News and notes from Barry Jackson

[texs]

How much does Bushs fumbles play into his chances to get re signed or how he will be used next year? With all the talk about turnovers by the staff you know that has to be asked.

[finitis23]

Bummer note about the stadium. Upgrades to delay the need for a new one for 25 or 30 years? Sheesh. Thankfully Stephen Ross will be dead long before that.
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Hopefully the next guy has more sense about the importance of this issue. Ross has his heart in the right place about some things but he's been nothing but a penny pinching douchebag about the stadium.

Randy Starks needs to be resigned. He's a better 4-3 DT than either Odrick or Soliai, which isn't to denigrate either of those two, because they're quality players also. What we need to do is run the three of them in a rotation and acquire an actual 4-3 LDE in the Kenny Mixon mold, which we just don't have right now. Odrick simply isn't suited to play outside (he's quick up the field but no so much moving laterally) and his heavy workload out there (which was below average against the pass) hurt his production inside when we did kick him in there.

One of the untold success stories of the personnel department last year was uncovering Derrick Shelby as an UDFA and getting quality snaps out of him at DE. He's undersized for that position and was mostly used on passing downs but he's really more of a run defender. Basically what we need is a better version of him. The draft has some interesting possibilities but either way it's a position of need. It's doesn't necessarily have to be an early pick or a mega deal FA. You generally only need one DE who's adept at both. Most teams don't have the budget for two. So you cover the other side with two guys, one for the run and the other for the pass.

Right now I think we need both. Maybe between Vernon and Shelby we can cover the run downs. But I'm not sold on either guy as a pass rusher.

thats a truely unfair statement to make. is it Ross fault that the city is making it VERY difficult for the team to upgrade the stadium (almost impossible to build a new stadium) because of the Marlin's prior f@*! up? NO. i think most SENSIBLE people would say that he is doing the best he can with a small amount of wiggle room

[Adam Strange]

thats a truely unfair statement to make. is it Ross fault that the city is making it VERY difficult for the team to upgrade the stadium (almost impossible to build a new stadium) because of the Marlin's prior f@*! up? NO. i think most SENSIBLE people would say that he is doing the best he can with a small amount of wiggle room

If by "the city is making it very difficult," you mean refusing to pay for it, then yes it is and with good reason. No more public subsidies for billionaires. Let him pay for all of the costs himself (only fair since he keeps all of the profits).

[Hayden Fox]

I think Starks should be allowed to walk. 29 years old is too old for what they are building.

[Southbeach 2]

I don't agree. I don't have a PFF subscription but didn't they give Odrick a fairly low grade even for his interior pass rush snaps? I seem to remember reading that somewhere. That would certainly match up with what I saw all year, anyway. Odrick often looked totally spent rushing inside, which is understandable given he was playing a position he's not suited for athletically on run downs and trying to make up the difference with pure effort. That takes a toll on even a tremendously fit lineman such as Odrick. The result was we ended up getting like a 75 out of 100 result from a guy who should be giving you like 85 out of a 100.

Starks is stronger, more experienced and a better athlete than Odrick, especially moving laterally (better/more flexible ankles). He also does a much better job getting in lanes and knocking down passes. Odrick is quicker off the snap and more adept and knifing between blocks. He's also got a higher motor. But he flails at times and ends up on the ground more than he should.

I liked Odrick a lot, don't get me wrong. But Starks is the rarer beast. The only downside is that though he's "only" 29 he's been in the league nine years. What's that Indiana Jones quote? It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage? Starks has some serious NFL mileage on him. But... he's also been exceptionally durable for a defensive lineman. In four years here he's only missed one game.

I can't think of a good reason to let him go. Not one. Nor Soliai. You move Odrick inside and you've got one of the most dynamic rotations in the league at one of the most important positions in the game. They need to figure out the LDE and nickel pass rusher position. Maybe the combination of Odrick and Starks being fresher can provide that extra pass rush. I think that's what they were counting on this year but there just wasn't enough of a rotation to keep guys fresh. Odrick in particular seemed to be playing every snap.

Starks has been consistently one of the best DT's in the NFL, and should continue to be so for another 3-5 years. No one can dispute that.

Last year, we lost Langford, and a bit of Merling, from our rotation, and Soliai only plays little more than half the snaps. Odrick moves inside, according to him, around 25% of snaps. Without Starks, who joins the rotation, especially on passing downs when Soliai sits?

Odrick has been good vs the run at DE but, has not provided a pass rush inside or out. IMO, we need to re-sign Starks, and I would rather not re-sign Solia, after this year, and give his money to Starks.

Then, IF Vernon does not work out, we can move Odrick inside to team with Starks as every down players. Would anyone rather have Solia vs Starks?

[Southbeach 2]

If by "the city is making it very difficult," you mean refusing to pay for it, then yes it is and with good reason. No more public subsidies for billionaires. Let him pay for all of the costs himself (only fair since he keeps all of the profits).

Yeah, the economic impact on South Florida is negligible. Who the hell need all the jobs in building AAA, Marlins Stadium, and Robbie Stadium, along with the people who work there, and the retailers, hotels, bars and restaurants that thrive from them being here?

To hell with all sports franchises, we would be better off without them. A penny saved in taxes will be much better. What the hell were we thinking before?

*SARCASM ALERT !!!

[TheWalrus]

thats a truely unfair statement to make. is it Ross fault that the city is making it VERY difficult for the team to upgrade the stadium (almost impossible to build a new stadium) because of the Marlin's prior f@*! up? NO. i think most SENSIBLE people would say that he is doing the best he can with a small amount of wiggle room

Show me where he's said even once that he wants to build a new stadium.

And why should the city of Miami pay for upgrades to a stadium that's actually in Miami Gardens? The whole reason the stadium is out there is because Joe Robbie paid for it himself after fighting with city commissioners. He didn't want them to benefit from his investment and built a stadium he felt would better serve all of South Florida.

Well, there are consequences to that decision. And among them is that the city of Miami wipes it's hands of your stadium in perpetuity, since you can no longer argue that the stadium contributes to the city in terms of property tax, restaurants and hotels.

Robbie ****ed up, and now we're paying for it. If Ross wants to build a new state of the art stadium inside the city limits, he'll have my support. Wake me when that happens.

[TheWalrus]

Starks has been consistently one of the best DT's in the NFL, and should continue to be so for another 3-5 years. No one can dispute that.

Last year, we lost Langford, and a bit of Merling, from our rotation, and Soliai only plays little more than half the snaps. Odrick moves inside, according to him, around 25% of snaps. Without Starks, who joins the rotation, especially on passing downs when Soliai sits?

Odrick has been good vs the run at DE but, has not provided a pass rush inside or out. IMO, we need to re-sign Starks, and I would rather not re-sign Solia, after this year, and give his money to Starks.

Then, IF Vernon does not work out, we can move Odrick inside to team with Starks as every down players. Would anyone rather have Solia vs Starks?

My argument is that these are related. Odrick is actually a natural pass rusher. I just think he's getting too exhausted playing DE. We need to move him inside permanently to rotate with Starks and Soliai so both he and Starks can remain fresher on nickel downs.

[Southbeach 2]

My argument is that these are related. Odrick is actually a natural pass rusher. I just think he's getting too exhausted playing DE. We need to move him inside permanently to rotate with Starks and Soliai so both he and Starks can remain fresher on nickel downs.

In all due respect, Odrick is a kid who should be able to play the snaps. Hell, MANY others are doing the same. He "may" have natural pass rush instincts but, I have yet to see them. From what I have seen, his sacks and hits are created by others or, just because he is the player there.

He has to beat the man in front of him to rush the QB, have not seen that. I am not giving up on him but, Pee Wee needs to get bigger in making some plays. Vernon, Misi, and Starks (at DT) have shown him the way.

[uk_dolfan]

Thankfully Stephen Ross will be dead long before that.
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Wow
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I seriously hope you were very drunk when you wrote that