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Mando: Taking a Look at the Receivers

Discussion in 'Miami Dolphins Forum' started by Galant, Oct 12, 2016.

  1. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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    Interesting piece from Armando on the Dolphin's receivers so far this season.

    Here's another section of the team that has had a lot of picks and trades and money thrown at it but still isn't ideal.

    Thoughts?

    "And today we blame the Miami Dolphins receiver, starting with Jarvis Landry"

    "Let's see ... we've blamed Ryan Tannehill for Sunday's loss to the Tennessee Titans. We've blamed the run defense. We've blamed the offensive line here and the Dolphins offered an amen to that here. We've blamed a lot of people for Sunday's loss. But some folks have apparently escaped the fire.

    Until now.

    Let's look at the Dolphins receiver corps.

    They usually get mostly love and credit when they perform at a high level. But none of those guys reached a high level on Sunday. And it wasn't just about catches or the lack thereof. It was other things that go into playing winning football that the receiver corps did not bring to this game.

    Take Jarvis Landry, for example. He's Miami's most consistent receiver. He had a bad game. Forget for a minute that he had only three catches for 28 yards. That's not the reason he had a bad game.

    He had a bad game because he failed multiple times to play winning football.

    Consider that Landry cost the Dolphins a touchdown. In the third quarter, Tannehill passed to Jay Ajayi who then ran nine yards for a touchdown to make it a 24-20 game with the extra point to come and a quarter-and-a-half to play.

    Except Landry was called for holding and the 10-yard penalty not only nullified the touchdown but put a Dolphins offense that was under siege all day and basically has very little margin for error this year, behind the sticks. Predictably, the Dolphins didn't get the TD back. They settled for a FG. So that lost opportunity was on Landry.

    Screens and blocking for them were of a particular problem for Landry this day. In the second quarter, on what could have been a 20-25 yard gain, the Dolphins settled for seven yards on a slip screen to Kenyan Drake because Landry took on his defender with a roll block.

    No. 1. Landry has been taught not to roll block on that play.
    No. 2. It was a terrible roll block anyway.


    The man Landry was supposed to block basically skipped over Landry's block and made the play. If that man is blocked by Landry, the Dolphins have the football at midfield or better with 40 seconds left in the half. And that's about 12-15 yards from FG territory. In other words, the Dolphins run that slip screen to the right correctly, they can run another one to the left and they have a FG. That's three more points.


    I'm not even going to get into the idea that Landry ran a wrong route later in the game and all the receivers failed to haul butt on the game's final play -- which in my estimation is an unpardonable sin. I mean, the game was lost by then, but these guys get paid ... PAID ... a lot of money to provide maximum effort on every play.


    Yet on the game's final play Landry, Kenny Stills and DeVante Parker all seemed to be offering three-quarter speed. Why? Because they all had such great days and were good with their efforts?

    The point is there's more to Landry winning football than catching eight passes in 12 targets for 80 yards. There's more to it for Parker than posing a threat and looking athletic and catching one deep pass every two games. There's more to it than for Stills than being super fast, and working super hard, and wanting it super a lot but having only nine catches in five games.

    This is supposed to be the best receiver corps in the AFC East. It is not.

    Stills cost the Dolphins a win at Seattle. Parker believes he's really good but hasn't produced like he's really good and it is a win when he rolls out of bed in the morning and has a good breakfast -- which he had to be taught to do. Landry until Sunday led the NFL in catches, but he's also had a fumble at New England which he lost and has run wrong routes and been penalized in previous games.

    And please don't get me started on the Dolphins tight ends.

    I know the Dolphins really like Dion Sims. Obviously they paid good money for Jordan Cameron.
    So which one is a security blanket for Tannehill? Which one catches everything thrown to him? Which one is always in the place he's supposed to be, the right place?

    Indeed, as the Dolphins search for an identity this season, I ask which of these receivers is Tannehill's security blanket? Who is the go-to guy?
    Everyone has always assumed it is Landry. And -- if you do not mistake the top paragraphs for anything but dispassionate review -- please understand Jarvis Landry is a good player and is a net-plus for the Dolphins. But he has the potential for so much more. He can be the calm in the storm for Tannehill when he's under pressure and reading only half the field or staring down a receiver.

    If Landry always runs the right route, always carries out his assignment, always gives maximum effort, avoids dumb penalties or fumbles trying to fight for extra yards, he can be that security blanket.

    He wasn't that on Sunday against the Titans. "
     
  2. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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  3. mlb1399

    mlb1399 Well-Known Member

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    I can't comment on the WR play as I really didn't watch most of the game. I'm guessing most people glance over the WR's when casting blame. The reality is this team isn't getting it done. All 53 players.
     
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  4. Galant

    Galant Love - Unity - Sacrifice - Eternity

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    I didn't see all of the game, but when watching that last throw and interception I almost screamed at the screen because I was sure Stills could have gotten a hand to the ball but instead just watched it fly to the defender.
     
  5. RGF

    RGF THE FINSTER Club Member

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    Great points on that write up. No one escapes blame on this team right now,including the receivers. I'm sure they get frustrated running their routes then turning around and seeing Tannehill on his *** AGAIN. But they should run every play 100%. I'm not too sure they do.
     
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  6. Tin Indian

    Tin Indian Rockin' The Bottom End Club Member

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    Good Read. I can say that I quit watching the game that closely on Sunday. But I agree, from a pure talent perspective, I think we have the best recievers in the east. They sure aren't playing like it.
     
  7. cbrad

    cbrad .

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    There's always some critical mass where if enough other teammates fail to pull their weight, even the ones who usually do start to play less motivated and disciplined.

    This may be happening to some like Landry. I wouldn't worry about it, WR is the least of our problems. Fix just enough other holes so that the team starts to believe in itself again and they'll play to their talent level.

    (oh yeah.. I forgot to mention how UNREALISTIC the "fix just enough other holes" is with current management.. but carry on)
     
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  8. Pandarilla

    Pandarilla Purist Emeritus

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    There were holds all over the place against TN.
    Lots of "timely" calls were made against us.
     
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  9. The G Man

    The G Man Git 'r doooonnne!!!

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    Kinda helps to understand why we can't generate any consistent offense. No real commitment to the run game, no pass protection at all, receivers running wrong routes, or running half-speed, not blocking (properly) downfield, and a QB with a total lack of pocket awareness.

    Man, how did we get so bad?! That's a rhetorical question BTW.

    SMH...
     
  10. Rocky Raccoon

    Rocky Raccoon Greasepaint Ghost Staff Member

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    No one is playing well on offense right now, and no one is coaching well on offense right now. Basically, EVERYONE has to get better and pick it up.
     
  11. Finster

    Finster Finsterious Finologist

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    I saw too much "giving poor effort" out of the players, that's a bad sign.
     
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  12. NorFlaFin

    NorFlaFin Active Member

    Giving giant contract to players that give half-assed effort, knowing their backup is way worse and therefore can't get cut, is the problem.
     
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  13. dolphin25

    dolphin25 Well-Known Member

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    What gets me is that every week I watch other teams play. Their receivers are open and catching the ball within 2 seconds and are 10 -12 yards down field on the catch. It seems like our WR's are still running their routes after 3 seconds and are only 4-5 yards deep.
     
  14. cuchulainn

    cuchulainn Táin Bó Cúailnge Club Member

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    Armando is right... the WRs have not been good this season. Stills cost us an easy TD and probably the game against Seattle. Parker disappears for quarters of each game or misplays balls. He allowed McCourty to strip him of the ball against the Titans for an INT. His down field blocking sucks as well. On the Williams screen pass that went for 58 yards, he failed to block at all as did Stills. Landry is great talent, but he's does stupid stuff almost every game - personal fouls, penalties, etc... he took a TD off the board against the Titans with a really stupid hold that he didn't have to do. He also allows defenders to rent space in his head and take him off his game. Carroo has been a no show since game 1. A real shame as we have no TE's other than Sims and Landry or Carroo could fill that void.

    Expected more for all these guys. They were supposed to be our strongest unit.
     
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  15. cuchulainn

    cuchulainn Táin Bó Cúailnge Club Member

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    Everyone criticized Lazor for the short/underneath passing game that got the ball out quickly to limit how bad the OL was. Gase has these guys running deeper or more complex routes this season with the expectation that the OL would hold a block for 2.7 to 3 seconds. That hasn't been the case. The WRs are not creating separation and Stills is too weak and too much of a pansy to play within 10 yards of the LOS.
     
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  16. dolphin25

    dolphin25 Well-Known Member

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    The routes look the same to me. It seems they are running complex routes even for a 5 yard route. Just run a slant, an out, a curl, a streak, something quick !!
     
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  17. adamprez2003

    adamprez2003 Senior Member

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    Aqua4ever has been reviewing each game and watching the coaches view. He's been saying for weeks our receivers are covered like blankets for most of the game. Add in the fact they aren't blocking well and this unit needs a kick in the ***. Maybe grant or caroo can be that kick
     
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  18. MikeHoncho

    MikeHoncho -=| Censored |=-

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    Tannehill really seems to have a lot of trouble getting these the ball to these guys from beneath that pile of linemen.
     
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  19. resnor

    resnor Derp Sherpa

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    Yeah, he really needs to improve in the Hulk stat category.
     
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  20. smahtaz

    smahtaz Pimpin Ain't Easy


    They also need to change the drop back distance more often and use some hard counts. I don't think I've seen a hot route all year.
     
  21. The G Man

    The G Man Git 'r doooonnne!!!

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    Granted, the O-line sucks balls, but he has to take some accountability. His pocket awareness is like a 1 on a scale of one to ten.
     
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  22. Pandarilla

    Pandarilla Purist Emeritus

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    Parker is open even if he is blanketed. That's his game. Ryan doesn't seem to understand this. He's cautious to a fault.

    Jakeem Grant can separate at will, but they're still holding him back.

    They drafted Carroo and Landry not for their ability to separate, but to fight for the ball, good hands.

    Stills was drafted because of his numbers with Brees. He should be the guy to gain separation, but his routes take too long. One trick pony ala Wallace.

    If any QB has the time, these guys are dangerous.

    Mighty Mouse is the only guy that can quickly and easily separate.
     

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