A lot of money on CBs isn't really an unusual thing, there are guys like Revis and Peterson that take up a huge amount of salary cap room. It wasn't an either or position, its hindsight to use Grimes as the reason to make that trade.
I think the Dolphins--under Philbin especially--have been a team where you don't want to be if you need any sort of special attention or help with something personal. It's also possible that the right environment in Miami wouldn't have helped Vontae at all, and that he needed the shock of being traded in order to grow up a little bit. It happens.
I haven't watched all the Dolts games. The few i have, Davis has made some mistakes and been passed on, and he's made a few plays...the bottom line, he was never consistent enough when he was here and giving him up hasn't hurt us...
Exactly. Look at the Cowboys and Dez. Guy had MASSIVE maturity issues, to the point that they assigned him a 24/7 guardian. But it seems to be paying off. Some players take effort, and we simply were not willing to put in what was required with Vontae, and we are now missing a top CB because of it. I also don't buy the "distractions" stuff. Seriously, there are bars, strip clubs and trouble to be found in EVERY major city, including Indy, Cinci, Seattle, Buffalo and other "low key" ones. The only defense for the trade is that it was a "wake up" type situation for Vontae that never would have happened here. But we really couldn't find ANY way to wake him up? Considering Ireland and Philbin's tenures to this point, I am less inclined to believe their prognosis on such players.
7 games does not make a top corner back. Seriously are you guys just going to ignore his history completely?
I thought Vontae had a good year last year. I'm not still angry about the trade, or anything, but I don't think he just suddenly started playing well this year.
You'd be wrong. Gave up 8 TD's and had nearly a 100 QBR against. Year before that he was allowing roughly 71% of passes against him to be completed. It's nice that he's putting it together this year (although they have only played 2 teams with good offenses and gave up 30+ in both) but it doesn't mean he will continue to in future seasons. 1 season does not make a career especially after 5 subpar seasons.
Do you have a source? I'm not a big stats guy in general, but I use Football Outsiders and they have him here and here as not looking too bad. I say I'm not a stats guy because I prefer to just watch for myself in most cases, but I also don't remember him having a bad year. Where are your numbers coming from, so I can look at them?
P.S. Here is a more negative assessment from someone at FO. My opinion on Davis is that he's a good corner who was probably traded at the right time, because I don't think he could have turned it around in Miami. I think he was traded for pretty much what he's worth, but the problem is that in most years, a 2nd round pick isn't an investment that provides the Dolphins with much of a return.
Even though Davis did give up 8 TD's in 2013, he was still the 3rd rated CB in the league behind only Revis and Grimes. Davis had maturity issues in Miami and as a new head coach in the NFL, Philbin just didn't want to deal with Davis. I think a more confident and experienced HC might have taken the time to deal more effectively with Davis, instead of just giving up on one of the best young CB's in the NFL. Obviously the head coach and coaching staff of the Colts were able to get the best out of Davis. In fact, the Colts organization thought so highly of him, they signed him to a 4 year $36 million dollar contract during the past off season.
We essentially traded Vontae for Jamar Taylor so Taylor needs to improve a lot in the next season or 2 to make it worth the while.
He was traded cause he sucked. It was a great job by the FO to get more than a bag of chips for Vontae.
I bet, since that trade, everyone on the team realized they need to work their butts off and quit being slack bastards.
He left the game with a knee injury....and the defense fell apart, isn't an indictment of Vontae at all, the opposite actually...
I totally agree. And we have been horrible at developing talent before and after. Hopefully, that trend is over now. Hopefully...
I didn't say they were with the Dolphins. Those were his previous 2 seasons with the Colts as per PFF. The reason why his cumulative score was so high last year was due to ONE single game (which is why even PFF says to take their cumulative grades/rankings with a grain of salt).
lol exactly. I had a feeling someone would post that as soon as they saw the Steelers' score. Ben won't get that record setting night if Vontae was healthy and stayed in the game.
I remember the trade was immortalized on Hard Knocks. He wanted to call his grandmother. IIRC he wasn't projected to be a starter that year. They weren't expecting to win in 2012 anyway so the picks were to be helpful for a potential re-build.
He's basically playing like the best corner in the league right now. but hey, we got Jamar Taylor, so we're goo--LMAO....I couldn't even finish that sentence without cracking up.
Would you kindly, just once, shut the **** up. Our secondary is playing like the best secondary in the league you effing troll. I did finish my sentence and I'm not laughing.
I didn't like seeing Vontae and Bush go either...hated it...but was over it right after it happened. Some people have a problem with letting the past go...no matter how far back it goes. I'd rather live in the now and hope for the future than dwell in the drudges of failures long-gone-by.
This crap isn't about an inability to let go of the past. This is a calculated attempt to **** on the team when things are good. This guy is Jets or Pats fan and he's epically trolling all of us, I guarantee it.
For real, the way of looking at it is we have Grimes instead of Vontae...don't think that's a bad thing at all.
Nah we have the best corner in the league already and his name is Brent Grimes plus we wouldnt be able to afford grimes and vontae
Davis was not near the player here that he is in Indy. I don't agree that it is all coaching. There are players here who are performing very well. Even Finnegan who was pretty bad last year with Jeff Fisher (who usually gets defenders to play pretty well) is better this year; though he's not great. Much of it has to do with being traded and player's changing their attitude. It's mostly the player. Davis was coasting here and immature. When he was traded it was a wake up call to him that the NFL is also the "Not For Long" league (as Jerry Glanville would say) if you don't perform. Davis had great talent but I don't think he ever was going to reach that potential here in Miami. He had good moments but he was terribly inconsistent and would get burned quite often and had a flakey attitude. What else are you going to do? When he went to a talented team with leaders there already - it was an ideal situation for him. And, I think Pagano was well suited for Davis because Pagano was super respected by his team already - so David was not going to be allowed to be flakey and goofy and inconsistent as he was here in Miami. This kind of thing happens a lot. Look how Randy Moss played at Oakland relative to New England. It's a classic example. Moss dogged it in Oakland and took a ton of plays off. Put him on a team with strong leadership like Brady and Belichick, and many other vets, and he's a player with a completely different attitude. Environment just makes all the difference for many players. Cameron Wake is one of the best defensive players in the league. Yet, he was cut by the Giants and could not even remain in the league having to go to the CFL. And, then, after racking up 16 and 23 sacks in two seasons, the best deal he could get was a 4 year, $4.9 M contract. He's simply a different player - and it helped coming to the Dolphins where he played behind and alongside JT. The examples could abound. It is often maturity and adversity and getting into a different environment that helps a player perform better than he did in previous situations. People may have liked Davis here but he was not near the consistent, team player here that he is in Indy. He's just matured and there's no telling whether he would have here.
Agreed. But I don't fault anyone for wishing we still had VD, in addition to Grimes. That duo would be on par with prime Madison and Surtain. It wasn't a good trade. Im on record of saying that since the moment it happened too.
Also Jamar Taylor is starting to play much better. I like our chances on him that he will finally start earning that 2nd round pick. Of course I could be wrong but we will have to watch it play out.
I always thought Vonte Davis was a top corner. He's a sure tackler and plays excellent man coverage. Sean Smith I'm happy with not signing him because he can't catch. Vonte had some injury trouble last year with the Colts so he's starting to earn his keep this year. Overall, he wouldn't have been much help last year.
