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Dolphins Mini Camp opens, Starks returns, Leach to visit

Jun. 12 News and Notes no comments

While it’s been pretty quiet lately around these parts, we finally have some Dolphins news to bring you!  The Dolphins officially opened up their mandatory Mini-Camp on Tuesday and they welcomed back an old familiar face in the process.  Randy Starks, who has expressed his unhappiness with being slapped with the franchise tag this offseason, was in attendance.  Starks did not work with the 1st or even 2nd team defensive lines.  He worked on individual drills, trying to regain his football shape.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Jared Odrick is holding down Starks’ starting defensive tackle position and will patrol the position until Starks is ready.  Odrick is fighting to prove himself, as the Dolphins draft Dion Jordan with the #3 overall selection in the draft…..to eventually replace him at defensive end.  Odrick will likely still earn a roster spot because he can play on running downs at defensive end and on passing downs at defensive tackle.  Although, I don’t think it’s completely out of the question that he could be trade bait if the Dolphins get the right offer.

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Have the Dolphins closed the gap on the Patriots?

Jun. 06 Opinion 3 comments

The Miami Dolphins  had one goal in mind this offseason: Catch-up to the Patriots.  Make no mistake about it, the Dolphins improvements this offseason were aimed at making the roster better, but the ultimate goal is to build a consistent winner.  To become a consistent winner, the Dolphins will need to catch the Patriots and surpass them.  Let’s face it, as much as we all hate the Patriots, they have been absolutely dominant in the AFC East since 2001.  Since then, the Patriots have won the AFC East 10 of the last 12 seasons.  They’ve also had double digit wins in 11 of those 12 seasons.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

A large part of that success is the successful combination of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.  We all hate them both, but there is no denying how good their Patriots teams have been.  Early on in their dynasty, the Patriots had both a great defense and a future Hall of Fame quarterback.  Now their defense is their weakness, but they still have an All-World quarterback who leads a face paced offense.  The Patriots defense is not great, but they do enough to keep the Patriots in games.

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Mike Wallace misses Dolphins OTA on Wednesday

May. 29 News and Notes no comments

The Miami Dolphins opened up their second Organized Training Activity (OTA) on Tuesday, but the media was not allowed in….so we had no news to report.  Today, however, the media was allowed in and although there was no breaking news, we did learn that Mike Wallace was not in attendance.  Wallace did attend all 3 practices last week and has reportedly been working outside of the voluntary OTA’s with Ryan Tannehill and other Dolphins receivers.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Before you get too concerned, about Wallace the football player, the Miami Herald is reporting that Wallace missed the practice due to a family emergency.   Coach Philbin does not discuss player attendance at voluntary OTAs, so he did not have anything to say regarding Wallace’s absence.

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Dolphins need to sign Reshad Jones to a long term deal

May. 28 Opinion no comments

Dolphins fans, have no fear, we’re baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!  Yes it’s the offseason and no there isn’t a lot of Dolphins news to share with you. …BUT, we’re back and will keeping your offseason full of Dolphins related news and analysis.  We’ve taken our one break for the season, but now we’re back and ready to dive into the Dolphins 2013 season.  The Dolphins are currently going through mini-camps/OTAs, trying to get all of their rookies and veterans on the same page.   But,. the calendar is about to turn to June and then we are only a few weeks away from the start of training camp!   In fact, the Dolphins season officially begins in just 101 days….which may sound like a long time, but considering the amount of work to be done, it’s not much time at all.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Since we aren’t privy to all of the ins and outs of the Dolphins offseason work, we wanted to explain why it is important for the Dolphins to reach an agreement on a long term deal with Reshad Jones.  The Dolphins drafted Jones 3 years ago in the 5th round and he’s gotten better every season he’s played.  He’s not a vocal leader, but his play does the talking for him on the field.  Last year, he played at a Pro Bowl level.  He made 73 tackles, had 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, 4 interceptions, and 9 passes defensed.  That’s a good season, especially when you consider it was Jones’ first season playing under new defensive coordinator, Kevin Coyle.

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How will the Dolphins use Mike Gillislee in 2013?

May. 14 Opinion no comments

The Miami Dolphins are in full offseason mode in mid-May.  The roster is pretty much set, so we know which players will be there when training camp starts in late July.  The Dolphins, for their part, are doing good in the community during their down time.  Today, the entire Dolphins team visited school children and spent the day with them at Dave and Buster’s.  Great work by the team!  While the Dolphins are enjoying their down time, we wanted to take a look at one of the Dolphins rookies, Mike Gillislee.  The Gillislee pick might not have made headlines, but I think he will be used quite a bit in 2013.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Gillislee was drafted #164 overall by the Dolphins, in the 5th round of the NFL Draft.  He’s 5’11″, 208 lbs and ran the 40 yard dash in 4.55 seconds.  He’s not blazing fast like Lamar Miller and he didn’t have a ton of production at Florida, but Gillislee will compete for a spot on the Dolphins roster.  He didn’t become the starting running back at Florida until his senior season, when he carried 244 times for 1,152 yards and 10 TDs.  that’s over a 4.7 yard per carry average in the SEC, which isn’t too shabby.

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How will the Dolphins use Dion Jordan in 2013?

May. 07 Opinion 1 comment

When the Miami Dolphins traded up to draft Dion Jordan, it shocked all of the NFL draft ‘experts’.  Mostly everyone (myself included), thought the Dolphins were trading up to select their new starting left tackle, Lane Johnson.  However, when Roger Goodell announced that Dion Jordan was the pick, we all screamed “YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH, AWESOME!!!!  WAIT, WHAT?”  The Dolphins were determined to get their man, a man that stands 6’6.5″ tall and weights 250 lbs.  They were determined to find a freakish pass rusher opposite of Cameron Wake.  However, what no one knows for sure is exactly how the Dolphins will utilize the unique athlete that is, Dion Jordan.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

The Dolphins played a 4-3 defense for a majority of the season in 2013 under first year defensive coordinator, Kevin Coyle.  However, the moves made this offseason would suggest that changes are coming to the Dolphins defense.  Gone are run stoppers Kevin Burnett and Karlos Dansby, from the middle of the defense.  Incoming defensive pieces include the more athletic linebackers Philip Wheeler, Dannell Ellerbe, hybrid Dion Jordan, and defensive tackle Vaughn Martin.  These new pieces suggest that the Dolphins might be considering a more hybrid defense in 2013.

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Hypocritical NFL should be blamed if Dolphins do not host Super Bowl

May. 06 Opinion 8 comments

The Miami Dolphins have been working through the political process, in hopes of securing public tax dollars to help renovate Sun Life Stadium.  We won’t bore you with the logistics of the operation, just know that the tax dollars would have been paid by tourists (in way of a hotel tax) and the Dolphins would have repaid what is essentially a loan, over a 30 year time period.  The Dolphins were hoping the state legislature would pass the necessary measures to open the tax up to the voting public.  On Friday, the legislature slammed the door on the Dolphins hopes.  The state legislature denied the Dolphins request, which means the Dolphins will need to pay for any renovations on their own.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

It seems as though the Dolphins are not willing to pay for any renovations, completely on their own.  Their goal in all of this is to bring more Super Bowls, NCAA football bowls, and international sporting events to South Florida.  Apparently, the powers that be did not see it as a worthwhile investment.  The Dolphins argued that the renovations were necessary to win future Super Bowls, which bring a large amount of economic boom to the South Florida community.  Again, the politicians saw things a little differently.  You can understand why, since the Marlins Park was recently paid for by taxpayers…..and we saw what happened there.  After 1 season of ‘going for it’, the Marlins dismantled their team and now operate with the 2nd lowest payroll in MLB.  After essentially getting burned, you can sort of understand the politicians position, even though the deal was structured MUCH differently with the Dolphins.

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Effects of Tyson Clabo’s signing on the Dolphins offensive line

May. 06 News and Notes, Opinion 1 comment

The Miami Dolphins took a big step over the weekend, locking up one of the best right tackles in the NFL.  After working out a number of tackles last week, the Dolphins ultimately decided that Tyson Clabo was their best option.   And outside of a reasonable trade with the Chiefs for Branden Albert, I have to agree with them.  Clabo was the best option at right tackle for the Dolphins, although I wouldn’t have been upset if they would have signed Eric Winston.    The deal with Clabo is said to be for 1 year at about $3.5 million.

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

Photo Courtesy of Dolphins.com

As soon as Clabo was released a month ago, we wrote this post, suggesting that the Dolphins should be interested in Clabo.  It may have taken a month, but the Dolphins ultimately got Clabo…at a reasonable price.  Clabo is has started for the Falcons since the 2006 season and has not missed a game since then.  Clabo will turn 32 years old this season and is  6’6″, 325 lbs.  He is a very solid addition to the Dolphins offensive line.  According to ProFootballFocus, Clabo grades out as the best right tackle in the NFL over the last 3 years:

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Musings: Dolphins rookie camp opens today, Tebow hoax, plus areas of improvement

May. 03 Miami Musings 3 comments

Now that the Draft is over, the Miami Dolphins coaches can begin to focus on preparing their players for the 2013 season.  The Dolphins roster is obviously not set in stone, but the next few weeks will provide the building blocks for the Dolphins training camp, which opens in July.  We all know that the offensive line is far from set, as the Dolphins are still weighing their options to find another starting offensive tackle.  But today, the Dolphins coaches will get their first look at their shiny new toys….draft picks.

Miami Musings

Since there isn’t a lot of news to report, we wanted to share a few stories with you that caught our attention.  Our Miami Musings this week will take a look at what we can expect from the Dolphins rookies, a Twitter hoax perpetrated by one of our readers, and a post that takes a closer look at what areas the Dolphins have improved in since last season.

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Dolphins should just say no to Tebow

May. 02 Opinion 8 comments

I’m sorry Dolphins fans, I tried to avoid writing this post, but it needs to be said.  The Dolphins do not need Tim Tebow on their team.  I’ve seen a number of stories and theories floating around that Tebow would be a good pickup for the Dolphins.  These theories suggest that if Tebow were to switch positions to an H-back type role, then he would make sense for the Dolphins.  He would not only help on the field, but would also help with ticket sales.  I’m here to tell you that both of those statements are wrong, in my opinion.

Photo Courtesy of Clemed via Wikipedia

Photo Courtesy of Clemed via Wikipedia

Let me be honest for a second, I actually like Tim Tebow. I, like many people, have had enough of the circus that follows him wherever he goes including the ridiculous coverage that ESPN gives him.  The guy was very good at Florida and showed some heart in Denver, but let’s face facts, he’s a backup quarterback in the NFL at best (and that is being generous).  I wish Tim the best of luck, but I do not believe he should even be considered by the Dolphins.

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