Asked by WQAM’s Joe Rose about how he’s going to split his time between offense (he’ll call the plays) and the two other units, Gase said: “I will be leaning towards offense early. But the great thing about bringing [offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen in], it's someone who has been in this offense before. The way we've mapped this out, I feel comfortable being able to have my hand a little bit on defense and special teams, let those guys do their job but know what's going on,... and being impactful on offense as well.” The Dolphins plan to stick with a 4-3 defense, according to a source close to the situation. One of the things Gase and management like about new coordinator Vance Joseph is his ability to communicate with players. http://miamiherald.typepad.com/spor...hes-has-produced-far-more-losing-than-wi.html
If we do stay with a 43 I think DL\DE is something we want to really look at, and there are some really good options. Better imo than injured LBs and small CBs. Would also prefer not to go OL. Just not impactful enough in my mind. Yes a terrible OL is bad, but we just need OK or average guard play to be fine offensively.
My top picks at 8 are Ramsey, S, Jack, LB, Hargreaves, CB, Alexander, CB, Stanley, OT, trade down, then DL.
If we are serious about freeing Suh up we need someone who can handle a double team. I think a guy like Austin Johnson becomes a serious possibility. Having him in the middle allows up to jettison Earl Mitchell while allowing us to use Phillips to come in and spell Suh a bit more. If we do stay with a 4-3 then there are some good situational pass rushers available later. If you want some higher up the gene pool then Shalique Calhoun from MSU would be a good guy to bring in.
Definitely agree with your premise Rich, but DJ Reader might come as a less pricey option than Austin Johnson w/o losing positional effectiveness. Had he not stepped away from football for half the 2015 season after his father passed away, his production and conditioning would be at a higher level, so he might represent a nice value pick in the 3rd-4th round when he'd probably go a round higher otherwise.