Battling for the Ball

The following receivers all play the same position, more or less, but each brings something to the game that makes it less black and white than just picking the 5 best guys for the final roster.

Chris Williams, #87.

This guy is TINY. Unbelievably small, especially for the trifecta. I can tell you he had 18 games with over 100 yds in receiving, including 7 with 150 or more during the last 3 years of his time at New Mexico State. I can tell you he averaged over 21 yards per punt return. Those are INSANE stats especially considering he missed 5 games due to injury in his Junior year and two in his freshman year but still managed to average 62 catches a year. But what does he bring to the NFL. At 5'7", 170lbs, he seems limited to the return game, howver he has been ballin with the dig dogs and actually making catches and scoring a TD here and there. Sparano may not be 'feeling' him yet, but Williams seems ready to put in the work.

Brian Hartline, # 82. Hartline ended his OSU career with at least one catch in 30 straight games. Similar streak to another Miami/OSU receiver we know. At first glance he may seem like a carbon copy of Camarillo, but let's face it, you can never have too many Camarillos. We could've used an extra one last season. There is one major difference between Hartline and Camarillo however. Hartline is a special teams ace. He can return punts as well as knock someone's lights out on kick returns.


Anthony Armstrong, #11. This dude's so good he can read a magazine in the end zone after scoring before the defense catches up to him!
Seriously though, he has now impressed in two straight off seasons. He was an easy choice for the practice squad last year, he did enough in TC and pre-season to warrant keeping around. This year he seems determined to make the 53-man roster. He would provide a good reserve for Ted Ginn's speed, but his toughness was questionable last year. Has he improved this apect of his game?

Davone Bess, #15. Bess is the newly-appointed fan favorite in Miami, and for good reason. Camarillo may have won that award in 2007 for one play, but Bess won it for coming out of UDFA oblivion to starting line-up and Dolphin rookie receiving records. I really don't see anything Bess could do to fall out of favour in TC, he does everything the Dolphins ask of him. If I were to say anything negative about him it's that he's a Rainbow Warrior. That's all I've got. Oh wait, no, I got one. If he were 4 or 5 inches taller and 20lbs heavier he would be an unstoppable BEAST. So, work on that, Davone.

Brennan Marion, #14. This guy averaged 100 yards or something like that everytime he caught the ball. Every you tube video of this guy is a 90 yard bomb play. So we know he can outrun everyone and get open on fade routes. I want to see him matched up on Jason Allen to see if he can really outrun NFL caliber speed. One thing I will say is that no one in the media noticed when he came off of his injury and joined the team in OTAs. Sparano mentioned him once, but only in reference to Camarillo's injury rehab, so it's not looking all shiny for Marion.

Ted Ginn, Jr, #19. Sparano is impressed with Ginn's OTA presence, saying he's improved in just about every aspect of the game. His confidence is better, his routes are better, and his body is stronger. The big question: Is Chad Pennington's arm better? Fact: If Pennington gets a bit more under the final throw of 2008's Game 1, Ginn catches that for a TD instead of it being a Jet interception. Fact: there were several times in the Arizona game that Ginn had blown up the defense and Pennington didn't throw to him, opting to dink and dunk. I don't think Pennington's arm hurts the team, but I do think it hurts Ginn's career. Back to that Arizona game, Ginn went without a catch until Chad Henne came in to replace Pennington.

Greg Camarillo, #83.
To some fans, his heroics (or is it heroic, with no 's') in 2007 and his first half of 2008 would seem to be enough to guarantee Camarillo's return to grace. The truth is, that Hartline guy is similar and adds ST abilities, and Armstrong will make a real push. Still, even if he does not start in Game 1, Camarillo is one of the top 5 WRs on the team, and his rehab may bring him back into the starting line-up before long.

Brandon London, #17. I'll admit I didn't see it in the guy then, and I still don't see it now. He is athletic, has good size, and can play special teams on the cover team. However, I saw him miss a lot of tackles, and his inability to get more playing time last year on a weak WR corps worries me. That and the fact he keeps twittering 'finna take a nap'. He should be really worried about complacency with all the competition in camp.

Patrick Turner, #84.
Turner really impresses me for two reasons. First, he has a combination of size, speed and athleticism that no other receiver on the roster has. A lot of people are slating him up against London in the WR competition. If that is the case, we might as well say goodbye to London. Turner is faster, stronger, and has an ability that has Sparano's eyes-a-popping: he lays himself out for catches. No one else really does this except for our tight ends. You can't teach physical toughness and Turner's got it. I fully expect Turner to press for a starting WR position, if not in 2009 then definitely in 2010. He may not be as polished as Britt or Nicks, but he might be better for the Dolphins in the long run as they won't have to shape their offense around that one receiver.

So those are the guys heading into camp. I was originally going to include Ernest Wilford in here because I don't buy the conversion to TE thing. A part of me thinks its just because they needed an extra body for reps in two TE sets. In any case, since he is working with the TEs I'll keep him there for now.

So who do you see being the top 5 who will survive? Or do you think there'll be six?