First Tuesday OTA update http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/2009/06/first-tuesday-ota-update-of-the-day.html Good to hear.....
Sometimes I have the feeling that players us fans want to see replaced, like Matty Roth or Chad Pennington are the guys the coaches would deem indispensible. Lost ten pounds, groin is healthy, and a year's experience under his belt Roth could come into his own this year, especially with Sparano working him in the DE drills.
I will happily give Roth props when he makes an impact on the field. I hope I'm wrong in my criticisms of him.
He consistently does make an impact; some just don't notice it because its not flashy like a sack by Joey Porter for example.
Exactly, though I just heard his aquavision interview and the boy ain't exactly doing Othello in the offseason... You win games with players like Roth.
sure....and better than being shot by the safety in the quad while pulling....but doesnt mean its realistic
Pat White's making some progress too, against 2nd teamers, but still nice to see him throwing TD's. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/dolphins-ota-s060209,0,6225056.story
I notice what Roth does and I notice what he does not do. There are many levels of impact between a sack and "effectively setting the edge". He sets the edge. Awesome. Thanks for that, Matt. Now, make a play on the ball carrier when he doesn't run directly at you. I'm sorry, but this whole argument that if someone criticizes Roth, they must not "understand" football is bunk!
I just listened to Sparano's presser and he was actually informative for a change: 1. Jason Allen has to play like a "big guy running around the football field" 2. Sparano semi asked Pat White to try throwing without the gloves on today. 3. Sparano feels Roth has good upside. 4. Sparano gushed about Ted Ginn's improvement, calling him 1 of the 2 most improved players, Sparano wouldn't say who the other player was. 5. Merling is staying off the ground more then he did last year. 6. Sean Smith is impressing 7. Brandon Frye needs more consistency with his hands 8. Cam Wake is here to "rush the passer" and that effort saw a jump from practice #3 to #4 and #5, his moves got better and he was more explosive. Fun stuff, normally you don't get that much from the Screaming Italian Leprechuan..
When did I say you don't understand football or said you don't know what he does? I never stated that and if it came across like that to you, I apologize because that wasn't intended. I respect your opinion, I simply disagree with it.
i wish i had written the script down of the KC Joyner Metrics interview from a while back. But I seem to recall him saying that Roth's side of the line was surprisingly really good, and we never heard his name called because teams didn't try to run that direction. not trying to make it sound like he's a superstar or anything, but after those few 'hulk' moments at the beginning of the year (see below) I wouldn't be surprised if teams wanted to avoid him a bit
You wrote this: "some just don't notice it because its not flashy" I am sorry I jumped to conclusions if your intentions were not to insinuate that I don't understand the nuances of football and only appreciate flash. Its cool. I still love you. Padre, not so much. I kid, I kid!
The problem with Roth isn't that he can't pass rush or cover or whatever, it's had 53 tackles...and a handful of assists, he doesn't have the range of a upper tier OLB. Maybe a healthy groin and more experience will help him make more plays away from him this season, but Statisitcally, he had a typical Mike Vrabel season (Vrabel though avg about 8 sacks a year) and about 40 assists or so.
I could see why it would come across like that, my bad. That was very poorly worded and what I meant was that he doesn't get a lot of the spotlight because of Joey Porter's dominance opposite of him. Love you too man. No homo.
there is a difference between making plays and being a play maker ... that is the transition we need Roth to make ... if he does, being lighter and healthy - we will all say -- AWESOME - together ....
I just don't think you guys can expect double digit sacks from a guy who usually gets pulled in passing downs. The guy does his job. He defends the run quite well and came up with some sacks out of it. I will take 5-7 sacks anyday of the week from a guy like that.
"TE Ernest Wilford." I guess it's official. If these people take yet another player from Bustville, figure out the right role for him, and get him to be a major contributor, I'll have no choice but to admit that I know nothing at all about football and build another shrine next to my Shula one, but bigger this time.
I like how this coaching staff tries every possible fit for a player such as moving Roth to OLB, he should have a solid year. Example 2: Encouraging sign, will it work? who knows but you got to applaud the effort.
With all due respect, you're way off the mark. You might not appreciate Roth's value, but it's clear the coaching staff does. Claiming that Roth should be making more plays away from plays at him is a pretty clear demonstration of that. His position is by definition on the line of scrimmage, and covered by a blocker. It's not a scrape position. Setting the edge is what he's supposed to do if he's playing the edge under blockers.
Disagree, Roth should have more assists, that sounds very much like "the defensive line is not supposed to rush the passer well, that is not their job" line of thought, a player makes plays even if they are not run directly at them.
What exactly do you consider you appropriate benchmark for what is a two down 3-4 OLB? I'm really curious to see where you're thinking you are going with this.
Roth had a respectable 46 tackles, but only 7 assists, that is a absurdly low number of assists for a OLB who played all 16 games, and that is what I'm getting at, the better strongside OLB's like Vrabel or Harrison have 3 or 4 times more assisted tackles. Roth was in his first season as a OLB in the NFL, but 7 assists in hundreds of plays?
