I really can't imagine any scenario where just Ireland is gone after this year. I'd assume they just clean house after next season if that's what it comes to. I don't think Philbin will be 1 and done unless something insane happens.
Even though they don't have equal physical talent and ability, the Gronkowski brothers have similar personalities and work ethics.
Jaguars? Jets? Vikings? Redskins? Bucs? Cowboys (theyre due to bottom out one of these years imo...austins already hurt, bryant is a headache, whitten is hurt...)? Theres a few others like San Diego or Cincinnati I could see easily being terrible and Im not talking about circumstantial cases like QB injury.
That sounds about right. I wouldn't bet any team will have a worse record than the Dolphins. Ireland has us well in the running for the honor of picking #1 overall. So, we can take Barkley and move Tannehill to WR. Upgrade two positions at once.
I think it'll be the Jets or the Bills at that level. Most likely the Jets. I can't see us being worse than 6-7 wins, our schedule is too nice.
Thats it? Not the Bucs? With Greg Schiano looking like the next coming of Dave Wannstedt? Not the Vikings? Looking very raw and severely flawed at some key positions? Not the Jets? With terrible Qb play, a weak WR corps and an aging and turnoverless defense? Not the Redskins? With a rookie QB, a weak OL and poor DB's? Not the Bengals? Well just cause theyre the Bengals and this kind of stuff happens to them? Not the Cowboys? With 2 big nagging injuries already (Austin and Whitten...with Whittens being potentially serious if he gets hit there again), a head case (Dez) and an aging front 7 and pass coverage that was upgraded but by how much? Not the Chargers? With Rivers arm strength declining, a terrible OL, an injury to Mathews and Vincent Brown already and a weaker WR corps then in the past? Any of those teams could easily join the bottom. There are a few others too. Not saying they all will but every year an unexpected team or two bottoms out after a good run. When it goes bad you know it goes bad in a hurry.
Redskins did trade 2 future first round picks and a 2nd round pick for RG3. If Miami is the worst team in the league and Ryan Tannehill does show promise as a starting quarterback, Miami could have 2 top 10 first round picks, 3 top ten 2nd round picks and a two 3rd round picks in 2013 draft. It would be an impressive feat for Ireland to screw up that draft. Think of all of the offensive and defensive linemen he could draft.
I think the Colts are going to be a terrible team. Bucs have more talent on both offense and defense, the Jets still have talent on defense, Redskins have more talent on offense and defense, Bengals were a playoff team last year, Cowboys are still more talented, and the Chargers are still more talented. Colts are a low talent team with a combination of youth and age. They are changing all of their philosophies, with very little talent to back it up.
Considering I do not trust Jeff Ireland to build a team, I do not want him to be the man deciding what to do with $50 million in salary cap space and 5 picks in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd rounds next year. I was not really comfortable with him making the all-important QB choice this off season but that appears to have been a decision that was guided for him by our choice for Head Coach, because that Head Coach in turn offered the Offensive Coordinator and QB Coach and they're as much the reason Ryan Tannehill is here as Ireland's own cautiously optimistic (hence his advice-seeking mission) feelings about Tannehill.
But my point still remains: You can't look at the Colts last season and say "well they lost Garcon and Clark, so they'll be just as bad" (I'd hardly call Jacob Tamme a talent) The most important position on the field is getting a massive upgrade. I can't stress the word massive enough. And we've seen what a massive upgrade or downgrade at QB can do to a team. I don't even have to give examples. It makes the entire team better. It makes the opposing team have to gameplan completely different on both sides of the ball. And with a relatively easy schedule I don't see why Indy can't win 8 games.
I think the colts arent the most talented team but I think luck will solve a lot of their problems though certainly not all of them. The Bucs are having afterthoughts on Josh Freeman being a bigtime QB because hes struggling. The Redskins have talent and an adaptable HC but they play in a very tough division. Talent only takes you so far..the chargers and cowboys have serious flaws and were exposed last year. The Bengals made the playoffs in spite of a terrible 2nd half from Dalton. Depending on which dalton they get they could be really good or terrible.
While Luck solves some of their problems, they aren't going back to a pro bowl type quarterback. Luck should be fine, however they do have a lot of serious holes. More holes than the Redskins, Bengals, Chargers and Cowboys.
I didn't say they'd be just as bad, but I don't expect them to make a huge jump just bc of Luck. Not in the first year. Could they win 8? Sure. Do I think they will? Nope, and those other positions on offense and their D having it's own issues is why.
The biggest travesty from last year, is that that loonie, Irsay was not investigated for tanking the season. Under Caldwell they go 14-2, 10-6, than 2-14 ??? Please...Peyton is a football god, but its a team game. He's one of 22 players on the field. They tanked it, and locked up their next dozen years. I won't be shocked if they win 10+ next season. Irsay gave a code red, and not a soul called him on it. Its a travesty.
Unprofessional my ***. We could sure use some of Desean Jackson's unprofessionalism right about now. Or maybe Mike Wallace's. I think this was a calculated move more so than a knee jerk reaction to Vontae showing up out of shape or pissing off his coaches. Bottom line IMO is that Ireland came to the conclusion that while Vontae is a good player, he isn't in the long term plans for the team b/c its going to take 7-9 million/season to keep him when his contract is up. Sean Smith is in his contract year and by most accounts he's acting like it. Richard Marshall just signed a 5 million/season deal. For cap reasons we were going to lose one of the 3 either way and Vontae basically raised his hand and volunteered to be the one let go. Meanwhile the Colts get him for a two season tryout at a bargain price and in return for a 2nd round pick. A common sense deal for both sides IMO. Reminiscent of the Hanley Ramirez ordeal with the Marlins this season.
I'd really like to see Eric DeCosta in the driver's seat in Miami next year. I believe he could build a contender as fast as anyone.
And doesn't it scare the sh*t out of you that it's probably gonna happen? Maybe not even Ireland can botch 50 mil in cap space and 5 of the first 90 picks in the draft.... Right?
Actually they are saying both as in both the 6th and the 7th. To claim it was both of their 6's (Do they have 2 6's?) the writer would need to have said "And the Colts could lose both their sixth-round pickS (conditionally a part of the Davis trade) and their seventh-round pick (conditionally a part of their trade earlier this month with the Eagles)." Note the capital S.
To be fair it also seems as if some people are finding an excuse for not laying any of the personnel decisions on the coaches.
I think the problem is fans tend to see black or white. Things happened this way or that way. Nothing is that rigid. Either Ireland was a puppet who had his hand held the entire time Parcells was here or he did everything himself, Parcells be damned. Now, either Ireland is Philbin's puppet and is being told what to do, or he did this all himself, Philbin be damned. Am I the only one noticing a trend in these fan's assessments?
It's simple to me. The guy who bears ultimate responsibility is the guy who has the final authority, the guy who engineers the entire personnel decision. You can MAKE things complicated if you want to. But the truth is that ultimately one guy has the stamp of approval to give, and people around him have opinions that are colored by that truth. They express opinions accordingly. Joe Philbin could very well have been neutral on the idea of trading Vontae, but you can't extrapolate from that to say that if Philbin were in charge he would have done that. When you're the one calling the shots, it is a different game.
I think it was pretty obvious that there WERE maturity issues, not maybe a few maturity issues and if his skillset was so elite, why was it that he couldn't keep is starting job, in a less than stellar secondary, thru two different regimes ?? I see a guy that simply doesn't get it yet and Philbin and staff weren't ready to wait him out, because he may or may not ever get it... Now, if he puts his head on straight, he may become what has been envisioned for him since he came out...it just hasn't happened here in his three years...
The only problem with your point is that the pro-Irish folks will say the people around Irish sucked (and they'd have a point since the Tuna and Sparano are gone) and the anti-Irish folks will say the reason he may be successful now is that Philbin is a better influence than Sparano and Parcells. Either way, it's a chicken/egg dilemma. The only thing we know for sure is that the combo of Quitcells/Irish/Sparano failed, as is evidenced by the two being gone and now we have to 'wait' to see how this regime will survive to determine whether the problems were caused by Irish or not...apparently Ross doesn't feel that way... However, he could be wrong...
here's a novel idea. maybe it isn't Philbin or Ireland, maybe they have had many discussions together about Vontae's lack of professionalism and agreed that his long term future here is bleak. Then Ireland takes over in the trade negotiations. not everything has to be polarized.
Colts are a better football team than the Dolphins, I dont like admitting that...but it is what it is.
On offense, I'd agree. On defense, I still think the dolphins will have a better defense than Indy this season.
Yea, he traded a player he drafted just a few short years ago and who was suppose to be a fixture at the CB position for the Dolphins for at least the next decade. Now he has a second round selection, and we all know how great the Dolphins are in drafting players in the second round. He also traded Marshall for two third round draft picks. With the first of these third round picks, he selected Egnew. If this is any example of the type of player he is going to draft when he gives up on players like Marshall and Davis, the Dolphins are in serious trouble.
