Dolphins Game Changing Offseason Moves: Replacing a legendary pass-rusher

Important to note that covering available receivers also leads to sacks, and I think we significantly upgraded in that sense. That should hopefully open things up for the rush.

No sense dwelling on JT now. Blame game works only so long. We have too many positives on our face to worry about that one zit…lets just pop it and move on. :)

relying on our d line to apply any pressure and forcing the secondary to step up while thier qb is forced to throw into a sea of defenders

Sporano loves this guy. He is young and has been on our team for a few years now. We have several young pass rushers that have been on our team for awhile. Any one of these players could be the answer. I think it will be more of a combination of them all than one standout however.

As for the loss of JT, we can’t pay everyone. As for the loss of Joey Porter, he lost my respect when he refused to get off the field when asked on several occasions. He is not a team player and his energy is not helpful to a team mentality. I feel both moves will help our squad more than they hurt our squad.

I wouldn’t be suprised if our sack leader this year was a rookie. Possibly one that has not been mentioned in your post. Jared Odrick.

I’m also not here to talk about who was right or who was wrong. I’m not in the mood to point fingers and get back into the blame game. What’s done is done.

I won’t be the only one thinking back to this front office’s decision to let Jason Taylor walk.
For better or for worse, that decision was very much a “game changer.”

I have been a jason taylor fan throughout his career as a dolphin…….

during the tenure of this front office we have gone 11-5 and to the playoffs without taylor and 7-9 and gone home in the post-season with him…….i don’t think he helped us or hurt us as far as our record goes………

it’s obvious that he would rather play somewhere else for a paycheck than stay here………i don’t blame him for that………i don’t blame the dolphins for letting him do that………..it’s done……..done and done……….

you can’t honestly believe that the fate of the dolphins season lies in the decision made concerning jason taylor……….

it’s also obvious that when he retires he will probably do it as a dolphin if he so chooses, just like his brother-in-law……….so as a taylor fan i hope he does well with his new team the new jersey york jets……….save for two times during the regular season……….but please……..let it go……………why aren’t you crying a river over joey porter? i think he’s been of equal if not more value than jason taylor since he has been with the team…..from a football standpoint
so jason hes been let go……..he’s a jet………..so what………….move on bro………..

i have a feeling that we will see more sacks up front…..by the way………….starks has more pass rush ability than ferguson and with a more experienced langford, the addition of odrick and the young legs on the outside there be plenty of pocket penetration…………..

I’m sorry, but Wake is a beast….. Misi will do very well on the other side….. Porter was a joke last year…. Taylor was a great player over time, but……. Everyone is replaceable…. Our boys will be fine with some great “D” plays.

yes or no on if you agree with JT leaving it still is a game changing move. He is a HOF player and a great leader, this team will miss what he brings to the feild and locker room. can we win without him yes, but he makes any team better when he is on it, in more ways than one!! Odrick will be a stud, Wake will do a good job even if just used for passing plays,Starks will handle his own up front, most likley will move back outside when JF comes back that will be awesome, Mike Nolan is the deal breaker,he will help make everything at ease. He will find away to make it work!! Thats just how runs a D!!!

but his numbers where not near as good in the 3-4. nolan will get his sacks, either with the LB or safty blitzes. nobody had heard of elvis dummerville before nolan got to denver last year, so lets wait and see before we start questioning the sack numbers were are likely to see this year. but with JT going to the hated jets, now i know how packers fans felt with the favre to vickings ordeal. bold projection for the year:

Y. Bell gets 6 sacks and 4 FF
C. Wake gets 10 sacks and 15 tackles for loss
K. Misi gets 7 FF, 4 sacks, 22 tackles for loss and 3 picks

hate seeing JT leave to the Jets, but his numbers will be replaced, and rather easily i belive. now his leadership and lockerroom presance will be harder to replace.

Not rehashing what has been said about JT but simply stating that this decision was a critical one (and the right one IMHO).
I would like to contend with one point that you made:

But as of now, he’s struggling to beat out Charlie Anderson for a starting job.

I think it is too early to say that he is “struggling” to beat out Charlie Anderson. I see the split in reps as
this regime giving a long time backup veteran a chance to earn a starting spot in the NFL (as well as to take a long look at what Anderson has in terms of skill set) fending off an up-and-coming younger player with mad skills. It
also forces Wake to earn a starting spot and polish his game and be more well-rounded instead of just relying on one skill.
Suppose Misi and Wake are the starting OLB for the FINS. Anderson could be a valuable backup “substitution-in-waves-player” backing up BOTH SOLB and WOLB as well as giving Wake some rest on 4-man nickel D-line substitutions.
If Wake continues to struggle or shows lack of skill/talent stopping the run and cluelessness in pass coverage, then I’ll be worried, but right now, it is way too early.

JT would sit well in a rotation. He probably wouldn’t sit well with Dansby becoming a leader, either.
With Nolan’s versatility, Wake & Anderson rotating in/out is probably more valuable than having JT play every down (and fagging in the latter half of the season).

I’m hoping this years numbers are just the opposite. With the addition of Marshall, Henne get one year under his belt and an improving O-line I see the Phins scoring, on average, 3 pts more per game than last season and also am hoping to see the defense give up 3 less points per game w/Dansby, an up and coming DBackfield and the additions of Odrick and Misi and of course Mike Nolan. Just a few points more on offense and a few less on defense will get the job done. I do miss JT but he’s gone so don’t really need to talk about him until he retires as a Dolphin. As for the sacks I agree w/ phinfan20. They are going to come from all over the place. Instead of just 2 guys getting the bulk of the sacks I can see several players having 5 sacks plus. I could see Wake, Dansby, Misi, Odrick, Starks, Bell, Davis, Culver, Merling, Allen could all produce 5 sacks. That would be 50 sacks. Not too shabby.

i am so glad this new front office has gone after size….i have always been a fan of size on defense………

as far as our starters go….average size per position is:
S – 6’ 1/2" – 207.5 lbs
CB – 6’ 1" – 208.5 lbs
LB – 6’ 3" – 250 lbs
DL – 6’ 4 1/2" – 302 lbs

that’s an average size of:
6’ 2 1/2" – 242 lbs per player……….i bet that’s pretty close to biggest in the league……..

but as the decision has been made, then we move forward.

I have to say though, whether you thought JT still had it or not or whether letting him leave was good or bad….it has to be said that it is a big move.

Essentially the role of key pass rusher falls on the shoulders of a 2nd year player. Last year he showed promise so he may well shine….or not.

Either way, it is a gamble and we’ll just have to see how it plays out. Hopefully it ends up being a stroke of genius. Otherwise, our secondary is going to be in for a long year if we can’t get pressure on opposing QB’s

You also have to remember that if our offense is as good as we are hoping then our D will be facing more passing situations since the other team will be playing from behind. I expect our corners to do extremely well this year which will result in the QB holding on to the ball longer than wanted which = SACK!

JT you were the best DE on our team for years, probably ever, but it was just time to move on. We are out of the Marino, JT, Zach era, and onto hopefully bigger and better things. You will always have our respect for all you did (except playing with the jets!) and am certain we’ll have a one day contract waiting for you!

I expect this team to win the division and make it to at least the AFC championship game… the only thing that will stop that IMO is injuries of course and if we beat ourselves with turnovers, stupid penalties, and missed assignments/tackles, not lack of sack production. GO PHINS!!!

here is how he was ranked among lineman last year……….

solo tackles:
NFL rank 10
AFC rank 4

combined tackles:
NFL rank 11
AFC rank 7

sacks:
NFL rank 10
AFC rank 6

although he will be playing a new position….for all intents and purposes we have a top ten defensive lineman anchoring our line this year…..nice

KOA MISI!

ok look i am sorry but no matter what. JT gave us alot of good years. and every single one of you cheered him on and loved him. and now i see some of you disrespecting him. what is done is done. but THAT is TOTAL B_U_L_L_S_H_I_T! that really ticks me off.

you should be ashamed and rethink your comments.

…not as explosive any longer. Oh well, better luck in NJ.

Let it go. He was offered a contract ( sticky note or not) Alex ovechckin is the highest paid Nhl player , does anyone know who his agent is? Exactly because he doesn’t have one. Jt could have discussed his contract without his agent come on. Thanks for the good years but BYE!

but I think Wake is more likely a lock than anyone, in spite of who started during OTAs, he got the most snaps during OTAs, I watched all his plays last year, there is a video of all his plays, I can’t post it through my wii, lol, or else I would,

but my point is that he played well in all phases, he’s a football player and I expect big things from him this year.

I also think that McCoy wil be a good passrusher and will fill in Wake’s role.

A bold prediction for our starting LBs of the not to distant future;
McCoy-Dansby-Misi-Wake

Reports from NFL network are saying that he is playing in all 4 linebacker positions and is doing everything from rushing the QB to dropping back into pass coverage!! Sounds very JT like to me.