It's an article about all facets of the team, so it's not about just one thing. However, this quote was interesting. http://www.nfl.com/trainingcamp/sto...0d5d809e99c4&template=with-video&confirm=true Incidentally, Kirwan sees the Dolphins as 7-9 this year. I'd take that all day long.
Good read Muck, I like Pat Kirwans articles a lot. He posed some questions with his answers and here are some of mine. 1. Can this team go to the playoffs in 2008? I don't think they can just yet. We still have some questions on this team. Can Jason Ferguson and Yeremiah Bell stay healthy and lead this team? Can the new and reshuffled offensive line do their job? How is Ronnie going to impact the running game after his surgery? I think those are some of the questions that need to be answered. I think that the Jets can win eight or nine games, the Patriots are always at the top and then the Bills may be a good team, pending on them stopping the run. They added Marcus Stroud this off-season. I don't think will make the playoffs this year. 2. Can Ricky Williams regain his form from years gone by? He was very impressive in the pre-season opener, bouncing off tacklers and finding the holes. I thought that he displayed good vision as usual. With his recent comments about him being motivated, I think he can be similar to his old form. He says that this is the first time he has been motivated but I find that hard to believe because he did run for 1800+ yards at one time in his career. He'll play a key part in this team's running game while Ronnie Brown is eased back into the lineup and the rookies are getting settled in. Parmele hasn't experienced a real Sunday game yet. I think he could be getting around 10-15 touches and I think he can be productive. 3. Which QB will lead this team? I think its Pennington barring injury. He's the most experienced, he's getting paid six million a year and he's familiar with some of the terminology that is presented by Henning's offense. If he was to go down, I expect Beck to come in unless the organization cuts him. I don't expect Henne out there this year. 4. Will the top draft picks really contribute right away? Obviously Long will contribute as he is our starting LT. I think Langford wins the DE spot. As for Merling, I'm not sure what to expect. He could be a big part of our defensive success and he could have minimal impact. Donald Thomas will likely win the RG spot if he hasn't already. I didn't see much of him in the first pre-season opener but I believe there was a nice push by him on Ronnie's 6 yard run. I think Parmele could be a third down back for us while Ronnie is eased back into the lineup. Hilliard is likely headed to the PS imo. I think Foster is a wildcard here. He's not a top draft pick as the question asks but I think that he can contribute on ST's if he makes the 53 man roster. I don't think he will make it this year, possibly next though. 5. Are there enough pieces in place to convert to the 3-4 defense? I'm really not sure. I think someone can explain this better than me. I think we could very well end up running the 43 though. 6. Can Sparano bring so many new faces from different places together in time? I think so. He provides strong leadership and doesn't seem to take any crap from anyone. I think that he can have these guys ready and working well together. 7. Where will the most immediate improvement come on this team? Pat Kirwan says that the ST's should be an immediate improvement. I think its stopping the run as well as the secondary. I expect Ferguson, Soliai and Starks to help stop the run and make it better than last year. In the secondary, I expect Jason Allen to shine in the simplistic defense and Bell is finally healthy. Another 'wildcard' is Andre Goodman. Coming off injury, I think he could be a good Corner for us again. 8. Are they going to be ready for Brett Favre and the Jets in Week 1? We should be ready. Pennington has worked under Henning before I believe, he didn't play but studied. Pennington said in his press conference that he was looking through the playbook and some of the plays were obviously forgotten as it has been eight years. I don't think it should be too much trouble for him because he is an intelligent guy. I hope that we don't get any injuries in the pre-season . We already saw one with Charlie Anderson going down. How close are the Dolphins? I think we're going to be a 5 to 6 win team this year. I'll say 6-10.
I'd love to see Jayson Foster make the 53 man roster. The article mentioned that we should expect 4-6 waiver wire pickups, that is a mini horde of players. I bet that 30% of the roster does not sleep well during TC...
Interesting that Kirwan refers to Henne as a "rising star". I wonder how much of that opinion was formed based on his conversation with Parcells.
To that point, I'll quote the Kirwan's text. And there you have it. They really are looking for that big boy on the outside. The front seven without Porter and Holliday didn't look bad against what is being anticipated as the best OL in Buccaneer history. If either Roth or Holliday can make the move, I wouldn't be surprised in seeing them with their hands still down in the 3-4 at times. Especially Holliday. I think they've got the horses to play 3-4 now. But to play it at a high level, I think we're probably a little too young up front.
Nice post alen. You may be right, in that we do, out of necessity play alot of 4/3. I had some of the same thoughts. But then we have to keep in mind that last night the 1st team defense at times applied solid pressure to the TB OL. For instance the play where Ferguson got his sack. That was a team effort. Outside speed and inside power. Add Holliday and Porter to the mix - 2 vets. And we've probably got the players for success using a 3/4 base.
Welker wasn't with BP I don't think. Marty Schottenheimer had him w/ the Chargers and cut him and we picked him up?
They signed Welker as an UDFA and waived him on the final cutdown, hoping as I recall to put him on their PS. We claimed him off waivers at that time.
Yeah they did apply some solid pressure but overall, I wasn't too impressed. Aside from the first play, I don't recall them causing problems. As you mention, Porter and Holliday were not taking part in the game. I expect them to have a big impact on our defense this year, if they fail to then we may have some trouble. It'll be interesting to see what scheme they end up using. It says that if the two projects, Holliday and Roth, fail to pan out in their new position, we should expect Anderson on the outside. I was thinking that Anderson would be starting outside either way. Am I reading too much in to this?