Miami Not Interested In Bidding Wars In Free Agency

I still don't see how that play goes on Wilson. Channing Crowder blew his assignment, Yeremiah Bell blew his and Gibril Wilson came from the other side of the field to fight off two stiff arms and bring down a 250 pound tight end. Not easy to do, especially when you have a poor angle IMO.

Did they consider it? I'm not so sure. They seem to be pretty confident that they can acquire wide receivers in late rounds, such gems as Patrick Crayton and Miles Austin himself. They also added Brian Hartline in the fourth round. I don't think this is a regime that values the wide receiver highly unless you have a dominant player there, which is hard to come by unless you're willing to invest a lot of money and draft picks into, which is something that I don't think they are wanting to do.

 

Wilson sits because he was at FS, and Clemons is a FS. Why would you sit Bell if you wanted Clemons to play? Even sitting Bell and having Wilson play at SS wouldn't make sense if Wilson has gotten 0 reps there throughout the season. Why change up two things and significantly increase the chance of mistakes?

 

As far as I'm concerned they can replace both of them

 

I thought of that too But It might be too much to ask with the 2 young guys at corner. Be nice to have a vet back there. I wonder if Will Allen starts at corner next year?

 

Hard to say really, while the young corners showed a lot of promise they also made a lot of mistakes. Next year if they clean it up I would wager they start. If they don't then they wont. I'm sure you already knew that though =)

 

Well if they're so astute at selecting WR talent, explain Turner and Wilford?........and even if you throw that out and lets say they are good at finding a WR........then I would also hope they recognize just how vital it is to get a legitimate play maker on this roster, asap.

Because failing to so will not only hurt us, but the development of our young QB as well.

 

Wilson was sitting because he was sucking out loud....not because Clemons just happened to be a FS.

They were probably hoping to get lucky and Clemons would light it up so that they could do with Wilson what they did with Eric Green, pretend they never heard of him..lol

 

I don't buy this attitude for a second.

look at the perenially great teams in the league.

Colts. Ravens. Chargers. Eagles.

All primarily built through the draft.

That's how you do it, with the occasional FA at an area of need, none of these prima donna wideouts will help.

I need a T.O. on this team like I need an enema.

 

I still don't see how you can blame Wilson. He came from the other side of the field and didnt' even have a good angle on Shockey. Yeremiah Bell tried to jump the route and was unsuccessful whilst Crowder was moved out of his zone, which he was responsible for covering the hook IIRC.

That's something you need to ask them. Turner was a player that was overdrafted and was because of the run on wide receivers IMO. I'm only assuming here but I think once they saw the run on wide outs in the draft, they had to take Turner earlier than they hoped because he could have been gone later. We saw Ramses Barden get overdrafted and at that point, they pulled the trigger on Turner IMO.

As for Wilford, I wouldn't call him a big time acquisition but I can see why the wanted him. He had size and he was a pretty good blocker in the run game IIRC. They likely wanted him as a red zone target, which everyone knows we struggle with especially when you take away the tight ends underneath.

Ireland has and has discussed it.

 

Building through the draft and pointing at some of the top teams in the league is all fine and good, but I would argue that they didnt have the absolute lack of talent we were left with after the Wanny/Saban/Cam trifecta of fail.

We NEED to be bringing in more than Reggie Torbor. Not every year, and not every player. But if we let every good FA pass us by, it will be a big mistake that WILL set us back.

And IMO this FOs track record with the draft is about 50/50 right now in my opinion. They blew some major picks, and have had several midline FA busts as well. If they want to stay on track for a 3 year plan, they need to do more than sit tight and draft.

 

Regardless....he looked terrible. As he has numerous times this season.

Well then lets hope they learned a little something about the cost of knee jerk drafting

But he wasn't a guy that was ascending......he was a guy that the Jags, a team hurting at WR, felt they needed to get rid of.

Well so far, his actions tell a diff story....we were in desperate need of a true number one WR and his answer was Wilford and two mid round pick WR's.......

Just hoping that he evaluates his past approach to the problem and does a better job at finding the guy we need.

 

If your having 50% success on your picks in the draft your doing pretty damned good.

 

I'm not going to argue with you there.

I think so or at least I hope so. It doesn't surprise me that they had a dud in the draft though. I think Parcells has had at least one pretty often, no?

I agree. However, I think what we have to understand is that this front office has a lot of faith in their coaching staff. I imagine they felt Karl Dorrell could have helped Wilford take the next step in some way; whether that be as a number one or simply a quality red zone target.

Their faith in the coaching staff is something that could get in the way of them drafting a player that is more ready to handle this level of play, in favor of a guy who is raw but may have potential. I.e. Taylor Mays over Rolando McClain.

I think it's tough to criticize Ireland when it comes to the wide receiver position. He hasn't had a lot of options unless he wanted to give up draft picks, which is something I don't think they can afford to do because of the holes we have on this team. He's kind of been handicapped because of the rebuilding process and the dire need of impact positions. As Ireland noted in his press conference, dominant number ones are hard to come by at the wide receiver position. If you want one, you need to either draft him in the first round or trade for him, both things that are difficult to do because of the money involved as well as the high possibility of that player busting out. If I remember correctly, the last forty wide receivers taken in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft, only eight have truly panned out. That's an alarming statistic. This year, it's probably no different. After Dez Bryant, who has his own plethora of issues, is there really a number one in this Draft? Some may say Golden Tate but he reminds me some of Hines Ward, though I think Ward has better hands. Is Hines Ward a dominant number one in this league? IMO, he's not but he's a very good player.

Me too. I think we all are, brother. It's not easy though. I've learned from past player personnel guys that were successful that you should never look back on your past Drafts. You should only look to improve your team. Finding out your problem should be dealt with how the player is producing on the field or if he isn't, why isn't he? Did you do a poor job of projecting and grading him to the next level?

 

And with 9 picks and drafting out of slots 10-12 this year we should have a great draft

 

actually, that category is called "what we need to do if we're going to be a contender"...........or........"we have to get 5 players this draft because of the brain farts we had in the last draft"

 

Not that it can't be done, but to get 5 studs out of a single draft is almost unheard of. IMO and I know folks don't wanna hear it but I still feel we are two years our from pushing for a SB. This doesn't mean we couldn't do it next year with some luck. Also once we do if done through the draft we will be a staple for a few years.

 

If we had these solid players you speak of we'd be in the playoffs at 11-5. I'll take solid players, our 72 team was built on them. We have subpar play at one OLB position, ILB, and FS. You must improve that.

 

Your being generous



year 1
lot jake long
qb chad henne

year 2
cb vontae davis
cb sean smith
wr brian hartline

have flashed skills
og donald thomas
fs chris clemons

projects
og andrew gardner
de kendall langford
de phillip merling
rb lex hilliard

busts
dt lional dotson
qb pat white
wr patrick turner
te john nalbone
og shawn murphy

Not spectacular imo. Merling and Langford show flashes, but not consistency. White and Turner are 2 higher round picks that have showed absolutely nothing. Hilliard and Gardner are likely career backups, which, honestly is what I expect of a low round pick.

For a team as utterly devoid of talent as we were, we need to not whiff on Pat White and Pat Turner. Not to mention they and Nalbone left all draft "gurus" scratching heads.

Thank god Hartline is exceeding expectations, even if he is just another Cam/Bess type player.

We have got to add talent and not piss around on Ernest Wilfords in the FA period. Do we try and be the Redskins? Of course not.

But to ignore FA and go solely through the draft is just as much a folly. You can add good people through FA - just look at the Pats and Jets. Yeah, they have some that dont work out (Adalius Thomas) but then get a guy like Rodney Harrison or Calvin Pace (who actually had a pretty good year). Sometimes being cheap gets you exactly what you pay for.

 

Dorrel is 0-2 so far, Wilford and Turner haven't/didn't pan out, I won't toss him overboard, as Bonamego turned the Special Teams around after many people called for his head, myself included.

A player to watch this OTA cycle is James Pruit, he has been on the ps for a year, if Dorrel has any skill that cat should show something with his size/speed combination.

Or, the TO experience has soured Irish on the concept of a "dominant #1 Wr" so they take a Wr by comittee approach now, Philly used to do that, but even they added Jackson and Macklin apparently leaving their former philosophy behind.

Have to wonder what will happen with Reggie Brown..

Phil Merling's lack of development is a sore spot, for all the talk of P White, Merling is most certainly not playing like the #32 person taken in the draft.

If one looks at 5 picks behind PWhite, no one really stands out, we could have had Curtis Lofton...we got Merling instead...

 

The thing is, Parcells' 1980s way of doing things will improve our team but will not take it to the elite level we want to be at. The elite teams all have a balanced attack with talented RBs AND talented WRs and a competent passing game. Parcells' rings were from another era in football and he only made it back to the SB once after that...and he did it on a team with a star WR, even if he didn't like the guy.
So no, Parcells' rings do NOT put him above criticism and do not make him right.

 

you might be being a tad bit pessimistic yourself...Langford especially I would question as a "Project" he has started all 32 games since he was drafted and he might be the best "Pure" 2 gap DE in the league right now. Sacks are not a stat he should be judged by those are a bonus.

 

Langford has been very solid for two years now, in fact over a two year period you could argue he has been our best DL player and most consistent.

I'm also not as sold on V. Davis as many other are.

 

i don't think its a stance that we won't sign FAs .... its just like the last 2 years, where they assign a 'value' to a player - and won't go beyond that in negotiations.

if a player is young enough, and has enough potential such as Breaston or Austin, i think they'd be willing to spend more than you think .... not so sure about Marshall

same with S, ILB and OLB .... if Merriman is healthy - don't think that this FO won't pay for him

point is - the player has to be an 'impact' player ..... not just one of the best at thier respective position - there is a difference.

not sure why Dotson and Nalbone are 'busts' .... Nalbone will be fighting for the starting job this offseason .... Dotson was a work in progress -- another potential NT in development.

some might like Pruitt, but i'm still a very big fan of Marion - if he can come back healthy (i wished he had just rehabbed for a year instead of giving it a go last year) .... now the odds are probably against him - he has a lot of talent and speed .... he is what Ginn isn't.

 

how many of those guys that r truly worth their $ r allowed to become UFA?

look @ teams that consistently win, their "stars" are 98% drafted. look at how well the FA card has worked for Wash? teamslike that. dallas started winning when their own picks, pickks largely made by parcells n ireland, started producing. yeap some solid FAs filled holes.

be careful of what you wish, wishes dont always result the way you expect.

 

don't see Dotson as much of a NT prospect
& don't see him being brought along as one
however, if we draft a NT Dotson is definitely history.
anyone who has not met or surpassed expectations
may very well be gone. there will be no free pass.
the bottom of the roster will be turned over.

this is not a prediction, it is the way business is done in the FrontOffice

 

Great read Prez....dont agree with their philosophy....what don't they get having having to have a stud WR!?!?!?!?? draft picks are nice, and agreed they are the meat of the team, but how freaking much are we asking for them to go and spend a couple of dollars on one position!!! in turn we dont have to waste 3rd rounders on the Pat Turners of the world!!!

 

thers also
d culppeper to mia
e smith to ariz
ahman green to hou
Lsrry brown to oak
javo walker to oak
and our fac]v
scott mitchell to det

 

Agree and disagree with you about Langford Merling. IMO Langford is ahead of where I wold have expected him to be. They got an above average starter in the 3rd round. He improved from last year to this year which is what you want to see. I think he is going to continue to get better.
Merling has been a total disappointment for where we drafted him. I expect to get a little more out of a guy that was selected that high.

Agree that Hilliard is going to be a backup but that is good for where he was selected. I don't know how you can say that Gardner, who was a 4 year starter in college is going to be a career backup. Based on his college play prior to his injury he has the potential to be a starter. You could be right but we have not seen enough of him to know either way.

Every team whiffs on picks, that is the NFL draft. I would love to see us get 9 out of 9 picks right this year but that is not going to happen.

OH, and on the FA note.... I agree that FA has to be a part of how you build your team. You can not ignore that part of the team building processes.

 

Yesterday, the Boynton Beach-born, University of Miami-bred Wilfork said he'd be happy to play for the Dolphins, who have a desperate need at nose tackle now that Jason Ferguson's gotten himself old and gimpy.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/sports/Could-Vince-Wilfork-Become-A-Dolphin-81127537.html

 

Wilson had 9 missed tackles this season(2009)
Wilson had 11 missed tackles last season(2008)
playing his familiar position of strong safety
Wilson had 7 missed tackles in (2007)

It would seem he has had his problems with missed tackles
and it just hasn't been 1 season

 

Vince Wilfork will be happy to play for whoever gives him the most money, there will be no home town discount with Vince.....but it doesnt matter he is getting tagged anyway.....

 

Not saying you are wrong, but I'm curious as to where you're getting your #'s? I want to look up some other players, particularly some FA LBs.

 

The thing about our safety situation that's crucial is evaluating if the guys we have are the right people/players to give us what we need as a Quarters team. It is not as simple as evaluating other positons on defense. They are a vital aspect of our run defense, and a vital aspect of our pass defense. Teams that use a primary Quarters defesne typically have their best players at Safety. Knowing that, then our FA signings, drafts, trades, etc should reflect a core value at that position that reaches out farther than it does on other positions. Think of it like this: This year our Safeties didn't play particularly well, yet they were #1 and #2 in overall tackles. While making tackles is all fine and good, where we make those tackles is a big part of the story. We should see the safeties making all types of big plays for us, and until we do Quarters won't be what it should be in Miami.

There's no hiding when a safety is out of position in a Quarters scheme against the run or pass. It simply looks ugly. Until we do find a combo of Safeties that get it done, our defense will struggle. Our Safeties have to be able to tackle and be a force stuffing the run, and they simply have to be able to make quick reads so that they can also be a factor against the pass. The scheme REQUIRES a special player there, not a marginal guy or average NFL starter.

Once we shore up both of these important positions, we will see everyone on the defense play better and the whole thing will come together.

 

It was a new defense, for one. He was playing out of position, for two.

AND Clemons is a projected free safety, this is why he was played over Wilson. Yeremiah Bell is not a long-term Dolphin, the contract says it all.

 

Would you say that upgrading at Safety would make a bigger impact on our defense than upgrading at LB?

 

We also had some play makers on that team. Our passing game was the most efficient in the league at 8.4 YPA. On defense our pass defense was tied for second with four other teams at 5.8 YPA (ie. we were top 5).

Both of those numbers are excellent and now-a-days they're even more important.