#31? Outside of Porter (and Taylor) none of them are phenomenal but not that bad by any means. Ayodele is a solid above average player who can start and Crowder is essentially the same thing too.
what matters how they actually perform. who cares what others think, i remember all those seasons we were ranked so high and never lived up to billing.
Guys, Gals, we are a 1-15 team, what else would you EXPECT? Didya think we would be in the top 10 in ANY category? The beauty of this is we can only go up!
Yeah while I do agree that it doesn't matter what others think, this still has to light a fire under the player's arses. They always screw us over in the rankings and we have to prove them wrong. Yes we were atrocious last year but this is a new year, new team. We need to see Sparano post this in front of every players locker. ESPN has a group of boneheaded 'analysts' that believe they know something about football. Clearly, they don't (only John Clayton knows something imo).
Coming off a 1-15 year, I expect to see some harsher ratings by analysts. HOWEVER, I also would expect to see analysts ANALYZING last season, and drawing some reasonable conclusions. For example... 1. We lost 6 games by 3 points or less. A REASONABLE conclusion would be that with a coach with half a brain, a decent o-line, good running backs, and a decent QB, we could easily win those games. 2. Injuries played a big factor in our 1-15 season. It wasn't like we went 1-15 with our day one starters, both offense and defense, playing the entire season. Our whole team was decimated with injuries. A REASONABLE analysis would allude to this. 3. New coaches. A REASONABLE analysis would look at Cam Cameron's lackluster offense, and his inability to lead the team and motivate the team, and bring some conclusions about that. All in all, I'd be surprised if the Dolphins don't win at least 6 games, and I really think they have a good shot at going 8-8.
That's just it... I would expect ESPN to look a little farther into the team rather than taking that 1-15 at face value. It seems to me that when they discuss the LBs specifically, it doesn't sound like they're describing a #31 ranked unit out of 32 teams. Yet, they ranked them #31. I don't expect a top-10 ranking, but putting them at #31 is absolutely ridiculous. Joey Porter, Channing Crowder, Akin Oyodele, and Reggie Torbor alone make that, at worst, an average unit... as in somewhere around #16. That's the problem with national reporters... they're superficial by nature. They know very little about teams at the bottom of the rankings, a little more about teams in the middle, a good bit about playoff teams, and way too much about the Colts and Patriots.
If they plan on analyzing and developing these rankings based on a teams record then let me apply for a job. I can make sure the worst record is the lowest in every category and the best record is first.
Its simple guys. What you read is only an opinion. We all have them. So don't put any merit into just a few select ones. However, they're hammering a 1 win team. The worst of the worst. We all know the NFL is the PROVE IT NOW league. So we haven't proven anything yet. And besides, its much more fun watching the media eat crow when the Dolphins are better than they said. You just have to remember what they said, and bring it up to them. They're honor, or lack of it, will show if they acknowledge their mistakes.
As bad as it sounds, ESPN only quantifies its business in profit, not quality of service. It is up to the consumer to show their dissatisfaction.
Hey... whaddaya think I'm doing here? All kidding aside, ESPN sucks donkeys... as long as those donkeys are named "Peyton Manning" or "Tom Brady".