I just read a very interesting article from September of last year about what, statistically, Peyton Manning brings to a team. If you're interested in details about the statistics, click on the link, but the bottom line is that a Peyton-led passing game scores 9.1 points more per game than the average NFL passing game. This past season, our passing game was ranked 23rd, but for my feeble math mind's sake, let's assume that we were ranked 15th. Adding 9.1 points per game gives us the following:

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Let's face it, we need a distraction from this season.  So I've decided to start a friendly debate about something positive: who is the Dolphins' all-time unsung hero?   For the purpose of these posts, I define "unsung hero" as a player who is unheralded at all stages of his career, coming out of college, while playing, and after retirement.  Thus, in order to qualify as an unsung hero, a player must (1) have been drafted outside of the first round, (2) never have made a Pro Bowl, and (3) not be a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  

The nuts and bolts of how we'll choose the all-time unsung hero: a good old-fashioned American Idol-style tournament.  Below you'll find 12 unsung heroes.  Each week for the next few weeks, you will vote for your favorite.  After the first week, the lowest three vote-getters will be eliminated.  After the 2nd and 3rd week, the lowest 2 vote-getters will be eliminated.  And from the 4th week on, the lowest vote-getter will be eliminated until we have the All-Time Miami Dolphins Unsung Hero.  After you vote each week, make sure to explain why you voted the way you did in the comments.  If you have the most passionate, most convincing, or most entertaining argument for a particular player, I'll post your comment the following week along with some other tidbits about the player.  So now, without further ado, the 12 candidates (in alphabetical order) after the jump:

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3 other co-workers and I recently did a 1st round mock draft, with each person assigned 4 teams.  The results are:

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How important is keeping a QB healthy for the whole season?  I'll answer that question with another question: when was the last time the Dolphins had a QB start all 16 games, but missed the playoffs?  If you answered 1991, you are correct.  You have to go back almost 20 years to find a healthy QB fail to lead us to the playoffs.  Since 1991, we made the playoffs 6 out of 6 times when we had the same QB start every game (4 with Marino, 1 with Fiedler, 1 with Pennington).  The key to this coming season?  Keeping Henne healthy.   

            I don’t want to make this post.  I really don’t.  But after the last few weeks, it’s unavoidable.  Coach Sparano has been fantastic at getting the most out of young, inexperienced, and forgotten players.  But... here’s the heresy...

His game management decisions have been terrible since the bye.

Think I’m nuts?  Here’s some examples:

-This week against the Patriots, down by 7 with 6 minutes remaining, he has us punt on 4th and 5 from the Patriots 42.  Awful call.  We’re less than 10 yards away from field goal range at that point and time is running out.  We were getting in a rhythm – the drive had started at our own 17.  We ran the ball 4 times that drive for gains of 5, 16, 5, and 5 yards.  Instead we punt and give them the choice of letting Brady throw to Moss and Welker against our rookie receivers or running the ball 3 times and forcing us to use our timeouts.  They went the latter route and we wound up with no time outs left. 

-This week against the Patriots, down by 10 with 1:09 remaining.  No timeouts left.  What do we do?  Run, short pass, short pass, short pass, short pass.  Game over.  What is up with that?  Not a single shot downfield?  No Hail Mary?  What’s the worst that happens, a pick 6 and we end up losing by 17 instead of 10?

-Last week against the Jets.  Just scored, so it’s 30-19.  That’s an 11-point difference.  It can be made up with one TD plus 2-pt conversion and one field goal.  An extra point would make it a 12-point difference.  The only way that can be made up in 2 scores would be 2 TDs with extra points.  A 2-pt conversion would make it a 13-point difference.  That can also be made up in 2 scores with 2 TDs with extra points.  So the choice is: go for the sure thing (extra point, difference can be made up in 2 scores with 2 TDs) or gamble for a 13-point lead, which can be made up the exact same way.  Sparano chooses to go for 2.

-Week before against NO.  Timeout before halftime.  Enough said.

-Week before against NO.  4th quarter.  NO has managed to work our lead down to only 3 points.  Time for a long, Ronnie and Ricky-heavy, time consuming drive to kill their momentum.  What plays are called?  Pass, pass, pass, punt.  They score, putting them up by 4.  Now it must be time to take the momentum back with a time-consuming drive; after all, a TD puts us back in the lead.  What plays are called?  Pass, pass, pass, punt.

-Week before against NO.  4th quarter.  Down by 12.  Only 1:53 left and 2 timeouts.  We need 2 TDs and fast.  Time for some throws downfield, right?  Plays called:  run, short pass, short pass, short pass, short pass, short pass nowhere near the sideline, short pass, FINALLY A DEEP PASS, short pass, game over.  Again, what’s up with the lack of testicles in the play calling?  We need the big play down by 12 with 1:53 left. 

Maybe some of the bad play calls were made by Henning, but Sparano ultimately bears responsibility for game management.  And if it wasn’t for Ginn’s kickoff returns, Sparano’s poor game management would have resulted in us going 0-3 since the bye.

So, listening to the radio today, all of the “Ted Ginn the returner vs. Ted Ginn the receiver” talk got me thinking.  I couldn’t name a single game-changing return man who was also a game-changing receiver.  To verify this, I looked at Pro-Football-Reference.com to see if there are any players dating back to 1994 with multiple return touchdowns who also led their team in receptions, receiving yards, or receiving TDs in the same year.  This is what I found:

2008: Johnnie Lee Higgins - 3 punt return TDs, led Raiders with 4 receiving TDs.

2007: Nate Burleson - 1 punt return TD, 1 kickoff return TD, led Seahawks with 9 receiving TDs.

2003: Brian Westbrook - 2 punt return TDs., led Eagles with 4 receiving TDs.

2002: Steve Smith - 2 punt return TDs, led Panthers with 872 receiving yards.

2001: Troy Brown - 2 punt return TDs, led Patriots in receptions, yards, and TDs with 101/1199/5.

1998: Joey Galloway - 2 punt return TDs, led Seahawks in receptions, yards, and TDs with 65/1047/10.

1998: Jermaine Lewis - 2 punt return TDs, led Ravens in receiving yards and TDs with 784/6.

1996: Eddie Kennison - 2 punt return TDs, led the Rams in receiving TDs with 9.  

If I didn't list a year, it's because nobody met the criteria that year.  Off the bat, we can ignore Brian Westbrook because he’s a RB, not a WR.  Out of the remaining players, only Steve Smith and Joey Galloway had multiple 1,000 yard receiving seasons and only Steve Smith made multiple Pro Bowls as a receiver.  Let’s call those 2 players both game-changing returners and game-changing receivers.  That’s 2 players in the past 15 years that have been both.

Complicating the analysis are the following notable players:

-Santana Moss returned 2 punts for TDs in 2002 (his second season) and later on had 3 1000-yard seasons.

-Randy Moss returned 1 punt and 1 kick for TDs in 2003.  He’s arguably a first-round Hall-of-Famer.

-1996 Rookie Amani Toomer had 2 punt return TDs and was #1 quality for the Giants later in his career with 5 straight 1000-yard receiving seasons.

-1994 Robert Brooks of the Packers had multiple return TDs and eventually had 2 1000-yard receiving seasons.

These players were arguably game-changing returners earlier in their careers and became game-changing receivers later on in their careers.

So what conclusions can we draw from this?  This is what I can come up with:

1. Coaches do not let their game-changing wide receivers return kicks and punts, even if they are game-changing returners as well.

This is obvious.  With the exception of Randy Moss in 2003, all of the players I mentioned as both game-changing receivers and game-changing returners made the lion’s share of their multiple 1,000-yard seasons or Pro Bowls AFTER they had their multiple return TD seasons.  This means that, potentially, many of the game-changing WRs out there would also be game-changing returners given the chance (I mean, who wouldn’t love to see Andre Johnson or Reggie Wayne returning kicks?)

2.  Players with the body type to be great returners are generally not big enough to be great receivers.

            This becomes clearer when you look at some of the WRs who consistently showed up as multiple return-TD scorers in the last 15 years.  For example: Devin Hester (5’10”, 185), Tamarick Vanover (6’, 220), Dante Hall (5’8” 187), Josh Cribbs (6’1, 192), Desmond Howard (5’10, 185), Mel J. Gray (5’9”, 167) are/were all great returners, but not great receivers.  Contrast this with the top receivers from that time: Randy Moss (6’4”, 215), Larry Fitzgerald (6’3”, 225), Isaac Bruce (6’, 188), Jerry Rice (6’2”, 200), Michael Irvin (6’2”, 207), Terrell Owens, (6’3”, 226), Tim Brown (6’, 195), and Marvin Harrison (6’, 175).  For the most part, the great returners are under 6’ and under 200 lbs (biggest exception being Tamarick Vanover) and the great receivers, regardless of weight,  are at least 6’ tall.  This suggests that Steve Smith (5’9”, 185) is the exception, not the rule. 

3.  Ted Ginn-related conclusions

            Ted Ginn is not a game-changing receiver.  This isn’t a shocker.  Statistically, at 5’11”, 178, he does not have the size to be a game-changing receiver.  To anyone who has watched him drop passes over and over again the last few years, this is no revelation.  However, he is the perfect size for a game-changing returner.  Thus, I wouldn’t advocate cutting him from the roster completely this offseason unless his salary makes it absolutely necessary.

            More interesting to me is that Coach Sparano and staff have continued to let Ginn return kicks.  Since it seems that, in the last 15 years, coaches do not want their great receivers returning kicks, this shows that the Dolphins do not see Ginn as a #1 receiver.  Again, this may be obvious by the fact that Ginn didn’t start this last game.  However, the benching can be seen as a motivational ploy.  A willingness to expose Ginn to injury by allowing him to return kicks cannot be explained as anything other than a realization that Ginn is not going to be a game-changing receiver.  Look for the Dolphins to either sign a WR who fits the body type of the majority of great receivers (Brandon Marshall?  Steve Breaston?) or to draft one in an early round (Brandon LaFell from LSU?  Arrelious Benn from Illinois?  Eric Decker from Minnesota?). 

Finally, I have way too much time on my hands.  And most importantly, GO DOLPHINS!!!