The stupid thing was giving him a second round tender to save a bit of cap space. The Pats jumped at the chance to hand him a 'poison pill' contract and happily gave up a late second to Miami. As for what McDaniel is up to? If you can't get a vet like Fangio, then sticking with what worked last year is not the worst idea. I doubt the defense will be as good, but the offense should be better -so that could balance out. Which puts us back at 8-10 wins, right? The key to the season will be Tua improving enough to get us another 1-2 wins. Actually, a decent run game and OL could also get us there -and BOTH would mean an 11-12 win season! We've done this dance too many times as fans, but maybe, just maybe this time it will be different.
None of the reporting really points toward Grier and neither does Flores lawsuit. You have to assume Flores throws some dirt toward Grier if he felt Grier was really responsible. I know everyone likes to blame Grier and/or Tua for everything but its more likely to be have been Flores vs Ross if anything
Grier is the GM, Flores reported to him, McDaniel reports to him. He is Ross's favorite son. Not blaming him is ridiculous. He is the one actually in charge, so he should take most if not all the blame. And there were in fact multiple reports that he and Flores were butting heads and Flores wanted more control over player personnel and drafting. I don't how anybody could not blame Grier at this point. He has been in a position of great influence on player personnel since 2007 and we have been terrible at player personnel decisions all throughout that time. Only a complete football idiot like Ross would keep him around so long without realizing he is part of the problem, if not the problem.
Ross doesn’t pay attention to the daily stuff at all he’s an absent owner I believe Grier just like and wants more control and he has not earned it in my eyes
We will see how our D looks next season and people who are covering the team are saying that Flores took over the D after a rocky start, if that’s suspect to you fine.
Many of those same reports say Grier isn't power hungry and gave Flores whatever he wanted. So why pick and choose what we believe? Blame him in general yes but you guys will make up anything and decide its fact like Grier making Flores start Tua even though that is not likely. Grier has done enough actual wrong things to deserve to go without having to invent any. Flores said Boyer was calling the plays. They obviously made changes and Flores being gone makes regression a very serious possibility but Boyer wasn't sitting around playing Fortnite for 2 months. Flores did not "take over" The only reporter that is saying Flores took over play calling is Omar Kelly who also said he didn't.
Never implied that Boyer was a bum but just the fact that Boyer didn’t run the D and playcalls by himself plus losing Alexander, doesn’t hype me at all and where is it suspect that when Flores got more involved the D took off?
The "took over" aspect is suspect. And its not like Flores wouldn't have been involved when the defense was struggling. Its a ridiculous narrative that was created to make it look like Flores had no fault when the defense struggled and gets all the credit for the turn around.
That's the rumor. We also don't know if Boyer was just doing what Flores wanted him to do and then got upset with him for doing what he wanted to do, and then scapegoated him by deciding to do it himself. This is something Flores was also rumored to do.
That’s what you saw on the field + Flores calling plays on D and Omar Kelly reporting it. Like I said I don’t think he‘s a bum but we’ll see how the D looks next year and I‘m interested to see how the staff looks in the end.
I don't really believe Omar either. People who are reporting to him have their agenda. We also saw Byron Jones and Xavian Howard get healthy when the defense turned around, which also allows more aggressive playcalling.
Reports about Grier not being power hungry and giving Flores whatever he wanted are not credible and illogical. Probably put out there by Grier himself to cover his own ***. Grier is the GM, not Flores, and Grier has final say over everything. Flores would not have asked for more power over player personnel if Grier was actually giving him everything he wanted. I don't understand how some of you can continue to give Grier a pass for all the disfunction and terrible personell decisions. He has been in charge since 2016 folks, and in a position of great influence since 2007. Time to stop blaming everybody else but him.
I am going to repost soming from a different thread. Sorry if you see it twice. This was from directly after the Ravens game: I think it is fair to question Omar's sources. There were multiple direct quotes from Flores, and players during the season stating that Boyer was calling plays at the time. Now there are "sources" saying he didn't. Most likely, as MM said he wants going forward, it was always a collaborative effort. Then who knows with the Flores Dolphins? We still don't really know who called plays on O. Such a weird thing to have so much secrecy and confusion about.
Its not giving him a pass to say you don't know need to put on tinfoil hat over everything. Focus on what we know to be true and there is still plenty of Grier mistakes to be had.
After a quick study, I really like this guy. He's turned around 4 or 5 college line programs, plus he's worked for the Redskins and one other NFL team. About a dozen years coaching, plus 2 years as a college player. At face value, it feels like a good hire. Four of his OL starters last year were all-division. No idea why we haven't poached top college line coaches the past few seasons- I'm sure this guy is coming very affordably and probably an instant upgrade. Hopefully he can "save" 2 or 3 of our current starters.
Yeah, seems like a pretty good coach. Still don't know why it's taken so long to get a good oline coach here other than money and Grier being stingy. But this one looks promising.
I really have tried to distance myself emotionally since the firing of Flores and the hiring of McDaniel. Past firings and hirings, I’ve had been quite upbeat on the incoming staff and excited…only to have my hopes crushed yet again. With that being said… Im cautiously optimistic with what I’ve seen and researched since McDaniel’s hiring. It appears that he is a coach that is committed to the running game, something I’ve advocated for a number of years. The offense has GOT to be balanced. Running the ball only 10 times a game while throwing it 40-50 times is a recipe for failure. This hire of Applebaum I find cautiously optimistic as well. It’s no secret how much I bang the drum of the absolute utter importance of the offensive line and it’s intriguing to me that BC’s offensive line ranked 2nd in the NCAA last season. What will that translate into at the pro level? We’ll see but it does show me McDaniel shares my philosophy of a stout OL and is committed to it. Maintaining our current defensive staff is going to be interesting. We’ll find out whether or not Flores/Boyer worked together in tandem and our defense continues to play great…or if the defense folds like a cheap suit…in which case, losing Flores seriously hurt the team defensively. Of course there is the “RG” factor…as in Stephen Ross and Chris Grier. Seems to me those two have the incredible ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
The whole energy of this team is about to change. I think the youth is going to respond better to it than the vets. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
Will be interesting to see how they address the actual players on the OL, since the coaching staff is heavily involved with OL and the running game as a whole. Who, if any, will fit their system and/or just be salvageable. Do we prioritize veterans, and if so, who? Or will we wait until the draft to try and snag 2-3 guys and plug them in as starters. Frankly, the whole offensive makeover will be interesting to see. Will we try and get Giesicki back, and at what price? Do we keep or trade Parker? What upgrades to the WR corps will we make, the RB group, the OL? I can see most of our resources being spent on that side of the ball.
Yeah well, the great improvement in the chargers oline was largely due to them drafting Slater, and signing linsley, Feiler and Aboushi. With Grier in charge of drafting and signing free agents I don't think we will see the same turnaround in oline play. Grier is absolutely the worst GM in the leugue at recognizing oline talent.
Well, hopefully Smith and Applebaum will identify quality OL (both FA and college) for Grier to got out and get, so he’s not left to his own devices
Maybe, but flores didn't have any faith in his offensive coaches why should we? Maybe the new coaches come in a determine a better way to utilize the potential that was identified when they were drafted.
Coaching can only do so much. You don't suck as much as Jackson has for example, and then all of a sudden become a great lineman. Real players at least show something their first two years regardless of coaching. Jackson and the rest of the oline, other than Hunt, haven't shown squat. Hunt for example has been getting the same coaching as Jackson and the other scrubs on the online, but he has performed much better because has actual talent to play at a high level. Hunt is the only good oline pick Grier has made in his entire career, other than having Tunsil fall on his lap.
There are plenty of examples of offensive lineman who turn their career around with a different scheme/coaching.
Watching Jackson, his technique is terrible. I'm guessing he was a lot stronger before the bone marrow surgery and he was able to get away with lousy technique on slower, weaker players in college. In the NFL though, it doesn't cut it. I think coaching can do quite a lot for him and possibly turn around his career, but it's not just physical at this point. He has to master the mental aspects of the game, staying low, shuffling his feet, arm strikes to the defender, etc. It's all technique and repetition, plus mental toughness to execute. I think Jackson has a chance of being a competent NFL tackle since he has had quite a few great snaps. But he'll never be consistent if the lazy shortcuts aren't coached out of him. Same problem for Eichenberg really, his technique is better (still bad, but better) and he's getting outclassed.
I can already tell you one thing. There is a clear vision for how the team will be built and the team identity. I am not sure if you watched McDaniel's press conference, but he talked about people being able to turn on the TV and recognize Miami Dolphins' football. The HC and the OC really are guys who have made their fortunes in the trenches. I fully expect us to start building on the line and expanding outward. I have championed this for years. I expect to see us use a lot of RBs/TEs and really focus on controlling the clock. I think we will not see the next step for awhile. This is the talent evaluation component. This is probably gonna be more of a slow trickle than a sweeping change. I imagine McDaniel and Smith will be watching a ton of tape together in order to evaluate and rebuild the depth chart. It's gonna be rough because they obviously can't get their hands onto them in practice quite yet, and the only person to lean on with actual experience is Studesville. I consider this to be a rough guess that really will not fully play out until the 2023 offseason. I think there will be new guys coming in via free agency and possibly the draft. I really think that we will probably see some immediate success. I bet we at least have a top half o-line next season.
Jackson would regularly get manhandled in college as well. The upside on him was his size and athleticism, but he never had the strength or technique. He was a project developmental player who only an idiot like Grier would have a first round grade on. In his two seasons so far he has been terrible. His only redeeming factor is his size and athleticism which he occasionally uses well on downhill run blocks. A great oline coach could potentially turn him into at least a decent lineman, but I don't think he's ever going to be great or even well above average. He has no core strength, no understanding of balance and leverage, his hands are terrible, and his toughness is questionable. Eichenberg is not quite as bad technique wise, but he is actually worse than Jackson athletically, so I'm not very high on him either. Can't believe we actually gave up picks to move up and get him. Only Grier would do stupid **** like that.
I agree- I don't think he'll ever be great...at least not in the next 3-5 seasons. But if they can nail down the fundamentals and put him in a better system to succeed, then maybe he can be a viable contributor anyway. I see quite a bit that can be coached anyway, that doesn't mean it will make a tremendous difference, but there's always a chance.