ThePHINS.com - Miami Dolphins Forums - Blogs http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php en Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:30:11 GMT vBulletin 30 http://images.thephins.com/forums/ThePhins/misc/rss.jpg ThePHINS.com - Miami Dolphins Forums - Blogs http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php The Big Slow now loves the Jets starters http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=135 Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:55:18 GMT So a funny thing happened today when Ethan Skolnick called into the Big Slow's show.

Basically, Skolnick put forward the question "how many staters on the dolphins could start for the Jets"?

Which of course Mr. Slow then agreed with, giving credit only to..Jake Long for being good enough to be a Starter for the Jest.

Never mind Randy Starks or Cam Wake or Vern Carey..the Big Slow knows all, sees all, can predict all..

Just ask him. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=135 Scouting thoughts 2010 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=134 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:31:07 GMT My Fins Mock - April 22 1. Sergio Kindle 3. Major Wright 4. Jeff Owens 5. Robert Johnson 6. Alex Daniels *March 4th* My Fins Mock - April 22
1. Sergio Kindle
3. Major Wright
4. Jeff Owens
5. Robert Johnson
6. Alex Daniels


March 4th

Thaddeus Gibson OLB - Ohio State
His combine numbers made me go back and watch tape. He run a decent 4.75 measured at 6'2'' 243 and did 32 on the bench. On tape he's terrible. Probably the worst OLB propect I have seen so far this year. I grade him worse than I did Michael Johnson from Georgia Tech and I had Michael Johnson at real bad. Gibson cannot get off blocks for the life of him. He never uses his arms and he tries to side step OTs. Once he is held off he stays locked up. I hope he is not even on the board.

Linval Joseph NT - East Carolina
Had a good combine so I looked at film. 6'4'' 328 5.11 in the 40 and 39 bench. This guy is huge. The strength shows on tape (ECU vs Arkansas). He commands double teams. Went up against LG Mitch Petrus (who benched 45) and held his own. Petrus is an excellent OG btw who IMO should be a 2nd-3rd rounder). Joseph is good against the run, gets off blocks, pushes guys back. Sometimes plays too high. He'll need coaching but he has potential. He would be great in the 5th round.

Earl Thomas FS - Texas.
5'10'' 208 4.49 21
Part 1
Against Alabama showed poor tackling ability. Arm tackles a lot and misses a lot. Had one good body diving tackle against a RB. Probably a good man defender...used a lot as slot man coverage. Good in zone. Will Muschamp puts him in the best position to suceed. Could be just a product of the system. Almost had a INT when he broke to the outside WO when he was covering the slot WR as nickel back...designed play. Alabama rarely threw deep. They played conservative offence as they wanted to win with defense and Saban didn't want to risk it against his proteges defense. Not a top 20 prospect maybe a late 1st rounder.

Sergio Kindle OLB - Texas
6'3'' 250 4.71 25
Part 1
Quick first step. Strong at the point of attack. Sets the edge well. Top high school prospect. Uses good leverage. Gets rarely ran at. Stayed at bay most of the time as Alabama was using a lot of Mark Ingram. Didn't get many chances to rush QB. Got 2 sacks....one was a coverage sack (RT couldn't sustain block long enough) and the other was unblocked on misdirection play....so no biggy.

Rolando McClain ILB - Alabama
6'3'' 254 0.00 24
Had the best game I've seen him against Texas. Was asked to blitz a few times because Texas was playing with a back up at QB. Got penetration once to hurry QB. Made great read on screen and one play through traffic against run. Didn't get blocked mostly and was left to run free. McClain runs into blocks, takes bad angles and has no speed to chase backs to the sideline....

9th March
FS Earl Thomas Part 2 vs OSU
Mainly throws shoulder at ball carriers legs...poor tackling technique. Could be just a bad habit but or he'll get leaped over in the NFL. Had a good pick early in the 2nd half. Played slot CB then did the Saban side padel covering inside shade, had obvious safety help on top but broke away from his slot WR to the outside WO and had INT while outside CB had cushion on outside WO. Definately a Muschamp designed play. Looked exactly like the play against Alabama. Thomas's coverage is a product of the system.

OLB Sergio Kindle - Part 2 vs OSU
Again got rarely ran at. Had stalemates against Okung early on. Then late in 2nd quarter Kindle pushes Okung back with a couple of 2 armed jabbs and dives to his right to tacke RB for loss. Then inside speed rush against RT and almost got to QB but forces QB into INT. Sets edge well...takes on TEs easily. Very fluid in coverage...changes directions very well. 4:30min left in the 3rd and almost pusses RT into QB which forced QB into INT. 14:15 left in 4th beats RT with speed rush, rips and forces QB into INT. Up 41-14 Kindle sits the rest of the game. ]]> Ludacris http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=134 At least Special Teams improved.. http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=133 Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:18:42 GMT Rich Gosselin's new ST rankings came out on Sunday and the Dolphins Special Teams unit made a upward movement of 20 places.

Nice, and according to Football Outsiders, the Dolphins ranked #9, however over the course of a season ST, according to Football Outsiders, ST counts as a 1, Offense and Defense both count as 3's.

So basically ST should be worth 1 victory per season, the 09 phins got that against the Jets in the rematch.

A great ST unit over the course of a season would be worth a 2 and some change, so ST Jon Bonamego still has work to do. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=133 The Big Slow or NFL draft purgatory http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=132 Sat, 30 Jan 2010 04:54:44 GMT Typically I'll hang out on the internet and listen to WQAM while reading or what have you, with the NFL season virtually wound down from my point of view I've taken to relaxing and checking out the excellent Universal Draft website run by fellow Dolphins fans.

Kim Bokamper has returned to Dolphins Tonight and the Ronnie Brown Show, the Channing Crowder Show and Ricky William's show will be airing their final episodes next week.

So far, so good, the trouble for me is that, for whatever reason, WQAM has put the Big Slow err...the "Big O" in charge of covering the events leading up to the NFL draft, the Big Slow is something of a blowhard.

A real large Blowhard, upon listening in to WQAM's roster of interviews, I discovered this sad fact, the Big Slow will be leaving WQAM soon as anyone with that much knowledge of the Scouting process and the eye for talent he claims to have, is no doubt fielding calls from NFL ownership groups who are more than willing to dump their entire scouting apparatus as well as Front Office personnel and simply hire Mr. Slow to run everything.

Such a frustrated talent surely has a brighter future working in the NFL rather than at WQAM. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=132 So we hired Mike Nolan..have we Been There, Done That before? http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=131 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:13:46 GMT Ahh, Mike Nolan, another Coordinator "Guru".

His statistical evidence:

Quote:

1993, Giants: 1st, 5th

1994, Giants: 8th, 11th

1995, Giants: 16th, 17th

1996, Giants: 10th, 14th

1997, Redskins: 8th, 16th

1998, Redskins: 28th, 24th

1999, Redskins: 24th, 30th

2000, Jets: 13th, 10th

2001, Ravens: 4th, 2nd

2002, Ravens: 19th, 22nd

2003, Ravens: 6th, 3rd

2004, Ravens: 6th, 6th

2005, 49ers: 30th, 32nd

2006, 49ers: 32nd, 26th

2007, 49ers: 20th, 25th

2008, 49ers: 23rd, 13th

2009, Broncos: 12th, 7th
Avg finish in pts allowed=16th
Avg finish in yds allowed=17th

Hmm...that is not exactly Buddy Ryan like performance, and his performance the last 5 seasons:

Pts allowed=23rd
Yds allowed=22nd

Has not really been very good.

I bring this up because the last time the Dolphins hired the "defensive guru" the defense was just garbage, Dom Capers time in Miami was completely non noteworthy.

Dom Capers ended up supporting the Joey Porter signing, then Porter flammed out when the conversion to a Capers 3-4 never happened, Wayne H ended up firing him at the Tuna's direction but Capers left Miami with a fat envelope full of millions in cash for no longer coaching in Miami.

Nolan seems more of a Character guy rather than a Capersesque mercenary, however Capers also coached the Packers defense to #2 in the NFL, a position Nolan has not gotten any defense he ran herd on since...1992...his first yr in the NFL as a DefCord was his "best" year.

As usual be careful with the Guru type of Coordinator, looking at the numbers Mike Nolan is a "good' not "great" Defensive Coordinator. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=131 <![CDATA[Cowherd's moroncy 1/15/09]]> http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=130 Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:18:38 GMT The Herd started off well enough today, with a "the Colts are a terrible team with a great Qb in Peyton Manning who else on that offense would start let alone make pro bowls elsewhere"

Jeff Saturday, Reggie Wayne, D Clark etc etc.

Fair enough for him, it's his opinion.

Then came the near Patented Cowherd attack of the stupids with:

"USC will know what their punishment will be sometime next month"

Fair enough

"they probably will lose some national titles and bowl wins which is the past"

Uh-oh, here it comes

"the NCAA would not pull them off of television or keep them from bowl games, that would be shooting themselves in the foot"

Ah, there is venal boy, but wait:

"if USC is pulled off of TV and bowls, I won't talk college football, LA is a huge market and if USC is not allowed to do those things, my college football talk will be cut in half, I just won't do it"

So basically Oaf den Herder is threatening the NCAA with not covering College Football if they sanction USC for a lack of institutional control.

Cowherd is the 10-2 ESPN radio slot, he has 1 million listeners (or so he claims, Arbitron rankings are 1 year behind when they reach the public, in the radio biz they are Life for a show) basically Cowherd threatening to embargo NCAA football if USC is punished for some of Carrol's violations of NCAA rules.

He really should wear a clown nose while doing his programs, he is entertaining in a face palm way. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=130 Colin Cowhered is an Oaf http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=129 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:22:15 GMT ESPN radio plays at work, Colin the dork Cowherd is on from 10-2, this week's menu:

Three million excuses for Lane Kiffin bolting UT:

1. "they would have fired him first"
2. "USC is just a better job"

The Dork moved unto the current scandal, his ace recruiter advised players they had recruited to UT to "not go to class so it is easier to transfer to USC"

Cowherd then claimed Kiffen "didn't know" the calls had been made, the funny thing was, the recruiter was second in line at the podium and said "yeah, I did that"


Cowherd, sordid as ever:

1. "kiffin didn't know"
2. "I can't say, I don't know what Kiffin knew"
3. "he was doing those recruits a favor"
4. "you SEC fans have no room to say anything, the SEC invented dirty recruiting"
5. "I defended Ohio State when Clarett was there"


This cat is such an assclown it is amazing to listen to, but wait there is more:

"the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame understands who should be in the HoF"

"Jose Canseco is a Hall of Fame player"

"I'm not a Hall of fame guy, it doesn't matter to me"

Add in that putz makes terrible weekly picks, even saying "this is one game that is a sure thing, I'm going to buy a condo after they win"

Which of course was the Dolphins v Bucs, a 9 pt line, we won by 2 pts, any semi serious Dolphins fan could have told Cowherd "don't make that bet"

Of course that Monday he didn't mention it.

1. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=129 Well, moving unto yr 3 of the Sparanos http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=128 Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:29:48 GMT Year 3.

There it is, the magical year where there prior mediocrity is to be shed and "the Plan" comes to fruition.

In 07, the Cowboys went 12-0 to start the season with Ireland/Parcell's/Jone's players.

Then Romo dropped a snap on a can't miss FG in Seattle and the Cowboys were d-o-n-e.

I think the team regressed a bit due, in my view, to the pressures of trying to live up to 11-5 while trying to develop players.

We have no more answers in 2010 at key position than we had answers going into 2009, NT is a problem, ILB is a problem, Safety is a problem, Wr is a problem.

Those were not problems heading into 2009.

Point being, Yr 3 may be good, but perhaps not magical, and with 2011 and lockout looming, that would suck, but it is what it is. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=128 Thanks again...Colts. http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=127 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:25:20 GMT You know, as a dolphins fan I always get a little anxious year after year for the mistique of the perfect season record being broken. The year the... You know, as a dolphins fan I always get a little anxious year after year for the mistique of the perfect season record being broken. The year the Pats almost did it scared the hell out of me. No way in hell did I want the evil empire to own that record, no how. But this year, the two teams that actually stood a fair chance at history were two of the golden boy led teams in the NFL. Even as a Dolphins fan, I have to tell you, I cheered for the Colts to get this record. They deserved it. The Colts are without a doubt, the best team of the last decade. There is no arguement. They have the most wins, maybe not the most rings, but they have won more games in a decade than any other team in NFL history. That is an amazing feat. And it is hard to not like Peyton Manning. What a quarterback he has turned into. He is the equivalent of having a coach out on the field. And of course I have some home town connections on the team, Clint Sessions is from Pompano so its hard for me not to cheer for someone from my old stomping grounds. But more than just my own selfish reasons, the fans of the Colts that went to the Colts,Jets game deserved to see that team take one more step towards greatness. No one can tell me that if you dont sit Peyton, he gives up the lead and the Jets go on to win. I just dont buy it. I have watched the Colts all year, and I know damn well what they are capable of. And the mere fact that they have almost handed the Jets a playoff trip disgusts me. And to make matters worse the Bengals will probably do the same thing. The people behind that decision not only robbed the city and the team of its place in history, they robbed half of the AFC of a fair chance at making the playoffs. So, as a dolphins fan, I'm bitter.But more than anything I am upset for the fans in general. ]]> Big E http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=127 So Chad Henne rolls out of bed in the morning.. http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=126 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:24:26 GMT Chad Henne rolls out of bed on most mornings during this season and one thing is perfectly clear: The Miami Dolphins will only go as far as Henne... Chad Henne rolls out of bed on most mornings during this season and one thing is perfectly clear:

The Miami Dolphins will only go as far as Henne takes them in 2009, quitely he has racked up 2 300yd passing games and led 4 come from behind victories this season.

Henne is also somewhat responsible for two crushing losses late in the season.

That is the NFL Qb blues, especially for a first year starter, Henne has the makeup to deal with the failures as well as with the successes, in that sense he reminds me of the last great Big 10 Qb in Miami, Bob Griese, notoriously unflappable, there was a story of a teammate of Griese's hiding a armadillo under his bed in training camp and tricking Griese into looking under the bed and coming face to face with the Armadillo.

Griese ran out of the room, but I somehow think Chad Henne would just stare at the Armadillo and say "very funny Jake".

2 games to go, both with huge potential to be shoot outs with Matt Schaub and Big Ben coming down to Miami, Henne and not Ricky Williams will decide our playoff fate. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=126 Tampa Bay comes to town..I was close to being a Buc fan http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=124 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:24:27 GMT The 1-7 Bucs go down to Miami to face the 3-5 Dolphins, two teams and different trajectories on the field and off the field. The Bucs used to... The 1-7 Bucs go down to Miami to face the 3-5 Dolphins, two teams and different trajectories on the field and off the field.

The Bucs used to market heavily in Southwest Florida when I was a lad, friends had season tickets and they were looked at as an up and coming franchise with stars such as Lee Roy Selmon and Doug Williams and Kevin House and Jimmie Giles.

But I just could never take that step into Buc Fandom, then the whole thing fell apart, Selmon retired, HC McKay retired, Williams left, Giles was released, and the Bucs nosedived for the next decade into #1 pick in the draft in back to back Drafts.

They took Bo Jackson even though Bo told the Culverhouses, point blank, he would not play in Tampa Bay, non plussed, they took Jackson and he played Baseball for the Royals and re-entered the draft in 1987 and the Raiders took him.

Steve Young was yet another "saviour" type, when the USFL folded the Bucs owned his "rights" (a #1 pick was used to take him in the supplemental draft, that ended being a top 5 pick) he was a running Qb in Tampa, he could motor, the team was terrible though, basically James Wilder beating the hell out defenses and himself in the One Back offense was the extent of the Offense..

Long gone by the time Warren Sapp and Co, wound up in Tampa Bay, along with Tony Dungy, the Bucs had one heck of a run with that core of players, the best in Team history, but once again, there was no love connection for the Ronald McDonald looking Buccaneer on the helmet.

Their white uniforms were hillarious, once in the 80's they played in Green Bay in a blizzard wearing road whites, they were Orange numbers with all white camoflage running around the field in Green Bay, and of course, they lost.

That always summed up the Bucs for me, now the circle has turned once again, Gruden was fired, the Bucs are terrible and yet another "saviour Qb" is starting, this after Jack Thompson, Steve Young, Vinny Testaverde, Akili Smith, and Gruden's harim of mediocre Qb's.

I've seen this script before, several times in the last 25 yrs. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=124 Wh Ginn/Beck failed where Jake Long/Chad Henne are succeding http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=122 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:31:26 GMT With the Bye week upon us and the Dolphins 09 team showing signs of life, I've wondered this:

Why did the Ted Ginn/John Beck strategy fail, were the Jake Long/Chad Henne strategy is succeeding?

The situations are somewhat similar, new HC, New GM, some of the players are even the same, Crowder, JT, Ronnie Brown etc.

I think it comes down to just a few simple things:

-Randy Mueller did a terrible job of talent evaluation of the players on the roster and the players in we drafted.

-Cam Cameron was NOT the offensive genius he was portrayed to be, at least when it came to innovation and player development

-Dom Capers was a bad Defcoordinator, I think the game may have passed him by.

-Injuries, and not minor injuries, decimated Cameron's Squad, how much of that was "Camp Cameron" we will never know, but YBell rupturing his Achilles tendon is not predictable.

-Henne, unlike Beck, had time to develop, Chad Pennington and Trent Green were not dissimilar Qb's, TGreen caught a knee to the head in Week 5 and was lost for the season, Penny played in 19 games before his season ending injuries.

-Support structure, Cam Cameron had no one to bounce ideas and problems off of, he was a fmr Coordinator on an island because apparently Dom Capers was not really participating, Sparano has the Tuna to talk with, as happens with many of the members of the Tuna's Coaching Tree.

-Poor leadership, JT said before the season that Trent Green was a hit away from being Scrambled Eggs, once that happened there were no successful veterans on the offensive side of the ball to assume a leadership role.

-Bad staff/undermanned staff, Cameron and Mueller for whatever reason, allowed the core of the ST unit to leave via FA, then ST Coach Armstrong was put into a impossible situation, Sparano on the other hand has no problems bringing in fmr Head Coaches to run a single sub unit, down the road we will see members of this staff showing up as HC's elsewhere something that never would have occured to Cameron..


-Poor trades-Wes Welker for a #2 and #5 was ill planned, and if that one were not bad enough, no one was brought in to replace Welker.

Ireland has given up a 7th round pick for Tony McDaniel and a 5th round pick for Tyler Thigpen.

-Lack of confidence by Cameron, there were several players who probably should have been cut as dead wood, Alabi and Toledo come to mind, but for whatever reason, Cameron just did not cut them and bring in different players, Imho that was a confidence issue.

As for the main thought, Ginn was the #9 pick and was thought to be a Percy Harvin type and Beck was a bit older and thought to have a shorter learning curve and with more maturity, his step to NFL starter was to wait a season behind T Green ala Henne waiting a season behind Pennington. Henne was our second #2 pick in 08, he had less demand to perform especially with Pennington playing how Trent Green was supposed to play.

In Summation though, the one real difference between the two situations has got to be talent evaluation of existing players, Ireland made 100 personnel moves in 08, the roster was constantly being tweaked by choice, in 07 Mueller was constantly sifting through the scrap pile for a Veteran to come in an fill a need right away, Donovan Darius comes to mind.

That is the difference between being reactive, and proactive, Mueller was not a bad GM, he just did not have the vision Jeff Ireland has, Cameron was a Offensive Coordinator who ran his scheme no matter what, wereas Sparano had no problem at all scrapping his plans for what David Lee had talked to him about in Dallas.

Have to admire HC Sparano a bit, in the NFL for a first year Head Coach to scrap his plans for an untested in the NFL college offense with a Running Back as the Qb was a massive gamble, one that only a handful of Coaches would ever make.

To me, that is the difference and the reason why Ginn/Beck failed, Long/(Merling)/Henne succeeded, Sparano was not afraid to play them because he knew they would be prepared and ready to play if needed, with Ginn/Beck, not so much, Beck never took first team snaps, Ginn was stuck on a Wr corps that had proven itself not very good with no player development. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=122 Two weeks...no dolphins football.. http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=121 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:59:05 GMT I would suspect that the way fans look at bye weeks and the way players look at them are total polar opposites. For the fan, it is a dry time,... I would suspect that the way fans look at bye weeks and the way players look at them are total polar opposites.

For the fan, it is a dry time, sort of cold snap in the middle of the summer to remind one that Winter has not went anywhere.

For the players, it is a time to rest and recharge, to release some pressure, though with Sparano I'd guess that pressure is never very far away.

Some players will travel a bit, Channing Crowder is heading for the Turks and Caicos, far far away from Omar Kelly or David Hyde, JaKe Long is purportedly going to watch his younger brother play football, I'm sure the other 51 players have plans just as mundane.

As a fan it is my hope that Joey Porter's hamstring heals up, and it would be even better if the Bills or Raiders could steal a game from the Jets, or the Titans could squeek by the Patriots up in Foxboro..

The next three games are massively important, equally as important as the Monday Night Football game, the schedule daemons did cut us a bit of break after those three games, with mostly struggling teams to finish out the season, but still, 2-5 is terribly difficult to overcome, 3-4 not so much, the Saints, Jets and Patriots is no easy run, but we do have 2 of 3 games at home. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=121 Chad Henne era begins on Oct 4, 2009 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=120 Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:57:11 GMT For better or worse Chad Pennington and his intangibles and accuracy are simply...gone. Lost in a swirl of arm his third major shoulder injury one... For better or worse Chad Pennington and his intangibles and accuracy are simply...gone. Lost in a swirl of arm his third major shoulder injury one that he will be lucky to recover from enough to lead even a normal life let alone play Qb in the NFL.

Enter Chad Henne, the final piece from the 2008 draft is now "the man" in Miami, the man we passed on Matt Ryan for is now going to start his first game in Aqua and Coral.

Chad Henne will have many things written about him before he ever takes his first snap as a starter all of varying accuracy and value, however one thing is clear, Chad Henne is our new starter for the forseeable future.

I like Chad Henne, loved Chad Pennington mostly due to his Veteran presence and accuracy, Henne brings other skills to the table, big arm, can move better than Pennington could, a bit more ability to absorb contact. All of those are nice things but he has to also be a leader of men and play well early in the year for the lore of Chad Henne, the man who saved a season in Miami, to come to fruition.

He does have some tools to work with, a good and improving Oline, two good running backs in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, and he also has Devone Bess, Ted Ginn and Brian Hartline as well as Greg Camarillo to grow with, but saddling him with a 0-3 record is a tough way to begin a career, but that is what good Qb's overcome to become "good" in the first place.. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=120 2009 season preview Special Teams http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=118 Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:26:05 GMT Less than a week until kick off and the 53 man roster is more or less set with no real surprises, Donald Thomas recovered from his pectoral injury... Less than a week until kick off and the 53 man roster is more or less set with no real surprises, Donald Thomas recovered from his pectoral injury and our starters made it through the preseason healthy, so to take a look at the 2009 version of the Dolphins unit by unit, beginning with Special Teams:

Kicker Dan Carpenter set a rookie record for accuracy in 2008 with a one point 14 consecutive made field goals, that impressed Coach Sparano so much that he brought in Conner Barth to compete with Carpenter after an inconsistent training camp.

Punter Jamie Fields, a average punter, Fields ranked 9th in the AFC last season in Avg, Fields has shown improvement every year, but in no sense can be considered a strength on the ST unit.

Devone Bess is back on punt return duties, a solid, dependable return man, Bess is not likely to fumble but he also not likely to score a TD, he was in the top 8 in ypa last season.

Ted Ginn or Patrick Cobbs are the kick returners, Ginn, a pro bowl alternate kick returner in 07, had an abysmal 2008 campaign returning kicks, Cobbs, lacking Ginn's flash, is solid return man in the mold of the Redskins Rock Cartwright,

Long Snapper is John Denny, who is solid..mostly, but also is prone to mental errors on coverages, but does his core job well.

Gunners Jason Allen and Nate Jones or Chris Clemons. Jason Allen was tied for first in Special Teams tackles, Allen also has a knack for downing the ball inside the 5 yd line with 3 such plays last season, Jones is average and Clemons is as fast as Allen but is a unknown as a Gunner.

The Special Teams Unit was basically the worst in the NFL last season and has trended moving backwards in efficiency since 2007's 23rd ranking, on a whole the Dolphins Unit finished 30th last season and showed little signs of improving in the preseason.

The Dolphins "lost" 150 yds per game on special teams last season in field position given up on returns, and in failure to create yardage in returns as well as in penalties, one of the keys to the Dolphins season is to be found in the improvement of this unit, "if" Jason Allen, Devone Bess and Patrick Cobbs show growth in their roles, improvement is sure to come, if they do not, the Dolphins will make the hill to winning that much steeper to climb.

In my view, Special Teams Coach Bonamego is on the hot seat this year, he ran top 10 St units while in Jacksonville, so he does have a good track record, but in Miami under Sparano, that is not good enough, performance is demanded of the players and Coaches.. ]]> padre31 http://forums.thephins.com/blog.php?b=118