Tannehill seems to be the biggest hit for Ireland, and missing at number 8 will get you fired quicker than later. The draft gets him in bigger trouble after that. Martin is struggling with bull rushers. Is this a surprise? No. His weak performance with the lifting at the combine reflected his need to get stronger. He didn't improve that much in the off season either. Until he gains strength, he will struggle. Vernon has very little time under his belt playing his position. This will be a school year for him. He should get better and has good leverage for such a young guy with so little experience. Patience with him. Egnew came from that unorthodox offense at Missouri, and is struggling much in the same manner as tight ends recently drafted from Missouri. He also will need time to learn how to block and it might be fair to say his world is spinning right now because of the new expectations. He has the ability to get open. He should be a center field threat. Patience. Miller has the ability to be a threat, particularily if used to isolate on linebackers. Some of us might be a bit tough on him as he and the offensive line struggle in the run game. Philbin has already said he hasn't focused on the run game as much as he needs to. Kaddu also has talent, and will need to spend some time on special teams as he learns. He is an athlete. The biggest disappointment for the Dolphins fans is the failure to draft a top receiver. And unfortunately, Cunningham and Matthews haven't convinced them the Dolphins found any late round steals. Not even Fuller, who should have been drafted, has met the expectations as a surprise in the undrafted free agent arena. However, I have liked what I have seen from Matthews on special teams and last night at receiver. Wide receiver is one of the hardest positions to learn and immediate impact is not common. Randall has look pretty good for a rookie. We already knew he would not be much of a pass rush threat, but he does hold the line well. I like him. In the undrafted arena, Shelby has been a pleasant surprise. He should make the roster. Samuda looked really good in his pre-draft workout tape, and that was no fluke. He is a good athletic offensive lineman. He should make the roster. I have debated about keeping a guy like Fuller more so than Wallace, who continues to struggle with consistency and separation. Wallace is 26 and still struggling. Fuller showed some signs of life last night. Other than that, some of the defensive linemen have showed good signs, like Root, but no one has made enough of a mark to make the roster. Disappointing signings for linebacker and defensive backfield. McCray may have shown the good play had he not been sidelined by the broken foot. I like the signing of Gray and I would put him on the IR for next year. If we expect the rookie class to pay great dividends this year, and that expectation is tied to Ireland making it another year, Ireland is in trouble. Plain and simple. Fan expectation tied to poor attendance at games could be his nail in the coffin. But he did know this before the draft maybe?
I'm sorry, but unless someone is flashing star potential, you can NOT evaluate a draft after week two of the preseason. If Cam Newton was on his team last preseason, our fan base would have roasted Ireland for wasting a #1 pick on a guy that was struggling in preseason. Ring any bells?
If you read my assessment you would see that I am not attempting to say what they will be. In most cases I am saying patience is needed. I understand development. However, I do believe there are elements of the fan base that expect these guys to perform yesterday. That is not fair or right, but is what it is. And Ireland probably knew that. 8 home games with sparse crowds will communicate that to Ross. I am not saying if these guys will be successful or not. What I am saying is really more about what they have shown even before the preseason is over. Maybe "evaluation" is too strong a word.
There is no excuse for failing to address the WR position in free agency or earlier in the draft. i mean even signing a Mario Manningham or Robert Meachem to lessen the blow of losing Marshall would have made sense. this clown is lamenting the fact that he has 4s, 5s, and 6s when he knew this 4 MONTHS AGO before the draft and still decided to wait until the 6th and 7th rounds to take some WRs that wont even make the team. TEs from Missouri dont do **** in the league, i dont know why he thought things would change with Egnew. Martin is soft and needs a ton of work (Stephen Hill's been making plays in the preseason, he would look a hell of a lot better in aqua and orange catching passes from Tannehill). I liked the Vernon and Miller picks. I hated the Kaddu pick because i wanted Marvin Jones from Cal who's looks very promising in Cincy. Cunningham sucks, Mathews has some talent and potential but he'll probably develop on another team. hopefully we can stash him on the practice squad.
That's just a dumb statement, and I'll show you how dumb it is: "TEs from Arizona dont do **** in the league. I dont know why NE thought things would change with Rob Gronkowski." See where I'm going with this. There's no predisposition involved. Each player is on a case by case basis. BTW: How about that Kellen Winslow bum! Missouri must be embarrassed he made it to the HOF.
4 catches for 38 yards is making plays? Rishard Matthews is definitely making plays too then, and he only cost a 7th.
"Further evaluation"? This thread is about three years too early for that. You know which of Ireland's drafts we can further evaluate? The 2009 draft. Then next year we can further evaluate the 2010 draft.
Stephen Hill has looked better this preseason than any Dolphins receiver. If you want to break it down to stats that's all fine and good but I don't see that as a very good argument.
I don't see the point in this thread. There's obviously not enough to draw judgment on. 1. Ryan Tannehill - Actually playing a lot better this preseason than I thought he would, and dare I say even better than I thought he played at Texas A&M. 2. Jonathan Martin - Not just struggling with bull rushers, struggling with everything in every phase, even the snap count (3 false starts). At some point you have to realize this is a rookie and his head is spinning and you have to dial back the responsibility you put on his shoulders unless you want your QBs killed. That doesn't mean he'll always be bad, though. 3. Olivier Vernon - Not that effective pass rushing the edge in college and surprise, not that effective pass rushing the edge 9 months after college. But he's young, who knows where he'll be. 4. Michael Egnew - The most unfairly shat upon player on the entire Miami Dolphins roster, if you ask me. He's shown plenty of good things in the games and even though he's dropped a whopping two passes (MY GOD, CUT HIM NOW!!!!!!!) he never had hand issues at Missouri and regularly made tough catches in traffic with bodies draped all over him. 5. Lamar Miller - Taking baby steps, eventually will be a very good player. No setbacks, just no lighting anything aflame yet. 6. Josh Kaddu - Was worried he was too one dimensional in college (blitz pass rusher) and sure enough looks pretty one dimensional 9 months after college. We'll see where he ends up next year. 7. Kheeston Randall - Has quietly played very solid football and should make the roster, maybe even squeezing Tony McDaniel off it. 8. Rishard Matthews - Didn't even log a snap at WR in the first game just because they wanted to give him lots of chances as a return guy. They used him at WR in this game and he flashed big time. That slant pass where he bulled into the end zone showed exactly what I keyed on coming out of college...his leg strength.
I hope Egnew picks up the pace. At that point when we drafted him I was hoping for Mohamed Sanu, and he is looking really good in Cincy. In fact, the Bengals got both of the WRs I most wanted...Sanu and Marvin Jones.
I'd keep Matthews and Hogan for sure. Not sure about Fuller. Right now today, I'd keep, in order, Bess, Hartline, Pruitt, Hogan, Matthews and Wallace.
With Bess, Pruitt, Hogan and Matthews all stacked at slot, a spot the coaches seemed to have tabbed for Cunningham, I think BJ is in trouble.
This maybe true, and right now he looks like a PS candidate to me, but CK was doing his analysis on every pick and skipped BJ, I presume inadvertently.
Who we keep depends on who starts, to some degree. This third game will determine the fate of guys like Naanee as much as Matthews and Cunningham. This is the weirdest year I can remember at WR. 1st string guys have less separation from 4th string guys than I can ever recall happening. Other than Bess the other WRs are all up in the air pending this third game.
We still have two preseason games to go. But I'll tell you what I need to see in the third game, that's Legedu Naanee. This guy is supposed to be some great player according to all the observers and even according to the coaches who put him as first string. Where the hell has he been? It's the same **** as in Carolina. Practice well but when the real bullets are firing, disappear. Right now I'm inclined to keep Brian Hartline, Davone Bess, Julius Pruitt, Chris Hogan, Rishard Matthews and Clyde Gates. That's the god's honest truth.
That makes sense to me. I listed Wallace as the 6th WR to keep after the same first 5, but actually Clyde makes more sense because of his more diverse skill set.
Bottom line is Roberto Wallace isn't showing that he's able to do the things that this system requires. He needs to be able to run a comeback. He needs to be able to separate in man coverage. I see now why they've had him low on the depth chart. The production against Tampa was purely due to their soft zone coverage where he had corners disengaging and letting him sit in the soft spots between the zones, daring Tannehill to get the ball there which he did. Legedu Naanee better have a good third game. If he doesn't, I'd cut him along with Roberto Wallace. At least Marlon Moore can separate. It baffles me that every year I fall for this horse **** camp reporting instead of my own evaluations. I've never been impressed with Wallace as a receiver and always liked Marlon Moore better than him though not too much in general. I guess the one I have to believe the camp reporting on is Julius Pruitt but he actually showed some things during the preseason games that I like. Plus he's a great STs gunner. Rishard Matthews was the best receiver I graded amongst the four rookies they pulled in (Cunningham, Matthews, Fuller, Moye). Screw the camp reports. I'm keeping the guys I think are the best.
I'm still holding out hope that Greenbay cuts James Jones. If that happens, sign him and hide one of Hogan/Matthews on the PS.
I feel like, unlike other years, there is not much separating the ones from the 3s, 4s etc this year. I feel like everyone's job is on the line at WR and anyone could still leapfrog anyone else. Very unusual by week three of the preseason. What's your sense of how much movement is still possible between 1st string, bottom rung, and cutsville? Feels like a paper thin difference.
I think it is a paper thin difference and pretty soon we could see a desperation trade a la Marty Booker.
What I Hope Happens: Gates has a huge game and we keep Bess, Hartline, Hogan, Matthews, Pruitt, Gates. What Will Probably Happen: Naanee will catch a couple of balls, just enough to hang onto a spot and wrongfully discharge a talented young WR. Gates does a little, but not enough. Wallace, Moore, do as they have been. Pruitt has a so-so outing. Cunningham impresses and Matthews drops one and catches one. Hogan has a good day. Coaches end up keeping Naanee, Bess, Hartline, Pruitt and Cunningham (I don;t know why, but from the pre-camp depth chart on the coaches meetingroom board on HBO, and on the depth charts it seemed the coaches like Cunningham for the slot... I'd rather see them cut Cunningham and keep Hogan, but it wouldn't surprise me if it didn;t happen. Which, as a fivesome, truthfully, wouldn;t be horrible, but it's not my preference.
Looking at the lists... we REALLY need Gates, Naanee or Wallace to step up and ****ing dazzle us in this third game. Otherwise we are a corps of slot guys and diary of a gimpy white kid.
I wonder if we could prise a kid like Danario Alexander away from the Rams? I don't know how his knees are holding up, but I feel like we need a guy who has the potnetial to really break out as a physically dominant third or fourth year guy. Receiver on the cusp, you know? Maybe a change of scenery.
I'd be more tolerant of Egnew making mistakes like running routes at the wrong depth than him dropping balls that he gets his hands on. And CK said it's been two drops. I could have sworn it was three in the tampa game and one in carolina.
Interesting comparison of Demaryius and Stephen Hill: http://www.catscratchreader.com/2012/4/18/2958165/wr-prospect-comparison-stephen-hill-vs-demaryiusthomas
Meh, you can never really tell what the coaches really look for in preseason. I didn't see the game, but apparently the Panthers were really pumped according to the usual articles. Still haven't really gotten a good look at Vernon. Other than, "oh, he's #50"...Martin's fighting uphill which seems fitting for the illogical sense of entitlement that is Stanford. haven't seen Egnew...no one will convince me that Miller isn't valuable. No real reason not to continue to start Tannehill. The more experience he gets the better. Ireland drafts safe and conservative which IMO is good for places like Pittsburgh where the culture is steeped in football. His thought process reeks of 3 dimensional thought. For example, his process of drafting 2 players at the same position (ala Hartline and Turner) reflects the trial and error mentality that lacks vision or even rudimentary risk taking (ala Gronkowski). That said, we also really haven't had good coaching in the longest time...But he's next to get the axe. Sure he's got the prototype size and speed Jeff, but tell us how you feeeel...If the computer had a GM in Madden, Jeff Ireland would be its GM.
