course they knew who he was. But that doesn't mean they had enough respect for him that they started changing around their game plans (i.e. sacrificing certain things) in order to account for him. He's more likely to see that kind of respect now and most pass rushers have a difficult time dealing with the increased attention that comes from that kind of notoriety. Jason Taylor went through it. Jared Allen went through it. All the good pass rushers go through it. But if the chips and extra attention start hurting Wake's PRODUCTION (i.e. they're shutting him down) then someone needs to win the one-on-one on the other side. Can Koa Misi do that against NFL Left Tackles consistently enough to make offenses pay? Valid question. And what happens if one of them gets hurt? That's why I think they need to be looking for an Antwan Barnes, someone like that.
I don't view another pass rusher as that big of a need. The fact is, there really aren't many teams with one good pass-rusher, nevertheless two. But in our case, I think Randy Starks, Koa Misi, and Odrick can be enough to take advantage of the attention Wake gets.
This is why i listed another pass rusher as 1A to QB at draft time. Wake cant do it all alone and you have to have someone else in case he plateau's. But its done. We will have to try and find one in FA, whenever that is
Miami is not trying to be just another team or just another defense. They were good in 2010 and want the defense to take the step up into elite category. And if they don't then they are almost surely doomed to another losing record, another regime change which comes with yet another bloodletting on the roster, another rebuild, etc.
But if you need immediate help at pass rush, the question is, can a rookie really be counted on to provide that? I think no. Miami's need at pass rusher is not necessarily a long term need, like you see with teams that are just terrible in pass rush and need to build it up from scratch. For them, it makes sense to draft a pass rusher high. Miami's problem is a time gap. Wake is a good player but he could drop off a little while he figures out how to deal with doubles and chips, etc. Misi we hope WILL be a good pass rusher but he still needs a little more time to figure how to translate his high energy approach into technique and effectiveness. What we need is immediate relief to help us bridge the gap to a future where Wake and Misi will be a more reliable duo.
They should be so lucky as to have a guy "plateau" at 14 sacks a year. Of course teams are going to account for Wake more this year. I think Misi will improve, and somebody on the line needs to step up and make them pay when they do double Cam.
Yeah, I don't know that his "plateau" at this point is really all that problematic, as much as it is realistic. If he plays like he did this year for a significant number of years, I don't know that it's a huge disappointment. I think it's possible that the Dolphins are in a position to spend big money on a FA pass rusher. It's not the biggest need, but there are young, high quality players on the market, and that's not true so much at other positions besides maybe Ahmad Bradshaw. Ray Edwards is so prototypical strongside linebacker it ain't funny.
If Wake gets hurt, everyone would be real happy about the decision to bring in another pass rusher. It will never happen, but even JT in a situational role would be a good insurance policy.
