Of the 90 or so football players attending the Senior Bowl week, it's likely that the Dolphins are paying attention to all of them, even if they don't play at a position of dire need. You know they like to 'turn over rocks'. Well the Senior Bowl week allows them to sit back and have the rocks roll downhill. They get to see all sides without doing the heavy lifting.
But even at this early juncture it seems that 'heaviness' itself has actually caused the Dolphins, specifically Head Coach, Tony Sparano, to pass judgment on one of the players he is coaching on the South team. And it's none other than Terrence Cody, the 370 pound Nose Tackle who helped push Alabama to the National Championship a few weeks ago.
Sparano was asked if Cody would need to lose weight to make it in the NFL.
"I play in a division where there's some pretty heavy people across the ball," Sparano said. "I would say that it's not for me to say what some of the other teams might consider too heavy or not too heavy and I think that when a team gets him into their system they'll make that evaluation one way or the other.
"I would say that he would have to lose a few for me."
There are enough red flags and implications here to safely say that Cody would not be a safe draft pick, especially in the 1st round, and especially for the Dolphins.
I think it's fair to say that since Sparano made these comments to the media, he's using his usual down-playing verbage, and actually means that Cody would have to lose a LOT of weight rather than a few pounds. The actual physique of Cody is another issue. Jason Ferguson is not chiseled by any means, but he definitely is more muscle than fat. Cody seems to have little musculature at all in his upper body.
And if they wanted Paul Soliai to come down to 330-ish, then they'd probably want Cody to lose 30 or 40 lbs, which obviously isn't going to happen. The guy knew he was going to get undressed in front of hundreds of people and get poked and prodded, and he actually turned up weighing more than people expected him to.
There are enough red flags and implications here to safely say that Cody would not be a safe draft pick, especially in the 1st round, and especially for the Dolphins.
I would take a chance on his potential in the 3rd round and no earlier.
ReplyDeleteYeah, 3rd for me as well. He said by his draft workout day his goal was to be 340ish. If he can seriously do that...then maybe late 2nd
ReplyDeleteLooking at the photo you posted I don't see much muscle tone (as in none) myself. As you said, Cody knew he was going to get a good look at. I have to wonder about his desire to play hard at the next level, when the last thing scouts wanted to see was him coming in at a heavier than expected weight. Expectations is a key word for NFL teams and the draft when they are spending Millions on a player. He surely has not earned any brownie points with me with our number 1 pick.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking about Brownie's.... "Girl Scout cookies" are out in our area of the Country. I urge all of you purchase a box of them to help their cause. Girls Scouts and Boy Scouts turn out solid Citizens, and we need all of them we can get.
Dont worry there Fang. They do it right. The cookies are great and I always have to get a few boxes.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are that he looks like a new contestant on "The Biggest Loser." The man is a blob & extremely unsightly. He's a 21 year old kid that clearly has a weight problem & even if he is able to lose 30 pounds, the odds of him gaining the weight back are very good. And while I realize that NT's must have a certain "girth" & will probably never don the cover of a fitness magazine, this is too much. The drafting of players is risky enough as it is & this is a major red flag. Remember that this is a player that was coached under Saban who is a disciplinarian. IMO--Shades of Manny Wright.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I've seen this kid play & I believe that he'll be too slow & sluggish in the pro game. However, I am curious to see how strong Cody really is. My guess is that he's a marshmellow.
Fang,
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is realistic that he will be a first round draft pick for any team except maybe the Jets since Kris Jenkins missed a large portion of the season or the Vikings since Pat Williams might be retiring BUT I wouldn't bet on it. Based on the physical challenges he will face at the next level I think he's a late 3rd to 5th round pick at best.
Tins,
ReplyDeleteWhat about this kid Williams from Tennessee? Although I enjoy the SEC I did not watch Tennessee play all that much. Is he a legitimate 2nd round option for us?
Thanks.
In Saban's defense, he got Cody as a JUCO transfer and he was already 350
ReplyDeletelbs.
I was defending Saban too. My point is that if HE couldn't get Cody to slim down, who could? Sparano? He needs to cut back on those late lunches as well. LOL!
ReplyDelete"My guess is that he's a marshmellow."
ReplyDeleteLOL
Cody looks like he gets Fluff injected intravenously into his veins.
ReplyDeleteNo, Williams is looking like he'll go Top 20 at the moment. He played in a
ReplyDelete4-3 but he's got the frame for NT so he could go to a 3-4, but he's also
good for an immediate plug-in inside a 4-3. I've seen him as high as the
12th pick and no lower than than the 20th, so it's unlikely he'll last till
the 2nd.
Hey Tin, can you do a breakdown of Soliai vs. Cody? Right off the bat they're the same height, Saoliai came in at 350 his rookie year. To me they seem pretty close. I guess after the combine we can get compare a little better. Are we absolutely sure Soliai won't be given more time to progress? He definitely improved this last year. Everyone said we were drafting a NT last year..but obviously Soliai showed something. I'm all about creating competition, turning over rocks, etc., but he came back from the brink of being cut and worked his ass off (literally), made some plays, and got some valuable starting experience. I think a guy like Sporano values that. All in all I'm not so sure we go NT early if at all.
ReplyDeleteMMMMmmmm....Flufffff....
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing you'll do a Porter post and I'll just have to repeat myself on that one but Porter has gone on the air and says he's done with Miami. If this isn't a classic case of "she didn't dump ME, I dumped HER!", I don't know what is. I'm loving this, I never wanted the guy to begin with, and any sign that he goes elsewhere makes me happy. With Nolan coming in, JP gone, and hopefully JT back, we can seriously improve on D.
ReplyDeleteCompletely B.S. prediction-I'm out here just south of 49er country, and it is well known that when Nolan was let go he talked the owners into giving Singletary a serious chance. The two are close, and I could see the 49ers giving Porter some consideration. They have no pass rush, and Singletary loves fiery guys, and he isn't afraid of taming the wild ones (Vernon Davis). Could we see a 5th or later for Porter?
And of course if not the 49ers, the Raiders.....
Red Dog, I'm actually doing something very subject on that next week
ReplyDeletecombining some of my thoughts with a write-up by The Knight Who Says Ni! on
the subject of nose tackle.
Once the Senior Bowl is over we'll start getting into what we have already
on the roster and the following week we'll start getting into free agency
stuff. Then the combine will be upon us. Busy time for football fans.
You know guys, Fergie wasn't a stud the first, second, third or forth year of his career either... http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/stats?playerId=1294
ReplyDeletehttp://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/stats?playerId=10552
although his second year was pretty impressive. but he wasn't a nose he played LDT and had Mo Luis, Brian Cox and Pepper Johnson playing LB behind him and Earnie Logan playing next to him.
ReplyDeleteVery cool, I'll even let you and Ni! take credit for it even though we all know it was my idea.. :-D
ReplyDeleteAgain, thanks for keeping things going here!
Red Dog, while I don't think the 49ers or Raiders will be interested in
ReplyDeletePorter (49ers have Singletary who will want young guys who aren't afraid to
get dirty, and the Raiders run a 4-3 and will likely re-sign Seymour and ),
your prediction does bring up a good point. Since Nolan was a head coach,
he probably does have some connections and/or pull when it comes to getting
players and making trades. Look at the way they filled out that defense in
Denver, it took them about 4 days to get all their starters.
This year's FA class is pathetic at best, but we may have a good shot at
getting the one guy at each position that is worth getting because of who
the DC is.
That's why I have a feeling Ireland etc. won't reach. They seem to be real big on player development. That's why I think Dotson(as an example) has more of a future with us than some think.
ReplyDeleteexactly! This is the approach I have been wanting our coaches to take for years! Through 4 administations noone has been BUILDING a team. Developing players, etc. We have been picking up players that OTHER teams developed and got the best years from and "plugging" them in to our 4-5 different systems in as many years. You can't expect players to develope like that. That's why this group gives me hope. Remember when Starks got in trouble last off season? Well, I'm a bit embarrassed to say I was among those who said "cut him what has he done any way?" Well, the coaches have done a good job developing him, and my hope is the rest of the "no name" players (well, no name to the rest of the league, we know their names!) Next year we have a new group of STAND UP players that excell and succeed. They have done pretty alright with some undrafted / other peoples practice squad guys.
ReplyDeleteI've seen Dan Williams ranked late 2nd round pick on some top 100 lists.
ReplyDeleteIf C.J. Spiller is on the board when the 49ers pick they will take him. I read an article where Singletary said he'd like a change of pace back to go along with Gore and they want to upgrade the return game.
ReplyDeleteYou like that stuff? I did when I was a kid with peanut butter but the last time I had it a few years ago it just wasn't the same.
ReplyDeleteExactly right. He was also 285 lbs. when he was drafted.
ReplyDeleteRed Dog I'm not sure this is true "<span>They seem to be real big on player development." If development was a real concern why was JT brought back here, we had Roth who was looking pretty good in his first year at OLB. That is my main beef with bringing JT here. It did no more than set us back one year, and he signs with again that will be another year of delay in progressing forward.</span>
ReplyDeleteNow we want to see more of Wake as we should have with Roth last year. Keeping old guys on the team is a noble thing, but doing that doesn't make much sense when a team like the dolphins needs to find out what they have.
Hmm, but they had a guy like that in Kory Sheets and didn't put him on the
ReplyDelete53.
Plus the 49ers are picking 13th, we're picking 12th, so the 49ers can go
suck it. Na na ni boo boo!
LATE 2nd round?
ReplyDeleteThat's not very likely unless he fails to impress this week and at the
combine.
No, I didn't know it was actually food....I was doing a lame Homer Simpson
ReplyDeleteimpression.
We would've been better of bringing back Zach Thomas for a year than JT.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's any question that Wake should be the starter, and on
the weak-side. If they bring back JT, he will whine about wanting to play
on the weak-side, thus holding back Wake even more or creating another Joey
Porter/2009 scenario.
At some point the coaches need to just man up and say, the best players will
start, and the backups get plenty of reps and have to contribute and need to
be satisfied with their reps or they can go elsewhere.
JT still has a lot of talent and was cheap as hell. He was supposed to be the 3rd down guy until Rothgate. Roth cost himself the job. We can have JT one side, Wake the other and if a new draftee or Anderson start to flower, then move JT around again.
ReplyDeleteI could definitely see Spiller going to the niners if he's there(most likely).
ReplyDeleteI just dont see them wasting a pick when they know we will probably just cut him. I know those 2 are close but the Niners like getting value as well.
ReplyDeleteThe 'cheapness' of JT is greatly exaggerated. He got a low salary but the
ReplyDeleteincentives just about tripled his cost. And you can have all the talent in
the world, but if you can't handle 60 mins of football anymore (and it was
clear he couldn't, because he was awful in the 4th quarter), then you
shouldn't be the main guy.
I agree Tin about him not being full time. I dont think he will start the whole game but IF he is the best guy to start, then he still needs to. I dont see him lasting the whole season as a starter but he could start the season there. Hopefully we draft a stud that takes his place early and this becomes moot. JP started all year basically and he didnt bring anything but cheap coverage sacks(and backup sacks).
ReplyDeleteI loved Zac but completely disagree. The guy was a walking injury by the end. He was physical,with great instincts, and one good concussion away from serious life changing injury. He played too hard to not take some knocks. His body couldnt handle it anymore and thats why he's sitting on his azz right now.
ReplyDeleteOh it's real.
ReplyDeleteDo you think Sheets is as good as Spiller?
ReplyDeleteno, not at all, but Sheets is a good change of pace back with good speed and
ReplyDeleteslash-back ability. Spiller is in another world though.
Japman I'm not picking on you I'm just using what you say because many feel the way you do. My question is why does everyone feel a special bond with JT. It was clear in his year with the Redskins he was finished. Also everyone claims what great leader he was for the team. He was never a leader unless you call being self centered a good trait for a leader. For his last 5 years with the Dolphins he was about the JT NOT the team. His sack totals went right to his head, he was so concerned about getting a sack many OL didnt need to block him on running plays, he took himself out of the play rushing the passer.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry guys JT is and was a great pass rusher. He could have been a much better player if he would have played the run also, and he was never a team leader, NEVER.
C'mon Japman,don't you know by now that Fang thinks JT's the worst 3rd rnd pk in FINS history?? LOL ;)
ReplyDeleteEven though he's the most productive D player in FINS history,and OWNS MANY NFL D-line records!!!
He's a LEADER w'his play,and in ALLL the record books!!!
SPARANO & 99 % of the fanbase KNOWWWW he's a GREAT LEADER!!!
Fang just has some sort of PERSONALITY conflict w'JT !!!
Are TCody's shoulder blades inverted,or is his head on backwards w'his pants on the ground??
""Looking like a fool w'his pants on the ground""
I've liked his play for yrs,but now that I've seen his physique,
I'd doubt he becomes a FIN(unless he last till the 2nd),
and even then I don't see BP as a BOOB guy,he's more likely an ass mann,
and I get the feeling that TCody's asss would be a freightning sight!! =-O >:o >:o >:o
When you make a sandwich with peanutbutter it's called a "fluffanutter" sandwich. Loved em' as a kid.
ReplyDeleteI actually got my kids to like them too but I just couldn't do it as an adult.
Yea I love you to 13 :)
ReplyDeleteI guess they try to balance veteran leadership and production against developing youngsters. I remember before getting JT all the tallk was about him getting in the way of others progressing. Obviously they thought his production and leadership outweighed that. Roth is a completely different subject, they wanted him but he was up to something. Seems like his agent was trying to play some games and they tried to get something for him but couldn't......
ReplyDelete