Well, we are at the halfway point to opening day up in Atlanta and now is as good a time as any to ask who has surprised the most or lived up to expectations...so far? Hartline and Hilliard for me, Brian Hartline had everyone scratching their head when we drafted him, but he has played well so far, ditto Lex Hilliard, when Parmalee was poached from our Practice Squad last season, I have to admit I had hoped it would have been Hilliard. And throw in Q Moses, he really has went from after thought to good prospect. Performed as advertised: Donald Thomas, once healthy, he played at a high level Jason Taylor...he's 35 on opening day, rewatching games and he will be "JT" once again...JP has the wind up kick celebration...will JT bring back the air punch? Cameron Wake...everyone had doubts about the CFL translating to the NFL, Wake has shown he can get it done as a passrusher. Reggie Torbor leads the second team Defense in the preseason, he is more athletic than I thought he would be. Who has underperformed>? The guys who went "Knight Rider" and left Camp E Green...henceforth...Miami shall avoid anyone with that name.. Sadly Patrick Turner...Hartline has outplayed him, I do think that the fact he was targeted for a single in the endzone pass sort of mitigates his lack of performance. P White...yep...20 snaps...tops? And he won't play in Game #3...White hopefully will take the helm in game #4 and show some of the things he can do. Additions? Complaints?
Vontae Davis has been a nice surprise in how fast he has brought his game up to NFL high standards. I know it is pre-season, but he has shown he is ready to play. Thomas reminds me of Jamie Nails when he was pulling and taking two or three players out at a time. I am very happy and impressed with Hillard. I hope he stays. I am very sad about the whole Roth incident. I think this will really hurt him in the future if it is more then then just a groin injury, and him and his agent are after more money and that's it.
Vontae as a #1 is hard to call him a surprise though, ditto Sean Smith. Same here, it is even worse because "us" fans have no real idea what is going on with Roth.
I should of phrased it an early surprise, because just they were picked in the first round, doesn't mean they will shine right away or for that matter, ever produce on the field.
Roth is my biggest disappointment, very concerned about that situation. Vontae and Hartline look like two of the best surprises, Vontae shouldn't be a surprise, but after the first game, the 2nd game was a surprise. I want to see more out of Wake and Pat White.
well i was touting hilliard last year so he wasnt a surprise for me. the player i was a bit negative on was sean smith, thinking that his height would make it difficult to keep up with pro receivers. so far he's exceeded my expectations. also akin ayodele has played better than i expected
Well, Sean Smith still has some things to prove, he plays "large" for a Cb let's see what happens when the Reggie Waynes are his man to cover. As for Hilliard...I'm not feeling him. And Sparano mentioned in his presser that Teddy Ginn is going back on punt returns along with Bess, and Ginn and Cobbs will return kickoffs A guy who has been under the radar, granted he is a second/third team player, is Tony McDaniels, for a big he really hustles to make plays down field. BTW, Wake is leading us in ST tackles...nice...my one complaint about him is in the CFL he flew around the field Shawne Merriman like, so far he hasn't really done that, it could be scheme though.
yeah dont know how i forgot about mcdaniels but thats another guy that surprised me. dont know about wake yet
My biggest positive surprise has been Hartline. I hated the pick on draft day and he has clearly been very good thus far. Next would probably be Soliai. I thought that NT was going to be our thinnest spot, but his improved maturity may make it a strength. Sean Smith, Wake and JT aren't really surprises for me b/c I was high on those guys from the beginning. My biggest disappointment has been Roth. Turner isn't really a disappointment for me. I was luke warm on the pick to begin with. And I don't generally expect much from WRs in the first year anyways. Likewise White hasn't been a disappointment either. I liked the pick and I like what I've seen so far but I believe that QBs, particularly spread QBs, should be brought along slowly.
I love the way Ronnie has looked in preseason. Ive never been a big Ronnie fan, but it seems that he hits the hole much harder than in previous seasons. I'm on the bandwagon this year and hope his strong play carries over to the regular season.
The front 7 in general has impressed me, both starters and backups. All along the line and the backers as well. Surprisingly, guys that have been 'quiet', like Langford and Porter and Fergy are our starters. That can only mean that the backups are better than in past years... Concerns: The Roth situation. That needs to be worked out. Since it started under shady circumstances, it has the appearance of something more than a groin injury keeping him from practicing. Secondly, is the weakness in pass coverage with the safties, both Bell and Wilson...
I would appericate if you would reconsider speaking badly of my son, as it is not his fault. Even though I agree and was hoping that he would catch on faster but I still have confidence that the game will come to him. Consider yourself warned!
Honestly for me, the biggest suprise in the attacking style of our Defense. They just seem to have taken it up a notch....and seem to be playing with a ton of confidence. I think they will be really exciting to watch this season.... I think Turner will turn out to be a good WR for us....I almost think he has fallen into the ...we know what we have...category of WR's and they need to see more of other aspects of our offense. Game two of the preseason was predetermined to see what we could do running the ball, and using our backs in the passing game...Im not sure there was much emphasis on the WR's . Sean Smith has been a great suprise....my god..I thought he might be good...but I never imagined we'd see a CB his size move as fluid or look as comfortable in coverage as he has....I keep asking myself how the hell did he fall to us?
I have to say Shawn Smith has been the biggest suprize for me! When we drafted the guy I was like thats amazing size for a CB but something has to be wrong with him for him to last till that pick. He has come out and shown that she should have been a 1st round pick easily and has given Vonte all that he can handle and then some for a starting position. Our CB crew has vastly improved this year, IMO we have 3 very solid CB's.
Sean Smith lasted that long b/c he was a recent convert to CB (two seasons) and b/c he he was taller than the prototype CB. I'm guessing that the people who questioned him for his height either didn't watch him or just don't know what to look for in analyzing CBs.
I guess my biggest surprise is how much better Miami runs the ball with Donald Thomas in the line up, he has made some pretty good blocks. My biggest disappointment so far isn't a player but the fact like last year on 3rd and long the defense allows allot of conversions for first downs.
My biggest surprise is Q. Moses. He looked useless last year. This year he looks like he can be a player this this league. Also Sean Smith really surprised me by how natural he looks at cornerback. I am really excited about this guy. My biggest disappointment is Matt Roth. I am a huge fan of his, I do not understand why he is doing what he is doing. I am hoping it is for a good reason like he has diabetes or something like that.
I don't know that this should be a surprise. He has a big transition to make, we have a coaching staff that believes in developing QBs slowly, and a second year QB that needs the game time more. Penny goes down and Henne is the back up. Also, the plays that White is expected to run this year aren’t ones that we show in preseason. As a fan I want to see White as much as possible, but Henne needs/deserves the work more. I agree with the rest of it.
What bothers me is Turner had one pass thrown to him in the endzone. Of all of our offensive problems, one of the largest is we do not throw the ball into the endzone, we typically throw the ball short and expect the receiver to carry the ball into the endzone. We will see about Smith, he is soo huge that Wr look like pee wee football players next to him.
If Davis and Smith become good starters they alone will make this an outstanding draft. With our struggles in the secondary in recent years we have been wondering if we would ever have any players to compare with Madison and Surtain. Hilliard is a pleasant surprize and it would be nice to know we have a possible future starter when RW finally leaves. Roth is a definite disappointment and I am afraid Parcells and company are quickly becoming tired of his injury and his absence from team practice. Roth may be gone sooner than any of us could imagine he would be.
My biggest surprise for me right now has been Shawn Murphy. Last year at this time, it looked like a wasted pick. I really thought we were going to be drafting another guard to compete and probably replace him. Murphy though has stepped up for me and made me feel more comfortable in our OG depth. Not completely comfortable, but definitely better than a couple of months ago. Disappointment wise I have to go with Roth. I had high hopes for the guy, but right now I'm not so sure he isn't traded before the start of the season.
