Why we signed Al Harris

nice analysis of an otherwise perplexing move. the second question begs an answer: Special Teams

"padre31 wrote:

Per rotoworld

Alright what they are missing is the way Sean Smith is used, Nolan will line him up on Te's on the inside of the formation "or" as a Safety along with playing Cb.

But to move Smith around like that means someone has to fill his Boundary Corner Back role, and after a good start, we saw JAllen being toasted on the regular, which means Smith has to stay on the Boundary and Nolan losses flexibility in coverages.

Enter Al Harris, they apparently feel Harris can be plugged in at Boundary Corner and Sean Smith can roam around in the secondary, they could not do it with JA so the switch was made.

As for "why" they would then cut JA, my guess is even his special teams play slipped when he lost the Starters job so the calcualtion was made it would be better to let Amaya or Ness play Specials rather than JA.

I can see that. Nolan LOvES the corner blitz. Probably doesn't trust Amaya just yet.

Hopefully Al Harris will stay healthy threw the games. I'm really concerned about those knees performing.

"Zod wrote:

I can see that. Nolan LOvES the corner blitz. Probably doesn't trust Amaya just yet.

They need to Put Clemons on the blitz more. He has 2 sacks off and a forced fumble off of like 5 blitzes this year

"xphinfanx wrote:

Hopefully Al Harris will stay healthy threw the games. I'm really concerned about those knees performing.

If there is one thing I am confident about in this regime it is their ability to correctly assess the state of a knee rehab, RB and Greg C and PCobbs all had ACL surgeries and bounced back just fine under their watchful eyes.

I like the move

"padre31 wrote:

Per rotoworld

Alright what they are missing is the way Sean Smith is used, Nolan will line him up on Te's on the inside of the formation "or" as a Safety along with playing Cb.

But to move Smith around like that means someone has to fill his Boundary Corner Back role, and after a good start, we saw JAllen being toasted on the regular, which means Smith has to stay on the Boundary and Nolan losses flexibility in coverages.

Enter Al Harris, they apparently feel Harris can be plugged in at Boundary Corner and Sean Smith can roam around in the secondary, they could not do it with JA so the switch was made.

As for "why" they would then cut JA, my guess is even his special teams play slipped when he lost the Starters job so the calcualtion was made it would be better to let Amaya or Ness play Specials rather than JA.

I think you meant "on the reg"

MikeBerardino Mike Berardino
Harris' agent, Jack Bechta: Knee is "tight and strong. Best case of a bad scenario" ... No precedent for such a comeback, Harris told me

Well, interesting, but then again Agents are in charge of lying like rugs.

i think they let Jason go because if they didn't, they would have had to let guys like Carroll and Amaya open to free pickings .... guys like them HAVE a future on this team, whereas - if Jason couldn't stay on the field and start - the value of his special teams vs loss of future starters was lessened.

the only piece that surprises me about it is that Sapp has been terrible ... worse than Jason in my eyes -- but maybe Jason just stunk it up really bad in the nickel, because jeesh -- it seems anyone is better than Sapp.

"PHINANALYST wrote:

i think they let Jason go because if they didn't, they would have had to let guys like Carroll and Amaya open to free pickings .... guys like them HAVE a future on this team, whereas - if Jason couldn't stay on the field and start - the value of his special teams vs loss of future starters was lessened.

the only piece that surprises me about it is that Sapp has been terrible ... worse than Jason in my eyes -- but maybe Jason just stunk it up really bad in the nickel, because jeesh -- it seems anyone is better than Sapp.

The thing with Sapp is he is consistent in the nickel, he is not a great cover guy, he is a sure tackler downfield, his guy will catch it but if the passrush is good the receiver will be stopped short.

With Sapp, there aren't guys roaming free in the secondary with Sapp chasing them.

And JA just did not have the skillset to play nickel, his hips were to tight he couldn't flip his hip and cut with the Wr.

"padre31 wrote:

The thing with Sapp is he is consistent in the nickel, he is not a great cover guy, he is a sure tackler downfield, his guy will catch it but if the passrush is good the receiver will be stopped short.

With Sapp, there aren't guys roaming free in the secondary with Sapp chasing them.

And JA just did not have the skillset to play nickel, his hips were to tight he couldn't flip his hip and cut with the Wr.

exactly Sapp was at least consistent. J Allen was boom or bust , with the bust being pretty big in multiple instances. plus, kind of comparing apples and oranges comparing there coverage responsibilities

...and Will Allen was placed on IR lol

OmarKelly Omar Kelly
Benny Sapp said Al Harris will bring some knowledge and experience to a young veteran CB group. But he admits Jason Allen's cut caught him

Love that!!

Bennie Sapp had better recognize that no one is really "safe" on any unit, they are not the least be scared to bench or cut a player who is not performing well enough.

Including Mr. Sapp.

BenVolinPBP Benjamin Volin
Al Harris gave Nate Ness an unspecified dollar amount for the No. 31 jersey, but it was significant. "We in a recession right now" Ness said

:lol:

I think Sparano has a team full of mercenaries, "we in a recession right now".

Corner blitzes?

I think we have one of the best corner blitzers in the NFL but he was apparently a must have for the IR

"Robert Horry wrote:

They need to Put Clemons on the blitz more. He has 2 sacks off and a forced fumble off of like 5 blitzes this year

If Clemons can ever start getting his hands ON those possible INT's he could be a hell of a free safety. Question is..........can he get his hands on those. I swear he should spend the whole offseason on catching the ball ;p

"VanDolPhan wrote:

If Clemons can ever start getting his hands ON those possible INT's he could be a hell of a free safety. Question is..........can he get his hands on those. I swear he should spend the whole offseason on catching the ball ;p

Clemons? More like the whole secondary.

With Will Allen gone (he no longer rehabs or trains at the facility) Vontae Davis, Sean Smith, Nolan Carroll and Nate Ness needed someone with more film study experience than Benny Sapp in their room.

“He’s a quality, quality individual never mind the kind of player he’s been in this league over the years. But I think that the one thing that is important, particularly for our young corners right now, is the ability to see how it’s done a little bit and get a chance to learn,” coach Tony Sparano said. “And right now back there particularly at the corner position I don’t have that. And Al (Harris) completely understands right now coming in here what his role is on this football team and he understands that there are no secrets with our young players and that I would expect that he helps that process as well as helping our football team out there on the field. So this guy can help us in a lot of ways (with) what he does on the field and what he does certainly in the classroom and off the field.”

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2010/11/what-does-al-harris-bring-to-miami-dolphins.html

Also found it interesting that Will Allen isn't even around.

the guy I find to be the most exciting in this whole mess is Amaya. I hope he sticks.

Glad you bumped this NJ as OmarK tweeted that Jason Allen asked for his release this offseason in an attempt to kick start his career.

Maybe, just maybe, we have found our Aaron Glenn or Ty Law, a Vet Cb who comes in and gives us quality reps and maybe picks off a pass or two.

"padre31 wrote:

Glad you bumped this NJ as OmarK tweeted that Jason Allen asked for his release this offseason in an attempt to kick start his career.

Maybe, just maybe, we have found our Aaron Glenn or Ty Law, a Vet Cb who comes in and gives us quality reps and maybe picks off a pass or two.

I think the quote about a Vet presence in the film room is a huge reason we signed him.

"NJFINSFAN1 wrote:

I think the quote about a Vet presence in the film room is a huge reason we signed him.

Well that and, I think Sparano got soft NJ, when he is rolling right he will cut/bench/freeze ANYONE and have no fear in doing so, that led to players, vets, rooks, UDFA's. performing better and certainly more consistently as they knew they would be off the field if they did not perform.

I just hope it is not to late in the season for that message to penetrate the current team's psyche.

As for Harris, I really think he is here because he offers more flexibility in coverages than Jason Allen.

There was an article today that talked about why the Fins signed Harris. I found it interesting that they felt they needed an older player to help the younger guys with film break down.