Rough start to season?

I agree. I think the good news is that defensively you can sort of scheme around it if everyone understands the playbook. By calling basic sets and easing everyone into the system.

Offensively, I think it will have a huge impact. The team chemistry just wont be there for most guys. Especially QB/WR connections that just wont have the reps to get in sync.

"AGuyNamedAlex wrote:

I agree. I think the good news is that defensively you can sort of scheme around it if everyone understands the playbook. By calling basic sets and easing everyone into the system.

Offensively, I think it will have a huge impact. The team chemistry just wont be there for most guys. Especially QB/WR connections that just wont have the reps to get in sync.

Yep, offence is always behind but one good thing is the wr postion is set from last year.
The biggest concern to me is the new offensive line.

I was thinking about this the other day. The teams that have really good virtual capabilities and understand that could get an edge in this weird time. Can teams get their recruits "wired up" quickly and efficiently. Will they be able to do virtual workouts? Can they set things up like big screen broadcasts at smaller stadiums where multiple people could work out but as "singles"? It's intriguing.

"pumpdogs wrote:

Yep, offence is always behind but one good thing is the wr postion is set from last year.
The biggest concern to me is the new offensive line.

The line will be a concern. I guess the good news on that, our line has been a concern the last decade so it's not a new experience.

Hopefully the idea that the summer will cause a slow down and hopefully over the summer we will have a treatment that for the most part works. Then we should be able to have a training camp.

I don't know how much off season work outs do for setting up the offense and defense other than build team camaraderie

In the strike shortened season Miami ended up having a big advantage b/c they had a great coaching staff. They actually ended up in the SB that year.

As for a rough start, it seems mixed. The OL with all the turnover there will be a hurdle. Gailey and Fitz have worked together before so that shouldn't be too new. The defense came into their form at the end of the year and a couple of the new additions will already know much of the system.

"pumpdogs wrote:

I am concerned with all the new additions how we are going to start the season with possible no mini camps this season for obvious reasons.
I'm optimistic for the long run but this season might be challenging to compete with alot of these new players were counting on to make an impact in 2020.

If it makes you feel any better, all 32 teams will have the same disadvantage

"The_Dark_Knight wrote:

If it makes you feel any better, all 32 teams will have the same disadvantage

Your missing the point.I feel veteran teams will have an advantage over a team like us that might have 4 or 5 new starters on the offence line alone.
A team like the Chiefs or Ravens it won't matter as much.

Good news every team will have this so were not unique. All teams will have issues. The Teams that will breakout are the teams with the most consistency carrying over from last year IMHO.

I'm not expecting playoffs like some are for next season. Who knows if there will even be a season...I certainly feel like there will be, but it may be much different. Either way, yeah....Lots of new faces, i'm sure there will be some struggles along with growing pains. Main thing is we don't get discouraged and start screaming for Tua. Tua, should probably be redshirted for the year no matter what happens. This will be another audition for Rosen if Fitz falls off of his second year cliff. I will say this....We were one of the better "non playoff teams" last year towards the end of the season. We kind of hit a hot streak towards the end and I know I was expecting us to build off of that. Sometimes that happens and sometimes teams regress, and in our case we may take a half a step backwards at first. Definitely seems feasible.

"ExplosionsInDaSky wrote:

I'm not expecting playoffs like some are for next season. Who knows if there will even be a season...I certainly feel like there will be, but it may be much different. Either way, yeah....Lots of new faces, i'm sure there will be some struggles along with growing pains. Main thing is we don't get discouraged and start screaming for Tua. Tua, should probably be redshirted for the year no matter what happens. This will be another audition for Rosen if Fitz falls off of his second year cliff. I will say this....We were one of the better "non playoff teams" last year towards the end of the season. We kind of hit a hot streak towards the end and I know I was expecting us to build off of that. Sometimes that happens and sometimes teams regress, and in our case we may take a half a step backwards at first. Definitely seems feasible.

I agree. I wouldn't even consider putting Tua on the field this year.

"ExplosionsInDaSky wrote:

I'm not expecting playoffs like some are for next season. Who knows if there will even be a season...I certainly feel like there will be, but it may be much different. Either way, yeah....Lots of new faces, i'm sure there will be some struggles along with growing pains. Main thing is we don't get discouraged and start screaming for Tua. Tua, should probably be redshirted for the year no matter what happens. This will be another audition for Rosen if Fitz falls off of his second year cliff. I will say this....We were one of the better "non playoff teams" last year towards the end of the season. We kind of hit a hot streak towards the end and I know I was expecting us to build off of that. Sometimes that happens and sometimes teams regress, and in our case we may take a half a step backwards at first. Definitely seems feasible.

Say they keep Rosen as the backup this year with Tagavailoa sitting out the entire season on the sideline, which I agree with. Fitzpatrick gets injured Week 5 and Rosen starts the rest of the way. He plays great and almost brings them to the playoffs. Let's face it, no matter how many people are predicting Miami to go 9-7/10-6 this season...it's not happening.

What do you do in 2021?

Does Rosen go into 2021 as the starter in training camp with giving Tagavailoa the chance to beat him out? Or, do they trade Rosen in the off-season? Do they shop Tagavailoa?

Interesting scenario.

"TheHighExhaulted wrote:

Say they keep Rosen as the backup this year with Tagavailoa sitting out the entire season on the sideline, which I agree with. Fitzpatrick gets injured Week 5 and Rosen starts the rest of the way. He plays great and almost brings them to the playoffs. Let's face it, no matter how many people are predicting Miami to go 9-7/10-6 this season...it's not happening.

What do you do in 2021?

Does Rosen go into 2021 as the starter in training camp with giving Tagavailoa the chance to beat him out? Or, do they trade Rosen in the off-season? Do they shop Tagavailoa?

Interesting scenario.

That would be the ideal situation!We would get another high draft pick for Rosen.
Noway they will trade Tua unless they feel after seeing him practice he will never be the same.

"TheHighExhaulted wrote:

Say they keep Rosen as the backup this year with Tagavailoa sitting out the entire season on the sideline, which I agree with. Fitzpatrick gets injured Week 5 and Rosen starts the rest of the way. He plays great and almost brings them to the playoffs. Let's face it, no matter how many people are predicting Miami to go 9-7/10-6 this season...it's not happening.

What do you do in 2021?

Does Rosen go into 2021 as the starter in training camp with giving Tagavailoa the chance to beat him out? Or, do they trade Rosen in the off-season? Do they shop Tagavailoa?

Interesting scenario.

The chance of Rosen playing great is IMO zero point zero zero zero... (lost count). As far as I'm concerned Rosen is a top 10 bust among QB's in the last 30 years and I fully expect the coaching staff to show him the door once Tua starts (which is at latest in 2021).

So thinking more realistically.. whatever happens in 2020 (which won't include Rosen playing great lol) I'm looking forward to 2021 with Tua as starter and at worst Fitz as backup. And to the OP's concern, I don't mind if we're not that competitive in 2020. The goal is to be a consistent winner starting from 2021.

"AGuyNamedAlex wrote:

The line will be a concern. I guess the good news on that, our line has been a concern the last decade so it's not a new experience.

And there's no way it can be worse than last year

"Patster1969 wrote:

And there's no way it can be worse than last year

LOL! We can only hope. :-) Seriously, in all fairness, with all the new players and rookies, it while probably take a while for our OL to gel. I am willing to be patient as long as they show steady improvement.

"Surfs Up 99 wrote:

LOL! We can only hope. :-) Seriously, in all fairness, with all the new players and rookies, it while probably take a while for our OL to gel. I am willing to be patient as long as they show steady improvement.

I'm really hoping we start off using very basic blocking schemes that any professional would be able to understand immediately and at least not completely fail in.

This season more than ever, unless camps start up and have ample time, I think a fundamental/basic approach to the gameplan will be key for teams with a lot of roster change.

"AGuyNamedAlex wrote:

I'm really hoping we start off using very basic blocking schemes that any professional would be able to understand immediately and at least not completely fail in.

This season more than ever, unless camps start up and have ample time, I think a fundamental/basic approach to the gameplan will be key for teams with a lot of roster change.

How many different blocking schemes does an OL usually have?

"Surfs Up 99 wrote:

How many different blocking schemes does an OL usually have?

To be honest I couldnt answer that. There are a good amount of blocking schemes and I guess it would depend on the coaching staff, usually though I think teams stick to one scheme for the majority of their plays.

When I say basic, what I mean is kind of a more straight forward approach. Just making it as simple as possible with less confusion over which defender the lineman should be picking up.

"TheHighExhaulted wrote:

Say they keep Rosen as the backup this year with Tagavailoa sitting out the entire season on the sideline, which I agree with. Fitzpatrick gets injured Week 5 and Rosen starts the rest of the way. He plays great and almost brings them to the playoffs. Let's face it, no matter how many people are predicting Miami to go 9-7/10-6 this season...it's not happening.

What do you do in 2021?

Does Rosen go into 2021 as the starter in training camp with giving Tagavailoa the chance to beat him out? Or, do they trade Rosen in the off-season? Do they shop Tagavailoa?

Interesting scenario.

Not as improbable a situation as many posters might think.

If it happens that Rosen is called on to play and does well, its a credit to the FO. Just having a QB in the wings who is ready to play counts. The better he performs, the better off the team will be. This is not a negative reflection on Tua. As far as who is the starter in training camp; with our new coaching staff I believe it will always be an open competition. The QB who finished the season and his backup will probably be getting priority in 1st team snaps in the beginning of camp, but I think there will always be competition at the QB position, and all our positions for that matter. We will find out in the practice games who is being considered for making the final cuts while a majority of the previous years players will probably be kept on.

This year may be an exception concerning the majority of last years players being kept on though, depending on wither or not they can outplay the new draftees. We have twice as many as most other teams and 5 or 6 were from rounds 1 & 2. This should be an exciting year because we are not "grasping at straws" just to field a team like we were last year. We are "loaded for bear" with our huge collection of high draft picks, some reasonable FA selections and a front line that can give other teams a problem due to their massive size. The fact that some of those big boys are surprisingly athletic, as opposed to just being heavy, is probably a very good thing. I feel the most important part of training camp will be getting our 1st string OL identified quickly and allowed to work together as much as possible in order to play in the coordinated manner as good OL must be able to do.

"TheHighExhaulted wrote:

Say they keep Rosen as the backup this year with Tagavailoa sitting out the entire season on the sideline, which I agree with. Fitzpatrick gets injured Week 5 and Rosen starts the rest of the way. He plays great and almost brings them to the playoffs. Let's face it, no matter how many people are predicting Miami to go 9-7/10-6 this season...it's not happening.

What do you do in 2021?

Does Rosen go into 2021 as the starter in training camp with giving Tagavailoa the chance to beat him out? Or, do they trade Rosen in the off-season? Do they shop Tagavailoa?

Interesting scenario.

I've thought about this a decent bit and I think once Tua (or Rosen) becomes the starter, Fitzpatrick will retire and those will be our two quarterbacks. Maybe Rosen gets traded in a year or two but for now, I think it will be an open competition for that #2 job and we'll absolutely carry 3 QB's as long as Fitzpatrick holds the reins.

I'm with you- I think it would take a miracle for us to win more than 8 games this season, and that's not necessarily a bad thing if we see the same type of leadership and discipline as last season. But for now, I don't think anything for Rosen changes...he's still competing for the starting role for the foreseeable future.

Hopefully this eventually turns into a Rodgers/Favre scenario where we have two studs to choose between- that would be a great problem to have!

"TheHighExhaulted wrote:

Say they keep Rosen as the backup this year with Tagavailoa sitting out the entire season on the sideline, which I agree with. Fitzpatrick gets injured Week 5 and Rosen starts the rest of the way. He plays great and almost brings them to the playoffs. Let's face it, no matter how many people are predicting Miami to go 9-7/10-6 this season...it's not happening.

What do you do in 2021?

Does Rosen go into 2021 as the starter in training camp with giving Tagavailoa the chance to beat him out? Or, do they trade Rosen in the off-season? Do they shop Tagavailoa?

Interesting scenario.

San Diego method. Deal Rosen (Drew Brees) and keep Tua (Phillip Rivers). Find some cheap veteran for a backup and draft a developmental QB.

"TheHighExhaulted wrote:

Say they keep Rosen as the backup this year with Tagavailoa sitting out the entire season on the sideline, which I agree with. Fitzpatrick gets injured Week 5 and Rosen starts the rest of the way. He plays great and almost brings them to the playoffs. Let's face it, no matter how many people are predicting Miami to go 9-7/10-6 this season...it's not happening.

What do you do in 2021?

Does Rosen go into 2021 as the starter in training camp with giving Tagavailoa the chance to beat him out? Or, do they trade Rosen in the off-season? Do they shop Tagavailoa?

Interesting scenario.

It definitely is. Remember the situation in San Diego years ago with Brees and Rivers? The Chargers drafted Rivers because Brees looked like a complete bust his first two years in the league. He did...I thought he was going to fizzle out quick. He was constantly running for his life and just played overall bad. The Chargers were terrible, and they spent a high pick on Rivers. Brees came out in year three on fire and got the Chargers to the playoffs. He did it again the following season and they ended up with that exact problem. Obviously they let Brees walk and kept Rivers and really neither way would have worked out better. Both are fantastic QB's with Brees having the better career, but Rivers had his run for a while too.

For the record, I think it would be a good problem to have. I'm still hoping Rosen can emerge. He's just so young and hasn't had a fair shot. I don't expect Fitzpatrick to remain the starter next season for very long. We're going to struggle and Flores is going to let the young guys play at some point. I'd say by week 4 Rosen will be our starter. If he comes out and sets the league on fire, it'll be an added bonus.

I full expect a .500 season next year. The Pats will most likely win the division. Now, that's not because I'm a negative person, but think about it. This team, even after the draft, is full of back-ups and rookies. It's not like we have TJ Watt surrounded by a bunch of vets. We have Fitz surrounded by mostly rookies. Which I am 100% ok with. I don't want Tua to start this year. I want Flores and company to use this next season as a learning opportunity and to weed out the weak.

Now, if we go 10-6 awesome, and we may because I think Flores is ready good, but 8-8 is probably closer to the truth.