Tin Bits - Thursday, July 15th, 2010

I wish I had some great positive stories to discuss, but alas it is the off-season and most of the news is of the negative variety.

• Ronnie Brown's DUI case has been continued, i.e. postponed until September 2nd - I think the big news here is that the date in question is the same day as the final pre-season game.  This may not seem like a big deal since Brown is a starter and starter's don't play in game 4 of the PS.  However, coming off of an injury, Brown may not be ready to play until  He'll probably be going full speed before then based on his past history of recovery/work ethic, so that may be a moot point.  Another thing to think of - if Brown were convicted during the summer, he could be suspended for the 1st game of the season.  If the trial happens during the season (which officially starts for legal purposes during training camp), any suspension would have to be doled out the following season.  Sure, there is a chance the Brown camp just wants more time to work on a settlement, but ultimately, a 1st time DUI is not a big dent in an NFL player's wallet, and any repercussions would be far more harsh from the NFL than from the Judge.  

• This is sort of old news now, but last week, Channing Crowder and former Dolphin Tight-End, Ed Perry, took part in a Library/Summer Reading rally in Miami.  What's news about that?  Nothing really but I do have a question - Imagine you're organizing a Reading rally for kids at the Library and you want a celebrity to talk to the kids about education and 'book-learnin'.  Where on the list of potential Celebrity Guests would you rank Channing Crowder?  For me, even if the stipulation is that he needs to be a Miami Dolphin, he's probably dead last or close to it.  Although I suppose as long as they're just reading Children's books...

• I thought this article on PFT about Chad Pennington was interesting for two reasons.  First, PFT actually thinks they are the first to report Pennington's interest in coaching High School football - I think anyone who has ever followed Pennington's career already knows this - and the quote he used on Monday is verbatim what he said last year, and the year before, etc.  Secondly, does anyone else take offense to CP's obvious hatred of palm trees?  I mean, don't get me wrong, they are not my favorite tree either, but the comment implies that he's glad to be out of the South Florida atmosphere - should a guy being paid to represent South Florida really be bashing on its local flora?

• This latest spin from Andy Kent about the Dolphins starting Corners does what you expect from a Kent article - it's joyous, exuberant, full of homerism, and makes you scratch your head and think, "Ok....really?".  Don't get me wrong, the story itself was cute - the projection to the future was not off-base, but the line, "By season’s end, [Vontae] Davis and [Sean] Smith were being compared to Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain as far as dynamic cornerback tandems go, and that youthful exuberance that was on display during that interception return brought back more memories of how Madison and Surtain co-existed" did make me scratch my head.  Since I have this forum, I'd like to know which one of you it was that made this comparison.  I like both of these guys, but Sam Madison was the best cornerback in Dolphins history and Surtain is not far behind - but neither one had any impact in their rookie seasons, and they didn't play that well together - Madison had his hot streak, then when he started fading, Surtain took the mantle.  Much like JB Brown had a hot streak followed by Troy Vincent's hot streak.  I suppose you could compare the new duo to those stars of the past in that Vontae Davis had a hot year (for a rookie) and Sean Smith didn't and may have a hot one in a down year for Davis.  I'm not saying that they don't have the 'youthful exuberance' but I didn't get that from those former players - Surtain maybe, but the others seemed more business like to me.  In any event, all I could ask of Davis and Smith is that I still remember them in 10 - 15 years like I do these other guys, because I can barely remember names of the guys we've had in between.

Communication Breakdown

The first time I used the internet, it was 1994, and like a lot of the world, the only portal into this exciting new medium for me was through America Online, and a couple of other ISPs that were all about controlling the way you used the internet. They were very important in that they got everyone started. But eventually people started to realize that they were being held back by the restrictions, structures, and especially the subscription fees. That led to the demise of AOL as THE internet.

This week I actually took time to contemplate on how differently people use the technology that was always there, but now completely re-packaged, and more noticeably, a million times more acceptable by society-standards. If you had told me back in 1994 that I would be able to communicate with TV and movie stars and professional athletes alike, people I stacked in my own private 'celebrities I actually care about' pile, I wouldn't have believed you. I didn't see Twitter coming. I totally missed the MySpace blow-up. I'm often lost on Facebook.

But I am able to function on the internet at least 50% of the time, and that's what leads to gems like NFL Network's Rich Eisen joking around with me via Twitter or the occasional passing remark from a player for the Miami Dolphins. It also allows me to discuss subjects I'm interested in with other interested parties I would normally never have come into contact with. This site is of no exception, and I want to applaud the regular commenters for consistently providing civil conversation about that which we hold dear, the Miami Dolphins (and the occasional brownie recipe).

So, I thought I would share with you something that I never saw coming in 1994 or in 2009 to be honest. I had the pleasure of actually being in on a discussion with an ACTUAL Miami Dolphin. I will not name him, for obvious reasons (it was in my opinion 'off the record' but rather than calling him a source, I thought it prudent to mention it was a player) but this is what he said:

Pat White will play some receiver, they have been practicing screens with him.

Sean Smith will start. He later said that it would be between Smith and Green. Later again he said it would be Smith.

Jason Allen is much-improved and will be on the roster.

Channing Crowder has been very impressive and commanding in OTAs.

He expects Patrick Turner to start.

He says Vontae Davis is coming along slowly, and that his youth makes it easy to get into his head.

He said neither Sparano, or his position coach really ever 'dig into him' but couldn't say if it wasn't their style or just that he hasn't garnered their wrath yet.

He refused to answer my question of who would make the roster Anthony Armstrong or Brandon London. Guess I can't blame him.

It's interesting to communicate with pro-athletes and/or celebs, but there's also a double-edged sword in that you forget how these people are REAL PEOPLE and that the image you see on TV may not match up with what you get in person. This can sometimes be a jarring exeperience. Sometimes you actually like the person more than the celeb and sometimes (more often than not) you find you don't like this person the way you thought you would if you ever met.

Do you guys have any experiences like that? We already discussed my run-in with Jimmy Buffet when I was a teenager, but he's not the only musician I ever had an enlightening run in with.

Plugging Up Holes

Poor Channing Crowder. Poor Akin Ayodele. Poor Reggie Torbor. Poor rest of the inside linebackers that fans barely ever think of. Truth is, the outside linebackers in a 3-4 defense get all the press, glamour, and accolades (there is a sack leader stat, but no official run-stuffer stat in the NFL). The inside guys? We just complain about them when they're doing something negative and don't even notice when they do something positive. In a 4-3 defense, the middle linebacker can be the center of attention, but in a 3-4, there's two guys on the inside, and it all gets watered down.

Everyone noticed Zach Thomas when he covered the whole middle of the field, but the same can't be said for Crowder and Ayodele when they're splitting that duty.

Heading into training camp in August, these are the players that will be competing for a roster spot:

JD Folsom, # 59.
Folsom is 6'3", 230lbs. Guess what position he played at Weber State. Nope, he played Matt Roth's role in 2008, lining up on the LOS on the strong side with a hand on the ground. The more I look at this draft pick the more confused I am. He's another Mormon player who took 2 years off from football so he comes in as a 25 year old rookie. The Dolphins passed on some incredible football players to take Folsom (Nick Reed, Mike Mickens, Rashad Jennings, Trevor Canfield, Zack Follett, Lydon Murtha, etc). What is it that they see in him? The media hasn't even noticed him, so far, so invisible.

Orion Martin, # 48.
Now this is where things start getting interesting. Martin was a defensive end at Virginia Tech, is listed as a defensive end on the official roster, and is a pass-rush specialist. Yet the Dolphins have been using him almost exclusively on the inside according to local media. It was my initial roster that had Martin on the outside and Tearrius George on the inside. Then the media and other fans made me second guess myself. I'm leaning back to my original leanings with George on the inside and Martin on the outside. Its very possible the reporters mixed up the two since they're number 48 and 49 and are similar sized bodies. Either way, Martin's past accomplishments have all been from the outside, so the potential move inside would be a huge leap.


William Kershaw, # 58.
Kershaw was picked up mid-season as a free agent addition to our practice squad but was signed to the 53 man roster for the last couple of weeks of 2008. He has the most experience of the 'bottom 3' after signing with Kansas City in 2006 and spending time here and there for the Chiefs, Texans, Eagles, Saints and now the Dolphins. Is his journeyman past a red-flag?



Reggie Torbor, # 53.
Earlier today, Omar Kelly and I agreed that Torbor was well overpaid for what production we got from him in 2008. In fact, most people won't remember this, but there was a time early on that the coaches weren't confident enough in Torbor to give him more snaps. Crowder and Ayodele were left to play alot more snaps than they would've liked to lack of depth at ILB. Torbor has failed to impress in OTAs so far, and may have been a reach to begin with. He had a good run to the Super Bowl, and cashed in on it, but as one reader mentioned in reference to the offensive line, you want starter quality guys being your 1st backup. I'm not sure Torbor is starter quality.

Akin Ayodele, # 51.
Picking up from what I just said about starter-quality, there is no doubt in my mind that Ayodele would be an excellent backup. I think he is starter-quality for a few snaps a game. I would not wet myself if the guy in front of him got injured and he had to step in. Now that said, I was very disappointed in two aspects of Ayodele's game in 2008, enough so to want to replace him as the starter. First, his aggressiveness. There were too many plays where I saw the stutter-step. These linebackers need to be able to flow to the ball, and change direction if they need to, not wait until they know where the ball is going before making that first step. I guess it comes down to trusting your gut. The second one is the biggest problem, in my mind. His stamina. This is where not trusting in Torbor came into play a lot. Ayodele seemed to get 'gassed' a lot either on long drives or towards the end of the half/game. I feel that's where his lack of ability to get past the line on 3rd down blitzes came into play - he just didn't have it left in the tank. No real excuse for this since he was in the trifecta's training program for longer than most. I hope he has made some improvements in these areas or I will be calling for his head again in January.

Channing Crowder, # 52
Crowder is one of those guys who doesn't stand out a lot, doesn't make a lot of Sportscenter, and doesn't make a whole lot of sense when he speaks. But he is a consistent tackler and is one of the few 'long-time' Dolphins, if such a statement can be made, for a reason. He understands the game. He may not be a very gifted athlete or get a lot of credit for being a 'student of the game' but I guarantee he looked up to Zach Thomas and has tried to soak up as much of Thomas' habits as possible, which includes extensive film study. In his first year at the helm of the defense he racked up 113 tackles in 13 starts. His goal in 2009 should be to make it 16 starts, and to increase his production as far as turnovers/forced fumbles go. No one's expecting Crowder to turn into a ball-hawk, but he should be able to at least get the ball on the ground once a game. With a year under his belt, he should be able to relax more on the play-calling and focus more on those kinds of things.

So those are the 6 guys in the middle of the defense heading into training camp. While I do think Tearrius George is better-suited to the inside, I will hold off on discussing him until tomorrow when we look at the outside linebackers.

Salary Cap Schmalary Cap - A Financial Bit o' Tin

• Turns out Jason Taylor is not THAT cheap. Let's clarify the contract because there are a lot of conflicting reports in the mass media. Here is what JT actually costs.

$400k signing bonus (this is the 'guaranteed' money)
$700k salary (i.e. $43, 750 per game)
$500k incentives (these are always kept private, but I would guess they include staying healthy, participating in a certain percentage of plays or games, and number of sacks.)
This adds up to $1.6 Million total. But wait...that's not the ACTUAL total, is it...
Turns out Taylor is still owed approximately $1.7 Million by the Dolphins from his previous contract. Ah yes, that means Jason Taylor is scheduled to smack up the Salary Cap for $3.3 Million in 2009! Cheap for Jason Taylor, sure, but still a sizable blow to the Cap.

• Will Allen was ACTUALLY scheduled to hit the cap for $4.9 Million this year making him the fifth-highest paid player on the team behind Joey Porter, Jake Long, Ronnie Brown and Vernon Carey. Then he was to be a free agent in 2010. Now with his re-signing, it's unclear how much he will hit the cap for but let's assume it will be more, since his guaranteed money went from $900k to $10 million over 3 years (this could be very erroneous reporting and may turn out to be significantly less).

• Channing Crowder signed a 3 year deal that will hit the cap for $3.5 M in 2009. Strangely enough, they managed to sign him without any guaranteed money. He either has the worst agent in history, or he really loves that Miami fishing.

• Lousaka Polite got a pretty good deal for a relatively unknown full-back. As long as he keeps his YPC average above 1 yard, he'll be getting about $1.8 Million this year.

• Rookie Tight-End, John Nalbone, will have to compete with David Martin, Anthony Fasano, and Joey Haynos for a roster spot but for now he'll put a $483k dent in the cap.

While this is highly-speculative, and I'm no math expert, and even less of a salary cap nerd, I did do some math for this post and came up with an approximate projection of $8.9M of current cap room for the Dolphins.

This may seem like enough to sign the partnership of Smith, White, and Davis, with possible room for a low-ball contract for a rookie wide receiver, but one must factor in that Matt Roth, Anthony Fasano, Davone Bess, Ricky Williams, Jason Ferguson, Tyrone Culver, Dan Carpenter, John Denney, Ronnie Brown and even Chad Pennington will have their agents attacking the front office for extensions of their own, though I suspect they will tell both Brown and Pennington flat out that they won't talk contract until 2010.

So, you can see there really isn't a lot of cap room for the Dolphins to work with here. It's clear that we can't afford to trade for Anquan Boldin, or to extend Ronnie Brown's contract. This time last year we had only a handful of players who wanted an extension, and we also had more than double the cap room we have now (and this was AFTER Jake Long and Justin Smiley practically mugged the salary cap).

So unless Pat White plans to play for potato chips and Wilford will void his current contract in favor of a box of oreos, this could get ugly, and players could be let go simply to save money (see Jason Allen, Ronnie Brown, Randy 'Freightliner' Starks, etc.)

The 2009 Miami Dolphins Linebackers - The Beginning

The following rundown was compiled by part-time blog contributor and full-time Knight of the Realm, The Knight Who Says Ni! who e-mailed it to me before scurrying off to find a shrubbery (one that is nice and not too expensive). Before we get into it, keep in mind that the Dolphins began the 2008 season with only SEVEN linebackers on the active roster and ended the season with TEN, after adding two for special teams and an aging vet when Crowder got hurt. Two of those players, Kershaw and Walden, are still on the roster as of now.~Tinshaker

OLB Joey Porter 6-3 250 - A seasoned pass rush specialist at this point in his career. If we can get some pass rush from some of the other OLBs we can keep Joey fresh all game and all season long. If we can cut his plays from what seemed like 45-50 last year to 30-35 this year, we might have a fresher more productive Joey late in the year as opposed to last year when he seemed to wear down.

OLB Matt Roth 6-4 270 - Now that Roth knows he's a SOLB on this team, I'm sure he spent his off-season conditioning himself to play OLB, not DE. Roth was up to about 283 last year and maybe dropped some weight during the season. Roth is a big guy and I don't expect him to drop too much weight but I could see him at 265-270 this year. That's his edge, a big physical guy to match up on TEs, set the edge against the run and provide some pass rush. It was his first year as a 3-4 OLB so I think we can expect him to get better, not worse. He was pretty good last year.

OLB Jason Taylor 6-6 250 - We all know what JT is capable of. Yes he's getting a little long in the tooth but I still think he has something left. The best role for him at this point in his career is being a pass rush specialist. Instead of the 50+ downs a game he's played for most of his career, maybe now it's 25-30. He can help keep Porter fresh. His presence also allows Cameron Wake to develop for a year and not have the pressure to be the 'other' pass rusher right off the bat.

OLB Cameron Wake 6-3 255 - The 2-time CFL Defensive Player of the Year is now a Dolphin. He has the size, speed and athletic ability. Does he have the other intangibles that make a good OLB? We're going to find out. We're looking for him to provide some pass rush for us and be one of those guys who can rotate at OLB.

OLB Charlie Anderson 6-4 250 - Last year was his first season as a 3-4 OLB after playing in a 4-3 in Houston for 4 years, mainly playing special teams. He did show some signs as a pass rusher there as well. He should be further along this year but this year is make or break for him in my opinion. After 6 years in the league you are what you are. Now is his time and I think he knows it.

OLB Erik Walden 6-3 245 - He has the size, speed and aggressiveness to be a 3-4 OLB. Does he have the skill set to be a pass rusher in the NFL? If not will he convert to the inside or just remain a backup LB and special teams ace? That's what we're going to start to find out this year.

OLB Quentin Moses 6-5 260 - He was a highly touted pass rusher coming out of Georgia in 07 and fell to the 3rd round for Oakland. He was cut and claimed by Arizona, cut again and claimed by us all in that same year. He's still with us so the trifecta must see something in him. He looks the part with his large 6-5 260 frame but does he lack the other intangibles to make him a pass rushing beast? I think this is his last shot to make the Dolphins. If he doesn't improve we'll go in another direction with someone else. The signing of JT might be the beginning of the end for him.

ILB Channing Crowder 6-2 245 - We all know what we have in him. He's a smart, active, energetic, physical and fast LB who can do a little bit of everything but does not excel at one thing. He's probably best making tackles all over the field and he's adequate in coverage. He's not a big play impact guy but at only 26 years old and now in his 4th year with 3-4 experience and with one year under his belt as the 'Mike' LB calling the defense, I think we can expect more from him this year and I would bet you Channing agrees.

ILB Akin Ayodele 6-2 245 - A solid veteran who plays smart and physical despite not being a great athlete. He adds leadership and experience to a relatively young team. You needs guys like this. That said we need to challenge him this year.

ILB Reggie Torbor 6-2 245 - That challenge could come from this guy. Now that he has a year playing 3-4 ILB under his belt coming from a 4-3 defense with the Giants, he should be ahead of where he was last year. Hopefully he'll think less and just play. I liked the way he played for the Giants. He could do a little bit of everything and he's active. He didn't seem as comfortable with us last year.

LB Tearrius George 6-4 260 - He has excellent size, he was very productive in the CFL and now he has a chance to prove that he can play at the NFL level. Is he a WOLB a SOLB or an ILB? With the signing of JT I say it's backup SOLB and ILB.

LB Orion Martin 6-3 260 - He looks like the same type of prospect/project as George. Same size and plays similar if you watch some video on them. The trifecta must have seen something in him to sign him as undrafted rookie FA. Is he a WOLB a SOLB or an ILB? With the signing of JT I say it's ILB.

ILB William Kershaw 6-3 240 - Another undrafted LB from 06 who has bounced around a bunch of teams' rosters thus far. He has to step it up and show he can play ILB at the next level this year or I don't see him making the team. I don't think there will be enough roster spots to develop him. Maybe the practice squad if he's still eligible.

ILB J.D. Folsom 6-3 240 - Our last draft pick in the 7th round. The trifecta likes his size, intelligence, character and hustle. He will have to win a spot on special teams to make the team. He's a long shot but you never know.

That's 14 LBs and outside of Porter, JT, Crowder and Ayodele, most of these guys don't have a lot of 3-4 experience. So with a year or two of experience for some of them, I would think they would be ahead of where they were last year. When they don't have to think too much they can play faster and we can do more creative things with them.

There will be a lot of competition this year for probably 8 spots. I'd say there is only 1 spot open if you consider Porter, Roth, JT, Crowder, Ayodele, Wake and Torbor locks and I do. 7 LBs will be competing for one spot. That's good competition. But who knows, another LB or two could step up and surprise us by knocking someone else off. That's what competition is all about. There are only 5 LBs on this team from past regimes in Porter, Roth (DE), JT, Crowder and Moses. It didn't take long for the Parcells LB mold to take place.

Crowder, Carey, Wilson and Bell - the new 'law-firm-sounding' ...thingy!

So Yeremiah Bell has signed a 4 year $20 million deal, and Gibril Wilson signed a similar deal, and Channing Crowder signed a similar deal, and Vernon Carey signed a similar deal...okay, so the deals weren't exactly alike but they do all provide certain similarities:

1. We will not be drafting a Tackle with our first pick.
2. We will not be drafting a Safety with our first pick.
3. It's become increasingly unlikely we will be drafting a Line-Backer with our first pick.
4. We are getting closer to having a team that will likely be together for the next three years, providing consistency and continuity that only the upper eschelon of NFL teams tend to enjoy.