Besides retaining defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle, Joe Philbin decided not to fire any of his assistants, though defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers reportedly is expected to become Jets defensive coordinator. Some Dolphins players would have preferred Philbin promote Rodgers to coordinator. Players have criticized Coyle for strategic decisions as well as his rotation of defensive linemen. Rodgers is very well liked by his players. ### Beyond Ja’Wuan James and Jarvis Landry, the 2014 draft picks that the Dolphins are most bullish about are guard Billy Turner (the front office conveyed to him that it sees him a potential 2015 starter if he can seize the job) and defensive end Terrence Fede. There are maturity issues with Walt Aikens, mixed views on Jordan Tripp and uncertainty with Matt Hazel and Arthur Lynch, who said he's healthy after recovering from a fracture in his lower back. Read more here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/spor...-dolphins-heat-marlins-cha.html#storylink=cpy
They wanted someone to fill the H-Back role, and Philbin/Sherman really seemed to dislike Dion Sims. Bill Lazor doesn't seem to share that sentiment and now he's pretty redundant.
There are maturity issues with Walt Aikens. Well I guess we can just count on him being cut. Because this staff has no interest in developing players and allowing them to mature. Typical.
What young player have we cut under Philbin that just needed to mature? Clay, Matthews, and Daniel Thomas all showed maturity issues at some point and were not cut. Same for Will Davis I believe.
I'm pretty sure Joe Philbin would have gotten rid of Rishard Matthews if he could have, but it seems like both Ireland and Hickey have said no.
I thought both Walt Aikens and Arthur Lynch were pretty questionable picks at the time, and I wasn't all that enthused about Matt Hazel either. But, I mean, 4th, 5th & 6th rounders. Not exactly a big deal. Think Jordie Tripp could have a future. Terrence Fede was an inspired pick. You're picking late so why not go with a small school dude with freakish physical qualities? Billy Turner will turn out fine.
This is a fair point. Philbo hasn't been allowed to jettison young players. He's only gotten away with doing it to veterans.
Agreed. But with Aikens and Lynch here already, let's try to develop them to see what we got. Lynch could turn into a blocking TE who could occasionally make some catches. If he stays healthy. Hazel is a likely PS player. Hope he develops but he couldn't sniff playing time this year. Turner hopefully stays healthy. He's our top choice to fill in at G. He should've had more opportunities this year once he got healthy. Fede looks like a potential jewel of a pick. He showed lots of flashes in camp and in the preseason. When he got playing time, he made big plays. I'm excited for this kid.
They gave up on him. Pure and simple. Which would've been fine if he had someone better to replace him with. And as much as I like Grimes, dude is approaching the end of his career. Jamar Taylor and Will Davis so far are nothing special.
no they did not. Jesus, you guys act like Davis is the first player to ever be traded. If we actively shopped him than you have a point, but since we didn't, you're just letting your dislike of this staff color EVERYTHING. There are legit gripes about Philbin, not developing players isn't one of them. Its a just a lie fueled by hate. Basically you're saying buying a car means you gave up on $10,000
That is not the same thing at all. It is not a lie. They gave up on him. They could've not accepted the offer. Ireland was not forced to trade Vontae. Now I'll say that since he left Miami, there has been alot of rewriting of his history here. VD was burned alot on the field about as often as he made plays, and was unprofessional showing up to practice late, drunk and constantly needing bathroom breaks. But every team has players who are immature knuckleheads and they either mature and get better or they don't. Obviously Ireland/Philbin thought VD was never going to get over his issues, so they gave up on him. Obviously we know now that the trade worked in Indy's favor. No getting around that. But it is also part of an ongoing pattern of Philbin jettising players with issues who have potential and/or releasing veteran players with a knack for being outspoken. Some were good decisions, some were bad. This was a bad decision.
He's going to find himself in Vontae Davis land. Which Aikens should actually be pretty happy about apparently. Aikens would be more likely to be cut though, nobody is going to give up anything for him like Davis. Man... I've never had such a negative outlook for this team. Really hope Philbin and company have something up their sleeves for next year, or it's going to be a really long year.
They traded a guy that ended up performing better under a different coaching staff, which is something that has become a trend with this coaching staff.
And that is worth criticizing the coaching staff over. But it is not a trend they they cut young guys who just need to mature.
They also developed Clay, Jones, Odrick, Miller, Sims, Tannehill, OV, Jenkins, Misi, Landry & James. There's also serious potential that Tripp, Taylor, Turner, Fede, McCain & Jordan can be added to that list as well.
Philbin doesn't have to look the fans in the eye and say "you're fired"... He would have to tell Coyle he doesn't want him back. He couldn't do it with Sherman and now he can't with Coyle. Both will get an extra year they didn't deserve and the team we root for will suffer.
I really hoped to see more of him on D. Be nice to have gotten some reps where he could be better evaluated.
Yea we jettison Davis while Rishard Mathews has immaturity problems, Aikens does as well, half our lineman were dry humping the other half last year, Incognito was using a golf club in a manner not consistent with its intended usage, etc etc.
While I disagree with a couple of those (Odrick and Clay both flashed ability prior to Philbin. Dion Jordan's development has been an abject failure), there are a number of players that have developed under this coaching staff. But there are a lot that haven't been developed, and in the end the track record of development looks like a wash to me.
Not sure if you remember, but so many fans here were cheering the Vontae trade after it happened. Then when he started off slowly with the Colts, they really poured it on. Some of us thought it was a bad move from the get go, and we had to take a lot of grief from the kool-aid drinkers. It was sickening. All of you here who applauded the Vontae trade back in 2012, can now just STFU, because you all look like as big of idiots as Jeffy poo was for trading him.
In what sense? I'd agree he was a bad pick for the position, but that's basically what he was chosen for. That #2 position is all about blocking on the move.
His best position is not a move TE or H-Back. That is what Clay does best. Lynch should best on the line next to the OT. Granted, he could do the other things you'd want from a TE too. Such as what Sims did. I think he was picked because they weren't sure about Sims. Since we carry 3 TEs, I see no reason why a healthy Lynch cannot be at least the 3rd one.