PotM's Offseason: Flynn Edition

There are essentially three stages to any off-season:

1) Re-signing current players

2) Signing Free Agents

3) Drafting and signing Rookies.

Any team that wishes to be successful must use a mixture of these stages otherwise they will not be able to keep up with all of the holes that are created because of various reasons ranging from retirement, aging, losing a FA and drafting busts.

Head Coach

Joe Philbin

Philbin has been in the Green Bay Packers O for a while now and is up for a Head Coaching job. I think that his interview with the Phins before the Packers were out of the hunt means he wants out and that the Dolphins have his interest. We need to seal the deal and grab him.

He is the only one of the HC prospects that can acclaim to have develop a franchise QB, that QB being Rodgers, arguably the best QB in the league right now. If Rodgers keeps up his produciton, he will definitely be a HOFer. Isn't that nice? Our new HC developed a future HOfer.

Re-signings

Kendall Langford - Defensive Tackle - 6' 6" - 295 lbs. - 25 years old

Langford is coming off of a down year where he only recorded half as many tackles as in previous year and recorded absolutely zero sacks. Still, the man brings good depth to a good, young DL. We should sign him to a 3 year $9 million contract.

Phillip Merling - Defensive End - 6' 4" - 270 lbs. - 26 years old

Merling will be asked to lose the weight down to his pre-draft weight when he was a very good pass rusher in college. Sparano made this 2nd round pick to become an interior lineman and it didn't work out. Well, now is the time for Merling to get a chance as a pass rusher. 2 year, $3 million.

Brian Hartline - Wide Receiver - 6' 2" - 186 lbs.

Hartline has developed an ability to make circus catches along the sidelines, making him a bigger threat at WR. He already has good YAC ability, good route running and great hands. Hartline has a knack for making the big play as well, and is one of the main reasons why we had so many passes over 25+ yards. 5 years, for $22 million and $5 million in guarantees.

Adjusting to the 4-3 Base Defense

Along the Line, we will need to change positions. Starks will be asked to gain weight again and play the 1 technique Odrick will start next to him as the DT that disrupts the interior part of the line in passing situations. Due to fatigue, Langford and McDaniels will see regular action. Misi will fight Merling as Misi is a decent option, but is not a pass rusher.

At Linebacker, Burnett will likely be the SOLB, Dansby will be the MLB and Guyton will be the WOLB. Burnett has the athleticism to play the SOLB spot well and Dansby has played the position before. Misi has shown deftness in zone coverage and is not shabby in space, highlighted by the fact he is rarely throw at. If a rookie comes in and lights it up as a WOLB, Guyton will be excellent depth.

Free Agency

Jake Scott - Offensive Guard - 6' 5" - 295 lbs. - 30 years old

Scott will fill the need for a pulling Guard and will not cost an arm and a leg to get. We should be able to sign him to a 3 year 15 million dollar contract.

Gary Guyton - Weak-Outside Line Backer - 6' 3" - 245 lbs.

Guyton was a very good cover backer for the patriots in 2009 and 2010. With the implementation of Spikes in the Patriots lineup, Guyton has only seen the field on passing down mostly, but his overall athletic ability should be able to transition well to the 4-3 D. 3 years, for $10 million.

Matt Flynn - Quarter Back - 6' 2" - 225 lbs.

Matt Flynn has shown a lot in limited action. Joe Philbin trusted Flynn a lot. Most times when a backup QB comes in for your franchise QB, you try to keep the pressure off of his shoulders. Run the ball, play solid D, and let the backup manage the game. Philbin must have seen something in Flynn in Pre-season and in practice to lead him to believe that he could put the ball in Flynn's hands.

Flynn didn't disappoint. While many will point out that his WRs made a lot of YAC yardage, Flynn consistently put the ball in the best position to get YAC. Flynn also made plenty of nice, deep sideline passes as well. While the Lions do not have a great pass D, they have enough weapons to not overlook the game. The have great interior pass rushers and Avril is a very good edge rusher. While their LBers and CBs leave something to be desired, their Ss are a very good duo. You can't overlook a near-500 yd 6 TD game against this D, even if the D has holes.

To those who say we have been there done that when it comes to backups, we haven't tried a GB backup QB. GB backup QBs have a history of becoming good QBs in this league. The past two Pack QBs were once backups, Farve and Rodgers. Maybe Flynn continues this trend for GB backup QBs.

I would expect Flynn to take a little less to keep with his coach. A 5 year deal, $55 million year deal with $15 million in guarantees.

The Draft

Trade Alert! The Dolphins trade the 2012 1st Rounder for the Bears 2012 1st, 2nd and 5th round picks. The bears move up to pick up their #1 WR that they desperatey need and we trade down to pick up more talent.

With the 19th pick of the 2012 draft, The Miami Dolphins pick Dwayne Allen, Tight End, out of Clemson!

With the first pick in our draft, we pick up an elite TE for our new franchise QB. This will let Clay and Fasano complement a great TE and will lead to better TD efficiency in the red zone.

With the 40th pick in the 2012 NFL draft, the dolphins select Dwight Jones, Wide Receiver out of North Carolina.

Jones is a big body WR that has shown great ability to gain separation and get YAC. He also has shown the ability to get down the field and make the big play. Jones had a great season without a good QB to throw at him. He would have been a 1st rounder if he went to a bigger program. UNC has been a pipeline lately for NFL WRs and Jones is the latest edition. We got a big body WR for our QB to target. In the first two rounds, we stacked our WR and TE corps with a lot of talent.

With the 51st pick of the 2012 draft, the Miami Dolphins select Frank Alexander, Defensive End out of Oklahoma

We got our pass rusher to go opposite of Wake. He is a big, strong DE that is a physical freak. Perfect fit for the SSDE position.

With the 72nd pick of the draft, the Miami Dolphins select Sean Spence, Outside Linebacker out of Miami.

We now have a great LBing corps to go behind a stout DL. Spence will not have a lot of pressure with our other two LBers, Dansby and Burnett, leading the way. Spence just needs to do his job and let the plays come to him.

With the 104th pick in the 2012 NFL draft, the Miami Dolphins select Andrew Datko, Offensive Tackle out of FSU.

We now have drafted an Offensive Tackle to compete with Murtha and Jerry for the RT spot on the OL.

In the 5th round of the NFL draft, The Miami Dolphins select Blake Gideon, Free Safety out of Texas.

Jeff Ireland tries his hand at another 5th round Free Safety. The good news is that he was one of the better cover men on the Longhorn team, being one of the few defenders that had a good game against Baylor and Giffin IIII.

In the 6th round of the draft, the Dophins draft Gerrell Robinson, Wide Receiver, out of Arizona State University.

This guy exploded this season and with his huge frame and leaping ability, he has a lot of potential. He has deceptive speed and can get YAC if you give him a cushion. He uses his size well to beat the jam. He can find the soft spot in the zone or beat his guy in man coverage. The concerns is that he hasn't had back to back productive years and that the conference he plays does not have great Ds. But some of those concerns could be calmed with his strong game against Boise St.

In the 7th round, the Miami Dolphins draft Matt Merletti, Strong Safety, out of UNC

Was having a great season until the injury. He had surgery on his MCL and ACL mid-season, but before that time he racked up 2 INTs and 2 forced fumbles to go along with his 36 tackles. He is a disciplined defender that fell this far because of the injury.

Positional Battles

Right Tackle: Andrew Dakto vs. John Jerry vs. Lyndon Murtha

I have faith that whoever wins this battle will be more than adequately fill the Right Tackle spot for the next 10 years. Josh Oglesby should be brought in as an UDFA.

Strong Safety: Yeremiah Bell vs. Reshad Jones

Unless Jones has an epiphany, this is Bell's job. Bel is too much of a leader on the field and is too smart of a safety to lose to a young gun that doesn't know when to take his shots and takes bad angles.

Free Safety: Chris Clemons vs. Blake Gideon

Clemons is a clever vet that is very good in coverage, but doesn't get the INTs to be the FS we are looking for. He is great in run support though and causes plenty of FFs. If Clemons starts next season, we will be a piece away from a great D, but he won't be a liability the DC has to account for.

Back Up Tight End: Anthony Fasano vs. Charles Clay

Unless Clay learns how to block better, Fasano will still start. It is no doubt that next year Clay will be the all round better receiver, but there is more to the TE position than catching it, you also have to block.

Back Up Defensive End: Koa Misi vs. Phillip Merling

Merling had a lot of promise coming into the NFL as an 3-4 rush backer, but Parcells thought he would be better along the interior. That didn't work, so Merling will move back to the position he played at in college to great success. Misi could be a solid DE, but hasn't been much of a pass rusher at SOLB. Then again, he played a lot in coverage, which says a lot in and of it self or it could mean that Nolan didn't like to call 5 man blitzes that often, which he didn't.

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