That's all good. Let me be the first to welcome you. You may want to be careful though, we can not guarantee that our bad football is not contagious.
9 a.m. Monday: Another DE visiting Dolphins today; Dolphin czar's surprising comment Three quick things before we get to the Sunday buzz column: 1) 9 a.m. Monday update: Longtime NFL defensive end Chris Clemons is at Dolphins headquarters visiting with team officials today, according to a source. Clemons, 34, has 69 career sacks, including 37 for Seattle from 2010 to 2013. He started 11 games for Jacksonville in 2014 and had eight sacks and four forced fumbles. Last season, he played in 16 games for the Jaguars, starting eight, and had 14 tackles, three sacks and one forced fumble. The Dolphins apparently want to consider multiple options for a significant defensive end role, as part of a rotation with Mario Williams (who figures to play the vast majority of downs) and Cam Wake (the Dolphins don't want to overwork him). Defensive end Jason Jones visited Saturday. Clemons has other suitors but will not book additional visits until after this visit is concluded and he sees whether a quick signing here is realistic for either party. 2) Found this notable: WSVN-7's Steve Shapiro, on his Sunday night show (Sports Xtra), said tonight that he spoke to Dolphins executive vice president/football operations Mike Tannenbaum on Sunday and said Tannenbaum told him that "after the deals they've made so far, the 2016 Dolphins would kick the crap out of the 2015 Dolphins. He used another word." The Dolphins have added five projected starters (d-end Mario Williams, cornerback Byron Maxwell, linebacker Kiko Alonso, safety Isa Abdul-Quddus and Jermon Bushrod, a tackle who will get a chance at guard), as well as backup offensive tackle Sam Young. The Dolphins also are waiting a Broncos decision on whether they will match Miami's offer for running back CJ Anderson; there are conflicting reports elsewhere tonight about the likelihood of that. Meanwhile, the Dolphins lost four starters (Brent Grimes, Olivier Vernon, Lamar Miller and Rishard Matthews), have chosen not to resign Kelvin Sheppard to this point and parted ways with slot corner Brice McCain, receiver Greg Jennings and offensive tackle Jason Fox. Your thoughts on Tannenbaum's comment? Weigh in below if you like. • Yes, we understand the Dolphins walking away from Olivier Vernon and Lamar Miller when the price kept going beyond what they imagined. But this is disconcerting: Between 2008 and 2013, only 15 of their 49 draft picks turned out to be above average players. And of those 15 good ones, eight left after their rookie contract and/or in their mid 20s (including Vernon and Miller) and a ninth was traded after three seasons (Vontae Davis). The other six? Brian Hartline left after six seasons, leaving Ryan Tannehill, Reshad Jones, Mike Pouncey, Jelani Jenkins and Koa Misi (generously) as the only remaining above average players from those six drafts. That’s deplorable. • If the price is right, the Dolphins have by no means ruled out signing a prominent past-his-prime but accomplished free-agent receiver to replace Rishard Matthews and Greg Jennings. Andre Johnsonwould love to finish his career here; Anquan Boldin, Marques Colston, Roddy White and Percy Harvin(still only 27) are also available. But they indicated they prefer to revisit this later in free agency.
User Actions FollowingNFL on ESPNVerified account@ESPNNFL On this same day in 2006: The Dolphins traded a 2006 2nd-round pick to the Vikings for QB Daunte Culpepper. Damn you Nick Saban
i cant stand saban for what he did to this franchise. But that was the team doctors/physicians and managements fault more than sabans. He wanted Brees badly and even still says in the last year "if they would of let me sign him i might still be there"
plenty of players who played under him have called BS on that story. They all said he wanted Culpepper because he loved how "big" he was. Players say he is rewriting history by saying he wanted brees now
everyone is playing hindsight with that story. IIRC, the issues around Brees' shoulder was a very big issue. It's just funny how everyone makes it seem like it was a nobrainer now. Culpepper had more than one monster year leading up to his injury.
I was pretty damn excited about Culpepper tbqh. Brees had come off a couple down years and had a major injury, which is why SD let him walk. It was a very tough choice at the time iirc
Nevermind... Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter 3m3 minutes ago Broncos have informed RB CJ Anderson they are matching Miami's offer sheet, per source. He stays in Denver.
Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter 33s33 seconds ago Denver keeps RB CJ Anderson; Miami needs a RB. EDIT: Snaked!
Fuck most of the guys left are journeymen..... joique bell, gerhart, bush, donald brown, james starks, alfred morris (only 27)
Good thing this is a deep RB draft Give me a guy like Collins or the Texas tech RB in the middle round for a third of the price
That would great, because it means someone else should fall. With any luck 2 QBs and Elliot will all be gone before 13.
Shows how deep a RB class this is Ryan Riddle @Ryan_Riddle 14m14 minutes ago Top RBs (film only) 1.E. Elliott 2.Prosise 3.P. Perkins 4.Henry 5.K. Drake 6.D. Booker 7.J. Robinson 8. K Dixon 9. D. Lasco 10. A. Collins
I thought the opposite when looking at this. Drake at 5? Though I don't hold the opinion of Collins that many in here do
I think Collins and Prosise are really close, and would probably take either of them after Elliot is off the board. I understand why people put Henry up there, but the workload at bama worries me, and I don't think he has the lateral quickness or acceleration to be special in the NFL. I think he's more lendale white than brandon jacobs in the nfl.
I take any bama RB with a massive grain of salt because they get to play behind the best OL in CFB every year and can just follow the intended hole to 4+ yards every play
To be fair, Henry only had the massive workload for one season. He only had 200 total carries his first two seasons, but I think your other concerns are valid. He has a unique running style, and there are questions whether it'll translate to the NFL. Acceleration is a concern but his speed is much better than people think...also we never threw to him this year but showed skills with that in the past. The guy is a tank though, but a risk. As far as workload goes, Collins has gotten a lot more consistant work, ~200+ carries per season. He doesn't have that one massive year like Henry but he's taken hits for three years now. I don't understand Drake at 5 at all as a Bama fan. Love him, but he never really did much running the ball at Bama. Much more of a receiving threat during his career here and he stayed injured for much of his time here. Nice third down back but he couldn't even be an every down guy in college...not sure I would take a third down back as the fifth RB in the draft, and I say that as a Bama fan. We wouldn't even give him the ball this year to spell Henry who had to be tired given his massive workload even in games that were easily in hand.
NBC’s Cris Collinsworth advocates the Dolphins selecting Clemson cornerback Mackenzie Alexander at No. 13. Collinsworth wrote his mock draft for Pro Football Focus. “The NFL has always been a copycat league, and after the Broncos won the Super Bowl with a defense built around three quality corners and good pass rushers, other teams will follow," Collinsworth wrote about Miami's pick. "Alexander’s speed and quickness give him a slight edge here over Vernon Hargreaves, but the order for corners will come down to personal preferences. “Hargreaves is slightly taller, heavier, and physically stronger than Alexander, but I think Alexander is the better cover corner so I give him the nod with the Dolphins. Alexander will have to prove that at 5-10 and 190 pounds he can still compete with taller receivers, but his quickness in man coverage will leave him attached at the hip in most situations. “Alexander could play inside or outside in the nickel, which gives him added value. If a team can’t cover those quicker slot receivers on third down, the defense never gets off the field."
The one year workload is maybe more of a concern for me (curse of 370 ). Henry's top speed is good, if he's runinng north and south and has clean backfields he's a problem, it's just a question of how much he will get that in the NFL. I'd say he goes up the dolphins board because he will fit into a power run scheme that it seems almost certain we are moving to, and I'd feel better about taking him because of that fit. Only other big knock on Henry is pass blocking. Would like to think at his size he can get better in that department though.
Mario Williams signing was Dolphins' best move in free agency James WalkerESPN Staff Writer A breakdown of the first week of free agency for the Miami Dolphins: Most significant signing: The Dolphins knew they would lose 2015 sack leader Olivier Vernon, who signed an $85 million contract with the New York Giants in free agency. But the Dolphins showed their preparedness by quickly moving on to sign four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Mario Williams to a two-year, $17 million contract. The 31-year old is coming off a down year with only five sacks. But the Dolphins took a solid, calculated risk that he will return to form playing again in a 4-3 defense and because of his solid track record that includes 96 career sacks. Most significant loss: The Dolphins took a lot of veteran losses in free agency, but the loss of Vernon was the most significant. He was a 25-year-old homegrown pass-rusher who was entering his prime. It's rare that teams let go of those types of players, and there's no guarantee Williams will have a bounce-back season. Losing Pro Bowl cornerback Brent Grimesand running back Lamar Miller also were tough. Player they should have signed: The Dolphins are taking a huge risk in not signing a top-level guard. There were some good ones available this year, such as Kelechi Osemele and Alex Boone, who signed with theOakland Raiders and Minnesota Vikings, respectively. The only move Miami made was adding nine-year offensive tackle Jermon Bushrod, who will be asked to move to guard for the first time in his career. This was not the best thought out plan for the position. What's next: Do not expect any significant moves from the Dolphins the rest of the way. They are searching for depth and good bargains at this point. It's time for Miami to really hone in on the NFL draft. Overall grade: The Dolphins get a C-plus for the first week of free agency. They made a lot of moves but do not mistake their activity for improvement. Most transactions were to cover up other losses on the roster. For example, cornerback Byron Maxwell attempts to cover for losing Grimes and Williams for losing Vernon. I'm not sure their roster is much better right now than the 6-10 team from last season. Therefore, the draft will be huge for Miami next month.
Guard is puzzling, but CB is maybe worse. I guess we are gonna start a rookie and Bobbie McCain opposite Maxwell, and have basically zero depth? Not a great strategy in a passing league
we will sign depth at Corner before it's all said and done. Don't be shocked at G if Bushrod starts in one spot and Thomas, Turner, Douglas (maybe a rookie?) compete for the other though. Not going to be able to fill all the holes we still have with the draft/in one season. EDIT: If we somehow end up with Ronnie Stanley or Conklin, I could see a Tackle moving inside too
Adam SchefterVerified account@AdamSchefter After missing out on CJ Anderson, Dolphins moving in on another CJ: former Cards' RB Chris Johnson, who's visiting Miami today
I would be ok with Johnson as like a change of pace guy. I think we're gonna add a cheap vet like him and draft one with upside. I think he could be a decent second/third back (especially on third down and medium/long) who is a factor in the passing game. That's one area where I think Ajayi might not be quite as good yet. 4.2 YPC isn't bad last year, I'd take that out of the #2 back But then again I'm sold on Ajayi as a #1. He looked very good last season and I think he can carry the load. Just has to stay healthy