Friday, August 7, 2009

Training Camp - Day 6







New photos from Home SuperBowl 2010! (click to enlarge)


There is one afternoon practice today, at 2pm. Yesterday, reader/contributor Fang attended practice and sent this report:


"Pat White can't throw a spiral, but I don't think it matters. It's just one of those things more or less. He has a pretty good arm somewhere between the two Chads. He looked OK today I didn't see any over throws, but I was a long way from the field. To much is being made about the check down throws IMHO. Those throws could be what the dolphins want from the 3rd string QB. Think about it, if PW does enter a game as the 3rd QB, I think all the Coach's expect out of him is to run the offense. That's it, no more no less. That is the same thing they asked of Beck last year. Wasn't he known as check down ? PW is doing the same thing, I think it's planned that way.

Also Dan Carpenter can't get ball deep in the end zone on Kickoffs. That's a fact, so the Dolphins will have to depend on the coverage team. He had the wind to his back today and the deepest kick I saw was about 6 yards into the end zone, and with very little hang time. I think this is going to be troublesome. But he doesn't miss anything inside the of 45 yards, the guy is like automatic.

Plus if Patrick Cobbs is in the game something good is going to happen, he just makes plays.

Willford is now the designated blocking dummies holder for the tight ends. :) Mulligan held that position last year and is long gone. Willford can't get open with no one covering him.

One more thing and I know you won't like this I never saw J. Allen today I think he was there but I didn't see him. To be honest I only have one set of eyes, and things are going on all over 2 different fields. The far field is nearly 75 yards from where I was sitting and the defense was over there in both sessions. So I can see why we get different reports from different reporters on the same play. The Reporters are nearly 100 yard away from the far field, they have to be using glasses from that distance. Oh yea Sean Smith is the Man. This guy can play, or at least I think he can. I wish I could have given you something about the Oline and Dline but I have nothing to report They were to far away for me to see what was clearly going on. So no report on them, and same thing goes for the defense with the exception of any CB that were on my side of the far field."

Thanks, Fang.

Mulligan - that's the name I couldn't remember a few weeks back. We had Fasano/Martin/Peele/Ryan/Mulligan/Heerspink? back in '08 TC. So its not unusual for the Dolphins to have this many TEs at this point. Obviously four of those guys were released and Haynos brought in to keep us at 3 active. I think we had a fourth on the practice squad but I 've forgotten who it was.

I don't know about you folks, but to me, a good way to tell if the team is progressing from last year is to go back and watch last year's games and see where we struggled and if we've made strides to improve those areas. Basically, if we were to play those games over, would we have an easier time with them? The obvious change in the team from last year is the secondary.

No better matchup can best be used for comparison than the Patriots in week 12. They beat us handedly to get payback for the week 5 Wildcat bite on the ass we gave them. But it wasn't as bad as the score showed. First of all, the Pats passed on more than 80% of the snaps. No secondary could handle that for very long, especially with the weapons the Pats have. Jason Allen took the brunt of the blame from fans, because Moss scored two touchdowns on him (he scored a third on Andre Goodman, and he would've scored a fourth on Andre as well, but for some reason he didn't even try to catch the ball, allowing Goodie to swat it down). Tyrone Culver was fantastic in this game, but he played primarily strong safety in the box, with Yeremiah Bell playing deep. This is a coaching mistake that led to alot of issues. As a result, Bell had a terrible game. Will Allen also had a shaky game, giving up way too many catches. Here is a look back at Jason Allen's performance.

I didn't notice this at the time (probably because I was jumping around the room like a lunatic), but on the Hill INT, J. Allen actually volleyed the ball up into the air so Hill could make a play on it. You can tell it was an intentional move. This is not something a slow-thinker would do. While Jason may not be the best communicator, he certainly has some field awareness and good reaction time. The question now, is if Sean Smith or Vontae Davis are going to help to slow down the Pat's aggressive passing machine.

  • * The PM Practice video from yesterday was actually one of the more entertaining ones. Loved that D-line drill with the giant hula hoops. Where do you buy hula hoops that big?
  • * I have to be honest, Brandon London has shown up for camp, and I'm both shocked and excited. I have to be honest, I'm not worried about the WR situation in Miami right now. For once we're in the position where we have too many viable receivers, as opposed to just scraping the bottom of the barrel to get 5 on the roster.
  • The Tweets have restarted and Armando chimes in with: "Patriots afternoon practice was canceled, according to the Boston Globe. I cannot imagine Dolphins canceling a practice." Does this guy actually follow the Dolphins? They cancel practices all the time. They canceled TWO practices in OTAs, and cancelled their FIRST practice of Training Camp. Last year Sparano canceled at least two practices during the regular season. I'm sure Armando could go through his own blog archives and find this information.
  • Mike Berardino said both Quentin Moses and Jason Taylor knocked Ernest Wilford to the ground. Wilford experiment continues in vain.
  • The New Orleans Saints are practicing for when they face Miami on Sept 3rd and October 25th.
Sparano - Day 6

  • Safety Ethan Kilmer quit the team today. I have to say I don't think I've ever seen this many players quit on their own accord at this stage. Jared Bronson didn't report, SirVincent Rogers quit yesterday and Kilmer today. Is Sparano hurting these guys' feelings or what? None of them really have a good shot at getting on another roster, so to walk away from a possible practice team spot seems odd. Unless they got offers from the UFL?
Practice Highlights

  • Today was the NFL Official Review presentation and they've added some new rules to the officiating book. Most of them are insignificant, but I found this one very interesting: According to NFL umpire, Jeff Rice, there will be more offensive and defensive holding calls this season because it was determined by the competition committee to follow the letters of the law from now on because of a recent decline in these types of infractions. What kind of retarded logic is that? Are the NFL officials hanging out with traffic cops now? In any event, after this rule change, Randy Moss better watch himself.

50 comments:

  1. <span style="">

    Hi Tin Shaker...
    I started following your twitter because I see you all over our beat-writer's message boards. Its nice to have some fresh eyes on the field. Wish I could be there but 700 miles is a long distance to drive to find out that practice is going to be held in the Bubble. I look forward to your insight and to some of our future debates.
    As far as PW is concerned... I completely disagree with your comments. You don't draft a 3rd string QB in the early portion of the second round. This is the first week, and he is simply going through an evaluation process. He will enter the year as the second string QB only to be utilized in the Wild Cat offense. Despite if inefficiency early in camp, I am still pleased with the fact that he has been effective throwing the long ball as well as running out of the shotgun. He will not take snaps out from under center and he'll likely be asked NOT to check down to receivers and backs. He WILL be asked to take off running, early and often. His presence alone will freeze opposing DB giving him just enough time to scramble for FIRST DOWNS. What are your thoughts?
    </span>

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  2. First off, thanks for the readership and comment, vic.  See guys, Twitter IS useful!    I understand the argument of not drafting a 3rd string QB in the 2nd round.  That makes perfect sense to you and I, but the draft rarely makes any sense.  Tom Brady was not a top overall pick, neither was Matt Cassel, and a bunch of other QBs were drafted ahead of Dan Marino back in '83.  Miami drafted John Beck in the 2nd round, then Chad Henne in the 2nd round, then Pat White in the 2nd.  That's 3 years in a row, not to mention the year before that they traded a 2nd round pick for a QB.  THAT QB is currently the starter in Detroit, despite them using the first overall pick on a QB.  So, my point is, that draft position really has no indication of how a QB will be used once training camp is over.
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  3. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's my opinion that Pat White will not be active for the first 3 or 4 games of 2009.  He will be listed as the emergency QB and will not be part of the initial gameplan.  Much like the Wildcat was not unveiled until week 5 in 2008, I believe the White-Cat or whatever you want to call it will also have a later debut in 2009.
    I didn't understand your comment about White's presence 'freezing' DBs to allow him to scramble.  If they use him that way, the defenses would just assume it's a running play and load the box anytime he entered the game, which is the opposite effect you're supposed to have with having a QB in the wildcat.  In any event, we won't know because I guarantee the Dolphins will not be practicing any 'special' plays in front of the media/fans.

    ReplyDelete
  4. First off, thanks for the readership and comment, vic.  See guys, Twitter IS useful!    I understand the argument of not drafting a 3rd string QB in the 2nd round.  That makes perfect sense to you and I, but the draft rarely makes any sense.  Tom Brady was not a top overall pick, neither was Matt Cassel, and a bunch of other QBs were drafted ahead of Dan Marino back in '83.  Miami drafted John Beck in the 2nd round, then Chad Henne in the 2nd round, then Pat White in the 2nd.  That's 3 years in a row, not to mention the year before that they traded a 2nd round pick for a QB.  THAT QB is currently the starter in Detroit, despite them using the first overall pick on a QB.  So, my point is, that draft position really has no indication of how a QB will be used once training camp is over.
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    ReplyDelete
  5. First off, thanks for the readership and comment, vic.  See guys, Twitter IS useful!    I understand the argument of not drafting a 3rd string QB in the 2nd round.  That makes perfect sense to you and I, but the draft rarely makes any sense.  Tom Brady was not a top overall pick, neither was Matt Cassel, and a bunch of other QBs were drafted ahead of Dan Marino back in '83.  Miami drafted John Beck in the 2nd round, then Chad Henne in the 2nd round, then Pat White in the 2nd.  That's 3 years in a row, not to mention the year before that they traded a 2nd round pick for a QB.  THAT QB is currently the starter in Detroit, despite them using the first overall pick on a QB.  So, my point is, that draft position really has no indication of how a QB will be used once training camp is over.
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  6. The Knight who says Ni!August 7, 2009 at 10:56 AM

    Tin, the Dolphins unveiled the Wildcat in week 4 game 3.

    ReplyDelete
  7. we're both wrong, it was week 3 game 3. the bye week was after NE and
    before San Diego It was during the bye week that Sparano cancelled at LEAST
    one practice as a reward to the team.
    For the record, I never saw the San Diego game. :(

    ReplyDelete
  8. "<span style="">He had the wind to his back today and the deepest kick I saw was about 6 yards into the end zone, and with very little hang time. I think this is going to be troublesome." </span>

    <span style="">I agree. It was also troublesome last season...makes our coverage units look really bad. It's kinda like when people think the secondary sucks but the front 7 gets absolutely NO pressure on the QB. I also tend to agree with you about the checkdown thing. That's exactly what a coach WANTs to see from his rookie/young/new in a system QB.</span>

    <span style="">Excellent report Fang. Nice to hear that Omar's not the only one who thinks Smith is a stud.</span>

    <span style="">Tin, I had a similar thought as you when I read that Mando tweet...too funny.</span>

    <span style="">Lastly Tin, contructively, I think either the Acrobat script/widget or the other widget on the right hand frame is causing your page to load very slowly/hang on 3 different machines from me. I might be wrong about the cause, but I wanted you to know about it.</span>

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jahndoh, on my page the acrobat widget loads the slowest because it is a.pdf
    file and those always load slowly for some reason, but it doesn't prevent
    the rest of the page from loading. In fact, the blog articles always load
    first followed by the sidebar followed by the rotoworld widget followed by
    the depth chart. Every single time, but on my computer at home the whole
    process takes less than 5 seconds. maybe we should do a poll on how long
    the page takes for everyone.
    The widgets up separately so it shouldn't affect the rest of the page from
    loading.

    ReplyDelete
  10. takes mine 10 secs maybe? My whole browser window is locked during that time though, not sure why it'd happen on my machines...maybe it's something in the internet settings.

    ReplyDelete
  11. do you have your oreos enabled?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Home SuperBowl 2010August 7, 2009 at 2:40 PM

    More photos in 5:30

    Nice shots of Vonte Davis and yes Sean Smith
    Both signed team flag today

    Wilford actually had a good day
    Receivers look good

    Jake Long poerhouse

    Jason Taylor is dominating everything!

    Vernon carey will not get pushed around

    T. George was on fire

    Ronnie Brown big run all the way
    Cobbs blasting thru again, like everyday
    Ricky getting it done also
    Langford and Merling both getting in backfield

    Not sold on Murphy,not physical enough

    ReplyDelete
  13. "Wilford actually had a good day"
    Not according to the SS boys. They said he was manhandled. maybe he was
    better catching the ball than blocking?
    Did you feel Cam Wake?

    ReplyDelete
  14. hmm, i put that collage-like photo up, but it's not showing up

    ReplyDelete
  15. Home SuperBowl 2010August 7, 2009 at 3:00 PM

    Wilford was completely  dominated driven back 5 yards and dumped on the ground by unstoppable Jason Taylor

    Passing Wilford was getting open in the middle and holding on to the football

    nice to see

    U could tell Pat white was surveying the field looking for him

    ReplyDelete
  16. somebody said he was relegated to weighting the blocking sled for TEs, one of the bloggers...

    ReplyDelete
  17. Do you think he looks for Wilford because he's tall and White's been
    overthrowing? ;)
    Thanks for the updates, Home.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Home SuperBowl 2010August 7, 2009 at 3:03 PM

    carey and JT fierce battling

    carey did good but Jason was dominating and cannot be stopped

    Saw Wake get in backfield twice for what would have been 2 sacks!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Jahndoh,
    Fang said it in the above article!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Home SuperBowl 2010August 7, 2009 at 3:21 PM

    Saw Turner make 2 catches on Sean Smith

    Dolfans
    #2 Fields was booting some punts from the back line in the end zone all the way to the 30 yard line
    Counting the end zone that was an 80 yard punt!
    many more 70 +
    Amazing

    Bess took one right up the middle and the distance

    ReplyDelete
  21. Fields has the boot but no control whatsoever and so inconsistent!. Watch
    the 1986 game to see the legendary Reggie Roby! I saw him boot one 70 yards
    IN A GAME!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. The Knight who says Ni!August 7, 2009 at 3:34 PM

    Hey I'm back. You are correct though. I don't know why I had it in my head that we had a bye in week 3 whe the byes don't start until after week 3. LOL

    I thought we used that bye to come up with something new because Sparano said to David Lee after the Cardinals game we got to figure something out and I thought they used that week to do it.

    i did see the San Diego game and it was mostly a defensive game and we made a few more plays on offense than they did. I was impressed with that win at the time only to find out that the Chargers really weren't that good at the time. But a win is a win.  :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. The Knight who says Ni!August 7, 2009 at 3:37 PM

    Wake seems to be a rising tide. Okay that's gay. He's coming on... stop, that sounds gay too.

    Wake seems to be elevating his play of late. Wheeeew! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  24. Well, the Chargers got better as the season went on, just like the Dolphins,
    so you can't knock the win too much. I'm getting the San Diego game this
    week so I'll see for myself.
    The time they took to come up with the wildcat package was on the plane ride
    home, don't you watch ESPN? lol.
    Anyone who doesn't subscribe to the zombie news knows that they had already
    installed the basic Wildcat during OTAs.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I guarantee you that some color commentator is going to say "a little shake
    and Wake" or "Wake really woke up the QB on THAT play!" or "Wake brings the
    tide!".
    Ok, maybe not the last one, that's quite clever although cheesy.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Home SuperBowl 2010August 7, 2009 at 4:10 PM

    tin having problems reading all comments

    cannot get to page 2

    Will send a few more good photos in just a minute

    ReplyDelete
  27. Home SuperBowl 2010August 7, 2009 at 4:31 PM

    Tin
    Sent bunch more from today
    Hope there is room

    ReplyDelete
  28. The Knight who says Ni!August 7, 2009 at 4:49 PM

    Tin, I know they already had the Wildcat before the season. They surely didn't and couldn't come up with that within a week. LOL

    I thought they went back to the playbook and said what about this and used the bye to perfect it which they did, but the Pats game was the week before. That said, you might say the Wildcat was at it's best against the Pats. But I think the element of surprise was overwhelming that week. They did build on it in other games and showed it's potential while at the same time not exposing all of it.

    ReplyDelete
  29. LOL! Too much media!!!! I get confused!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I think a Wake and Bake reference would be all-time, but nobody's gonna do that.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Maybe they should try him out on Kickoffs? (I'm kinda kidding).

    ReplyDelete
  32. Home SuperBowl 2010August 7, 2009 at 5:26 PM

    Tin did U receive 2nd group of a dosen more photos

    ***** The DYNASTY BE FINS! *****

    ReplyDelete
  33. Here I go with one of my stupid questions:

    Are all the photos at the top from today?  I couldn't help but notice that in some they are wearing shorts and others not.  Enlighten me on the wardrobe changes.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Home SuperBowl 2010August 7, 2009 at 6:38 PM

    U NOTICE HOW PROUD VONTE IS   ....LIKE A ROOSTER

    Now check out body language of Sean Smith who thinks very highly of himself

    Have u read reports on these corners?

    Is Jason Allen better than Sean Smith?

    ReplyDelete
  35. Home SuperBowl 2010August 7, 2009 at 6:40 PM

    Tinshaker

    Got more pictures?

    ReplyDelete
  36. Home SuperBowl 2010August 7, 2009 at 7:09 PM

    Tin

    More premium photos from the Saturday Scrimmage Live?

    Where they close enough?



    Got Fins?

    ReplyDelete
  37. yes i did, thanks Home, this is best set yet.

    ReplyDelete
  38. the photos are one day behind. todays will be posted tonight/tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  39. if u got em i'll post em.
    u do have to excuse the 3 hour time diff tho!
    Go Fins!

    ReplyDelete
  40. THANX FANG,TIN,GOODSTUFF!!
    Haven't read the comment's and its probably been said,
    but I think the quitters are realizing we're extremly deep @ those positions,
    and figure they'll get a jump on trying to land in a more realistic opportunity..


    NOT that anybodied care,but I'm HYPED!!

    Had my 1st LIVE FF computerless draft 2nght(bunch-o-buddies)in the same room,(jus like the commercial)!!

    FIRST time we did it this way,LOTSA FUNNN,(3 B's)Beers,Budds,and Brownies,but ONLY ONE Broad
    who isn't a player,(Treasurer)and was the draft supervisor(she did a GREAT job),we'd of been dumbfounded w'out her..  I did WELL!!

    Have another 2nght on the PC @CBS,and one on the 23rd w'Odin Gunderson,and finally one w'MY CA BYZ(No date set yet).. WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOO FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  41. GOT TG in the 10th rnd as MY #4 WR(RMOSS arrrgggghhh ,ROYAL,HOLT)..

    ReplyDelete
  42. AP
    RMOSS
    PRivers
    CPalmer
    RGrant
    DClark
    FJones
    THolt
    TG
    LMcCoy
    Jax
    SF
    K

    ReplyDelete
  43. ERoyal after RGrant.. OK,I'm mellowing now!!  L8s!!

    ReplyDelete
  44. TS on the(NO WEDGE RULE) kick return game,sounds benificial to DB,and TG(IF we dare)..
    Coach said they'll be "alot more space",which can help the speedy,and the nifty types..
    Plus IF their not in a phonebooth CAnderson won't have a chance to hold, TG for 6 x 4!!

    ReplyDelete
  45. YEAAAA,THATs the MUSIC I LIKKKKEEEE!!

    ReplyDelete
  46. Forgot to THANK HSB, THANX HSB !!

    ReplyDelete
  47. NFL YEARBOOK MIAMI DOLPHINS 2008,(ESPN 2  1:30 PM est) !!

    ReplyDelete
  48. Home SuperBowl 2010August 8, 2009 at 4:12 AM

    ***** The DYNASTY BE FINS! *****

    ReplyDelete