ESPN: The Dolphins offense is pathetic
by Matty I on Jul 10, 2008 12:15 AM EDT
in 2012 Miami Dolphins News
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PrintThat's right. Read the headline above. Because that's basically what the boys at Bristol are saying.
They think the Dolphins offense is quite possibly the very worst in the entire NFL. And this is despite the fact that the Dolphins, despite all their faults last year, finished tied for 26th in the league in points per game in 2007. That means 5 offenses scored fewer points than the Dolphins did in '07 - despite the fact that this team had 3 different starting QBs, lost their best offensive weapon in week 7 to a torn ACL, and traded away their best receiver after just 6 games.
When you consider all those above variables and you also take into account the fact that this offense will likely be better in 2008 thanks to improved coaching and an improved offensive line - at the very least - I really don't understand how ESPN can make these assumptions.
And that's exactly what they are: assumptions. And we all know what happens when you assume things, don't we?
Now the actual ESPN articles are "insider only." But the Palm Beach Post has a good summary of the rankings. ESPN ranks the Dolphins quarterbacks 31st, running backs 25th, and receivers 32nd - dead last.
The first thing you have to ask yourself, though, is how the Dolphins' running backs can be ranked just 25th in the league. Wasn't Ronnie Brown the league leader in yards from scrimmage before suffering his torn ACL? And wasn't he on the verge of his 5th straight 100 yard rushing game before Cleo Lemon had to make the dumb-ass throw and Ronnie had to try and make a tackle? Apparently, ESPN missed that.
Well, in all honesty, I guess it's fair to have some worries about Brown this year considering the severity of his injury. Sure, he hasn't had a setback...yet. But it's early. And Ricky Williams is a tad unreliable. But he looks as good as he has since his retirement (well, whatever you call it) back in 2004. So how can a team like the Titans be ranked 15th despite having an unproven rookie in Chris Johnson and a player like LenDale White who averaged less than 4 yards per carry last year? It doesn't make sense.
And are the Dolphin receivers really the very worst in the entire NFL? Is the 49ers' receiving corp of Isaac Bruce, Arnaz Battle, and Bryant Johnson really better than the Dolphins? Or what about the Raiders' receivers? Javon Walker is a walking injury. And are Ronald Curry and Drew Carter any better than Ernest Wilford and Derek Hagan? I don't see it. Or how about the Titans' top 3 receivers - Roydell Williams, Justin McCareins, and Justin Gage?
Perhaps even worse, though, is that the Dolphins are ranked dead last by ESPN at the QB position. How can they have worse QBs than the Raiders? Oakland's best QB last season is currently a Dolphin. And while JaMarcus Russell has great potential, he hasn't proven that he's any better than John Beck. So how in the world can the Raiders be ranked higher at QB than the Dolphins?
The same goes for teams like the Vikings, Chiefs, and Ravens. None of those teams have any QBs who are clearly better than the Dolphins' 3 QBs. And Miami's group of 3 probably has more depth top to bottom than any of those team's top 3.
But ESPN loves to hate on the Dolphins. And kicking them now while they're down is easy and probably seems like the trendy thing to do.
But fear not, fellow Dolphin fans. Our time is coming. Just have patience and enjoy the ride. Remember: victory will taste much sweeter now after we all have been through what we went through last year.
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Hear Hear
I’m def not a homer, more of a realist and some might say a pessimist; but even I have to agree with this semi-rant. ESPN loves to hate the Fish, and the worst part about this is it’s so uninformed and not thought through. If you want to criticize, talk about the lack of depth in the secondary and the lack of talent at inside linebacker. Bitch about the defense, not the only unit that actually showed some flashes last year. I just drove through Davie today and got a shot of adrenaline on the way to the driving range, and the much more informed guys on Sirius were saying how Beck has gotten bigger and is working harder, and they expect to see some nice fireworks from the Dolphins O! Don’t hate on South Florida just because your stuck in Bristol guys!
whats sad
Is that they make you pay for the Insider service, and from what I hear its getting constant;y worse.
ESPN is a shell of its former self
by Patssuck456 on Jul 10, 2008 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions
It OK
just remember who said what now because when the games start counting all these neysayers will be saying how they predicted our turnaround. Thats when we will get our laugh. Hopefully the rest of the league feels this way the week before we play them.
Take a step back from the ledge Matty....
Matty it’s ok – everyone is gets to have their say, but the phins will get a chance to prove them wrong once the season starts….
That being said (no plans to read the espn article) the phins offense has a lot of question marks going into the season…. let’s just say ronnie takes a normal time to heal from his injury (12 months is the norm) he’ll be out until october… Ricky while we all hope has turned his life around is iffy too… and after that there isn’t a proven play maker on the offense. While I like the direction the team is heading in, since I’ve spent the whole off season saying the team needed to draft o-line, o-line, and some more o-line, it’s hard to argue that the team has any reliable proven playmakers on offense. Heck it’s likely next years game 1 starting QB won’t see the field for 8-10 games (henne). But the reality of the situation is, who cares how the offense looks now, how will it look in december once Henne takes over, ronnie’s back at full strength, and maybe TGinn will have learned how to run routes like a pro.
When you are at the bottom...
You can only go up. I love no expectations. The “fans” voted on NFL network to rank all 32 teams and the Phins are, you guessed it, last. The team with the most talent right now is arguably the Cowboys. And who brought that talent in? That’s right, the Irish Tuna. We can now easily be the “suprise” team of the year.
We’ll have a top ten running game. Passing? Who knows. Defense? Definitely better than last year. Special teams is hugely improved from last year.
When
was the last time anybody listen to a guy who works for Scouts inc anyways? anywho the less people give the Fins a chance the better. The less pressure the better, they know is a rebuilding process, so who cares where they rank now. If they win 5 games this season, then everybody will assume they made a huge leap forward. either way, lets wait and see , let the season play out and then rank all you want.
Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision.
Muhammad Ali, American Boxer
Is this just about the...
slowest time of year in the NFL or what?
Anyway, this might make for lively discussion but it doesn’t seem terribly relevant. Are we the worst offense in the NFL? Eh, maybe. Are we in the bottom 1/3? Definitely.
Nobody knows what John Beck is going to do, Ted Ginn has plenty of doubters that he can be a #1 receiver, Ronnie Brown is coming off a serious injury, and Ricky is now over 30 and hasn’t looked like an NFL back since a few years ago, not to mention we have no proven players at TE either. Add that up and that to me clearly merits a pretty low ranking for the offense.
The good news is that this unit will have plenty of chances, 16 of them to be exact, to prove they are much better than last year.
So to me, debating how we should be ranked 27th instead of 32nd is really not that important. What I want to focus is on how we go from being bottom 1/3 to say, top 10.
This is actually good
It’s ESPN reporting this so like all of it’s reports it’s based on a fad and most likely wrong remember last year they reported that Eli was going to be out for like 10 weeks?
If it makes it any worse.....
Sporting News also rated the Dolphins WR last, QB last, TE last, and our RB’s like 12th in the AFC. But just to show that they are retarded, out highest rankings were our Defensive Backs….....way to go.
Buried
That’s where ESPN will have this article later in the season…and no one there will remember anything about it
We're talkin' about PRACTICE....practice!
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