SB Nation User Blog: joel311

Why We Should Not Draft a Wide Receiver on Day 1.

joel311 — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:15:50 -0000

One increasingly popular opinion amongst Dolfans, as well as the mainstream sports media, is that The Dolphins receiving corps is an area of weakness that should be addressed in the first day, if not the first round, of the draft. When mentioned in the same sentence as Miami or one of its receivers, the phrase "True #1" is usually paired up with a negative adverb or adjective such as "no", "not", or "lacking". This article will help dispel the myths surrounding our excellent talent.

As all Phinsiders know, Greg Camarillo has transitioned from a winless-season-saving hero, to a fearless and dependable, over-the-middle receiver with fantastic hands. During the first 12 games, he was Pennington's go to guy on clutch 3rd downs. The torn ACL is the only thing that raises any question marks about his playing ability, but from recent reports, it sounds like he is having a speedy recovery.

Ted Ginn drastically improved upon his 2007 performance. Who can forget that amazing over-the-shoulder grab at the very back of the end zone vs. Seattle? That's just a little flash of what things will be like in 2010. Ginn's skills lie in his ability to get over the top of the secondary; a receiver like that can only do so much with a QB like Chad Pennington. As Sparano pointed out, Ginn's lack of receptions was due to the way he was used. Drafting another receiver that can burn the secondary will not make Pennington's arm any stronger.

Next up, Brandon London. This kid did not get a lot of playing time on offense, but Brandon made a heck of an impression when he did. His diving catch converted a clutch 3rd down during the most important game of the entire season, versus the hated Jets no less. That is the definition of performing under pressure. When taken into account that Brandon stands at an impressive 6'4", and he has a great work ethic, it seems he is just a season away from being the end zone threat that Ernest Wilford was supposed to be.

As an UDFA out of Hawaii, Davone Bess is a Rags-to-Riches type story--going from prison in high school to the NFL. When Greg Camarillo went down for the season, Davone stepped up immediately recording 5 receptions for 87 yards vs. NE in his first ever NFL start. He followed that up with two strong performances against St. Louis and Buffalo where Bess caught 6 passes for 84 yards and 9 passes for 74 yards, respectively. Just to put this into perspective, Greg Camarillo started 11 games and only had 3 games over 70 yards, and only one of those was for 80 plus. Davone did it in his first three. As the season got colder, and The Dolphins played in frostbitten cities like KC and "New York", Davone had 15 receptions for 121 yards to close out the regular season. In his first 6 NFL starts, Davone Bess totaled 35 catches for 366 yards, which is an average of 10.5 yards per catch. These weren't all great passes either; the name Bess conjures an image of an acrobatic, mid-air twist to snag an errant pass that was thrown well behind him. Bess may not be as tall as Larry Fitzgerald, but he definitely has the hands and the agility to make similar awe-inspiring grabs.

It's time for some more perspective; Davone's first season stacks up nicely against the rookie years of two of the NFL's greatest receivers--Terrell Owens and Larry Fitzgerald. Terrell Owens started 10 of the 16 games he played in San Francisco and he caught 35 passes for 520 yards with Steve Young at QB. In 2004 Larry Fitzgerald started all 16 games and had 58 receptions for 780 yards. Davone Bess started in 6 of 16 games and he recorded a total of 54 receptions for 554 yards. When his average of just under 6 receptions per start is extrapolated to a full season, Davone may have caught 93 passes for 975 yards. Those are pretty astounding numbers considering that wide receivers normally take 2-3 years to develop.

Davone Bess can make people miss, so the 10.5 average yards per catch (as well as the averages of Camarillo and Ginn) can be attributed to Pennington's weak arm. Pennington only averaged 7.7 yards per completion and this was his second highest season average (not including 2000 where he only had 2 completions), just barely falling short of his 7.8 average in 2002. When the ball takes so much longer to reach it's target, it is more likely that a defensive back is going to be there as soon as a receiver makes the grab. Pennington's lack of a bullet brings down the average of the entire receiving corps.

To sum up: Davone Bess has the numbers and the heart to be our "True #1" wide receiver and, when Henne takes over in 2010 or mid/late 2009, Ted Ginn will be a deep threat that defenses must account for with their #1 Corner or with double coverage. Also, Greg Camarillo is a great slot receiver, and Brandon London is developing into a physical end zone threat. Taking all of this into account, it just does not make sense for The Phins to draft a wide receiver on Day 1.

3rd Down Back Situation

joel311 — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:02:49 -0000

Ben Volin made an interesting point during the PBP live chat this morning, it went as follows:

Ben Volin: Good morning, thanks for joining us.

The third-down running back situation was another hot topic in my post-game chat on Sunday. (SHAMELESS PLUG: JOIN ME AFTER EVERY GAME FOR A LIVE CHAT!)

No question, Ricky and Ronnie are the top two backs, and have arguably the best hands on the team, among all receivers and tight ends. They were active in the passing game in the fourth quarter, when the Dolphins were throwing on every down. They combined for seven catches.

Patrick Cobbs, though, played 13 snaps on third down. He caught one pass for 9 yards. The other 12 downs? He was a blocker.

Understand, though Cobbs is only 5-foot-8, he is a BEAST. Pound for pound, the strongest guy in the locker room. He can squat three times his body weight.

He was in the game for one reason only -- to thump anyone who got close to Chad Pennington.

Who would you rather be taking those licks -- Ronnie Brown, coming off ACL surgery? Ricky Williams, who is 31 years old?

Tony Sparano knows that his offensive line is a work in progress, and uses Cobbs as a safety valve.

That said, expect to see more Ricky and Ronnie this week on third downs, because the offense needs to move the ball more than it did against the Jets.

I'm already looking forward to next week.

joel311 — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:34:15 -0000

I wish it were Sunday already!

The close finish against a possibly playoff bound Jets team has renewed my hope that we are going to do well this year. Once Sparano stops trying to be so predictably unpredictable, I think we're going to see a lot of Ws in the win column. Yes, our receivers aren't that great, but really it was the play calling that was our down fall. If we had thrown some short screen passes early to open the run, and then if we had run hard on them with Ricky and Ronnie (NO PATRICK), it would have opened up the secondary to allow some receivers to get open. I agree that Ginn was a huge disappointment with his invisibility and his timid attempts at punt returns, but I'm going to chalk that up to game 1 jitters. I don't think he's used to being in the #1 anticipated game of the week. Even Pennington looked nervous in his first two or three series, and he's a long time veteran. I'll reserve my harsh judgements on Ginn until at least next week.

Miami to change colors and logo?

joel311 — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:48:24 -0000

Please say it ain't so!!

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/08/12/dolphins_of_a_different_color.html

Found an interesting nugget from the fantastic blog Uniwatch, the world’s finest blog devoted to sports uniform minutiae.

The writer, Paul Lukas, got a tip from a reader that the Dolphins are looking to make wholesale changes to their image.

Monday, he wrote:

“Word in Reebok/Adidas world is that the Miami Dolphins contacted them today to totally re-image them. We’re talking new logo, new color scheme, and new uniforms. Why? Because, according to their front office, they want to be “tough,” and unfortunately orange and teal don’t go along with tough.’”

Depth Chart #1

joel311 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:54:03 -0000

From PBP: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/08/index.html

Here it is (rookies are underlined):

OFFENSE

WR 1: Ted Ginn, Derek Hagan, David Kircus, Jayson Foster, Anthony Armstrong
LT: Jake Long, Ikechuku Ndukwe
LG: Justin Smiley, Shawn Murphy
C: Samson Satele, Steve McKinney, Matt Spanos
RG: Trey Darilek, Donald Thomas, Mike Byrne
RT: Vernon Carey, Daren Heerspink
TE: Anthony Fasano, David Martin, Sean Ryan, Justin Peelle, Matthew Mulligan
WR 2: Ernest Wilford, Greg Camarillo, Davone Bess, John Dunlap, Selwyn Lymon.
QB: Josh McCown, John Beck, Chad Henne
FB: Regan Mauia, Boomer Grigsby
RB: Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams, Patrick Cobbs, Jalen Parmele, Lex Hilliard

DEFENSE

LE: Matt Roth, Randy Starks, Kendall Langford, Rodrique Wright
NT: Jason Ferguson, Paul Soliai, Anthony Toribio
RE: Vonnie Holliday, Phillip Merling, Lionel Dotson
SLB: Joey Porter, Rob Ninkovich, Junior Glymph, Titus Brown
ILB 1: Channing Crowder, Kelvin Smith, Kelly Poppinga
ILB 2: Akin Ayodele, Reggie Torbor, Edmond Miles
WLB: Charlie Anderson, Quentin Moses, Keith Saunders
LCB: Will Allen, Joey Thomas, Chris Roberson
RCB: Andre Goodman, Travis Daniels, Nathan Jones, Will Billingsley
FS: Jason Allen, Chris Crocker, Renaldo Hill
SS: Yeremiah Bell, Keith Davis, Courtney Bryan

SPECIALISTS

P: Brandon Fields
K: Jay Feely, Dan Carpenter
KO: Jay Feely, Dan Carpenter
H: Brandon Fields
KOR: Ted Ginn, Jayson Foster, Davone Bess
PR: Ted Ginn, Jayson Foster, Davone Bess
LS: John Denney

Quincy Carter story corrobarated on PBP

joel311 — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:52:25 -0000

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/07/index.html

Excerpts:

"Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin reported today on his radio show in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that Carter will be in Davie on Friday for a workout at the Dolphins’ training facility."

“I see Ricky Williams playing again,” Carter told the Palm Beach Post before he checked into a South Florida rehab facility in December. “I only failed one test. Ricky failed about five or six.”

“I need to work on myself and I also want to get back into the NFL,” Carter said in December. “Ultimately I want to begin a new life and do the right thing.”

Which two players are you rooting for

joel311 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:09:41 -0000

this offseason?

Charlie Anderson and Jayson Foster have really piqued my interest; I can't read enough about their performances in training camp. I'd love to see Foster start out returning kicks and freeing up Ginn to be a full time receiver. Anderson sounds like a diamond in the rough. The man is a beast!

August 9th cannot get here soon enough, but at the same time I love reading the PBP blog for each practice. I'm kind of upset that this afternoon's session is closed though.