As it stands right now, the Dolphins currently have 83 players on their roster.  The limit to enter training camp in July is 80.  I would expect the next round of cuts to come following the next mini-camp, which is a voluntary mini-camp scheduled for May 23 and lasting through the 25.

But who might be next to go?  And I'm not talking about the undrafted free agents here.  To my count, there are 15 undrafted free agents currently under contract by the Dolphins.  Those 15 I'm excluding from this talk because they are, after all, undrafted players.  So their expectations are far lower.

And here's another interesting stat to just ponder.  Of the 83 players currently under contract by the Dolphins, 45 of them were signed, drafted, or traded by this new regime during this off-season.  That means that 54% of the roster right now was brought in by Bill Parcells and company.  If you take away the 15 undrafted free agents, you're then talking about 30 of 68 (44%) players being "new regime" players.  And there's a very good chance that, when all is said and done, at least 50% of the players on the 53 man roster were guys brought in this off-season.  That's a ridiculously high roster turnover.

So now the question becomes which of the 38 "non-new regime" players might be the next to be dumped.  And that's what I wanted to quickly examine today.

Today we'll talk about the offensive "skill" position players.  Those that might not make it to September include:

RB Patrick Cobbs
FB Reagan Mauia
WR Greg Camarillo
TE David Martin
TE Justin Peelle
TE Aaron Halterman

For Cobbs, the math is simple.  Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams are locks to be on the 53 man roster barring any setbacks from their recent injuries.  Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland also decided to draft two more running backs to add into the mix.  Jalen Parmele is most likely going to be the one pushing Cobbs the most as the team's 3rd halfback.  In fact, Ireland all but declared after the draft that Parmele has the inside track to the roster spot.  As long as he shows he can play special teams, he'll likely have every opportunity to win the job.

The other back taken, Lex Hilliard, reminds me of a short-yardage halfback/fullback combination type of player.  I think he'll push more for a roster spot as a fullback more so than the 3rd running back, meaning Reagan Mauia is on notice.  Remember, the team also signed Boomer Grigsby this off-season and he'll be on the 53 man roster for sure thanks to his special teams prowess.  Also don't forget Mauia was arrested a few weeks back for punching a man in a parking lot of a restaurant.  So yea, he should be worried.

The only receiver on this list is Camarillo.  He's one of just 3 hold-overs from a year ago.  And some might think Derek Hagan should be on this list.  But I just have a feeling that this regime isn't ready to give up on him.  He's got good size and runs good routes.  He just needs to hold on to the damn ball more often.  Despite the drops, though, he did have the highest success rate of all the receivers on the team last year that caught 10 or more passes.

Camarillo was a Cam Cam favorite but originally earned a spot last year as a special teamer.  Bad news for Greg: the new regime has brought in a ton of special teams players, not to mention numerous free agent wide receivers (Wilford, Perry, Kircus, Bess, Foster, etc...).  I like the kind of route runner Camarillo seems to be, though, and it seems like he has reliable hands.  He'll just need to play very well in camp to hold off the newcomers.

As for the tight ends, this is going to be one of the more competitive position battles in camp.  All 3 listed above are far from guaranteed a roster spot and, right now, I have no idea who is ahead here.  The signing of Sean Ryan and the trade for Anthony Fasano means that there's a good chance only one of the above make the final roster.  Fasano is all but guaranteed a roster spot and Ryan stands a good chance of making the team as the 3rd tight end.  So I would suspect that Martin and Peelle will battle it out to be Fasano's primary backup as a receiving tight end.  Martin is the better receiving tight end, though you wouldn't know it form watching last season's games.  He's faster and more athletic than Peelle, but Peelle is a better blocker and was more reliable in the passing game last year, especially in the red zone.

We'll look at more of the roster in the coming days.  But out of the guys listed above, who is the next to go?

Here's something interesting that a reader e-mailed to me, after which I further looked into it.

Earlier today, Yahoo's Jason Cole was on the Jorge Sedano Show on 790 The Ticket.  Cole and Sedano talked about things like "spygate" and the Cedric Benson stuff.  But at the very end of the interview, which can be heard right here, Cole tells Sedano that he was on the set of Dancing With The Stars earlier this week.  Sedano then asks Cole if there's any news on Jason Taylor, to which Cole replies:

"Not yet.  Maybe either tomorrow or Monday there'll be a story on it."

Could there actually be some new info on this JT saga?  Maybe.  Or it could be that Cole wants people waiting for his latest column on Yahoo! Sports and he's trying to just drum up some interest in it. 

I guess we'll have to wait and see what Cole has, if he indeed has anything at all.

Jason Taylor:  Football Can "Suck It"
Alright, so maybe JT didn't exactly say that.  But you have to imagine that's what Bill Parcells is thinking upon the announcement that Jason will be taking part in a charity golf event in Iowa on May 28.  Now, sure, it's for charity.  And that's a great thing and always has been one of the great things about Taylor.  He's always looking to take part in charity events or give back to the community.

But, at some point, doesn't Taylor actually have to show up in Davie and become an active part of this football team again?  As it stands now, Taylor is committed to Dancing With the Stars until he either wins or is eliminated.  Should Jason reach the finals of the competition (if you want to call it that), then he'll be in Los Angeles until May 20.  This golf commitment of his is on May 28.  In between, on May 21 to be exact, the next rounds of OTAs (organized team activities) begin in Davie.  So though it's likely Taylor makes it to the facility for those, he obviously doesn't plan on sticking around.

Now sure, Taylor is a great, great player.  And you can't expect any veteran player to be around all the time during the off-season.  But, damn, shouldn't the supposed leader of the team be around a little bit more than most vets?  And isn't his presence even more important now since this franchise is going through changes, with new coaches and many, many new players?  Taylor is the supposed "face of the franchise."  But you know, he sure isn't acting like he wants that title. 

Listen, I'm a huge fan of Taylor and respect him greatly.  But enough is god damn enough.  How are the young players on this team and the new faces on this team supposed to respect Taylor when he isn't even around?  Here's my final thought on Taylor:  If his mind, body, and soul isn't 100% into the game of football, then I don't want him around this team.  Hopefully he gets all this extra crap out of his system by July when training camp rolls around.  But right now, I'm just not convinced he still has the mindset to be an elite football player.

I hope I'm wrong.

TALKING LATE-ROUND RBs
There is a very good read in the Sun-Sentinel about the two backs that the Dolphins selected in the 6th round of the draft.

Former Toledo RB Jalen Parmele, though, is the one I'm personally more intrigued with.  And the Sun-Sentinel reports that Parmele looked especially sharp, showing a "good burst off the line."  About his running style and being teammates with Ricky and Ronnie, Parmele says:

"I tried to run like Ricky because he ran with power. I expect to learn from both of them and improve from them."

What impresses me more, though, about Parmele is his character and work ethic.  You'll remember back on day 2 of the draft that GM Jeff Ireland said that they felt Parmele would be the team's 3rd RB this year.  Jalen took that as motivation to work hard:

"That put pressure on me to prove I could be out there getting things done and to learn the offense as best and as fast as I can"

I love it when players, especially young players, put pressure on themselves.  Most 6th round picks might not feel much pressure because their draft status just doesn't place any undo pressure on them.  But Parmele knows that he has a roster spot within reach and I suspect he will earn that spot and be the 3rd back behind Ronnie and Ricky. 

As for Lex Hilliard, he's got a good story too, bouncing back from a torn ACL his junior year.  I suspect that his niche, though, would be as a fullback more so than as a halfback.  That means he'll have to battle with Reagan Mauia and Boomer Grigsby for a roster spot.

Thoughts below...

And be sure cast your vote for who you think will be the starting QB in week one, located in the right sidebar.

Right now, many of us are very excited for the future of this franchise.  But today I wanted to simply take some time to talk about my favorite (and many of yours, as well) Miami Dolphin:  Ronnie Brown.

I don't think enough can be said about the kind of season Ronnie was on his way towards having before that terrible week 7 injury that ended his season (yea, thanks again Cleo Lemon).  He led the league in total yards from scrimmage and was well on his way towards a 1,300+ yard rushing season and a 2,000+ yard total yards from scrimmage season.  He also had his first trip to Hawaii in sight as well.  So it was insanely frustrating watching Ronnie suffer that injury, especially doing something that he shouldn't ever have to do (making a tackle). 

So, today, let's sit back and just take some time to talk about Ronnie and just how great of a season he was having last year. 

Sure, we can talk about his 4 consecutive 100 yard rushing games or his back-to-back 200 total yard games.  But I wanted to go a different route and look and some of his key splits from the '07 season.

For example, one of the most important things you look at when examining a running back is how he does as the game wears on.  And Ronnie Brown, to his credit, really doesn't miss a beat as his carries increase:

Carries 1-5:  35-172 (3.8 ypc)
Carries 6-10:  35-249 (7.1)
Carries 11-15:  27-93 (3.4)
Carries 16-20:  16-107 (6.7)

Solid numbers across the board, which is what you want to see out of a feature back.

Another important stat for a running back is how they do in 3rd (and 4th) and short.  Again, to his credit, Brown is a great short-yardage back:

3rd and 2 or less:  4-19 (4 1st downs)
4th and 2 or less:  4-36 (4 1st downs)

That's 8 carries and 8 first downs.  Quite impressive.

And one final stat I want to throw your way before giving way to some videos, I always like to look at what running backs do when their team is backed up in their own territory.  Ronnie, again to his credit, is a great asset to the Dolphins when they are inside their own 20, as proven last year:

Inside own 20:  12-136 (11.3 ypc, 4 1st downs)

And yes, that includes Ronnie's 60 yard run against the Raiders in week 4 last year.  Now if you take away that burst, Brown still averaged 6.9 ypc in his 11 other carries inside their own 20.  Now that's getting the job done, folks.

But now we enter 2008 with Ronnie recovering from a torn ACL.  Though we've been hearing that he's been making great progress, I'm still a bit leery.  There's no need to rush him back onto the field.  I hope the Dolphins are very cautious in Ronnie's return.  But when he does return, the league better watch out.  Because now he's running behind a much improved offensive line.

So join me today in raising a glass to Ronnie Brown.  May his recovery go smoothly and may he run right through NFL defenses for the next 5 to 10 years in Miami as he did in 2007!

A few videos are below the fold...

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With all this talk about the rookies recently, I think that there's one new acquisition that might actually be getting overlooked in many fans' eyes.  The signing of former Jaguars WR Ernest Wilford is really going to have a nice positive effect on this Miami offense.  At 6'4, 233, he may not be flashy.  But he's big and physical and will provide our quarterback (whoever it happens to be) with a reliable target on key plays.

Reliability is something that the Dolphins lacked a lot of last season.  Consider that there was no wide receiver on the Dolphins roster last season who caught more than 50% of the passes that were thrown their way (excluding Greg Camarillo, who was only targeted 10 times, catching 8 passes).  The receiver with the highest catch percentage last year in Miami?  Derek Hagan, with a success rate of 50%.

Last season with Jacksonville, Ernest Wilford had a success rate of 61%, catching 45 passes on 74 total targets.  That's rather impressive when you consider some of the success rates of the game's top receivers:  Randy Moss - 62%, Braylon Edwards - 52%, Terrell Owens - 57%, Chad Johnson - 58%, Steve Smith - 58%, Larry Fitzgerald - 60%, and Torry Holt - 63%; just to name a few.

But it's not all that fair to compare Wilford's success rate with the above because the players above were also targeted much more often.  But if you take a look at the success rates of players who have around the same amount of targets, you'll still see Wilford's figure stands superior: 

Ernest Wilford:  61% (45/74)
Donte Stallworth:  61% (46/75)
Brandon Stokely:  56% (40/71)
Drew Carter:  51% (38/74)
Drew Bennett:  45% (33/73)

As you can see, Wilford's numbers remain impressive when you talk about other wide receivers in his class.

But this is only part of the impact (and improvement) of the acquisition of Wilford.  The man is also a first-down machine, something the Dolphins sorely lacked last season.  And for comparison's sake, we will look at Wilford's numbers as compared to the player he's replacing here in Miami, Marty Booker.

And before we get into anything, I did want to point out one key stat.  Last season, following the trade of Chris Chambers to San Diego, most of us figured that this meant Marty Booker would really have to step up and play well.  After all, he was now starting opposite of a rookie wide receiver.  Instead, Booker went on to struggle.  Rather than being the reliable set of hands that Miami's quarterback could turn to, Booker "officially" dropped 7 passes (though, as many Dolphin fans know, that's being generous).  Wilford, for comparison, dropped just 2 last season.

Moving on to my "moving the chains" point, one of the most important stats you can look at for a wide receiver is their 3rd down production.  And this is where Ernest Wilford is really going to make a big impact in Miami.  Below are the stats for both Wilford and Booker on 3rd downs in 2007:

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The Dolphins today have announced the signings of CB Scorpio Babers and LB Keith Saunders.  Both were undrafted free agents who were given the opportunity to workout at the team's recently concluded rookie mini-camp.

Also, the Dolphins have waived 4 players, two of which were with the team last year.  Those two are LB Abraham Wright and DE Derrick Robinson.  Wright, you'll remember, was a training camp standout last year under Cam Cameron and Dom Capers.  Many thought he would make an ideal pass-rushing outside linebacker in Miami's 3-4.  Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland clearly disagree.

The two other players Miami has let go are WR Marcel Reece and CB Aaron Lane, both of which were undrafted free agents who the Dolphins signed last week after the draft.

Incase you've been living under a rock for the past 48 hours, you know that the main story of this weekend for the Dolphins was their rookie mini-camp, the first one of 2008.  And with it's conclusion on Sunday, there's really only one thing that Dolphin fans (and football fans in general) are thinking:  Football season can't get here soon enough.  All this weekend's mini-camp really did was wet my appetite for, of course, more football.  But we'll have to wait a little bit for that.

Here are some of the storylines that came out of this weekend's mini-camp:

A NEW ERA HAS BEGUN
For Tony Sparano, this weekend really marked the beginning of what will hopefully be a successful head coaching career.  And he was just as excited as anyone to get on the practice field for the first time.  On Friday, Sparano shared with the media:

"It was great. I was excited; didn’t sleep much last night. All of the administrative stuff for me, from that standpoint, was put behind me last evening and I was excited to get out here and get on the field."

And with that, a brand new era kicked off in Miami for the 2nd time in as many years.  But as Dolphin fans, we're all hoping this one is different.  And we're hoping it's long-term.

The good news is that it does seem different right now.  In all of Sparano's press briefings the past few days, he's shown us all that he is indeed a "football guy."  He's not going to put spin on anything like Cam Cameron did.  And he doesn't seem like a blatant liar like Nick Saban.  Instead, he comes off as a person who is just excited to be on the field again and who will tell it like it is.  How refreshing is that?

Take the following as a good example of this.  On Saturday, Sparano was asked what jumped out the most after watching the tape of Friday's practice.  Sparano could have said something like "great effort."  But he didn't.  He said:

"I think what I saw last night after viewing the film is I saw, clearly in my mind, we had some guys who lacked some stamina, some conditioning and some of those things. As we got on in practice, you could see that show up. And the point I just tried to make to them in the meeting this morning is that this is just a small sample of what’s going to happen and what lies ahead."

Then to further make a point about conditioning, Sparano had this to say about the signing of UDFA Anthony Toribio:

"Honestly, I think one of the things, and to his credit certainly not to ours, he came in here and he was in outstanding shape."

That's right.  It seems we got a no-nonsense, straight-shooter in Miami.  It's about damn time if you ask me.  Let's just hope things turn out differently under this head coach than they have under the team's previous 3 or 4.

DAVONE BESS IMPRESSES
One of the hot topics entering this mini-camp was which of the undrafted free agents that the Dolphins brought in would take this opportunity to stand out from everyone else.  The answer?  Hawaii WR Davone Bess.  And this doesn't come as a shock to me because, like many, I thought the signing of Bess following the draft was an outstanding move.

The Pam Beach Post writes that the Dolphins new offensive coordinator, Dan Henning, is really taken a liking to Bess:

Offensive coordinator Dan Henning, a veteran of 28 NFL seasons, likes what he has seen from rookie wideout Davone Bess. Sure hands. Sharp routes. Nice dreads.

Henning, 65, looked to narrow the generational gap when he complimented Bess' signature blond-tipped dreadlocks during Saturday's practice.

Henning, who even asked Bess for the name of his hairdresser, may have been joking. But for Bess, it was nice to be noticed again.

Even Sparano has taken notice of this former Hawaii standout:

"I see a player that has pretty good ball skills right now. He certainly needs to do some things from a conditioning standpoint. But the one thing with him is, he has been in an offense where they are running a bunch of routes every game. I think that is a positive."

I said this once and I'll say it again because I really believe it:  Davone Bess is going to be a Miami Dolphin in 2008.  Call me crazy, but I really like the idea of lining up Ernest Wilford and Derek Hagan on the outside and Teddy Ginn and Bess in the slots when Miami goes with 4 wide receivers.  I think that Bess' quick-twitch ability will really allow him to effectively work the middle of the field to get open.  Many NFL corners will have some issues with how quick Bess can get in and out of his breaks.  Just watch his Hawaii highlights and you can see a player who runs good routes and who knows how to get open.  And I don't care who it's against.  The ability to effectively get open is something that you really can't teach.  Bess just has a great feel for the game.

QUICK HITS
Here are a few other things that came out of camp:

-Chad Henne had a tough day on Sunday but that's to be expected.

-Jake Long is showing why he was a number 1 pick.   Many reports all claim that he looked so much lighter on his feet than anyone else despite being the largest of all the offensive linemen participating in camp.  It's early, but that's good news.

-Early reports are that Phillip Merling looked a little sluggish at times.  But that's too be expected when you consider he's coming off surgery and isn't in football shape yet.  He did show great strength, though, when he was taking part in drills and such.

Thoughts below...

[Editor's Note by Matty I] A big thanks to KCarr9 for sharing some of his observations from today.  His thoughts can be found after the jump. [end note]

When I arrived at the facility there wasnt alot of people there, maybe 75 at the most, so I was pretty excited that I got to see the dolphins rookies so early. They started by giving us a tour of the bubble, weight room, and team meeting room, that was interesting but paled in comparison to actually watching the rookies play. Im not an NFL scout but im coming into my senior season at the Varsity level for my high school. I was a little disappointed that the defense practiced so far away but the offense ended up being more exciting anyway. I ended up taking some mental notes on a few of the players and thought i would share.

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