They're not rookies either, and have been "bad" to put it kindly. Guys with 3 and 4 seasons of experience, not 1 or 2(save for WIlson). The light usually goes on a bit quicker.
It turns on quicker when there's a conducive environment for growth and development. There hasn't been, until now. If these guys were just bad, it would never turn on.
That's all quite understandable, and I won't downplay your concerns. Personally, I'm hoping that these guys are playing this hard b/c they want it, where as Vontae never really seemed to do so outside of his rookie year where his original "I'm playing in the NFL" nostalgia was at a high. Now VD just seems complacent to get by on talent alone and pick up paychecks. I don't see that with our current guys, and SS24 seems like too much of a competitor to let himself openly slip into mediocrity after working so hard to become one of the league's better corners. As far as Carroll goes, he displayed the talent level of a much higher draft pick prior to his injury, so there's a chance he's playing well simply b/c he actually has some talent and our new DC is coaching him up well.
Last year, Wilson was a rookie, and Misi, Carroll, & Jones were all in their 2nd year. That's still considered the developmental stage by NFL standards. Only Clemons was in his 3rd year. Respectfully, I'm not sure where the 3 & 4 years of experience comes from, Seth. Cmon, my friend, the elitely talented Wake is one of NFL's best pass rushers, and it took him a few years in the CFL and one year in the NFL before emerging as the stud we see now, so you can't possibly expect our group of young guys to be at the top of their game after just a couple years.
I believe he will. It's not as if he was a bad corner before this season. He's a 4th year guy that has simply gotten better, not someone who's been in the league for a long time that randomly put up a very good season in his contract year. But obviously no one knows for certain, so we will see.
Not at the top of their game, but these guys were bad prior to this year. And the team site lists those years as experience. Sent from my iPhone
Bingo! We have already exceeded expectations I've had for a team with 90% new coaching: Philbin, Sherman, Coyles and their staffs have already maqde this season a plus for me - playoffs or not. So long as the staff and so many rookies on all our D, O and ST's, Irish has us positioned to re-sign the FA's we want to keep (Jake Long etc.) and enough draft picks to upgrade certain positions we need such as WR, Pass Rusher, shut-down CB, and we can go into next season with Tannehill ready to lead this team to the payoffs. I expected to be a .500 team at best considering the number of rookies we have and having a new scheme along with the new HC/OC/DC & Staff. IMHO this season is already a success based on development of players and the good number of holes we've filled this season. Tannehill is exceeding my expectations so far, for a rookie QB, Moore came in and raised his value if we trade him, but also showed our scheme to be such that we can win even if Tanny goes down (God forbid), so playoffs would be huge for us and no playoffs would still demonstrate we have far fewer holes/positions that need to be filled in the draft & FA this coming Spring. Color me tenuous about playoffs but excited about the level of talent on this team.
There's a prop bet on Bovada.lv regarding the Miami Dolphins: Miami Dolphins - 2012 Will they make the playoffs? 11:00p Yes -150 No +120 To give you a comparison, they have this prop with only 2 other teams: Pittsburgh and Indianapolis. Here are their odds: Pittsburgh Steelers - 2012 Will they make the playoffs? 11:00p Yes -250 No +195 Indianapolis Colts - 2012 Will they make the playoffs? 11:00p Yes +300 No -500 This is basically saying that Vegas, or the oddsmakers think Miami will make the playoffs. They believe the two WC teams will be Pitt and Miami. Indy being a longshot
Great post Rock...my thoughts exactly...Love where they are at. Love that nearly half thru the season we still have hope that things are going to get even better and love that we appear to finally have a staff that develops talent instead of wasting it... There are still questions about some guys, but mainly due to their youth, not due to ability... If nothing more, I'd like to see this team continue to develop players and get better. Who knows what Irish can do with a little money and a few extra picks next year, but that's for another discussion... It's nice to see guys come along and continue to grow and get better instead of plateauing or dying out...
