Rookie Review: Miami Dolphins Quarter Point
Something I enjoy doing here at NFLmocks is getting the opinions from people who cover the different N.F.l. teams around the league, it allows me to step away from my own perceptions and look through the eyes of someone who follows the team more closely than I do. Over the next few weeks and definitely around week 8 I’ll be reaching out to a writer/blogger/reporter for each N.F.L team to take a look at how the young players on the team are progressing.
Today’s interview comes from Brian Miller of http://phinphanatic.com/ One of the best Miami Dolphins blogs on the web.
NFLmocks: The Dolphins have started 0-4, the coach is not long for the team, and the team is currently in the hunt for “suck for luck”. Is the fan base rooting for a quick turn around or would they rather see the Dolphins lose a lot of games the rest of the season and end up with Andrew luck?
Brian Miller:
I don’t think any fan will admit to wanting his or her team to lose but at this point in the season and with everything falling apart I know it’s in the back of their minds. It will get worse towards the end of the season when the team is “mathematically” eliminated.
They often say it takes three years before you can know what a draft class is like. It’s the third year for the 2009 Draft class (first round pick was vontae Davis, 2nd round picks were Sean Smith and Pat White). How is that class looking right now?
Vontae’ Davis looks like he could be a stellar CB but Sean Smith still struggles at times. Neither are shut down corners and neither have made an impact in the turnover game. Pat White was a monumental disaster. (
tell us how you really feel about Pat White, Brian)
Does Bill Parcells deserve blame for the way some things are now?
He deserves a good portion of it yes. The fact that the Dolphins were saddled with Dan Henning as an OC also is part of the problem. This team never grew into a winner and Parcells quit before the product he was supposedly building took shape. Now it appears to have taken yet another direction.
The 2010 NFL draft class…how is it looking?
First pick Jared Odrick is having a good year thus far. In reality it’s his rookie year as he missed all of last year with an injury. Odrick may be an anchor for this defense for years to come. Koa Misi is up and down but he seems like he will be good fit, just not likely to live up to the high second round pick Miami spent on him. The rest of the draft is pedestrian. While the team does start Nolan Carroll as a CB and Reshad Jones as a FS fans want both of them cut. They have given up far too many big plays this year so far and many of them have been critical. Fourth round pick AJ Edds was released this past off-season.
Onward to the 2011 N.F.L. draft.
Heading into the draft I thought Mike pouncey was overrated-how is he doing so far early in this season?
So far Pouncey is looking very good. There has not been a lot of missed blocks on his part and he is providing adequate pass protection for the Miami QB’s, however he plays on a line that is very bad which really says his play is that much better.
Daniel Thomas made my rookie hot list this week…is he justified to be in there? He hasn’t made a ton of big plays, more steady wins the race kind of game play, no?
No, he has to stay healthy before he can be on any list. He has played in two games thus far and while he looks good running the ball if he isn’t on the field it really doesn’t matter what he can do. He also tends to run high with the ball unprotected which has resulted in a turnover
.
Another player I thought was overrated heading into the draft was Edmund Gates how has he looked early in this season?
Really hard to say about Gates, he hasn’t been a part of the offense all that much. His return skills are nothing special. We haven’t really seen his speed yet and if we have, then I’m left unimpressed. Gates has a lot of upside though but Miami needs to get him involved.
Are there any undrafted free agents making an impact on the team, or players that are relegated to the practice squad who really impressed in training camp?
Honestly, and I know this is a short answer but right now at 0-4 nothing is impressing. There are no un-drafted guys on this team that have made an impact or look like they could. Maybe Pat Devlin if Matt Moore goes down.
Based on the Dolphins play so far this year what are their top needs for the 2012 N.F.L. Draft
They will need a franchise QB without a doubt and they will need to look at RG and RT as well. Defensively this team needs to find a free safety who can make plays.
Anything else to add?
Keep an eye on 7th round pick Jimmy Wilson. He gave up the winning touchdown to Cleveland a couple of weeks ago but he is a hard hitter and looks like he may eventually make a major impact on the team.