Weekend Roundup

We are now roughly a month away from the start of training camp.  And while things are slow for the moment, everything will pick up in the coming weeks.  It's bound to be an exciting time for all of us Dolphin fans who are just anxious to move on after last season. 

Here's what you may have missed this weekend while you were out and about (perhaps at a wedding like myself):

COACHES EXCITED ABOUT SAFETIES
The Miami Herald's Barry Jackson reports in his latest "Florida Sports Buzz" column that some members of the Dolphins believe they have some pretty good safeties:

Some Dolphins officials believe their safeties are better than Dallas'. Among the best battles in camp: Jason Allen (first-team snaps in May/June), Renaldo Hill (expects to be 100 percent after surgery to an anterior cruciate ligament) and former Falcons starter Chris Crocker vying to start opposite Yeremiah Bell. ''Jason has a lot of speed and I like what I see, as much as you can like in shorts and a T-shirt,'' secondary coach Todd Bowles said.

We've already talked about how Yeremiah Bell seems to be exciting this new coaching staff.  He's apparently been making a terrific recovery from his Achilles' injury last year.  Hopefully he shows the play-making ability that he flashed during 2006 once he replaced Travares Tillman in the starting lineup.

Meanwhile, Jason Allen is a guy we've talked about a lot recently.  Some members of our little community think Allen is going to blossom in '08 into the player Nick Saban thought he could become when he drafted him.  Others think that 2008 is going to be the next disappointment in a seemingly endless line of disappointments in Allen's short career.

Personally, I'm on the fence here.  On one hand, he did show show flashes last year that he never displayed for us in '06.  On the other hand, he still got beat a lot in coverage, something a safety can't afford to do when he's the last line of defense against a big play.  My hope, though, is that this simplified, "player-friendly" offense that Paul Pasqualoni & company are installing will allow Allen to think less and just react and play, allowing his natural athletic talent take over.

Oh, and as far as Miami's safeties being better than Dallas', it's not really that big of shock.  Roy Williams is one of the most over-rated players to ever play professional sports.

LEHAN INJURY MORE SERIOUS THAN ANNOUNCED?
"Bassman" posted this as a FanPost on Sunday, but I just wanted to quickly highlight this little nugget of information.  Pro Football Weekly reports the following in their "Whispers" section:

There appears to be a lot of misinformation regarding the severity of Dolphins CB Michael Lehan’s injured ankle. Not only is there a question of whether it’s a severe sprain or a dislocation, but the timetable for his return is also a bit of a mystery. Coach Tony Sparano has said Lehan should be ready to go full speed in a couple of weeks, but a team insider who saw the injury occur and has been monitoring Lehan’s progress said it would be fortuitous if he could even make it back for training camp. Nonetheless, Lehan remains in the mix for a starting job.

You'll remember that the original report about this injury was that he suffered a dislocated ankle and would miss 4 to 6 weeks.  That was on June 4, meaning he'd be ready to practice on or around July 16.  Of course, this estimates are far from scientific and can be inaccurate.  But even adding on an additional week would mean Lehan would still be ready for camp when it kicks off (likely sometime during the week of July 20).

So what I would love to know is who the hell this "team insider" is.  We all know this regime isn't too keen on giving out information to the media that isn't mandatory to give out.  So why would a "team insider" pass along this information?

More likely, in my view, is that a reporter (perhaps a beat reporter for the Dolphins) who saw the injury occur just gave his opinion on Lehan's injury.  But a lot of injuries look worse than they actually are, and this could very well be one of them.  Either way, I'll trust the info Tony Sparano and this regime provides over the words of an anonymous source.

QUICK HITS
-While the Packers' interest in Jason Taylor seems to have come and gone, Taylor reportedly wants out of Miami more than ever.  He supposedly has a list of 12 teams that he would like to go to.

-Bill Parcells' nickname for new TE Anthony Fasano?  "General Hospital."  Oh, and one "veteran starter" believes Fasano will beat out David Martin for the starting job.  Truth be told, I'd be more surprised of Fasano didn't win the starting job.

Thoughts on anything at all below...