There is some battles brewing in the upcoming training camp. Since there is so many of them, click on the link to see what I mean. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/21/v-fullstory/1739472/several-starting-battles-looming.html
The awesome thing is, no matter who wins those jobs, we will have great depth at a lot of key positions.
I agree there is more upside with Misi and Wake, however Nolan uses rotations at LB, Anderson and "Q" have their roles as well. And why overlook the Returner job? They handle the ball 100+ times per yr, why overlook it?
I guess, Padre, that the returner job was overlooked because some don't feel it's very important. I agree with you though and think we may have made a mistake by dumping Ginn as quick as we did. Here's hoping RGM and/or Sheets can fill those return shoes... As for the rest, it's going to be a fun camp for us fans... As much as I'd love to see us not have any battles (meaning returning SB champs with a good mix of vets and youngsters up and coming), but it certainly does make for a fun camp for us fans...
Why the hell would the left guard be making calls? I'm so tired of these methodone articles. I know there's nothing new to report, but isn't this the time to get creative and prove your worth as a reporter?
I think they need to really put some focus on special teams. That has been a weakness for us for quite some time now. I hope they could fix that this year.
You said it, at this point in time Dolfans know who is #7 on the Wr depth chart, Kannell dispensing pablum with his possible co hosting the new Dolphins Tonight radio show is not a upwards trend in the Football IQ of those covering the Phins. I will say Jerry is possibly the quietist 3rd round pick in dolphins recent history, normally a 3rd rounder is hyped up, I doubt you can find more than 2 threads talking about his potential as a G/T or even as a Starter. Which shows how far the Dolphins have come. They passed on Major Wright and Navarro Bowman (among others) to draft Jerry and no Dolfan has raised even the slightest static over that move.
Hard to imagine a team with this many position battles competing for a Super Bowl. But, hopefully I'm wrong about that. At least it's not the QB position, I hate QB competitions. Seems like these are the valid questions: LG - John Jerry, Nate Garner, Cory Procter, Joe Berger (?) RG - Richie Incognito, Donald Thomas FL - Brian Hartline, Davone Bess, Greg Camarillo RE - Phil Merling, Jared Odrick WLB - Cam Wake, Charlie Anderson LCB - Vontae Davis, Will Allen FS - Chris Clemons, Tyrone Culver There are some others I could stick in there but I see them as inconsequential. For instance, who starts between Ricky and Ronnie doesn't matter a whole lot because both will play. Also, I don't believe there's real competition between Crowder and Dobbins (yet). I know most would put Koa Misi in as competing at SLB but I don't see that as a real competition, I think they had it in mind that he'd start from the get-go. When a third of your starting positions are so up in the air that you can validly say you don't know who will end up starting at any of them, that you could only guess...that usually isn't a good thing for you Super Bowl chances.
The guard is responsible for relaying the Center's line calls to the Tackles. Since he's been playing Tackle, this will be new to him.
RG - Donald Thomas / Dimitri Tsoumpas LG - Richie Incognito /*John Jerry ( will rotate guards regularly ) WR - Brian Hartline Slot - Davone Bess RE - *Jared Odrick WLB - Cameron Wake / Anderson SLB - *Koa Misi / Moses ( will rotate OLB's regularly) LCB - Vontae Davis FS - Chris Clemons Kick Returns - Sheets & White
Good read, and while I agree with CK having this many question marks is not favorable to a SB run, I don't look for a SB run this year. I do look for AFCE champs and deep into the playoffs, which is my belief these battles are a GOOD thing in that we have solid talent and will have solid backups at most positions. If Nolan works a miracle, I believe the Offense can win a lot of games for us. My biggest question mark is kick & punt returns, dear god don't let it be Bess back there on punts again. Love him as a slot WR but we need to upgrade ST's more than any other area.
IMO only RE, SOLB and S are really unknowns that will make any real difference. I think Incognito has RG locked up and Wake will be the pass rushing OLB. The other position "questions" all have at least solid answers. At a minimum you have Cam at FL and if Hartline continues to grow you have an upgrade. At CB you have your 3 that may get shuffled but the three are set. LG is a battle but at worst you know you have a guy like Garner that will play well. Maybe Procter, Berger or Jerry beats him out but that just means you found an upgrade. I don't see position battles in general as a bad thing unless you're concerned you don't have at least adequate players. In the positions above it's just competition. RE is a question now b/c of the Merling fiasco. Before that you could at least assume that Merling was adequate. Now RE and SOLB will be the two positions where you are relying on rookie contributions. SOLB was always going to be the position where you needed the rookie to make it. I see Moses as adequate for depth purposes but not really more than that. I do believe that Misi has the position all but locked up, but as with any rookie you have to be concerned about whether he'll make the big step to the NFL. At S I think you have an "if all else fails" plan with Culver, but you're really hoping that Clemons can make the jump and there isn't much reason to assume that he can do it.
Players aren't good NFL prospects by default. If you like a player, I think the onus is on you to prove why they're good for the NFL, the onus should not be on someone else to prove why they will NOT be good for the NFL. That's pretty much a default assumption, because 99% of the guys out there that play football are not good for the NFL. You don't automatically become a good prospect because you're from the CFL and Cameron Wake was also from the CFL. Everyone (especially people north of the border) universally agreed that Cameron Wake was doing ridiculous things in the CFL, and let's not forget that he was also a highly athletic guy that Joe Paterno thought had as much potential as LaVar Arrington, a guy who still owns the record as second best vertical jump ever recorded at the Combine, a guy who worked out so much in Canada that he got even faster and more athletic despite increased bulk (let's hope he never gets caught with HGH because lord knows he's probably using it). As I recently wrote, the ridiculous amount of pressure he got for his limited snap participation in his first year in the NFL is only equal to the ridiculous amount of production and notoriety he had in the CFL, as well as equal to the ridiculous amount of sheer size, strength and athleticism he possesses. Can Tsoumpas claim anything like that? Was he even any good in college? Was he even any good in the CFL, where he was at an advantage because Defensive Linemen are forced to line up a yard off the ball? I know that from a numbers standpoint, his athleticism is very poor, even for an OL.
He was good in college. He was one of the best linemen in the CFL. Which numbers? The only one I could find was bench press and that was really good.
I think with all the linebackers we have in our roster our kickoff and punt teams should be good, not sure about kickoff return or punt return though.
He was a CFL all star , so that is at least an indication that he was "even any good in the CFL " . He started as a rookie , was the team's nominee as outstanding rookie , and also started as a true freshaman at Weber St. Lining up a yard off the ball doesn't give an advantage in all areas , especially with the wider field . He also is not undersized , he needs to show his footwork can handle NFL demands , he will be interesting to follow. A long shot yes , but he has a chance to make it to the practise squad and spend a year developing. Miami has some quality depth which comes into play at the interior line positions .
He was an Honorable Mention All Big Sky in 2006 and second team All Big Sky in 2007. Honorable Mention, and Second Team. I don't know what accolades he earned up in the CFL as far as providing evidence for the statement that he was one of the best up there. Maybe he got some accolades, but I doubt they were anything on par with Cam Wake's. As far as his athleticism goes, at the CFL Combine he checked in at 6035 and 303 lbs, ran a 5.46 in the 40 yard dash, had a 28 inch vertical, 8'8" broad jump, 4.73 shuttle, and he did 30 bench reps. Not exactly impressing me there.
When Cameron Wake came out, Marc Trestman who is now a CFL coach specifically stated that Defensive Linemen having to line up a yard off the ball actually should hurt them in their ability to pass rush. The natural conclusion is that offensive linemen derive benefit from it. I don't know what he weighs now. His height is good. I just know that at the CFL Combine, he wasn't very athletic, especially considering his weight which was not high. The reason Cam Wake was such a good prospect coming out of the CFL was because he had both the ridiculous production AND the ridiculous athletic measurements going for him. Tsoumpas' CFL accomplishments don't strike me as ridiculous. Being their version of a Pro Bowler isn't ridiculous. They have them every year. But you could count on one hand the number of players from the CFL that in any given two years combined that could come over to the NFL and eek out a nice living. The original statement I reacted to was saying that Tsoumpas would be rotating with Donald Thomas at LG while John Jerry would be rotating with Richie Incognito at RG. This is, in effect, asserting that Tsoumpas is better than Nate Garner and Cory Procter, so good that they're not tempted to let Joe Berger into the mix, and so good that they wouldn't want to give Donald Thomas the job outright because they want Tsoumpas to get in there, etc. Personally, I don't see anything even close to warranting that level of optimism, but to each his own.
Yes Trestman coaches Montreal ,and has been succesful there . I don't see where the natural conclusion to his comment means it is of some benefit to OLineman. They have to operate in more space , and that provides added challenges , at least in some regards. They have more time to set from the snap , but they also don't get a chance to lock on as quickly . Certainly I don't want anyone to think I believe he has the physical ability and track record of Cam Wake , that being said , I also don't feel he is camp fodder. He is young , improving , 6-4 315 , and has a work ethic.
Well now, I can offer some things on Tsoumpas, as similar to last yr I studied the CFL players now on the Dolphins, Lumbala and Mullen were not difficult to study as..they rarely were the focus of the action. Tsoumpas on the other hand, started every game for two seasons, including the Grey Cup, my impression of him is he is a solid G in the manner of Bert Weidner, he won't wow with athleticism, however he holds his ground well, hits his target on his pulls, does not make assignment errors. IE, he makes the best use out of what he does well, and is always prepared, he's just a pro G. His negatives are, he is not overly powerful, a part of that is the CFL's odd schedule of available workout hours, his other downside is he doesn't have great versatility, meaning he did not play Center, he did not play Tackle, that hurts him in competition with Proctor, who has played all three slots. Tsoumpas however can move people off the ball, but he is more of a positional blocker than a drive blocker, as he said when he signed in Miami: "I have to adjust my game, in the NFL it is more about power" Last yr I studied Cameron Wake, and his talent was obvious, with Dimitri Tsoumpas, he is talented, but not the eye popping talent of Thomas, he is more of a solid player than a athletic wonder. I can write up RGM and Lumbala as well, but it would be much shorter.
