Dolphins interested in Robert Mathis

That certainly seems like a 4-3 defense signing. I agree, that could end up being a high impact signing.

 

I read "Dolphins interested in Robert..." on the main page. Thought it was going to be a Robert Griffin thread. Oh well, this is interesting too.

 

Zackly

 

Rather have Mathis than RGIII. I'm having trouble recalling. So, I know he was injured during the 2007 (or 2008?) season, has he been relatively healthy since then?

 

He hasn't missed a game in the past two years. He missed two in 2009 and one in 2008

 

I agree.

Would be a big help to our pass rush.

 

I had no idea he was a FA.

 

I believe the end of that quote was that they also think he is too pricey

 

Turning 31 in a few weeks..

 

Was Mathis a product of Freeney? Ray Edwards was hot last off season after playing across from Jared Allen. Ended up with 3.5 sacks this year.

 

Depends on how much guaranteed money he would get. I wouldn't want to be stuck with him past 2 seasons.

 

Miami does have someone for Mathis to be a product of.

 

Do we sacrifice run stopping for pass rushing? I guess so, since it's becoming a passing league anyways.

 

BTW if they can't get Manning, I'd rather them go heavy at Mario Williams. He's the game changer on defense.

 

I'd love to sign Mathis to a 3 year deal.

 

I would say there were times where Mathis was better than Freeney. I get where you're coming from with the Allen/Edwards analogy, but I don't think it applies here.

Even if it did, Mathis would still be playing across from Wake.

 

Be am awesome pickup........I would take it.

 

Might as well just sign Anthony Spencer if that's the case. He'll cost less money and he's younger.

 

Thats true, but he's not nearly as good of a pass-rusher IMO.

 

This.

 

Signing a 31 year old Mathis would basically do just that. If the Dolphins lose both Langford and Soliai in free agency, I see a very big drop off in the Dolphins ability to stop the run next year. Many on here seem to think that the Dolphins will be a top defense next season because they played well the last two seasons.

I tend to think that losing Nolan as the DC is going to have a huge negative impact on this unit. The Dolphins are going from one of the best DC's in the entire NFL to a DC who has NEVER held this position in the NFL before.

Mathis might come in and provide a bit more of a pass rush but without Soliai and Langford to stop the run, opponents will have an easier time running the ball to set up the pass. Hopefully Coyle will be an effective DC in the NFL, but since he has never held this position before in the NFL, there is always a chance that the Dolphins defense will take a giant step backwards under his leadership.

In fact with all the college coaches now on the Dolphins staff, along with a first time head coach and a first time NFL DC, there are huge question marks regarding this entire coaching staff, just as there are with the team itself.

 

My concern with Mathis is that he's been virtually entirely a left side guy his entire career. He doesn't line up on the right side, and Wake has been limited there his entire career. If both of them are less effective on the right side, it's problematic.

 

I'm not as worried about losing Nolan. We had good defenses under Nolan, but I felt like he wasn't a good adjuster at half time.
If we keep Soliai and let Langford walk, our run defense will still be decent. Starks and Soliai in the middle can be pretty stout IMO

 

Starks, Soliai, and Odrick in the middle with Mathis and Wake on the outside sounds good enough to stop the run for me. I still think we would need to move Dansby to an OLB position while picking up a tackle machine like a Stephen Tulluch, Curtis Lofton, or D'Qwell Jackson. Safety is still an issue as well but i'm all for upgrading the pass rush with a player like Robert Mathis.

 

Maybe they plan on using Wake in the similar way that Denver uses Von.

 

I think this would be more likely.

 

That's my concern too. My size and style Mathis would seem to be more of a right side guy, but he hasn't been due to Freeney being a right side guy. He has only rushed 5 times from the right side in the last two years (with one hurry), so there is not enough data there from which to draw any real conclusions. But Wake has definitely been better from the left side.

Mathis has had 9.5 or more sacks for 7 of the last 8 years, with the only year be didn't being 2007 when he had 7 due to missing 3 games. That's pretty impressive. The age doesn't bother me -- at 31 he should have at least 3-4 more good years in him. I just wish we knew more about how he'd adapt to rushing primarily from the right side. John Abraham might be the best pass rusher among available right side guys, but he'll be 34 in May and we could probably only expect to get 1-2 more good years from him.

 

In my honest opinion, no Mathis is not the product of Freeney.

Robert Mathis and Cameron Wake are incredibly alike, IMO.

 

Interesting possibility. Not what I would do, though.

 

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No thank you. His best days are in Indianapolis.