Phinsider Question Of The Day (W/ Live Thread, General Discussion) 06/06/2020

Every day I manage to read something new about how things in our world are changing or have changed. Some small, some huge, some good, some bad, some horrifying, some just sad, but all are changes that none of us could have predicted or seen coming for this year. There are so many things going on in this country right now that the news is nearly overwhelming to the point that football does not even seem important at all. But the fact of the matter is that this country and probably every damn one of us could use some NFL football right about now to distract us from all of the other upheavals and changes happening in the world. None of us have ever had the privilege to live a totally care free life but distractions like our Miami Dolphins are exactly what we need at times like this that we are living in, maybe more than ever before.

As everyone else adjusts to multiple new realities in their world the NFL has also had to change much of how they operate, at least for this upcoming season, due to the CoVid scare. One of the newest two things that I have seen being discussed is the fact that the players union has voted for no pre-season games at all. I think we all understand the union and the players wishing to conduct their business, which is playing football, in as safe as humanly possible.

So now we will possibly have no pre-season and then I read about the NFL’s discussions of cutting the player count down that teams are allowed to carry into camp. The number has been 90 but various “sources” from the NFL say the NFL is looking at between 75 and 80 players being allowed to be brought to camp with 75 the number that most believe the league will settle on.

We have testing that can be done rapidly for CoVid and the teams can, to some degree keep their players separated from the general public, at least during those times when the players are actually “at work” in some way. What concerns me is the concept of players hitting the field on day one of the season having not experienced anything close to a real game with real hitting. Does this not eventually lead to more injuries? We have all heard this as the reasoning behind more than one injury during our time and I don’t like the idea of a team with as many rookies as the Dolphins have on the roster just throwing a bunch of kids into an NFL game cold, without the normal rigors of training camp. I know that they can replicate many things that occur during a game in practice but nothing substitutes real hitting and the real game speed in a real game even if that game does not count towards your record.

And does the reduction of players from 90 to 75 hurt teams ability to develop in any way? There is a reason that teams like “camp bodies” because it spreads the hitting around and allows for enough players to run which ever different drills you wish at the same time. And of those 15 players that we may have planned on bringing to camp that now will be left home on their sofa, will we wind up missing out on an “acorn” among the group? I am all for safety but does cutting the numbers from 90 to 75 really, in any meaningful way increase the overall safety of the team? It seems to me that it only serves to hurt teams and players. Teams will possibly miss out on a rare gem of a player that no one realized a guy was or the players themselves, that might have this one shot to impress someone in the NFL and find a way to make a living off the NFL, if even for just a few years will possibly just have their one shot stolen from them.

In summation, I know that everyone, including the NFL and the NFLPA are trying to do what is best for the players safety wise but at what cost? Are some of these moves just a bit too much? Does a couple of pre-season games to get players use to the hitting in a game and the game speed really change anything by taking them away if you are then just going to turn around and play 16 full games anyway?

So the Phinsider Question Of The Day is, what do you think of these proposed but likely to be carried out ideas that the NFL and the NFLPA are throwing around? What affect(s) do you think these moves will have on teams (most specifically your Miami Dolphins) good or bad?

PLEASE remember, do not make any comments what so ever that delve into the politics that have swirled around these subjects. I ask these questions from a strictly football point of view and none have anything to do with anyone's political stance on anything. Please continue to follow site rules no matter the subject. These rules are in place to make the site a comfortable place for everyone to come and discuss their favorite team, the Miami Dolphins.