To me, with the news that not just Lamar Miller but also Steve Slaton could pose significant challenges for 1st team reps, Daniel Thomas is on thin ice. The coaches like Steve Slaton and have been giving him some of Thomas' 1st string reps in training camp. Unlike Thomas on his ten attempts, Slaton actually produced a touchdown on his three tight red attempts last year (he had one attempt as a Dolphin, and that was the touchdown). He produced 6 on 30 in 2008 and 2 on 5 in 2009. It goes without saying that Slaton's overall 4.3 yards per carry average has been better than Thomas' 3.5 yards per attempt, and it should be noted that Slaton had 4.8 yards per carry as a rookie, so it's not just a matter of unfairly comparing rookie versus veteran performance. The thing Slaton hasn't done very well since his rookie season is produce yards after contact, averaging only 2.1 yards over 174 carries in 2009, 2010 and 2011. He's created 27 broken tackles (1 every 6.44x attempts). Fortunately for him, if his competition is Daniel Thomas, that's not a very big deal because Thomas has only created 1.9 yards after contact on average with a broken tackle every 15.00x attempts. With Steve Slaton developing a reputation in Houston as a fumbler, you would think this would be an advantage for Daniel Thomas. However, Slaton has fumbled 1 time every 63.1x runs, versus Daniel Thomas fumbling 1 time every 82.5x runs, and the difference isn't necessarily all that significant. It's a going concern for both players, at this point. Slaton hasn't fumbled the ball since 2009, but he's only carried the ball 43 times over the two seasons. Slaton pass protected decently in 2008 as a rookie but took a step backward in 2009. Since then he hasn't been charged with pass protection very often at all. All in all he's allowed 2 sacks, 5 hits and 11 pressures on 176 pass pro reps. He got neutral grades from PFF in 2008, 2010 and 2011, but a negative grade in 2009. Daniel Thomas got a nice positive grade on pass pro as a rookie, allowing 1 sack and 2 hits (0 pressures) on 80 tries. This is one area Daniel Thomas has a significant advantage over Steve Slaton based on their careers thus far. I consider the news that Lamar Miller came into camp significantly bulked up to be significant. This was the big area for improvement for him, coming from college to pro. He had sort of a track body and needed some more football development. The other shoe to drop will be paying attention to what he does in pass protection. DJ noted at least one play when Miller stabbed a dagger in someone's heart on pass pro, and I think Nasty noted the same play. If Miller continues improvement in pass protection, then Daniel Thomas had really better watch out, because this coaching staff had nothing to do with his drafting and even the personnel department had Lamar Miller graded higher as a draft prospect in their respective drafts. Daniel Thomas fans may hope for a little Big 12 love from Mike Sherman, given the career Daniel had in the conference in which Sherman also coached. Thomas did not play against Sherman in 2010, however Daniel had 18 runs for 91 yards and 4 of the 7 offensive touchdowns K-State scored against TAMU in the meeting they had in 2010, which turned into a 62-14 rout.
It's pretty hard to stomach Omar Kelly. He called it a "head scratcher" that Philbin was involved with the defense seeing how his background was as an offensive coach. Give me a break!
From the tweets and things I've read regarding camp, it seems like Thomas has a some nice runs and seems to be playing a better than last year. I wouldn't count him out just yet. However I am very excited at the things I've been hearing about Lamar Miller.
Omar is who he is and sometimes I do think people just need to get over it. My honest opinion. Yeah he still says things that are off base and then when he's challenged on it he pulls out the whole, I know way more about this stuff than you do card. But he also actually does know way more about this stuff than most people, and he also says a lot of things that are accurate. I didn't have a ton of respect for him when he was new to the Dolphins beat and he pulled some of that same stuff, but he's not new anymore, he's actually getting better at making veteran observations, and I tend to forgive weird egomania in people that actually know what they're doing. It's sort of like the hot/crazy curve for women. The more arrogant you act, the more you really need to be pretty good at contextualizing what you're observing. Hence you don't see me rail against Armando that much as the only thing I really disapprove of in him is his ethics. Otherwise he's probably got the most accurate eyes on the beat. It's no wonder, he's been doing it the longest.
Because the weird egomania superseded Omar knowing what he's talking about, I see little reason to forgive him for it. Not to mention, the combination of Omar's false sense of confidence in his assessment ability with his egomaniacal ways make him dangerously and inaccurately subjective at times, at the expense of his readers to boot.
I only really saw him on blitz pickup twice (I’m sure there were more, but there was a lot going on, lol). On 1, he blew up the blitzer in a very loud crash. Saw the blitzer and attacked him instead of waiting to get bulldozed. It was a great play. However, on the other one… he stood there like a deer in headlights and Tannehill got crushed, lol. Obviously blitz pickup will be something that will take its time to learn, as its usually one of the hardest learning curves for rookie RBs. But I did like his aggressiveness/willingness that I saw on the first one.
Which for me is progress because the default for most backs coming from college to pro is the deer in headlights play over and over again. Consistency in pass pro is not something even Daniel Thomas achieved in 2011, and to expect it so early in training camp (first time hitting is actually allowed) would be unrealistic, IMO.
I dont believe that. DT was awful to begin his career in that area. Yes he improved as the season went, but 3rd best? No way
You can disagree with PFF, but not believe that they did do it? I promise, they have him 3rd in that regard. Also, to be more precise they have his best games as all early ones. Weeks 2, 6, 9, and 3, in order. Which is vs Houston, @ Jets, @KC, and @Cleveland. His only game with a negative pass blocking grade was week 7, vs Denver, with -0.1 Top 5 blocking half backs as per PFF: Fred Jackson, 578 snaps, +4.7 rating Ahmad Bradshaw, 502 snaps, +4.1 Daniel Thomas, 373 snaps, +3.8 Roy Helu, 554 snaps, +3.6 C.J. Spiller, 470 snaps, +3.5 James Starks, 451 snaps, +3.2
Continue to be really intrigued with C.J. Spiller. Averaged 5.6 yards a carry in 2011, is a threat to catch the ball and beat anyone you line up on him in coverage, returns kicks well, can return punts when you want and be a threat, averaging well in both duties...and he blocks. If Fred Jackson weren't so damn good...he'd be a star already. The Bills pay through the nose at that position but man have they grabbed some good players over the years between Willis McGahee, Marshawn Lynch, C.J. Spiller, and even a nobody UDFA like Fred Jackson. And hell, Tashard Choice isn't half-bad either. And I liked their drafting of Johnny White, even though he got hurt last year and couldn't do much.
Just wish the guy would start a private account and a public one. All the rants fill my feed and the debates on the best rap album, etc get old. He always falls back on 'This is MY account I can do what I want" - but it is really more of his work account. If he tweeted something offensive from that account it could cost him his job. And his constant threat to not speak about the QB position is another complaint. His job is to cover the team - to suddenly say he won't cover the QB position is saying he won't be doing his job.
Many of the players interviewed on thefinsiders.com have said all of the plays can be called with hand signals. Just curious if they were overtly practicing it.
Don't forget that Fuller and Tannehill played together in college, which is another feather in Fuller's cap for making the team.
I bet Deej has been sleeping for forty straight hours now. He put in four full days at camp plus four full nights of clubbing, bar hopping, and rabble rousing with maybe 5 hours of sleep a night plus hangovers. Thanks DJ. You took one for the team! (and hopefully gave one to a couple ladies in your hotel room)
accurate analysis.. I would get antsy every nite around 1 or 2, so I would cut off my nites, which meant I also sacrificed the ladies Y'all...lol..true story.
The familiarity with the offense should help Fuller, but he still has to perform. Sherman may be harder on him, because he knows what he is capable of. (See Junior season). More may be expected because he is playing in the same offense. Like ckp said, Fuller was considered a possible 1st going into the 2011 season. It was a surprise that he went undrafted I think, even with his lackluster Senior season. Hopefully we got a steal with him, such as we did when Bess surprisingly went undrafted in 2008. Another plus IMO, is Fuller has an NFL pedigree. His dad also named Jeff, played safety for the 49ers in the mid late 80s.
Dork is street slang for *****, but it isn't the actual word for that of a whale. That's just urban legend or whatever.
Well It is a known fact tha San Diego means Whales vagina. [video=youtube;cT8sIT4vBUQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT8sIT4vBUQ&feature=related[/video]
The football in this thread has run its course, I'll tell my brothers a true story of dedication. So I meet my friend at this place called bond street for dinner, she brings two women and two gentlemen who are gay, so we eat we drink, but I'm only drinking bud lite, because I got my hotel in plantation next to the training camp facility, 45 min drive, so the gentlemen are throwing a party on the roof of this hotel, so my friend who is a female, purely platonic, says ok, we go there for a bit, then we go to soho house, (popular spot), anyways, these folks are getting drunk and I'm sippin on my bud lites, when it got to be around midnite, my friend says , wanna go to soho house?, I thought about it, I wasn't buzzed, and I understood the commitment of cabbing it there and how much time they would wanna stay there,so I said, screw it, "let's stay here"it's outside, and I'm good, ( thinking all dolphins at this point), so one of the girls was sitting next to me, and she started flirting with me and getting closer, about an hour passes, it's now 1 30, and I'm antsy as hell, yet still kinda of entertaining, I tell my friend "let's go", she says ok,but then orders another drink..huh, so to make a long story short, I announce that I'm gonna go in a bit, the girl next to me starts throwing out the idea that, that I shouldn't go, and for me to go out with them, meaning she and her girlfriend, she got closer, and more kinda of in my face, 15 mins pass, I'm looking, I'm thinking about her, I get up to say I'm going, and she's says to me up close, " come on, don't go", grabs my forearm, looks at me, I look at her, and in my mind I swear to god, I sized her up, and said to myself ( she was about a 6), not bad, little body, but I heard her burp one time, and she was a bit sloppy, so I say to her, I can't, I gotta go.. So there you go home slices, I sacrificed my loins for my brothers and sisterslol
DJ said she was just a 6. A true stud like DJ doesn't settle for a 6 for gawd sake. Had she been a 9 or better, then he would have been well expected to go for *** over football.
DJ had been drink beer all evening so if he said she was a six, you better believe she was a 3 at best.
And yet he really had to struggle with it for awhile before tearing himself away. That's a p-hound. Lol. Deej, I love you man. We owe you a solid three sometime at a Phins party. We'll chip in to hook that up. By the way, you could have cut an hour off that deal and taken her home early if you'd used your closing move: the towel on the head.
Are you sure you aren't applying DJ maths to it, like "Looks are a three, I'm seein her with two eyes, so three times two is six. Sexy six."
lol..oooohh..uh man, I'm laughing hard here, couldn't leave my friend that I haven't see in a while, with her client friend..a 7 yes, a 6, bandits baby.
Except DJ tried to screw her... Needed to bring the HAMMER instead of the screwdriver. A three doesn't warrant finessing.
I dare you to post a poll thread with a photo of her so we can vote on her 1-10 Don't say you don't know how to upload photos old man. Your "Technology frightens me" arguments don't hold wate here!!!! Lol
Nah, legit 6.. Nice legs, she was from Montreal, wore nice dressy shorts with hi heels, she was tan, but at the end, I just wanted to get some some sleep before I had to go reportin..just couldn't muster up the energy, either that or I didn't have enough alcohol in me..
I swear to you, I don't know how to upload a photo..lol., and why the hell would I have a pic of her?, there were some pics taken of all of us and posted on Facebook, which is a place I haven't gone to in 5 months.
