Dolphins vs Cowboys

Recap: boring game, lack of rhythm offensively, we were only in the game due to defensive penalties by Dallas. Pennington can't throw deep, Thigpen can't throw short, Henne can't throw the ball away, White can't get on field. Defensively, Will Allen and Vontae Davis needed back ASAP, Sean Smith in the doghouse, look for Jason Allen to start week 1, Nolan Carroll good special teamer, horrible in coverage, but not as bad as Sean Smith. Koa Misi no longer starter, Odrick still invisible - did he play? Actually only Tony McDaniel flashed on the d-line IMO. Wake is gonna rack up the sacks. Reshad Jones is going to be trucking people his clothesline tackle on kick coverage was the highlight of the game. Folsom and Spitler are possibly the worst players on the team - no Patrick Turner and Pat White still are.

OK, those are the quick hits from the game which was hard to watch and didn't offer enough standout performances from the bubble players for my liking. Despite the media's contention that Patrick Turner is safe on the roster, he just doesn't seem to have any fight in him, he lazily drops balls and trots back to the huddle. At least Roberto Wallace and Marlon Moore look upset if they screw up.

A few of us argued last night on which WRs will get the 4th and 5th spots - my contention was that I didn't like the bottom end of the rotation and wished to upgrade through the waiver wire. Others defended wither Moore or Wallace staunchly. No one defended Turner - I think everyone agrees we should cut him loose. I just can't see Miami not being interested in several teams cuts at the position, especially those teams that are very deep at WR, like Dallas, Denver and the Giants.

The cuts are already under way for some teams and I find it hard to believe the Dolphins would trade away Greg Camarillo without having had talks with some of their NFL friends about who would be available. If I were a gambling man, I'd put money on the Dolphins picking up at least one WR in the next couple of days.

The Pre-Season Wanes

Tin's Fins had its Fantasy Football League Draft last night, just another milestone along the way that signals that Football is almost here in full glory.  With the final pre-season game against Dallas tomorrow serving essentially as the determining factor in the line-backer and cornerback competitions (to a lesser degree the offensive line and 5th receiver), the game could be as exciting as watching paint dry, and not the final coat but just the primer.  That's really not very exciting.

Still, the Dolphins need to cut about 19 players following the game in lead up to Week 1 of the regular season, and while any of us could easily shave off at least 10 of those men without trying too hard, the last few could be really tough decisions.

Take, for example, the fact that we don't have any 'camp-body' tight ends this year.  With Kory Sperry released last week and Joey Haynos put on IR this week, John Nalbone, the obvious candidate for the waiver wire, is now guaranteed a roster spot.  The question then that pops into my head is if uninspiring WR, Patrick Turner can be quickly converted to tight-end at least in a hybrid role a la David Martin.

Nate Garner was placed on IR and in my mind is the biggest loss of the season thus far.  I'm not sold on our O-line this year, unlike in the previous two years when I was much more optimistic.  The Jake Grove/Joe Berger enigma really bothers me.  If Berger starts and goes down, I don't see Donald Thomas, John Jerry or even 3rd string, Andrew Hartline playing Center full-time.  So you'd have to keep the most expensive backup center in the league in Jake Grove - even though the team obviously feels he's lacking in certain areas.  Maybe Cory Proctor is the best option as a backup - but he's not likely to make the team as a Guard, so why keep him as a sole Center backup.  Let's face it, we need Grove to pick it up and win the starting job back.  Berger is a great option to cover Guard and Center, and starting him at one precludes him from supporting the other.  Who knows, there may be a last minute waiver wire pickup who solves the problem, or maybe we just carry on and take an extra lineman to the games.

But despite the worries of the tight-end/o-line positions (which directly translate to problems for the entire offense, and indirectly affects the Defense as well if the O can't stay on the field and get first downs), the 4th PS game focus will be on the Defense, especially that of the defensive backfield and the linebackers.  The previous 3 games didn't give us any clues as to who's going to play on game day and at what positions.  Several outside linebackers took reps inside, there were injuries to a few players that kept them out of the gameplan, and there's also the unrevealed scheme of our new defensive coordinator.  

One thing is for sure, if Benny Sapp repeats his performance from last week, he'll make the team, and possibly push a previous favorite to the practice squad.  This year, more than ever, we're going to have to sneak a few players onto the practice team without being poached.  The questions is, can we get a guy like Micah Johnson, Nolan Carroll, Chris McCoy, Johnathon Amaya, etc past the waiver wire?  Carroll is probably safe if we take 6 CBs, but he's in no way a lock, and  despite Johnson's clear outplaying of the Trifecta-drafted JD Folsom and Austin Spitler, the Dolphins staff made some clear favoritism-based calls last year and I wouldn't put it past them again.  They'd rather hold on to Spitler and develop him than play the clearly more physically talented Johnson.  Chris McCoy has played more inside snaps than outside, either a clear mistake by the Trifecta, or part of the preparation for the 'master plan'.  I'd like to think he's going to make the 53, but again it depends on if the Trifecta thinks they go with the player with the most upside or the penalty-riddled maxed out Charlie Anderson, who makes a ton of money, by the way, more than Wake, Misi, McCoy, and IAF, all who appear above him on the semi-official depth chart.

So keep an eye on these performances versus Dallas.  And finally you'll have a chance to play the Pat White drinking game and actually get drunk this time...

Dolphins vs Falcons

Well last night's game may not have been fun to watch, but I'm not down on the team at all.

There were several things in the game that I wanted to see and for the most part I did see. Sure, I was disappointed by the out-of-rhythm offense, but unlike Rotoworld who bashed on Chad Henne's performance, I actually watched the game, and saw at least 5 drops in the first half. It may have been more, but those who watched know that Brandon Marshall, Brian Hartline, Davone Bess, Anthony Fasano and Ricky Williams all had dropped passes while the 1st team was in the game. That kind of performance will stink up any QB's stat-line as well as throw a spanner in the works of any gameplan, and prevent any rhythm from being created. It also took away the passing threat and made it difficult to run the ball.

Sure, that sounds terrible, but realistically do we expect Marshall, Bess and Hartline to be dropping passes regularly? Fasano, maybe, but not those guys. I still think we have the offensive weapons to open up the field and make running the ball easier, but the players need to perform to their expected levels.

Speaking of performing, I think Jake Grove's time is up as the starter. He tweaked his shoulder after barely blocking throughout the game. I'm not as convinced as the media on John Jerry - I still think Donald Thomas is a better option. I do however think Incognito Long and Carey are locks to start, but those are the only 3 I'm sure about.

The defense gave up some big plays but they weren't bad for most of the game. I admit I couldn't tell if Odrick played or not, he was invisible, but Koa Misi finally showed up for me and was all over the field as was Karlos Dansby.

The initial cuts should be easy for the Dolphins this Tuesday - they are already down to 75 players, so no cuts need to be made. However, they should sign another tight end at least for the next week regardless of whether Joey Haynos' injury is serious, which it obviously was to anyone who saw it happen.

Making the roster spot for that transaction they should cut one or more of the inside linebackers that don't stand a chance in making the team, both Trifecta draft picks, JD Folsom and Austin Spitler. They are both practice squad eligible and neither will be poached. Micah Johnson came into the team very late and has blown those two out of the water. To be honest, I think he's giving Tim Dobbins a run for his money.

But all the roster cuts can wait since we're already at 75 (though TE is still an issue). Still, keep your eyes peeled for a fun little roster quiz coming up.

Camarillo and Gone

How many pre-Trifecta players are still on this team?  Without actually counting I'd guess about 4 or 5 left after the sudden and surprising trade of Greg Camarillo to the Vikings in exchange for cornerback, Benny Sapp.

The Dolphins were busy this week, releasing DT Travis Ivey, RB Tristan Davis, and OG Randy Thomas and TE Kory Sperry in addition to the Camarillo trade.

I always liked Camarillo, but felt he made the 2008 team based on making the biggest play of 2007 and hasn't really done that much since due to his season ending injury in 2008.  His biggest play since then was catching the ball with his butt cheeks vs Atlanta in week 1 of 2009.  Ultimately, he was running as the 4th WR, and thus the trade shouldn't present a huge loss.  

Still,  he was consistent if not splashy, and it was nice to know what we had in the 4th spot, which will now be taken up by an unknown in Marlon Moore or Patrick Turner.

The Vikings were desperate for a solid WR after their top players at the position, Sidney Rice and Percy harvin are both battling injuries and looking to miss significant playing time.

What's Next?

As hard as it was to get in updates whilst at work back in Sacramento, these days, being at home with the family, it's been virtually impossible - I need to get the office set up and a lock on the door! I need my Dolphins-time!

Anyway, thanks to all who showed up to chat during the Jacksonville game - I found it impossible to watch it live and had to acquire a taping of it a few days later. As with any pre-season game, the first half was pretty interesting and the second half included me dozing off a handful of times.

I won't go into any analysis of the game as the 3rd and 4th games are the only ones of importance, but there were some worrying things in the game.  The drop-off from the starters to the 2nds on the o-line was very noticeable, as it always has been, but our depth was supposed to have made the drop-off a lot smaller.  

A couple of other notes:

• Lex Hilliard looked much better than Patrick Cobbs, even his finesse moves were better.  I think Cobbs is still safe on the roster, but he may get much fewer snaps in games if he can't show a lot more quickness and 'slipperiness'.

• The team badly misses Nate Garner.  One of the announcers said it, he is the 5th or 6th best lineman on the team, and his ability at tackle surpasses that of Andrew Gardner by far.

• Tony Sparano looks amazing - where is his diet-book?

• The sheen has worn off of rookie Nolan Carroll.  He looks serviceable, but nothing like the star we read about in all the reports out of camp.  I'm not convinced he is the 5th CB - I think Nate Ness has a shot. But with Will Allen down, I'd expect both Carroll and Ness to make the final cut.  Caroll has the special teams edge, but Ness was one of the few bright spots in kick coverage in the game, making at least 2 tackles.

• Speaking of kick coverage, man oh man, with a crew like that, wait until we face CJ Spiller, and Percy Harvin in weeks 1 and 2.

• Chad Pennington looked good when he came into the game, but let's not kid ourselves, his passes looked like practice lobs whereas Chad Henne's looked like NFL throws.  11 for 14 with 2 drops by receivers with 150+ yards and 2 TDs....now THAT is what a starting QB does in a pre-season game.  I look forward to seeing his performance in the next one to see if he can carry it over.

• What's hotter than NFL cheerleaders in skimpy outfits?  NFL cheerleaders in skimpy outfits covered by clear plastic ponchos doing the cha-cha - they must've been sweating like crazy under there!

Dolphins at Jaguars

The Next One - Jacksonville

When it comes to the pre-season, the young guys, mostly rookies and undrafted free agents, are the main attraction.  For the veterans its nothing more than a warm-up.  For the young-bloods, it's do or die.

Jacksonville probably had the most boring draft on paper of any team in the NFL - they went almost exclusively defensive line with a couple of SOLB prospects.  They are definitely trying to perfect their 3-4 (aren't we all?).  Tyson Alualu is the only well-known prospect and sits in much the same role as our own Jared Odrick.  Both teams are expecting a lot from their respective 1st round defensive ends.

Don't get me wrong, despite their lack of excitement on draft day 2010, they had a very sharp draft/free agency period in 2009 and most if not all of their pickups are still with the team with some experience under their belt.  Still, this game should be about as exciting offensively as a butterfly cocoon in its 2nd hour of existence.  The defenses are the real attraction here, and why shouldn't they be?  Still, with Jacksonville lining up Justin Smiley (too broken to play for Miami) and Ernest Wilford (he just sucks) against Miami, the Dolphins should know how to work around them. 

The only trouble maker here is Maurice Jones-Drew and I wouldn't expect him to play more than a series or two.

I also expect Brandon Marshall to make a solemn vow to himself to not drop any passes and for the running game to get a lot more reps.  Of course, Pat White will likely also get some reps, so I don't think it will be a complete runaway game, but I still expect Miami to have the upper hand here.

Tin's prediction: MIA 24 - JAX 13

PS, this time there WILL be the live chat open with stream if available.

I'm Back Baby!

You know you've spent too much time away from your Dolphins blog when you have difficulty finding your own web browser bookmark for it on your own computer.  But here I am, on Thursday night, about to update the blog and I start first with an apology - one for leaving the loyal readers in the lurch while I packed up and moved, er, North-West.  

It has been both an exhausting experience and already a very rewarding one.  I've had more of a good time in the last week in Portland than I had all of last year in Sacramento.  Secondly, I apologize for not reading any of the comments left during that time (unlike the big boys, I do tend to read every single comment left on this site, but I had to avoid them initially so i wouldn't have any spoilers for the Tampa game since I watched it days after the fact, and partially because there are just so many of them to go through and I thought it would be better to use my spare time to get the blog engine turning again rather than keep it in stasis while I catch up.

Tonight I plan on updating the roster and transaction sections of the blog and tomorrow  morning I'll get into the next pre-season game. Thanks for sticking around in my absence.

P.S. my Sunday Ticket dreams were smashed when the DirecTV tech could not get 'line of sight' from my humble abode.  I'm waiting on a 2nd opinion from DirecTV but there is a massive canopy of trees over the property so I partly expected the bad news.  I did, however, manage to get some proper kick-ass high speed internet this time around and have had no issues streaming video since so hopefully I won't miss any games.  I know there's some PDX fans out there who can tell me where the best spots to go are if I'm in a bind.

Tinshaker's Take on P.S. Game # 1

Things have been super-hectic, but I finally got a chance to watch Saturday's game between the Dolphins and the Buccaneers, also known as the Brandon Marshall No-Show.  It's important to realize this game was essentially no more than a scrimmage against the Bucs, and in terrible weather.

Still, I have never been able to figure out why the Dolphins continue to allow Nat Moore and Bob Griese to commentate their games.  The moment Moore referred to Vontae Davis as 'Davon Davis', a door should've opened in the booth and a silencer should have slowly slid into view.

Surprisingly, Sean Smith was the stand-out of this game.  He made big tackles, put receivers on their backs and had the interception (although he was lucky the ball was off-target because he got beat on the play by the WR.

Chris Clemons missed two giant tackles in the 1st quarter, one sprung the touchdown, and the other allowed TB quarterback Josh Johnson to scramble forward for 18 yards.  

Channing Crowder looked faster than usual.

Karlos Dansby looked slower than usual and had difficulty getting off his blocks.

Jared Odrick and Koa Misi both made a couple of big plays and a couple of rookie mistakes.

The offensive gameplan looked like someone left a video game on 'demo'.  No progression.  Who's the offensive coordinator again?  Oh yeah...that guy.

Jason Allen tackled a TB receiver with nothing but his head....now that was impressive.

Paul Soliai looked both overweight and slow, but he was good at making tackles with his hands and jumped over the moon to recover a fumble for the most exciting moment of the game.  In a better weather situation where players could make cuts, Soliai would've missed a few of the big tackles he made.

Nolan Carroll looked very uneasy returning kicks but looked at home on the field in defense.

Cam Wake was getting close alot, something he did last year, but if the ground was dry and he wasn't rushing in the mud, he would have gotten to the QB more than once.

Patrick Turner may be able to catch now, but he can't run for ****.  He should've scored on the big pass play down the middle near the end of the 1st half.  Instead, he stumbled, tripped, stutter stepped and eventually fell down in the mud.

Micah Johnson looked better than Spitler and Folsom combined.  Forget the BS penalty in the end zone, he got to the QB before he threw the ball.

Davone Bess is still the most boring punt returner in the NFL.

The second half points out a couple of things - for one, the 5th WR spot very much is up for grabs.  And Nate Ness probably earned himself a tryout with the ones.  He had a good game, but let's not forget he was playing in the nickel package most of the time as the outside guy with Nolan Carroll moving inside and Jason Allen on the other side.  Ness and Allen did a good job of keeping the coverage tight which didn't deter the BUcs from actually throwing into the tight coverage but it allowed for some broken up passes and quick tackles on completions.


To me, the most notable thing about the 2nd half was that the Dolphins went into an almost exclusive all-passing game and didn't really utilize Tristan Davis, Rolly Lumbala, etc.  I don't think Lousaka Polite had a single carry.  Lex Hilliard got almost every carry in the half and for the most part looked exactly the same as last year - good at rushing straight up the middle and breaking arm tackles, but not much else.


There could be more opportunities coming for the under-used or not used at all players in the 2nd and 3rd games, but I'd suspect the play-calling will be much the same, no finesse and no complexity.  That stuff will wait until the regular season.


Will there be a Wildcat 3.0?

Training Camp Tin Bits - August 13th, 2010

Happy Friday the 13th, everyone.  This is my last blog entry in the great State of California.  As of tomorrow I'll be in the much greener (in more ways than one) State of Oregon and while the Dolphins are playing their first pre-season game I'll be engaged in the act of moving so I'll miss the whole thing.  I will do my best to continue blogging once my internet is hooked up but I'm bound to be busy with the things you get busy with when you pack up your house and move to another State.  One thing I will do is put up a chat box for use during the game.  FinFan13, you'll have the run of the place if you like, you won't have me there to disagree with everything you type and vice versa.

Now, onto the Tin Bits: