none taken....I'm just saying it seems like everyone here predicts 9-10 wins every year and they're always let down at the end of the year. wouldn't hurt for you guys to lower expectations just once
Well to be fair I'm not sure anyone could have predicted the line being THAT BAD last season. I feel like even with an average line we would have won 9-10 games. I actually understand why fans would be cautious though.
Going on record now: 14-2... with little to no injuries, Tannyhill stays upright, and begins to connect with Wallace. The Dolphins soar to heights not seen or even dared whispered about in decades. Joe Philbin is the Coach of the Year and Dolfans finally shut up!
9-7 is the sweet spot. This team has the upside to go 12-4 if everything falls into place. We still don't know the effect that Lazor will have on the offense. We still don't know what Moreno will look like or if Miller learns to better run in space. Will Tanny start get his timing down with Wallace? Jordan is a huge wildcard. If he takes a big step forward this defense could really be dominant. So many things can go right. All of these same things could go wrong and we could be looking at 7-9. 9-7 sounds about right but I'm hoping for some upside. We do have quite a few things going for us that are different from last year.
Another possibility is that our team goes as our D goes…. - If Wake has any injuries we will struggle at pass rush and pass defense - How will we do with Delmas and Finnegan in the secondary? May give up more big plays. - LB corps is uninspiring, and has not been changed. I feel like we have more chance of a downgrade in D performance than an upgrade in D performance this year…. So, yeah, the offense better be much improved, imo. I could see the D giving up another point per game on average (maybe 2 pts per game) so our O better score 2.5 to 3 points more per game this year!
Taylor and Davis are both healthy as is Dion and have added Tripp and Aiken and Fede and Mitchell. Our two underperforming LB's have a year in the system so hopefully will play better. This for a D that was ranked 8th in scoring. Tanny should have more time to throw, a better back in Moreno and call it a wash at WR and TE. Hoping Sturgis can not choke on 30 yarders and keep up the long ball work. Benton and Lazor added so I expect improvements out of the O line and O in general just based on those changes. NE still the cream of the East, but we should be competitive and win games.
Great points, wholeheartedly agree and also voted 11-5. I hear folks comparing Landry to Cris Carter...plus we got a big tall TE. Sounds like potential Red Zone threats to me.
It really wasn't impossible, obviously there was some very real poor judgement going on when it came to evaluating Olineman.
I was so excited when we signed Clabo. That's like high-fiving your buddy after banging a crackhead prozzie because you are oblivious to the fact you're really high-fiving your new case of AIDS. #regret
I don't see a let down from the defense, I think if finnegan is healthy he will return to a form that Nolan doesn't have, Delmas has talent, is still young, and his eyes might fit this scheme, jelani flashes some real good stuff last year, I bet Dion will make a huge jump, and I'm really ready for the type of game that Earl Mitchell brings, plays behind the Los, Ellerbe and wheeler should be better in their 2nd year, and this Tripp kid looks good.
I was talking about Martin and Clabo and not being able to see that either couldn't play before the season started, when it seemed pretty damn obvious they couldn't.
This is the craziest thing ive ever heard a 'fan' say. "Wouldn't hurt"...but how would it help? It's May. Why even watch this year if you truly believe we don't have a chance?
I know. But I also know that you feel Ju"Wuan is nothing special, and since you were talking about evaluating oline guys, that made me think to ask what your evaluation is on him. What specifically do find is the problem with his tape?
the secondary is almost a lock to be worse. only 17 TDs given up through the air last year, that number's going up, QB's had the 5th worst rating against us i think, that's going up.
i just told you how it would help, you wouldn't be let down when we win 7 games because you didn't predict a winning season in the first place.
To a degree yes...I said after his signing and watching Atalanta games that I thought he was pretty much done, didn't trust his game, I didn't see any strength in the run game, his pass protection was shoddy at best, I stated that I didn't like the way his body had deterioted over the years, and that I could tell that he wasn't the type who worked out a lot in the gym or in the offseason..just didn't like the signing at all.
So you somehow knew a successful offensive lineman would be terrible? Not to mention that he really turned it around. Id love to know what brought you to that conclusion before it happened. Martin I'll give you but he shouldnt have been THAT bad.
That's it Fin, I don't see anything special, and It kills me to drop a top 20 pick on a player who doesn't have any dominating characteristics, his run blocking is not That good and for a top 20 pick that's hard to swallow, he's heavy in his movement, I don't see quickness, I don't see great body control, he's not a drive blocker, doesn't explode out of his stance or finish with aggression, I don't see special athleticism to get to the 2nd level, he's a pretty good tackle prospect imo, but top 20? Or first round talent, I don't agree, so while the argument is there that we had to do it because of the desperation, well, that's where I stop thinking so much and start thinking of other scenarios so I don't sacrifice talent level of the overall roster.. The good news is that I do believe he will be an upgrade from what we had.. What I thought we should do took me all offseason to figure out before the draft, My final conclusion was,yes I will go Olineman if Martin is there, but if he isn't the next group of lineman are pretty evenly graded imo, so either trade down and get anything you can extra, or take your top 20 talent at receiver and go with your evaluations on the 2nd tier.
I guess Hickey/Philbin/Aponte didn't want to risk losing out in musical chairs on the off chance those second tier guys went before we picked again and we entered the season with no Right Tackle… then fans cries would be "WTF!? How did we NOT make sure we fixed our biggest problem from last season???" This is where need vs BPA is interesting… when there is pressure on the selector.
I guess we are just opposites. I had James rated above Martin and didn't want us touching him with a 20 foot pole.
That is the definition of "fair weather fan" http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Fair+Weather+Fan
Fair enough I guess. It just seems like James will be a long term starting RT for us and outside of Cooks or Lee (and the level of explosive they provide is debatable) there wasn't really an explosive big name offensive talent....other than Landry who we got, left at 19. If we passed up Watkins, Ebron, Evans or even Donald, I'd feel your pain.
He's not explosive. That's not his game. We didn't draft an explosive playmaker. Stop pretending that we did. We punted in that area again. Good player. Glad to have him. Love what he will bring. But he's not of the explosive variety.
I know you didn't mean any harm by it, but what you said is exactly why guys like Landry succeed. Heart > Explosiveness. I'd take guys like Landry over guys like Wallace every chance I get, and I actually like Wallace.
Since when is 1200 yrds on 15.5 yrd per play and 10 Tds who almost never drops the ball...not explosive? That's not even factoring in his blocking and leadership.
Well I didn't have a crystal ball, just looked at their reps prior to being aquired coming to our team..just two players I had no faith in, sometimes your right sometimes your wrong.
it's a good point and it does get very grey, but there are more ways to skin a cat so your not sacrificing value,I mean when you suck bad enough enough to pick top 20 you have to take advantage of that position I think with a very talented player, even if you sacrifice some where you number one need is.. I'm not all hung up on adhering to some BPA philosophy, I believe in being safe in the draft the majority of the time, and that's because for me the goal is to fill out a roster with a majority of college players as quickly and efficiently as possible, I will sometimes take the safe player over the more talented player who has some baggage..and sometimes I won't because I think the player has the mental capabilities to get over it. I'm going to root for James as hard as anyone, I'm just analyzing picks at this point compared to what I would of done, I know it makes no difference but it's that time of year..he has a chance to be a solid player, I Just think we could of made up for the discrepancy in talent lost with the 2nd tier of lineman with the infusion of talent that we could of got in the first.
Well yeah if you had James rated above Martin then there's no way were gonna see eye to eye..all good brother. A ten foot pole eh?.. Wow, you must of saw something you didn't like.
Lowered expectations = fair weather fan? I have to predict a winning season or I'm not a fan? what are you talking about?
I like Landry. He is a solid get. I really think that our fanbase is going to love him. I'm just stating that explosiveness is not his game and to point out why it was disappointing that we didn't adress the need for an explosive short area quickness player. He had a 28" vertical and his 40 time was not so great. He will play his heart out and win a lot of battles. He will give our offense some much needed toughness. He probably will be a good red zone guy too.
