Clearing The Air - the things that aren't bothering your subconscious

You may have forgotten about these issues because you're so excited for training camp battles to commence. You're ready to see how Pat White gains control of his passes, and you're ready to see Cam Wake hit the sh** out of someone. You're ready to hear Sparano's words of brutal honesty again, and you're ready to touch up the 'C.H.U.R.N.' tattoo you got on your left buttock this time last year. It's time to add a touch of aqua to it. But let's not forget that the following issues will have an impact, and for the most part it's a positive one, and we should go into camp on a wave of positivity.

All felony charges dropped against Randy Starks. First the court date was pushed back several months, and now, according to Edgar Thompson/PBP, the felony charges have been completely dropped. It wasn't that long ago, when hearing of the 'run-in' on South Beach, that speculation surfaced over whether Starks would get released by the team. Within a week or two we had moved on from that speculation and penciled Starks in as pushing Philip Merling for playing time/starts. Well, this latest news means that the story is over, and will no longer be a distraction to Starks, or to the team. Most importantly, it means that the newspapers will not be writing about it in the middle of the season, when the court date was to be.

Greg Camarillo, Donald Thomas, David Martin, Andy Alleman, Brennan Marion. With the exception of Camarillo and Marion in limited drills, we went through OTAs without these guys, and at some point during the auditions for the 53-man roster, they should all be back in the fold. If Marion survives the next 2 or 3 days, he could end up showing enough to get onto the practice squad, or he could blow everyone away enough to start pushing Armstrong and London for a roster spot. Camarillo's health doesn't just affect himself. If he isn't ready to go and is relegated to the PUP list, that leaves the door wide open for Armstrong/London/Marion, etc. After Jahndoh explained the severity of Thomas' injury to me yesterday, I think Thomas will be ready to start doing limited drills earlier than previously thought, and will be ready for Game 1. That doesn't mean he will start, but will be ready to play. Martin's health is HUGE. Ernest Wilford doesn't stand a chance if Martin recovers to full form. John Nalbone, Jared Bronson, and Joey Haynos all would benefit by having Martin out of the picture. With Martin back, the picture at TE becomes almost too clear - Fasano, Martin and Haynos - would seem like locks. A lot of people question why I have Haynos as a lock, it's because of his blocking, he's essentially an extra o-lineman.

The Dolphins said no to Vick. While the media is so in love with the Vick story, the reality is that most NFL fans don't really care. Let's not forget that Vick was never exactly Warren Moon or that there are several Vick-like players out there who are younger, faster, smarter, tougher, and have squeaky clean rap sheets. Pat White, anyone? Tim Tebow? Also Vick has been in prison for 2 years. Do you think he's been practicing against NFL-caliber talent while he was in there? Do you think hanging around with other crooks and low-lifes has made him a nicer person? Do you really think adding Vick to a team would produce instant sell-outs? In my opinion, FEWER people would show up to games, not more. By saying 'NO THANKS' to Vick, the Dolphins have taken this question off the table. Sure, some dickwad will still ask it at the next press conference (I will post a poll on this later, just for fun), but the first time will be the last time.

Boomer Grigsby. I know, I know, what does Grigsby have to do with the Dolphins? Well, it's more of what effect he doesn't have on the Dolphins. At least not anymore. You see, Grigsby is one of 5 players being featured on NFL.com's 'On the Fringe' series which follows players fighting for a roster spot on 5 different teams. Basically it's like 'Hard Knocks' but only following one player on the team. Grigsby has been featured in spots, dressed as either a gay cowboy or a Chippendale's dancer, talking about his efforts to make the Houston Texans. We all know that Miami cut both Reagan Mauia and Grigsby last year and replaced them with Casey Cramer and then Lousaka Polite. The difference is obvious, looking back on it. Mauia and Grigsby are lime-lighters. They both like to be on TV, and they both dress themselves as if they're going to be on Star Search at any minute. Cramer, on the other hand, was a pretty decent blocker and pass target out of the backfield, but very quiet, team-first kind of guy. Polite is also one of the more humble guys to come out of 2008. Don't get me wrong, the Trifecta will allow a Joey Porter some lee-way, but for the most part they want guys who are humble, and think as a team. Even Porter sounds like a homer these days. You would think he grew up a dolfan and is living his childhood dream right now, of playing for the Dolphins. So, Grigsby can fight all he wants for that Houston spot, and maybe at some point he'll realize his NFL chances will get better if he stops fighting and starts contributing.

Heading into training camp, take a look at all the 'locks' on the team. You'd have to be an obsessive fan (as most of us here are) to know this, but those guys are all committed to being a TEAM. When you listen to them talk in interviews, they sound so passionate about helping each other out, rather than being stars. You know Joey Porter, who had his career year in 2008, yet gave all the team's success-credit to other players, would rather take the team to the Super-Bowl, than himself to the Pro-Bowl.

And then you look at the guys who aren't locks, who are 'bubble' players, and there are only 2 or 3 guys that don't come across the same way. They know who they are. The guys who stand around thinking they want to be stars, and the Dolphins are just a step on the red carpet. These guys will not be here come September.

They have Dolphins in Georgia?

Audio clip: Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan on Sirius radio discuss the state of the Dolphins receivers with a Miami fan from Atlanta named 'G-Money'.

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?

T.G.I.F.B. [Updated 1:30pm PST]

• After watching the video of Jeff Ireland's press conference and sit down with Bokamper over at MiamiDolphins.com I've been able to grab a couple of nuggets of information:

1. Ireland stated that the Dolphins would try to trade up if possible to get ahead of other 3-4 teams when it comes to drafting a Nose Tackle. He didn't say which round or name players, but I would expect for every round that has an NT prospect in it, they would be open if not aggressive in those efforts.
   
2. Ireland implied that they are not done collecting draft picks and want to go into the draft with more than the nine picks they currently have. This could mean another trade is in the works.
   
3. The Dolphin fans come up with much better questions than the South Florida reporters.[not Omar Kelly, his questions are usually great, except that one time last year when he pissed off Sparano - one of my favorite moments of last season]
   
4. Ireland attributed the entire "culture" of the team to Coach Sparano. More reason why Tony should've been Coach of the Year in 2008.
5. Best Player Available vs. Drafting for Need: Ireland said usually there isn't that much difference, because you can always upgrade a position and depth, but if a #1 pick falls to #25 then you have some thinking to do.
   

• Mr Bungle, er, I mean, The Knight who reads several blogs led me to NFLDraftbible.com yesterday when they posted unconfirmed reports that several players had failed drug tests at the Combine (and they named names, BIG names). It took about 10 hours before Profootballtalk reported the reporting on NFLdraftbible.com. It still remains unconfirmed and likely a false report. They also reported that Clay Matthews ran a 4.44 at the USC pro day which was completely false. So they're not having a good week as they will undoubtedly be sued for using the NFL name in their website title. While they are under no obligation to report the truth, they are under obligation, like everyone else, to obey the law, and copyright infringement involving the NFL lawyers is worse than actually killing someone.

• So now that Jay Cutler has been traded to Chicago, I found this photo of new Denver Broncos Head Coach, Josh McDaniel, holding up a Cutler jersey in some kind of ingenuous attempt to quell the rift between former coach and former franchise QB. Since they could never get into a room (or even the same state) with each other, this is what the Broncos resorted to.
  

Update: per several readers, this photo was apparently taken at the Owner's meetings with coaches being asked to pose with throwback jerseys. Still out of line if you ask me since Cutler was likely already trade bait at that point.

• Greg Camarillo and Ted Ginn are the starting Dolphins' wideouts according to GM Jeff Ireland when asked at the press conference held today. File this one under "DUH!"
  

• I've noticed lately that we've focused so much on the Wide Receivers and Cornerbacks in the draft lately, that even with a sprinkling of line backer and tackle here and there, I've sort of overlooked the defensive end position on this blog. So here are probably the two best options for us on the first day, Robert Ayers and Tyson Jackson. Jackson probably will be gone before we pick at #25, but he might still be there.