FanPost

Known Knowns and Unknown Unknowns

"There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know."


Donald Rumsfeld

 

Thats a quote from former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and finally i see some sense in it.  And before any of you turn this into a political debate , let me say PLEASE DON'T!  For those of you that want to get political here's a video for you.  Feel free to comment there all you want.  I'm here to talk football !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzyT9-9lUyE

 

We've now reached the offseason in the NFL, the time for free agent signings and ultimately  THE DRAFT.  It's a well known fact that the Dolphins need to improve.  But the one area I don't hear talked about is improvement from within.

 

KNOWN KNOWNS

In this category I put the young players already on the roster.  If one truly believes in building through the draft then this is where you're biggest improvement needs to come.  I'm talking about last years second year players and rookies. 

1.  Ted Ginn Jr.(and family) needs to build upon last year and continue to push himself to get better.  The Dolphins need an explosive player that can score from anywhere on the field. <see Darren Sproles>

2. Paul Soliai needs to live in Jason Ferguson's back pocket.  We all saw how a real nose tackle like Haloti Ngata can disrupt a gameplan.  Satele is big and strong but i believe desire is holding him back.

3. Samson Satele plain and simply needs to get stronger at the point of attack.  Too many times he was pushed back into the play(see Ngata).

Last years rookies are the ones I will be keeping an eye on the most.

4,5.  Phillip Merling and Kendal Langford  are the ones I'm most interested in.  Langford started every game I believe and Merling was a top reserve.  If these two players continue to develop and somehow discover some moves rushing the passer then the defense is alot closer than anyone thinks to being dominate. 

6. Donald Thomas impressed the coaches in training camp to be awarded a starting spot.  Lets hope he recovers fully and has the entire offseason to grow.

I'm leaving Chad Henne off on purpose because that has already been debated and will continue to be a topic of discussion all offseason.

 

Known Unknowns.

Can anybody guess who they are?  No one?  Let me help you.  The known unknowns are the free-agents.  We know what kind of players they are(Knowns) but we don't know as of now who the Dolphins are gonna sign(Unknowns) or even who they have shown interest.  So right now its pure speculation.

Unknown Unknowns

The draft.  Who the Dolphins are gonna draft and what type of player they are gonna be are both UNKNOWNS.  Now dont get me wrong, I love the draft as much as anyone.  I watch it in its entirety (between naps that is) on both days. 

But what I'm stressing today is that for the Dolphins to improve that improvement has to come first and foremost from the young players already on the roster.  Championships and Chemistry cannot be bought(shh please don't tell the Jets I said that).

So before the the Miami Dolphins take the next step, they need to polish the shoes already in their closet!!!!!!!

 

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Phinsider's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of The Phinsider writers or editors.