ESPN continues to hammer Fins’ talent level

[BAMAPHIN 22]

Everyone knew Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland had a big job ahead of them.


ESPN.com’s position rankings suggest Parcells and Ireland did improve a long-standing problem at offensive line during the off-season. The people at Scouts Inc. rate the Dolphins’ O-line No. 18 in the NFL, saying the “unit has come a long way in a short period of time.”


But every other area of the Dolphins has a long, long way to go, according to Scouts Inc. The group slammed the offensive skills positions last week.
This week, it’s taking aim at the defensive side of the ball, ranking the defensive line No. 23 and the linebackers a surprising No. 31, ahead of only the Rams.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/c...e_the_dolphins

[hemidemon]

Scouts Inc is full of it. I never did like them. What matters is what happens on the field. If Scouts Inc says we're gonna suck then we'll probably be better than most people think.

[emeraldfin]

Dont actually see anything wrong with grading the Fins low in these waste of space & time rankings

[levv151]

just hope they post it in the locker room and use it as anger fuel to win a few more games and make a few more plays...especially Crowder...time to step it up a notch!!

[dlockz]

We were 1-15 last year, so the only thing they can judge us on is last year. We have not added anysurefire free agents that makes us that much better at least on paper. Starks career underachiever, loads of talent but has barely made a blip, Torbor career backup that may become Larry Brown of this superbowl, Smiley coming off a major injury and SF did not want to keep him, Wilford was replaced by Joey Porter, Nate Jones horrible coverage guy who is good on special teams, Keith Davis a poor man's Roy williams who cannot cover either.

Not saying that any of these guys will not be good, sometimes a change of scenary helps. I wanted Starks, Smiley and wilford as free agents but admit was suprised how much we gave them. Torbor seems a good pickup so many of these guys will do well here but from what they have done in past there is no reason for the media to get overhyped.

I do think they are quite wrong on our linebackers which should be the strength of the defense this year. A foursome of Crowder, Torbor, Porter and Taylor should be pretty damn solid especially with Akinoyle(too lazy to look it up), Anderson and Moses as backups.

[gunn34]

Originally Posted by dlockz

We were 1-15 last year, so the only thing they can judge us on is last year. We have not added anysurefire free agents that makes us that much better at least on paper. Starks career underachiever, loads of talent but has barely made a blip, Torbor career backup that may become Larry Brown of this superbowl, Smiley coming off a major injury and SF did not want to keep him, Wilford was replaced by Joey Porter, Nate Jones horrible coverage guy who is good on special teams, Keith Davis a poor man's Roy williams who cannot cover either.

Not saying that any of these guys will not be good, sometimes a change of scenary helps. I wanted Starks, Smiley and wilford as free agents but admit was suprised how much we gave them. Torbor seems a good pickup so many of these guys will do well here but from what they have done in past there is no reason for the media to get overhyped.

I do think they are quite wrong on our linebackers which should be the strength of the defense this year. A foursome of Crowder, Torbor, Porter and Taylor should be pretty damn solid especially with Akinoyle(too lazy to look it up), Anderson and Moses as backups.

Good assessment

[ZILLA]

*replaced by jerry porter

[Charlie Wilson]

I don't care what ESPN says, they are always off on thier predictions. We are going to be SICK this year. If our QB plays slightly above average we have a chance.

I don't want our players to go into games like "oh jeez, we're playing the pats and be scared."

go out and hit tom brady in the got damn mouth!!!!!!

[IceStorm]

When you went 1-15, its easy to pound. The Dolphins, just as any other team in the league, have to prove they're bette. And they havent...........yet.

[feelthepain]

Originally Posted by dlockz

We were 1-15 last year, so the only thing they can judge us on is last year. We have not added anysurefire free agents that makes us that much better at least on paper. Starks career underachiever, loads of talent but has barely made a blip, Torbor career backup that may become Larry Brown of this superbowl, Smiley coming off a major injury and SF did not want to keep him, Wilford was replaced by Joey Porter, Nate Jones horrible coverage guy who is good on special teams, Keith Davis a poor man's Roy williams who cannot cover either.

Not saying that any of these guys will not be good, sometimes a change of scenary helps. I wanted Starks, Smiley and wilford as free agents but admit was suprised how much we gave them. Torbor seems a good pickup so many of these guys will do well here but from what they have done in past there is no reason for the media to get overhyped.

I do think they are quite wrong on our linebackers which should be the strength of the defense this year. A foursome of Crowder, Torbor, Porter and Taylor should be pretty damn solid especially with Akinoyle(too lazy to look it up), Anderson and Moses as backups.

Are there any coaches in your world? It seems you think it's all about talent. I think it's more about coaching. The Ginats didn't win the SB because they were more talented then the Pats, they won because thye out coached the Pats.

BB is a great HC, smart, detail oriented, disciplined to an extent. However he's also extremely arrogant. The Pats lost the SB because BB thought they were so much better then the Giants that the Pats didn't need to show the Giants the respect they deserved. Classic example of being over confident costing them the championship. That's clearly the coaching.

Miami was 1-15 due the worst coaching job I've ever seen, not because the talent level. We still managed to finish better then several teams statistically even though we had the worst record. Miami's defense was in some sort of flux, trying things they shouldn't have been trying. Playing players out of position, playing between the 3-4 and 4-3. We were ill prepared for the season, players out of shape, player no prepared to start...like Beck. We get rid of ST players we should have kept especially since we made such drastic changes to the coaching staff and need to be as strong as we could be in all aspects of our team. Cam just came in and made changes that left this team in disarray.

Miami was 1-15 due to the coaching decisions more then any other reason in 07. Teams that go from worst to first in one season do so more from structure and good coaching, then player talent. Bring in a stable atmosphere and a focus with good work ethic and you'll see almost instant improvements. Most of the players in the NFL can play at this level, it's up to the coaches to use that talent efficiently to maximize the winning %.

[Shamboubou]

Originally Posted by feelthepain

Are there any coaches in your world? It seems you think it's all about talent. I think it's more about coaching. The Ginats didn't win the SB because they were more talented then the Pats, they won because thye out coached the Pats.

BB is a great HC, smart, detail oriented, disciplined to an extent. However he's also extremely arrogant. The Pats lost the SB because BB thought they were so much better then the Giants that the Pats didn't need to show the Giants the respect they deserved. Classic example of being over confident costing them the championship. That's clearly the coaching.

Miami was 1-15 due the worst coaching job I've ever seen, not because the talent level. We still managed to finish better then several teams statistically even though we had the worst record. Miami's defense was in some sort of flux, trying things they shouldn't have been trying. Playing players out of position, playing between the 3-4 and 4-3. We were ill prepared for the season, players out of shape, player no prepared to start...like Beck. We get rid of ST players we should have kept especially since we made such drastic changes to the coaching staff and need to be as strong as we could be in all aspects of our team. Cam just came in and made changes that left this team in disarray.

Miami was 1-15 due to the coaching decisions more then any other reason in 07. Teams that go from worst to first in one season do so more from structure and good coaching, then player talent. Bring in a stable atmosphere and a focus with good work ethic and you'll see almost instant improvements. Most of the players in the NFL can play at this level, it's up to the coaches to use that talent efficiently to maximize the winning %.

I'll give you that coaching may have been 35% of the problem here, injuries probably about another 25% because much of our young talent was injured last year. QB play and O-Line was about 20% of our problem, Age of our players 15%, and just the pure lack of talent around about 10%. We have some talent on this team, that needs the opportunity to shine. I do agree its more about having a team than it is about having talent. We have young talent on the O-Line, WR, QB, and RB. Our defensive side of the ball still leaves some to be wanting for, but I think they are a solid group, they arn't going to be great this year, but they will be solid.

I think we are a little better than the rankings we scored, but on the same hand you cant give a team that just went 1-15 great rankings.

[fatkirstyalley]

All these so-called experts know as much as we do. Nothing. It will play itself out on field. That said, I disagree with the Linebackers portion

[mullingan]

Originally Posted by feelthepain

Are there any coaches in your world? It seems you think it's all about talent. I think it's more about coaching. The Ginats didn't win the SB because they were more talented then the Pats, they won because thye out coached the Pats.

BB is a great HC, smart, detail oriented, disciplined to an extent. However he's also extremely arrogant. The Pats lost the SB because BB thought they were so much better then the Giants that the Pats didn't need to show the Giants the respect they deserved. Classic example of being over confident costing them the championship. That's clearly the coaching.

Miami was 1-15 due the worst coaching job I've ever seen, not because the talent level. We still managed to finish better then several teams statistically even though we had the worst record. Miami's defense was in some sort of flux, trying things they shouldn't have been trying. Playing players out of position, playing between the 3-4 and 4-3. We were ill prepared for the season, players out of shape, player no prepared to start...like Beck. We get rid of ST players we should have kept especially since we made such drastic changes to the coaching staff and need to be as strong as we could be in all aspects of our team. Cam just came in and made changes that left this team in disarray.

Miami was 1-15 due to the coaching decisions more then any other reason in 07. Teams that go from worst to first in one season do so more from structure and good coaching, then player talent. Bring in a stable atmosphere and a focus with good work ethic and you'll see almost instant improvements. Most of the players in the NFL can play at this level, it's up to the coaches to use that talent efficiently to maximize the winning %.

Pretty good assesment if you ask me. Of course, a pretty injury riddled starting lineup forcing 2nd and 3rd stringers to start was also a big reason towards the middle/end of the year. I think this also could be attibuted to the coaching staff and the lackadaisicle attitude.

The whole environment and attitude has changed in Miami this year. I really think that, not only will we surprise some team early, the teams in our division will realize that this is a hard nosed, punch you in the mouth, and beat you up all day type of football team and they will be the ones come the second time around, that will see us on the schedule and know that there is a war coming up.

[SpaceMountain16]

I thought all ESPN did was talk about Brett Favre on Favrecenter

[Vaark]

I don't mind what outsiders think or how, in their judgment they rate us going in to this year. The team definitely deserves to be viewed with wary skepticism. And as I heard Jimmy Cefalo discussing this with Kim Bokamper yesterday, the FO will be continually upgrading, leaving no stone unturned, right up until the last cut, so at this juncture the Fins continue to be an amorphous work-in-progress.

What's more revealing to me, is using this kind of outside feedback NEXT YEAR as a realistic, no axes to grind barometer of how much progress we've made.