Its training camp time and the injury bug is back. In the last two days the Dolphins have lost Sheets and Edds.Before training camp Merlings GF cut blocked his *** and tore something. We will also be missing Ferggy in the last 8 games+playoffs due to his retirement. -Although Edds was a backup rookie linebacker, I believe, like so many others that his coverage skills would have greatly helped us in passing situations. Now our coaches will have to come up with another scheme for those situations. I havent heard this one yet but maybe fellow rookie R.Jones can fill that role in the nickel. -Sheets, who most fans had penciled in as the KR went down for the year, leaving that battle open to the other 93 players feilding kicks and punts this offseason. He was also slated to be our 4th RB? Many wanted to see him hit the field and show off that speed that we have been hearing soo much about. Next in line, Tristan Davis... -Merling has had a crazy off-season to say the least. well maybe beating on his GF is natural behavior for a much hyped, under-producing DE out of Clemson. With that being said he was expected again this year to have a big impact as our starting DE opposite of Langford. I think he would have got beaten out again this year by Odrick but we will never know. At least the FO took care of business and signed Dougless, Upgrade?... -Big Ferggy Ferg was under a suspension for the first 8 games of the season. So he wasnt our starting NT but he was a big peice of our defene in years past, and his value showed last year when Roli Soli had to fill his over-sized shoes. Now our NT rotation looks like Starks, Solai and McDaniel going into the season. So with this being said, which loss do you think will affect the team the most?
Ferguson definitely hurts the most, but at the same time, he was already suspended for 8 games to begin with, so you're basically talking about missing a quality nose tackle during the second half of the season. Sheets definitely hurts, assuming he was anywhere near competent at PR/KR. If not, we basically lost a 5th RB, which isn't exactly a big deal. We're lucky: these injuries and losses aren't very detrimental.
I think Edds injury is going to hurt us the most. Ferguson was going to miss half this season, Merling has been replaced by someone better than him, and while Sheets is a tough loss because of his potential on KR, I think Edds is a bigger loss.
Its really hard to say in that only one of those players was a known quantity. Year three is usually when defensive linemen come into their own. Would Merling have been the same inconsistent DE we've seen the first two years or would he have turned up the intensity like Soliai has apparently been doing? No way to know. If you go by last year's production and believe it would be a mirror image then we've replaced him effectively and he wont hurt. If he was going to be improved then who knows? Kory Sheets had some blazing speed and playmaking ability yet he's had that his entire career and it never transferred to him mattering. Would he finally have put it all together and been a playmaking third down option? or a game breaker KR or PR? No way to know. Once again if you go by last year, it doesnt hurt but if he was going to put it all together then we might be missing a gamebreaker AJ Edds was penciled in as the 3rd down LB but he hasnt done anything in the NFL. Who knows if we couldve counted on him? Bottom line is it has to be Ferguson if only because its based on production and not potential
I believe Kory sheets was on our team all last year...can we please stop saying the name kory sheets, iam gonna lose it. undrafted waived player that couldn't get reps last year after injuries.
whats funny is that I have a friend whose a niners fan and the entire time he was on their practice squad everyone on their message board kept saying "This Sheets guy is gonna explode on the field one day." The dude has a following for someone whose never done anything.
I'm not terribly bummed about losing Edds THIS season b/c of Dansby being here..... but I am bummed because, w/o this needed year of seasoning, he'll basically be a rookie ALL OVER AGAIN in 2011 ....... and especially losing some of his strength training & weight gain opportunity that would've better prepared him for next season.
Easily, to me, it's Edds... It was anticipated that he would challenge Crowder on passing downs and perhaps even more. He's a young guy and developing him this year would have paid dividends down the road for us, even if he didn't start (as I said, he figured to have quite a bit of PT during the season). Merling, we anticipated better things for him, but he's had time to show us...would the off field antics have adversely affected him ?? Don't know, but unless there was a complete renaissance from him, WYSIWYG.... Fergy...Big Fergy might have helped us later in the season, then again....maybe not...besides, it's still early. He hasn't filed retirement papers and in a pinch, I'll bet the Tuna could coax him out to help us,if needed, especially if we are playing well at that time... Sheets was an unknown, but lets face it his speed is something we miss on this squad since we dumped Ginn. What that means is that now RGM is the leading candidate for a roster spot due to STs prowess, but he'll have to really show to make it as the 5th WR. Sheets certainly had a better chance to make it as a 5th RB than RGM as a 5th WR... And if (a big if) the reports about the light coming on for Turner come to fruition, it would be even harder for RGM....
If you can't endure training camp, how could you endure a full season? In the end, IMO, no injury (or retirement) will play a major impact on our plans for this season. Now, the injury and to edds/sheets have set both a year back in development, so the biggest impact is potentially to next season. In that case I'd say the edds' injury may have a slightly significant impact.
not really not tough enough to get through training camp speaks volumes better to sort out the problems, weaknesses & injuries in camp the loss becomes serious once the team has been established when we are in the midst of our regular season & have a problem it is what it is the NFL Serengeti
I can't wait till the day when people stop saying "It is what it is." Can someone wake me up when that happens? Thanks!
Well, as you can see, you can make an argument for any/all of the aforementioned players. For me, it's not about which player's loss hurts the most as much as it's which one am I most disappointed to see go down (and miss the season). And, for me it's an easy answer...Edds. I really wanted to see this kid in action this season. And, as Todd said...not only won't that happen, but he's basically gonna be starting all over in 2011.
