Setting the edge was clearly an issue for him as a rookie, so I understand the weight gain. Dion himself is the one who messed it up with whatever it is he took that got him suspended. As far as his overall game, what exactly do we know has been taken away? You said his drop looked smooth, so I'm guessing the weight gain hasn't affected that aspect. The answer is nothing at this point; you can't make that proper judgement off a preseason game and call it a fair one.
I feel very confident you and I could name all the things Dion does very very well.. I'm worried that the coaches are not going to allow him to use his strengths, the weight gain is a bad sign..the comments from Coyle about him insistent in playing DEnd, your right about it's only one preseason game and Coyle might be deceiving all of us, but I'm worried that were simply not going to use the obvious strengths of the player.. I'm probably being paranoid, nobody could be that stupid.
I have a feeling that 3 months from now, people on this board won't want to trade Jordan for almost anyone in the league.
i really don't think it was clearly an issue at all, especially someone playing with one arm and no offseason strengthening, when normal Dion Jordan is not weak..he's a very strong dude.
Not in 10, 000 years. Even if Jordan is a bust, his potential impact is far far greater than Boone. Not to mention Boone doesn't fit our system.
I disagree that he shined. More like he started strong and puttered out a little bit. However the interpretation, though, it's still completely useless non-data.
What system?? You mean our system that is called," really bad run blocking." Well, you are absolutely right then. Boone, being an elite run blocking RG would definitely not fit in with the Dolphins line.
Why don't people just accept that the most logical answer is probably the right one. The dude was a 3-4 OLB in college. He came to Miami where they've been trying to make him a 4-3 DE and it's not been working out thus far. I'm sure he'll get better, but there's probably good reason to believe he'll never be #3 overall worthy if he keeps on this way. This is why when the Eagles made an offer for the guy I thought it made a lot of sense. It would give him the chance to play in a system for which he's suited, and Miami could get some compensation out of the deal. Then again by next year we could have a whole new set of coaches and they may run a system that allows Dion Jordan to be used correctly, so who knows.
Speaking of Brandon Graham, guy only rushed the passer 9 times this last preseason game yet had 2 hits on the quarterback and 2 more hurries. Dude is an effing machine. Continues to be underrated as a pure pass rusher.
The lack of recognition for Graham is surprising. He was my choice for our first pick during that draft. I think it was you, deej and I who liked him a lot. As for DJ, I don't get why a team trades up to get a player and then tries the whole "square peg in a round hole" thing. I know it happens a lot, but especially with a player like DJ, you're getting away from what it was which attracted you to him in the first place.
Good point. There are several reasons their stubbornness in this area infuriates me, this is just one of the big ones. Where is the next Dick Lebeau when you need him?
Please tell me then why a converted college tackle with little to almost no experience actually playing RG is a better scheme fit than one of the most successful RG's in the NFL? BTW, Boone was always plenty athletic and he got his weight and body fat ratio right a few years ago. He would not be a liability in our zone scheme. Oh, and he can backup LT if need be. He handled that assignment quite well when Staley was out a couple games. The scheme fit crap is a bogus line. The issue isn't Boones ability to improve the Dolphins. The issue is just compensation for Jordan and do you really see Jordan flourishing as a Dolphin in a base 4-3. However, like CK wrote, schemes do change, but as long as these coaches remain, I don't see it happening.
I might be game for graham, but would ask for more for Jordan. Don't want to undervalue him just because he doesn't fit.
Personally, I see Jordan as a high ceiling player at a high impact position. Even if he doesn't ever reach that ceiling and is just an average player at a high impact position (whether b/c he doesn't develop or b/c he's never used correctly), I would likely never consider trading that for a G unless it was a HOF potential G. I just don't believe that it's smart to trade high impact positions for low impact positions unless there's reason to believe that the guy at the low impact position will have an out-sized impact due to how dominant he is. G is such a low impact position that he'd have to be an absolute beast to justify a high salary there.
I'm not sure that's the most logical one at this point in time. The most logical answer could very well be that he was a raw kid playing a new position as a rookie, and was undersized and did not get a chance to really bulk up because of a shoulder injury. Now that he's bulked up and has a better feel for the position, he could very well live up to his draft slot. He has supposedly been having a great camp. I'm not saying he will definitely live up to his draft slot, but I don't see how we should expect him to fail to do so based off of one season.
I differ on this because I think a mediocre player at a high impact position is probably doing your team more bad than good. It's like having a mediocre player be the focal point of your offense in basketball, it's just not going to work. If a position is high impact you need to maximize the efficiency of the talent put on the field at that position and sticking with a player of mediocre efficiency is actually weighing you down like a millstone around your neck. On the other hand if you have a player at a position that is not as important (excluding special teams) and he really is a high efficiency player, ranking highly within his position in the league, that's a winning puzzle piece. So flipping a mediocre player at a position of high importance off for a good player at a position of lower importance is turning a losing puzzle piece into a winning puzzle piece. I think as coaches you might have more luck modifying schemes to give a really good player more chances than usual to affect the game, than you do covering up for the fact that a player at a really important position is just mediocre at best. I think Mike Pouncey is a great example because he plays a very low-paid position with low standing in the league's compensation and investment hierarchies, but the Dolphins have done a good job modifying their schemes to take advantage of his strengths to where he can positively affect the game. That said I'm not convinced Alex Boone is really any good.
Everyone has supposedly been having a great camp, depending on who you talk to. Jordan looked like dog anus in the preseason game. He needs to start looking better than that. I don't expect him to fail, but the clock is ticking.
Probably already asked and answered somewhere, but do the PED suspended players Jordan and Jones count on the 53 for these first four weeks? If so, that really sucks for these bubble guys. Edit... should have googled it first
Yeah you just have to remember that suspensions are to punish the player, not the team. Having the guy take up a roster spot while suspended would be punishing both.
You'd have to actually be wanting to change the status quo to hold the team accountable... I wonder how few of these would happen if you took 1 draft pick from the team that had the player caught for this? What if the player got a lifetime ban from 2nd violation? THAT would be robust anti-PEDs policies...what they have now is a joke.
As far as Boone goes......http://www.ninersnation.com/2014/8/12/5993723/alex-boone-trade-rumors-holdout-49ers There are those guys points and in 2012 he was PFF's top OG in run blocking. Do the Dolphins have a dominant run blocking OG??????? Do the Dolphins have a servicable swing OT in case of injuries???? Not in my opinion. Garner should be cut IMO. Boone may not be consistently all pro stuff, but he looks like a very nice fit for the Dolphins, and at 27 until next spring he is young enough to give a 5 year 30 mil incentive based salary to.
Hey Omar, thanks for asking the question to Philbin.. I hope this kid has the makeup to do something about his game during the month off, cause he can't practice or play once the season starts..
Bookamper is pissed at fans suggesting a change of positions for the player, citing that you just can't have a player learn a whole new position before New England, and if he does play linebacker he's gonna have to go north south east and west, Congemi chimes in and says Jordan just looks like a downhill type player.. Where should I start with that nonsense.. First if all I've written at least 10 times over two years that Dion is a special athlete that is equally explosive going in all directions.. 2) he can't play. Against New England because he's suspended. 3) I dont want a special athlete playing in a box. 4) Dion Jordan played everywhere in college under a very Smart coach and def coordinator.. Now I do understand that in this preseason and camp you want him to work on his biggest weakness and that is him simply putting his hand in the dirt and rushing the Qb, I'm going to have to give this staff the benefit of the doubt, there is no way there are as off on an evaluation as bokamper and Congemi are..
....on top of the $46 million contract to Albert, the 1st round investment in James, and the imminent $40+ million contract to Pouncey? No thank you. A $30 million guard, which is borderline overkill, would likely mean the end of Pouncey's future in Miami, especially since James will eventually need to be re-signed as well. Personally, I'd rather not resort to such drastic measures while we still have two 3rd round guards developing and especially since Pouncey's position is significantly more important. So basically if you wanna go after Boone, you're essentially saying you prioritize guard more than center, and I for one am not a fan of filling a temporary need at guard only to leave a bigger future need at center. It feels like a hasty knee jerk reaction.
The only thing about Alex Boone IMO would be how well he fits in a zone blocking scheme. Even though Pouncey was a 1st and Boone was a UDFA, the latter may have more value because he is not a RG only, or a right side only player. If Miami got him now, he'd immediately also be the best backup LT. He had to play 70 snaps in a game at LT last season, against St Louis (Robert Quinn) and allowed no sacks or hits and but one hurry. He was a reserve LT/RT in 2011, while playing only 69 pass blocking snaps allowed no sacks, 1 hit, and 2 hurries. So, in his 147 career pass block snaps as a tackle, with most at LT he has yet to allow a sack. Of course with Staley entrenched at LT in SF, Boone will never be a starting LT there, while both are on the roster. With Albert likely to miss a game or 3, having Boone to move over there would be a very good thing.
I think that giving up high impact positions to fill low impact positions will hurt you far more often than not. And throwing big money at low impact positions compounds the problem. A guy like Boone will most likely never have a high impact yet if he plays just adequately then we'd probably have to give him a big contract to keep him. The best case (yet still likely) scenario is that you vastly over pay for a G. That's a lose/lose. A guy at a high impact position at least has a chance to highly impact your team. The guy at a low impact position will almost never be worth the coin. Also I don't agree about Pouncey as an example. I have been arguing for years that C is the most important OL position and that it has the highest impact after QB, Pass rusher, S and WR.
Back when we looked at the positions that SB teams most commonly had probowl players at, C was among the more common ones. IMO it's an under-valued and under-drafted position so a lot of guys are considered Joe lunchpail guys due to draft position and salary but are really good players at a high impact position. I'm not much of a bettor, but when Barrett Robbins was missing and then announced out before that SB I put a couple hundred on Tampa immediately. (It was the only SB I ever watched in a casino). I only wish that I had predicted how big of a blowout it turned out to be b/c then I would have made bank. The point was that I knew how much of an impact that position loss was. Even though I would guess that prior to 2002 (and after) nobody thought much of Robbins (mid 2nd round pick), but he was a probowl caliber player that year. Look back at Miami's best years and you'll probably recall that we had great centers. That's actually the case for many other dynasties as well.
This is one of the most absurd posts ever made. You don't have the foresight to prognosticate a single season let alone years in the future. Anybody who wants to give Pouncey a mega contract is dumber than a rock, and Ireland is long gone so don't look for that to happen. If Albert continues to miss games or worse, multiple games, he will never finish out his contract here. Get a clue!! Teams that just can't run the ball for ****e don't go far! Boone would be a nice beginning to a productive run game in 2014 and beyond with the drafting of Todd Gurley in 2015. Yes, I would rather convert to a base 3-4 and better utilize Jordan; I hated ever leaving it for the 4-3, but these coaches, "are who we thought they were." As far as Albert's contract.......IMO it is an abomination! He has never been elite and may end up playing LG in the future if Smith doesn't improve. It isn't as bad as the Wallace contract, but it stinks pretty bad. The Dolphins had the wherewithal to woo in Eugene Monroe away from the Ravens and to outbid the Cardinals to acquire Jared Veldheer to play RT. The draft could have went in a whole different direction. A far better direction. The 2015 free agent class is abysmal. Acquiring a top player like Boone at this juncture would be a coup.
It's a ginormous LOL when someone trollingly insults another poster for employing foresight but then turns around and assumes not only that Todd Gurley is Miami's running back of the future but that Branden Albert will probably be blocking for him at guard. Wait, but the hypocrisy doesn't stop there; if you order in the next 60 seconds we'll also throw in a free trip to 2015 free agency even though the 2014 season has yet to play out to determine who has or hasn't developed their game to the next level around the league or in Miami, who has or hasn't tapered off, gotten injured, gotten healthy, etc. Go bother someone else dude.
