Mid Week Nuggets

by Matty I on Apr 3, 2008 12:05 AM EDT in 2012 Miami Dolphins News

DOLPHINS ALMOST INVOLVED IN 3 WAY DEAL?
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Browns' GM Phil Savage decided to increase his offer to QB Derek Anderson because he feared a potential 3 way deal. About this deal, Savage said:

"It didn't matter if I was pretty convinced or just slightly. The threat of that being there [influenced him to raise the Browns' offer]."

So what exactly was the deal? Apparently, Savage believed that the Cowboys would sign Anderson to an offer sheet that included a "poison pill" that Cleveland couldn't match. Dallas would then give Cleveland their #28 pick and their 3rd rounder as compensation. The Cowboys would have then turned around and sent Anderson and the #22 draft pick to the Dolphins for the #1 overall pick, which they would have obviously used to select Darren McFadden.

Interesting, huh? Why did Savage get this feeling? According to the paper, Savage said that he believed Bill Parcells really liked Anderson and he got worried when Parcells wouldn't answer phone calls prior to the February 29 tender deadline. That's what supposedly tipped Savage off. He also felt the Cowboys were out to get the Browns because of the success they had last year, lowering their draft pick that was to be sent over to Dallas in the Brady Quinn deal last draft day.

Now, nobody really knows if any of this is accurate. Nobody in the Dolphins' organization has ever come out and said a word about Derek Anderson. But the fact that Savage, who is a smart guy and knows how to run a team, was that paranoid really shows the kind of respect this Dolphins organization is getting around the league with this new regime in town. And that's what excites me the most. Other teams fear what Bill Parcells and company might do. I doubt Randy Mueller ever got this much respect from other teams.

As far as the actual trade, I wonder if there is any truth to it. I personally hope not, as I don't think Anderson and the #22 pick is enough to move up to the first overall pick. And like I said, I really didn't want any part of Anderson in Miami.

But we don't have to worry about that now. The most important thing to take out of this is that Bill Parcells scares other teams. And that's something that will benefit the Dolphins for as long as Bill remains in Miami.

NFL MAKES RULE CHANGES
At the Owners Meetings yesterday, a couple key rules changes were made. The biggest rule changed was the rule formerly known as the "force out" rule.

In the past, if a receiver was pushed out of bounds while leaping into the air to catch a pass, the referee could call the play as a reception if he felt the player would have landed in bounds had he not been pushed. Well not anymore. Probably due to how hard it was to judge this, no longer will a receiver be allowed to come down without two feet inbounds and get credit for the reception due to a "force out." Now, the receiver must come down with 2 feet in bounds, regardless of if he is shoved out of bounds in the air.

I think that this is actually a very big rule change, as it now kind of shrinks the width of the field a little bit. Cornerbacks and safeties will now be taught to really try and get a big hit on a receiver who goes airborne along the sidelines to make a catch. It also means that scoring inside the redzone will be a little bit tougher now, as it'll be much more challenging for a receiver to make a catch along the sidelines or in the back of the endzone.

Personally, I have mixed feelings on this. But I guess it removes one aspect of a potentially unfair human judgment call by refs. But I do want to hear what you guys think about this.

Another noticeable rule change for the upcoming season will be the abandonment of the "5 yard face mask" penalty. Major face mask penalties will remain 15 yard penalties. However, the minor face mask penalty, described as accidentally grabbing the face mask and then immediately letting go, will no longer be a penalty. A good decision, in my view, though I'm sure it will create some kind of controversy at some point during the season.

There were also a few more minor rule changes that you can read about here.

Thoughts below...

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Comments

I like 'em

I've been quoted before as hating how so many changes are made to help the passing game in the NFL, essentially handicapping the defenses. Getting rid of that "force out" rule helps balance that out a little more.

Also a huge fan of the incidental face-mask thing, even if it does add another level of human judgment. When a player grabs the facemask but lets go, how long is too long?

I often just trust NFL referees to do their jobs well. Statistics show that most of them are fair, and, having refereed before, I can empathize with how absolutely impossible their job actually is.

by ratenxs on Apr 3, 2008 12:49 AM EDT reply actions

I Gwould love that trade

Getting Anderson and a first round pick for the number one pick. I would do it in a heart beat. A good starting QB and a good defensive player at 22. I wouldnt be surprised to see Bill and Jerry working like this in the future. Go getem Bill!!!

by jvw on Apr 3, 2008 12:59 AM EDT reply actions

well one good year by a decent qb

amazing he had good wr's and a good offense overall. notice how bad he was in games in the end of the season.when D.A was midway i loved how well he was doing, but he faded fast. I dont think he is what we need right now due to the fact our offense isnt as good as clev.'s is. He will digress here. Back to his formal 2nd string self, just my opinion though.

by alnightlng on Apr 3, 2008 3:22 AM EDT reply actions

I agree but

Don't forget it was his first year starting. Teams where able to pick up his mistakes and exploite them. A big strong smart QB still learning I think our coaching staff would continue to develop this kid. Don't underestimate what our Offense will be like this year. We will have a big strong #2 WR who is used to being the 1. He will catch the tough catches and move the chains. I also think Ginn will be much better in his second yr and we will have good field position due to our special teams. Our running game will solid and we play a week schedule outside of our division. I think we can get 9 wins if we get good play out of our QB.

by jvw on Apr 3, 2008 11:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Force out

I'd be fine with them dropping the rule if the NFL had the college one foot inbounds rule. I've never felt like there was too much scoring in football, but I felt like last year was a pretty good amount, I wouldn't have been unhappy with a 2 or 3 PPG bump on average. So in this case, a rule that hampers the offense, I don't like. As I said, if it was 1 foot in bounds, that gives a receiver on the sidelines a chance, but now we'll be seeing lower scoring averages because teams have less field to work with and zone defenses have less to worry about covering.

by Offer Doll on Apr 3, 2008 7:06 AM EDT reply actions

I'm with you OD...

the "one foot" college rule would certainly improve scoring and offset the defenders tendency to just shove the guy out of bounds.

by LeftCoastFinFan on Apr 3, 2008 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Rule Change

50/50 on this one. If you like defense this is great but last minute, exciting, game winning drives are going to be less. I don't know why this change took place. Why take a judgement call from the refs? That is why they are there. The facemask rule change creates more of a judgement call for the refs. I believe that the new facemask rule is going to cause a lot more 15 yard penalties. The refs are still going to call the small face mask penalties. Great, now the Bob Kraft controlled NFL can hit teams that are winning a close one in Foxborough with a 15 yard penalty for a finger that bumps Brady's facemask. Due to the speed of the game, this inadvertent facemask bump will be a 15 yard penalty. . . guaranteed.

Phatfinfan

by phatfinfan on Apr 3, 2008 7:42 AM EDT reply actions

I dont like the rule changes either

If the refs are having trouble with judgement calls then you have to re-edumacate the refs.
Especially since officating has been shot to hell.
Also wont the facemask penalty become a judgement call as well now with the removal of the 5 -yard infraction?

by Patssuck456 on Apr 3, 2008 9:00 AM EDT up reply actions

it always was a judgement call.

I just think the 15 yarder is easier to see, since you basically have to jerk the guys head around.
i think the problem with the 5 yd version is that it was inconsistently called. It was too often missed altogether.

by LeftCoastFinFan on Apr 3, 2008 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions

force out...

I think the main reason they got rid of the force out is because besides being a judgement call by the referee with is sometimes way to close to call it really dont happen as often as you think. I was listening to a local sportstalk radio and they stated that the "force out" was only called 13 times all of last year. So taking that into account I believe that this is a good change and takes some judgement off the refs.
As for the facemask change this is also one that didnt necessarily need to be changed, but is a decent change. I mean if a def. players hand touches the facemask its 5yds. I think the refs without a doubt will be able to clarify which ones are personal fouls or not. So I agree with both changes.
One other change although it isnt a "rule" change is the headsets in the helmets on a defensive player. I believe this is the biggest thing to come out of the meetings besides Sparano speaking :) It only passed by one vote I believe 25-7 (need 24 to pass).

There will be changes here, there's no doubt about that ~BP~

by jwillis9 on Apr 3, 2008 7:55 AM EDT reply actions

Agreed

I think they're going to have one hell of a time this year with the radios in def. helmets.

Matt

by Matt27 on Apr 3, 2008 12:28 PM EDT up reply actions

Anything...

that makes the field smaller for Brady and Moss, is fine by me !

by sportssaga on Apr 3, 2008 8:24 AM EDT reply actions

air it out

the passing game used to be about route running not just the tallest guys going up for a jump ball... i like it... i would like to see football return to a defense/ground game again...

by misterx on Apr 3, 2008 8:53 AM EDT reply actions

Facemask penalty problem

In the past if you felt your hand hit an offensive players facemask, players might have let go and avoid a 15 yard penalty.
Now if you feel a face mask, might as well make it worth the 15 yards and yank his ass down by it.
This point was brought up on WEEI which is Boston's sports talk radio station.

by MarkDuper85 on Apr 3, 2008 9:47 AM EDT reply actions

I don't think it will work that way.

I think the 15 yarder is the same, a blatant facemask, but there is no more penalty for the inadvertant facemask. So if the player feels the facemask and lets go without grabbing or steering the guys head, there is no penalty.

by LeftCoastFinFan on Apr 3, 2008 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Thank god

that deal didn't happend, Im not a huge Anderson fan,
to bad zach is gone with the new head set rule, we all no crowder will have problems relaying messages. he will hear that voice in his helemt and think its the police coming for him beacuse of his "drunk and drove my truck into the ditch with a gun, then ran away into the bushes"

What happend to the Killer BEEs

by FinfanT on Apr 3, 2008 10:18 AM EDT reply actions

haha

that's that UF education at work again, look at how well Emmitt speaks... and as far as Crowder having the comm. device, I would bank on it being in JT's helmet because the leader of that defense and hes on the field for every down-distance situation. Teams are gonna have to figure out what player plays every defensive snap and what player will be in if the other one is hurt/injured/subbed out. I think we'll see guys across the league at every defensive position with a green dot.

http://canemutiny.blogspot.com A fans view of Miami Hurricanes Football and Basketball

by Little Nicky 21 on Apr 3, 2008 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions

I imagine

that Cam Worrell and the rest of the present dolphins secondary are trying to figure out a way to push Randy Moss out of bounds when he jumps for a ball say, between the hashmarks :)

As for the fearing Parcells & Co., well the flip side to that is many teams become doubly leery of making trades with the dolphins. And since many people in this blog cling to the hope of trading out of #1 overall - that might not be such a good thing.

Ultimately what matters is that our management makes good choices - trades or no trades.

About rule changes, or rather those that were skipped - the 'hair' issue as well as the playoff reseeding for wildcard & division champs, both appear to be near dead for the moment.

by Natalya on Apr 3, 2008 11:09 AM EDT reply actions

Remember Tony Bua?

I bet that guy could knock Randy Moss out of bounds from the hashmark!

About the other rule changes, the one that hasn't been mentioned (and one of my personal favorites) is the "defer" option at the initial coin toss.

Now, as much of a football junkie as I am, I had never paid much attention to the coin toss rules... I just always figured that it was pretty simple; the toss the coin, winner picks between choice of goals and kick/return. Whoever kicks off in the first half, gets the ball first in the 2nd half. WRONG ANSWER. I had just assumed this because that's what almost always happens. The teams that wins the toss chooses to receive, and then the other team takes the ball first at the half.

But because of this rule change, I learned something new... the team that loses the coin toss at the start of the game, get the CHOICE of what to do in the second half. So If I win the toss and elect to defend a goal, the other team will take the ball, and then in the 2nd half they can choose to start with the ball again. Savvy? :)

I didn't know this, but the old rule kinda keeps teams from winning the toss and choosing sides because of bad weather.

Now they can win the toss, and defer their choice until the second half. Not sure how much difference it will actually make, but the owners overwhelmingly approved of it (sometimes i think they like to approve things that don't matter just to make it look lik ethey are doing something).

by LeftCoastFinFan on Apr 3, 2008 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions

with all the ST additons

you have a valid point, Ginn had a couple of flashes at returns, this year should be his break out..

What happend to the Killer BEEs

by FinfanT on Apr 3, 2008 3:30 PM EDT reply actions

I like the both changes

It seems like for the past few years all the changes have been all for the offense ro rules have been heavily favored for offense (some rightfully so. QB out the pocket can throw the ball away to avoid a sack. A the literal babying of the QBs in general. A defensive player can't touch a offensive players after 5 years. And the face mask are getting so big lately (too me anyway). The game/players are moving so quickly the the defensive players are sometimes just trying to grab the ball carries and accidentally grabs part of the face mask and lets go, which I think is fine. If he grabs the mask and doesn't let go, hit em with the 15 yarder.

You Savvy?

by Neo on Apr 3, 2008 11:54 PM EDT reply actions