Preview of the 2014 Miami Dolphins

I knew going into this year Miami was in trouble at linebacker. After their piss poor play this year. The need to upgrade at linebacker is a 10.

Rex Ryan got the shaft. He is a very good coach and I would be beyond thrilled if he was Miami's DC next year which is just a dream.

When things don't go the way they should, or the way you want them to. A lot of people and fans (cough cough Big Rome) want to implode everything. What most people don't realize is that most times change for the sake of change is a bad thing. You should only change when that brings improvement. I'm sure bigrome would be thrilled if Dolphins dumped Tannehill and brought in Luke McCown....until the 3rd quarter of week 1 when he would be begging Tannehill to come back

Firing Harbaugh and Rex Ryan most likely will not turn out great because they are 2 above average coaches. I'm just glad Miami plays the Jets in London next year instead of in Miami week 17

Well brutha the season is over for us Fin Fans. Another 8-8 season in the books. It was nice chatting with you this season but I'm hoping next season we are chatting about the Dolphins finally making the playoffs with a chance to win the Super bowl lol.

I'll probably look for you during draft time. We basically need everything you can think of in next years draft lol. We don't need anything sexy ( QB, RB, WR) we need some trench players. Solidify the o-line, linebackers, and DB's are the important ones on my list during Free agency and the draft. But that is just my opinion. Rex Ryan as DC would be a nice bonus. I'm not sure what happened to the defense later in the season but they made Geno Smith look like Marino yesterday.

I'm not hooked on Thomas like you but Miller was a bright side for me this season. I don't think Moreno will be back next season but if he can stay healthy I would welcome him back. Gore might be an option as I think he is a free agent next season but that is looking too far ahead.

Anyway take care brutha

Aloha!  

Yeah I do remember that  appreciate the kind words. I took a quick look at your question and here are my thoughts. Miami didn't really have any tight games this year that required game winning drives, but here are the closest I could find

vs GB - Fins were down 17-10 in 4th quarter. Tannehill led two TD drives and Miami had 24-17 lead only to lose on last play of game to Rodgers.

vs Det: was 13-13, Tannehill led them down for a FG to go ahead 16-13, only to lose 20-16 in final seconds.

vs Broncos: Only real close game Tannehill didn't shine in 4th. Dolphins were down 4 with 5 minutes left. He threw a pass alittle behind that was picked Miami went down 11. He led them to a TD with a minute left to lose by 3.

vs Jets: Fins down 13-6 in 4th Q. Dolphins outscore Jets 10-0 in 4th to win by 3.

vs Minnesota: Dolphins down 7 with 4 minutes left, Tannehill leads them down to tie it and they win on blocked punt.....So basically Tannehill had 3 chances to lead his team to GW or game tying drive. (Det, Den, Min)He converted on 2 of those 3 opportunities

Also, last year he did well in the clutch. He led 4th Q comebacks vs Atlanta and NE on the last drive of the game. They were also down 3 vs the Bengals with under 2 minutes and he led them back to tie and they won in OT. They were also down 3 to the Ravens in the final minutes and he led them down to FG range but Sturgis missed.

All in all I definitely trust him with the game on the line. He should only get better but he has proven enough to me that he is clutch.

A lot of questions this offseason and I trust Hickey will answer them. I was happy with what he did last offseason.

I would not mind at all if they got rid of Daniel Thomas. I like him and my biggest problem with all the heat he catches from fans. Everytime he touches the ball he runs hard and is pretty productive. He is nothing more than a 3rd down back but he is solid. I really think Dolphins will bring in a power back, hopefully they can stay healthy and produce. Miller/Moreno would have been a sweet combo and would have helped Tannehill and O-line a lot.

As they say, there is always next year. Coyle has to go. No excuse for the defense to look like the best in NFL and then completely fall off the map. He needs to go and take Wilson, Wheeler and Misi with him. 

lol and he can take Ellerbe as well with him. That should free up a lot of cap space next season. We need excellent depth at o-line. The starters are solid but once injuries started occurring it all went downhill from there. That's why I stated we don't need sexy picks next season. I'd rather solidify the o-line, linebackers, and DB's. The Dolphins could have Andre and Calvin Johnson on offense and would probably still be a bottom tier offense without a solid o-line. I love the toughness of Tannehill. Taking that many sacks since the beginning of his NFL career and he keeps on ticking.

The 2 issues I want him to work on in the offseason is his accuracy with the deep ball and his leadership. There were some issues that I saw with the short and mid level passes to where he threw the ball behind his WR's as oppose to leading them but he got a little better as the season progressed. I would like to see Tannehill get more vocal with his offense. Basically get on them when they miss a block, run the wrong routes, drop balls, etc. as oppose to the "aw shucks" type of emotion. I could be wrong and he does get on them but I basically never see it. It's basically the same problem with the Hawaii Heisman winner Mariota. Got all the talent and athletic ability but lacks that vocal leadership.

With all that said I love the improvements Tannehill has made every year so I'm looking for an even better year for Tannehill next season.

Quote Originally Posted by shiek:

Thanks for feedback.  The Denver game was only game I got to see and don't think that was his fault.     I think u or some1 else reminded me he started out as wr so it's probably best to allow him time.    Glad to see he's doing so well cuz he's a class act.  Maybe yall will finally be able to beat out NE next yr, which I think we all can agree would be quite welcomed.

Hands down, Tannehill's biggest attribute is his toughness. He has started 48 out of 48 to start his career and he takes a beating. He took a beating his rookie year. He had the worst offensive line in the NFL last year and was sacked 54 times I believe and hit on almost every play. This year he wasn't sacked as much but he took a beating thanks mainly to Dallas Thomas.

He is tough as they come.

go 1-3 down the stretch with THREE of the games being at home and allow him to come back... that is the problem with this organization and why they won't win anything for a long, long time....   just a gutless team with horrible ownership...  the DEFENSE the last three games might have been the worse in the league.  smh..

Thank you for not stopping by my thread all year except to tell us how great you are.

Quote Originally Posted by suuma:

https://espn.go.com/blog/miami-dolphins/post/_/id/12827/walkers-dolphins-mock-draft-1-0

Initial opinion ?

James Walker is a hack and I would put no stock in anything he says. He just reads what other people say and then regurgitates it, and then throws in something about the bullying scandal.

I'm 100% sure Miami will take LB, OL or Melvin Gordon in the first round.

Looking more in-depth, I take a step back from saying 100% OL, LB or MG. I could definitely see Miami taking WR Kevin White, but most likely will be taking O-line which I am perfectly fine with. I do think OLB is kind of a position of need. It really depends on Dion Jordan though and their internal feelings on him. I trust him and wish he would play all OLB.

I trust Hickey in the draft. He hit on Juwaun James when it looked like he reached. Odds definitely on them taking OL, with White and Thompson a small chance. imo

Out of the 8-9 linebackers the Dolphins have. The only ones I like/trust are Jordan, Jenkins and Mccain. Miami definitely needs an inside linebacker, but I think they just need linebackers in general. I like Jenkins but I don't think he can really cover. That leaves 2 LBs who I really trust and even those guys have questions attached.

Getting an athletic linebacker who can cover would benefit this team a lot I think, but like you said Hickey will most likely fill a need at Oline. The Dolphins really need to have a plan and execute it on their linebackers because last year they did nothing and it killed them this season. LB needs to be upgraded or else Miami will stay mediocre.

Miami has a lot of options and can go a lot of different ways. They have a lot of positions where 1 more player can change that position from okay to good, or from good to great.

I would have no problem if Miami went boring and took an offensive lineman at 14. I would be okay with them taking Gordon, or Gurley because they need a power back and they have a lot of potential. I also have no problem if they went WR because they need one. To me, CB is the 2nd most important position in the NFL besides QB so I would not complain if they reached for Wayans.

The only position I would be PISSED if they drafted in the first round are QB, TE and DL. I wouldn't be happy if they took DT but I would live with it.

The player I want the most in the draft is probably Kevin White. I saw some mocks of Miami trading upto 8 to get him. I will be happy as long as they take OL, RB, WR, LB or secondary.

4,045 yards and 27 TDs. Almost right on the money