The Friday Five: Daniel Thomas the key to the 2011 Dolphins draft class

I hope he doesn’t throw his clipboard at any Phins.

Our whole FO and coaching situation will have probably changed a few times so who’s he gonna pay back??

As far as Thomas goes, it was a ‘meh’ pick. Runs upright, no elite speed, goes down on contact, puts it on the ground….wow, whats not to like! And he only cost us a few picks to move up!

On a more positive note, I think Gates and Clay will shine. Pouncey will be a plug and play and will bolster our O line for Henne to get the job done, which I believe he will.

from the fans: negative comments about Thomas.

But the experts seem to be very high on Thomas. Heck, Steve Wyche thinks he’ll be OROY. From watching his tape, he’s big and physical. Now we just need to add a “scat” back in FA.

Needs to sit down somewhere. I also honestly believe that this defense will be elite. They surpassed many expectations in year one, and I think we haven’t seen the best designed plays for the core. We should see multiple different schemes now that we have a year under out belt

I think the Dolphins are on the verge of having the best D in the division…better than the gdmfg Jets! AND one of the NFL’s elite units! We’re getting Odrick, Edds and Allen back and if Nolan keeps doing what he does best, our D is gonna rock!

     It is that he is NOT a one cut runner. At 230 lbs if you should be making one cut OR LESS. Every time Ronnie Brown is on the edge and has ONE 190lb CB to beat and he tries to juke him I want to SCREAM. He is not going to juke the CB for one, and while he is messing around with a guy he could just flatten, the rest of the defense is running him down.
     From what I hear this guy has not been a RB for very long. Give them time to develop him and teach him how to run lower, carry the ball better, and use some of his size. That was one thing I liked when I watched the tape. He didn’t do a whole lot of cutting. If we can teach him to lower his head and flatten someone we will have a definite upgrade to Ronnie Brown. We will have the RB that Ronnie Brown could have been, but never was. Add to that he will have less mileage. I like the idea of adding a guy like D’Angelo Williams to our backfield and letting Ronnie and Ricky go to another team.

Remember before the draft, you posted your top 10 at RB, and it didn’t even include Thomas. In reply I asked you why not Daniel Thomas, and you said because you weren’t too high on him. Of course not only do we draft the one RB that you didn’t mention. But we also traded up to get him!! I am happy with the selection. On NFL Network, Brian Baldinger also labeled Thomas as a steal, and perhaps the only rookie rb outside of Ingram that will be a stud right away because of the team that drafted him, and the need at the position. Remember, this kid has only played the position for two years, and last year racked up over 1,600 yards and 19 td’s. That maybe more than our whole offense last year…LOL.

Because that means we knocked Brady’s ass into next week.

I’m indifferent to Bill Parcells. I’ll always treasure Don Shula though.

Bad news for all of the Miami fans that like to bitch: If Miami’s defense reaches its potential this year, and Chad Henne improves, its going to be a great season.

He runs upright.
He doesnt have big butt/thighs like a Michael Turner, MJD, that make them tough to bring down.
He doesnt run with much power, didnt see him even try to truck one person in his “highlight”.
He’s easily brought down, if u try to tackle him high he doesnt have a stiff arm move or any type of aggresiveness to overpower the defender.
If u try to tackle him low, he has skinny legs that make it a breeze for even a cb to bring him down

The only thing I do like is his vision, patience, and potential (because he’s a qb turned rb).

Especially the way Wade and LBJ made KG and Rondo looked last game.

Lets See.

1) Make Paul Pierce lose his cool and get tossed – Check

2) Make KG look like a lost zombie – Check

3) Own Rondo’s annoying @ss like a bowling pin – Check

Three down one to go. Mr Allen, you’re next.

But I like the Thomas pick, I like this type of runner, and I was flipping out when they traded up to grab him.

If he sucks I will admit I was wrong. But I and pumped to have him and he and Gates are my 2 favorite picks of the draft. I look for Thomas to have a big year

as the key to the season. If he can catch a long pass in the first game, that will keep the defenses honest for the rest of the year and hopefully open up some running lanes.

OH THE NEIGHBOR!!!!!!! THE NEIGHBORS! !!!!!

lower *

But I will support him, and he should have a good chance to succeed behind Long, Pouncy and Richie… If he does NOT have a good year, (check avg per carry) and our OLINE is playing well – then this was a terrible waste… He is going to get a lot of carries….I think its important to get another back (like ronnie or RW) or DeAngelo Williams so that if thomas is a “fumbler” or dosent run very well – that he can just be a backup…. I really dont like having him as our “starter” right now… and would actually trust LEX better. I also hate that he was a QB – the best RB’s in the NFL are almost “born” to it… like Mark Ingram…
Shula’s comments validate what a LOT OF US have said here…. Parcells was NOT a success, was in it for his own “ego” and ran out of town…disagree with me if you want – But – SHULA pretty much summed it up. If you disagree with him – then I suppose perfection, and 4 SB appearances (2 titles) means nothing to you, as to his competency to speak on the subject…. Even shula, who loved running the ball – changed his offensive style after drafting Dan Marino….Parcells was and is “stuck” in the past ….but yea… parcells was a “god”….. NOT !!!

because this draft is as much about who we didn’t get—namely, a top rated QB—as who we did. All of our picks could hit but if Chad delivers another sub-par season and some rookie QB shines for someone else, the fan base will be apoplectic.

As for DT, I’m excited about the guy. I see more burst than Ronnie, as well as much greater lateral agility. If you’re only making one cut, it’s important to make that cut hard and at a high speed, and that is something he seems to do well.

Because dolphin fans are going to need to drink a lot this season ???

We tried to trade up to get you douche.

Maybe if we bring in Sproles or a speed back to compliment him then it will be a pretty good 1-2 punch but still the only thing I see from watching him is that he seems to have pretty good vision…thats about it.
I do not see a guy who is elusive enough to break 30+yard td’s or many tackles for that matter ,he gets caught from behind way too much and seems to just give up on runs and for a so called power back he gets taken down too easy not to mention a power back one on one with a corner or saftey in the open field does not stop running why Thomas does this I do not know but a power back would lower that shoulder and run that SOB over.
God not to mention his upright style scares the crap out of me

1. That’s exactly how I feel about Thomas.
2. Our D has the potential to be the best. Our O just needs to be decent.
3. Hahaha. I like your words better Matty. Shula is right
4. Only way he sees time is if Brady goes down.
5. The Economy sucks.

will do alot better with our O-line against pro defenses. KS’s QB wasn’t doing him any favors either. I’m a big fan of Shula. Parcells, not so much. He was just doing his job. He’s gone. Next. Mallett is a Pat now. He’ll be treated like a rival. It’ll make a good story for the MNF home opener. The camera will be on him. Maybe he’ll pull a Bryan Cox heh heh.

It’s about time somebody spoke up about the emperor’s clothes.

As for Thomas . . . yeah. I didn’t get it when they made the pick, but after a few days to think about it, I still don’t get it. Like I said before, to me he looks like a back who’s too big to be fast, too upright to be durable, and too easy to tackle. Just look at how many times he gets one-hand ankle-tackled in his own highlight video!

As others have already said, the big gains he picks up in the video are through holes you could sail a barge through.

And the fumbles. Okay, alright, that should be fixable, but, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, there were better backs available who didn’t need fixing.

This reminds me of the Pat White pick. He’s a kid who’s neither fish nor fowl, but the Dolphins staff think they can turn him into something extremely effective. God help us if they’re wrong — or if the “extremely effective” thing they have in mind is a wildcat specialist.

better then what we have/had and a 1000 yard rusher that gets into the end zone. He is patient, good vision, north/south runner, that gets through small holes that hits the holes once they open. Gates will cause the saftey to hold and open up Marshall while delivering the long ball on occasion. I like what little I have seen of Clay but he is a crap shot if he is going to be a Colley type or not.