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2010/05	- A few years ago when talking Dolphins' running backs it used to be a discussion of "Ronnie vs Ricky." Now the discussion is "Ronnie and Ricky." Guess we're making progress. - Brian Cushing denied taking steroids after receiving a 4 game suspension for failing an NFL drug test. Reportedly, Cushing tested positive for hCG, a fertility drug that is banned by the NFL. After a re-vote, Brian Cushing gets to keep his AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award. One fictitious voter who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was embarrassed didn't say: "We could've just removed Cushing from the ballot for the re-vote, but then what do we write about afterwards, who won? This way we all get to jump up on our soapboxes and rant, no matter what our position was or how the new vote turned out. And if we AP writers can't spew fake outrage now and again, we would have to contrive some outrage. Now that ain't right. Don't get me wrong, we do it all the time, but it still ain't right." - On an unrelated note, Cushing is expecting triplets this off-season. - He karate chops flaming bricks, CPRs drowning babies, and is the role model for Bob Sugar in Jerry MaGuire. Agent Drew Rosenhaus, Super Hero or Evil Villain? Whatever you think of him he's someone that could give Tony Robbins lessons in self-promotion. - Other than for general amusement, I haven't cared one whit whether Brett Favre plays this year or not. At least until I remembered we play the Vikings on Sept 19th. If Brett Favre actually does retire this offseason, how many of you will mentally move the Dolphins' game against the Vikes from "possible Loss" to "probable Win"? How about if both Williams' are suspended for the game because of the StarCaps case? Here are my only comments on it: I think Brett Favre will play this season if he can. Why? He wants one last shot at a ring and in 2011 no one will care if he plays. Instead it will be the NFL and the players union in 2011 playing his usual summer time drama queen role of "will I or won't I?" Though it would be hugely ironic if he showed up in August, 2011 ready to play only to find the doors locked. - From The Herald, and others: "I would tell you that between Karlos (Dansby), Edds and Koa, our length is tremendous right now. These players are long players when you look at these players. (Chris) McCoy is a long guy. Edds in space plays long." No mention of Crowder. In fact, no mention of him at all lately. I think the FO has written him off and already has his next year replacement on the team. Hope this inspires him to have a great season this year but he’s probably just playing for his next team from now on. - Dear Myron Rolle: If you're looking for something to do this August because of that whole Rhodes Scholar final exam conflict, you might want to swing by Miami and see if there's any interest. That is, if you think you're smart enough to quickly learn the free safety position in our 3-4 defense. Looks like there will be an open competition at that position this summer. - We're all assuming that Ronnie Brown will be 100% ready to go this fall. But we really don't know. Patrick Cobbs had a serious injury too. And Ricky Williams prefers to run more outside and may be getting a little old to run up the middle all day long. Hope somebody's ready to run between the tackles a lot. Wait, I think I see Lex Hilliard in the back jumping up and down saying "Put me in, Coach, put me in." - Lex Hilliard had 8 missed tackles in 23 carries last year. If I had to imagine a linebacker converted into a running back, it would be Lex Hilliard. - In 2009 the Dolphins ranked 8th in the league in time of possession. This year, six of the first seven teams the Dolphins play [Packers, Vikes, Pats, Bengals, Steelers, and the stinkin’ Jets] had a 2009 ToP better than 8th, better than we did. [Although to put that stat in perspective, the teams ranked 31st and 32nd in ToP went to the Super Bowl.] If our running game is improved, our time of possession should increase. - Purposely long sentence: Given the teams to be played at the beginning of the schedule in 2010, upgrading at both guard spots was important this offseason because if we can improve our run game then we should be the ones controlling the clock/ToP and the opposing offenses will have less time to score and therefore may be throwing more so we need better pass rushing and pass coverage especially in the middle, with a giant run-stopping NT less important this year. Hmmmm…, sounds familiar. A true #1 receiver also helps the run game, which helps the passing game, which helps ToP, which helps the run game, etc. - Building a team of players bigger than the other guys is not just a strategy but also a matter of self defense as players seem to get bigger every year. If you're drafting for the long haul, then today’s over-sized players are tomorrow's undersized players. The trifecta is just trying to stay one step ahead. But it’s got to end soon, doesn't it?. How much bigger can these kids get? - In most jobs you're not encouraged to beat the crap out of your co-workers. In this job you are, and the only punishment for doing it excessively or at the wrong time is not firing and/or jail time but you and your friends have to go stand 45 feet away. Football. What a game. - When a new male lion takes over a pride the first thing it does it kill and eat all the cubs. This brings the lioness' into heat and soon all the cubs are his kids and his kids only. Sound like any front offices you know? - Read in a scouting report on A.J. Edds how he really seems to like beating on tight ends. I think I like that in a football player. A lot. - Safety Chris Clemons was a rookie last year. He only played 89 snaps and was thrown at 7 times with 4 receptions for a total of 80 yards, one of which was a 54 yard reception. His total YAC was only 10 yards. Let's give him a chance this year before we throw him under the bus. - 84 players from the Senior Bowl were drafted this year, almost 3 rounds worth. If you favor guys who played 3+ years as the Dolphins do, it's not surprising the 1st 4 players the Dolphins drafted played in the Senior Bowl. - Police talked to Santonio Holmes after a plane trip when a steward or stewardess reported him for not turning off his IPod as the plane was landing. The flight attendant claimed Holmes failed to follow regulations. Holmes said he did turn it off when requested but he didn't remove the ear buds. I have 2 questions: 1] What is wrong with people these days? Was the flight attendant so full of himself/herself that he/she felt a need to demonstrate their "flying powers" by calling the cops over an IPod? 2] If IPods could make planes fall out of the sky, are planes way, way, way more dangerous and unsafe than the airlines would have us believe? Hey, maybe that pocket of turbulence you hit on your last flight wasn't really turbulence at all but the effect of the guy in 13-D booting up his laptop. - After the Super Bowl everybody said the NFL is now primarily a passing league with the proof being the Peyton-Brees match-up. Yes the rules favor passers and receivers more and more but I think it seems that passing is King because there were really good passers in '09. Last year had Peyton, Drew, Kurt, Brett, and Tom [or maybe 07 Tom?] throwing beautiful, largely indefensible passes. How often do you have 5 great passing QBs playing like that at one time? This year Kurt's retired, Brett's even older and the Pats O-Line may not be as good as they were at Brady's peak. There are other good passers in the league but I still believe the physical running game is not yesterday's news. - If Smiley leaves and John Jerry plays a lot, there will be a real learning curve at both guard positions. Chemistry, as in the ability to work together as a unit, is important for the O-Line. I sure hope they're all in a groove come September.
2009/09/14	Dolphins Lose 19-7 - Well, it was not a good season opener for the Dolphins. Here are quick highlights/lowlights of the game: - The offensive line got pushed around by the Atlanta Falcons, especially Jake Long by Falcons' DE John Abraham. To be fair, Abraham is a beast and had 16.5 sacks last year. Long has a brace on his knee. Don't if that is normal or if his knee is bothering him. Vernon Carey had a rough day also. At one point late in the game, they flashed a stat on TV showing Pennington had been sacked 4 times, hurried 13 times and knocked down 5 times. Hard to run an offense when that's going on... - ... which helps explain the Dolphins passing stats: 163 total yards with 21 completions for a 5.9 average. That's 1.8 less yards per play than last year. But they did have 2 pass plays over 20 yards. - The Dolphins rushed for a 4.4 yard average, which is normal but the Falcons allowed opponents a 4.9 average last year. Not so good. Ronnie and Ricky only had 17 runs combined. Really not good. - Davone Bess had 2 punt returns for 11 yards! Considering the Falcons only allowed 45 total punt return yards last year, that was fantastic. Kick return yardage was poor. The Falcon's field goal kicker should be nicknamed "Shank". He had a bad day. - The Defense did very good. The Falcons only got 19 points and would probably had less had there been fewer turnovers. Between offensive weapons QB Ryan, RB Turner, TE Gonzalez and WR White, only Ryan and Gonzalez had a decent day. The Falcons averaged 361 yards of offense last year and got only 281 yesterday with the loss in yardage mainly coming at Turner's and White's expense. The Falcons averaged only 2.5 yards per rush. Gonzalez and Ryan had normal days - connecting 5 times for 73 yards - but Ryan was harassed a lot (but not as much as Pennington). Sure Ryan missed some wide open receivers, but he did miss them. - Phillip Merling had a real good day. Kept hearing his name all game long. From what I read during the preseason, he was doing terrible and moving down the depth chart. Merling is reportedly a better player come game time than during practice but I think maybe Sparano was yanking everybody’s chain about Merling. He didn't say much, just let everyone report during practices how Merling's star was falling. - On a positive note, in addition to the usual rehab for his injured knee, Greg Camarillo apparently has also done receiving drills for his legs. - It seemed the Dolphins were always starting drives with poor field position and the Falcons started theirs with good field position. Besides the special teams effort, this was caused in part by... - Turnovers. The Dolphins had 4 and the Falcons had none. Pennington fumbled once, threw an int and TE Fasano fumbled twice. Two of them I can almost understand - Pennington's fumble and Fasano's 1st fumble - but the combined effect was lost points and field position for the Dolphins to the benefit of the Falcons. That is the main reason the Dolphins lost. The poor field position and the O-Lines' play could be overcome, but with the turnovers it was almost impossible to pull out a win. With the turnovers the Falcons controlled the flow and tempo of the game. Without the turnovers the Falcons would have had less points, the Dolphins more and both sides would have changed their play calling strategy. Going into halftime with a score of 10-7 instead of 10-0 could have changed everything. But mights and ifs don't matter, only results. And the result was the Dolphins lost, decidedly. Yesterday the Falcons were clearly the better team.
2009/09/08	Davon Drew Released - After only 1 practice with the Dolphins, TE Davon Drew was released today after being signed yesterday by the Dolphins. In case it later turns out he also was placed on injured reserve, or otherwise still on the team, or was traded to Seattle for a 5th round pick, let me apologize in advance for the incorrect information.
2009/09/07	David Martin Released - I was wrong about reporting that Martin was released. He was NOT released. Instead his was placed on injured reserve. I apologize for the incorrect information. On a related note, Davon Drew, a Tight End was picked up on wavers from the Ravens.
09/06/2009	Zach Thomas - David Hyde over at the Sun-Sentinel has the right idea. When Zach Thomas, who was cut by Kansas City yesterday, is ready to retire the Dolphins should sign him for a day so he can retire a Dolphin. I know Thomas is not the proto-typical linebacker for a 3-4 defense and that Parcells released him last year. But Pacells is a stand up guy and I am sure he will do the right thing when Zach is ready to call it quits. The day after Zach retires as a Dolphin, the team should hire him to be a part of their coaching staff. His off-the-field work ethic and devotion to film study in order to break apart and down opposing offenses could do nothing but help this team. Or any team he worked for.
09/06/2009	2010 - Some of the roster moves makes it look as though the 2010 season is as much on teams' minds as this one. They don't want to caught unprepared in case there is no CBA next year. Key players are being/will be locked up this year and less experienced players with contracts not affected by the existance of a CBA will be kept now. Unrestricted free agents may find a very flat market for their services next year. Except of course in Washington. And probably Oakland.
2009/09/07	David Martin Released - I was wrong about reporting that Martin was not released. He was NOT released. Instead his was placed on injured reserve. I apologise for the incorrectt information.
09/05/2009	David Martin Released - Omar Kelly at The Sun Sentinel first reported that tight end David Martin was released today and TE Davon Drew, a 5th round pick cut by the Ravens, was signed. More suprises at the tight end position. Martin was in the last year of his contract. Other than Fasano, the three other tight ends have little to no regular season experience.
09/05/2009	Congratulations Brian Hoyer! - With the release of QB Kevin O'Connell - the Patriots 3rd round pick last year - and their release of 2nd string QB Andrew Walter yesterday, you are now one quarterback hit away from leading a really good team into AFC East obscurity. Unless you're another Brady. That's all we need. I hope in the Belichick-Pioli combo platter, Pioli was the real brains in the player evaluation portion of the meal.
09/04/2009	Lex Hilliard makes the team - The Dolphins kept 4 running backs - Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams, Patrick Cobbs and Lex Hilliard. Hilliard, 5' 11", 240 lbs, runs like a Mack Truck. Not real subtle, full speed straight ahead brute force. Kinda admire that in a running back.
09/04/2009	Haynos and Nalbone - In my post-preseason wrapup I wondered why we didn't see more of the tight ends this preseason and gave 4 possible reasons. Some partially right but there was a 5th reason - they just want to keep both on the team. Had I followed Armando Salguero on Twitter, this may have occurred to me. He also has some good points in this blog.
09/04/2009	Dolphins Release Players - The Miami Dolphins trimmed their roster to the 53 men today. The players cut were: WR Brandon London, S Courtney Bryan, LB J.D. Folsom, LB William Kershaw, OT Nate Garner, CB Joey Thomas, CB Will Billingsley, G Mark Lewis, WR James Robinson, DE Rod Wright, OL Brandon Frye, DE Ryan Baker, and LB William Kershaw.
08/27/2009	Preseason Week 3: Dolphins at Bucs - Thursday, 8:00 PM, Fox Network. No pre-game show on TV. - Apparently no game planning against Tampa tonight but game planning to evaluate players. So watch to see the progress of the players and units. - Time to take the tight ends out for a test drive. - Don't read too much into who plays how much. They know the veteran leaders' capabilities and for them this is a dress rehearsal to get timing down and help refine "unit chemistry". The drafted rookies will be put in new and uncomfortable situations to see how they handle it and prepare them for the regular season. The more fringe guys play the closer to the "good side" of the bubble they are. - Expect Pennington through the 3rd quarter and then Henne. White may be sprinkled in or maybe not. - For the offensive fringe players, welcome to the team whoever stands out on special teams and/or receiving. But then I was ready to welcome Chris Williams to the team after the 1st preseason game. - Kick returner anyone? Anyone? - Watch the O-Line to see how they help the running game. That will be one of the keys to a successful season this year. - Who starts at right guard - Thomas or Murphy - during the season should be settled tonight. Barring injury my money is on Thomas. - We may see less of Ronnie Brown tonight than advertised as they will want to look more at Hilliard and not risk injury to Brown. They also could showcase Hilliard for a trade by playing him against a 1st string defense. - Who starts opposite Tedd Ginn during the regular season will probably not be answered tonight. - Expect less of Jason Ferguson and more Soliai. Ferguson is too valuable to break during preseason. - Tampa Bay receivers should not be much of a challenge for the secondary tonight. If they are expect a lot of media hand-wringing over the next 3 weeks. - Let's see how Joey and Jason make life miserable for the Tampa bay QB, what's his name. - Much of the defensive line depth chart is unsettled. Phillip Merling, Tony McDaniel, Randy Starks, Lionel Dotson, and Rodrique Wright all need to have standout games. I believe Wright is on or beyond the bubble. - Having some depth at so many positions is a problem the Dolphins have not had for years and years. And what a wonderful problem to have. Makes the preseason games meaningful and fun to watch. - Saw the wildcat last week specifically to get opponents to spend time game planning for it during the regular season. The disappearance of Pat White from pre-season games means they want opponents to completely forget about him and consider him an insignificant ineffective part of the offense. Then we will spring new wild and crazy wildPat packages on defenses come September. To paraphrase Pennington after the game last week, "Who knows what the offensive chemists are cooking up" for the regular season.
08/27/2009	Cleaning up after an extended summer break - Here are some topics that are worth "Twuttering" about...
08/27/2009	New Fight Song? - As I may have mentioned in an article, I don't think the new fight song is a success. Highly synthesized vocals and keyboards don't seem to go with football. It grows on you after a while, like "It's a Small World" grows on you. Snoop Dog, ZZ Top, Lenny Cravitz, Shakira, and Green Day are a few of the many artists that go better with football.
08/27/2009	Favre sets NFL record - Brett Favre set a new NFL record by unretiring for the 38th time. Of course, he also set the previous 36 records. He is/was a great QB who is turning himself into a charicature of himself by being a drama queen every time a season ends. I wish him all of the luck on his newest unretirement especially as his business doesn't conflict with the Dolphins' business.
08/27/2009	A number of stars buy a small stake in the Dolphins - OK, we're cool with that except maybe for Romero Britto. I'm wary about him adorning the entrances to Land Shark Stadium. Hope he uses lots of aqua and orange with more earth tones than neon. More like this and less like this. Oh yeah, Land Shark Stadium? Okey-dokey.
08/27/2009	Michael Vick is Working - I'm conflicted about Vick. I'm a real dog lover but I can understand how some people see dogs as only animals and can watch them fight each other. He does deserve a 2nd chance in the NFL after serving time for hosting dog fights and maybe for setting up and running an illegal interstate dog fighting business. But I don't see how a lot of the media very vocally embraced a personality that could drown, hang and beat puppies to death for the crime of being too nice.
06/03/2009	Chad Don't Twit - Chad Pennington does not use twitter. Apparently he, and other NFL players, have imposters pretending to be them on Twitter.com. Twitter doesn't allow impersonators but does allow "parodies" of celebs. One impersonator of Ben Roethlisberger twitted that he had cancer. Yeah, that twit is a laugh riot. Maybe Twitter should require the imposters to use the word 'Fake' in their title to avoid confusion. Or face being twatted from twitter. And that's all she twote. Tweet, tweet.
06/02/2009	NFL Contracts - Owners will meet with the NFLPA on Wednesday to begin contract negotiations. Commissioner Roger Goodell says there is no timetable to reach a new agreement: "We are focused on getting an agreement that works for the long term. We're not specifically setting any deadlines or dates. Our issue is we know we have two more years of football. We would like to have an agreement that works for everybody in that period of time. If it takes up to the final moment, it takes up to the final moment."
06/02/2009	OTA Summary Sparano Briefing video Omar's Analysis Armando's Analysis
06/01/2009	Todd Lowber released - Wide receiver Todd Lowber was released by the Dolphins Monday. signed to various practice squards but never played in an NFL game. Was injured recently.
05/26/2009	Will Allen contract extension - Will Allen's contract was extended 2 years today. It is worth $16.2 million for the next three years, with $10 million in guaranteed money.
05/24/2009	Randy Starks arrested - According to the police report, Dolphins defensive end Randy Starks was arrested early Sunday, after police said he struck an officer with his Freightliner truck. According to the police report, the Freightliner truck was in bumper-to-bumper traffic on South Beach's Ocean Drive with some 13 people inside, including a woman sitting on the lap of Starks, who was driving. The arrest took place about 12:20 a.m. in Miami's South Beach area.
05/20/2009	NFL and Comcast kiss and make up - Comcast and the NFL finally came to their senses and reached a multiyear agreement to move the NFL Network from its sports entertainment package ($5 extra per month) to the digital classic tier ($0 extra per month). It's about time. There are close to a million Comcast customers in South Florida.
05/13/2009	Jason Taylor comes home - The Miami Dolphins have signed outside linebacker Jason Taylor today. Dolfans immediately got a Cheshire Cat-like grin.