Haven't seen one snap of preseason ball, but we need stuff to talk about.


Based on media reports and my opinion I see the following guys already on the 53 man roster:

QB (3): Tannehill, Moore, Devlin
RB (4): Miller, Thomas, Gillislee, Thigpen
TE (4): Keller, Sims, Egnew, Clay
WR (5): Wallace, Hartline, Gibson, Binns, Matthews
OL (7): Martin, Incognito, Pouncey, Samuda, Clabo, Thomas, Garner
K (1) : Sturgis/Carpenter
P (1) : Fields
LS (1): Dennehy

DE (4): Wake, Vernon, Jordan, Shelby
DT (4): Odrick, Soliai, Starks, Martin
OLB(4): Wheeler, Misi, Kadu, Jenkins
ILB(2): Ellerbe, Trusnik
CB (5): Grimes, Marshall, Taylor, Davis, Patterson/Carroll
S: (3): Jones, Clemons, Wilson


That's 23 on offense, 3 on special teams, and 22 on defense...48 total spots pretty much locked down.

That's 5 spots left.

1) Olineman (#8) Lance Louis or John Jerry
2) Olineman (#9) Will Yeatman, Andrew MacDonald or FA pick up
3) Saftey (#4) McCray, Johnson, Kovacs or Carroll/Patterson loser
4) LB (#7) or DL (#9) Spittler, Robinson, Freeny, Clay, Highsmith or Kheeston Randall @ DT
5) WR (#6), TE #5 OR FB #1 McNutt, Tyms, Fuller or Kyle Miller or Lane


If we had to choose today I think we keep Lance Louis over John Jerry and Yeatman over MacDonald as the 8th and 9th Olineman but if the right guy gets cut somewhere else I think we be active going after him.

I think they really like Kelcie McCray and he gets the 4th Safety spot, and Patterson or Carroll gets traded.

I think Its McNutt as a 6th wr or Miller as a 5th TE. I'd go with McNutt.

I think the toughest choice is the extra LB or DL. I think in a pinch we could move Misi to DE so I'd probably be looking for a LB who helped on special teams for this last spot. That puts Austin Spittler in the drivers seat with Robinson, Freeny, Clay and Highsmith needing to impress over the next 4 weeks.




What do you guys think?

I think this is the first time in 7+ years we have only the very bottom of the roster in question before the first cut down day. It's a good spot to be in. Not long ago our starters were on other teams before the last cut down day

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The beatings will continue until morale improves.

berkeley223 Wrote:
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> I think this is the first time in 7+ years we have
> only the very bottom of the roster in question
> before the first cut down day. It's a good spot to
> be in. Not long ago our starters were on other
> teams before the last cut down day


That's the first thing I thought of when I was writing that post as well.

I think you are right Berk. Other than possibly looking for a young O-lineman to fall into our lap, for the first time in a long time, we aren't going to have to comb the scrap heap for players.

I don't think we keep both clay and egnew. Not sure about Shelby or kadu on d either. And we do need to bring in some veteran depth on online. If one of our starting tackles gets hurt it could get ugly

________________________________________________________
The beatings will continue until morale improves.

berkeley223 Wrote:
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> I don't think we keep both clay and egnew.


Are you taking Miller as the 4th TE or are you carrying a FB?




> Not
> sure about Shelby or kadu on d either.


I think Kaddu makes it. philbin was very high on him in the off-season and we aren't particularly deep at LB. Plus he's a good special teamer.


Shelby could get cut in favor of a DT like Kheeston Randall since we could always shift Odrick and Martin to DE if we had injuries. its just that neither of them is a speed rusher. Shelby could be.




> And we do
> need to bring in some veteran depth on online. If
> one of our starting tackles gets hurt it could get
> ugly


Yeah...the O-line is by far the biggest area of concern on this team.

If Martin sucks and Dion Jordan looks like a bust then there are going to be a lot of people wondering why we didn't take Lane Johnson at #3.

dolphaholic Wrote:
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> Also, i'm not so sure about Egnew
> making the cut this year Truth, everthing i've
> read about him is not too good, i'd rather keep a
> young WR like Mcnutt and also maybe Lane, we have
> to have one battering ram for short yardage
> situations.


Could be. Anything is possible.

But to be honest on Egnew, from everything I've read he seems like an entirely different player this year. Every practice he's getting multiple catches.

If he's improved, and they think he will continue to improve, I think he'll make the team.

I'd keep McNutt also. If they are all healthy, I think we have 6 or 7 WR's that can contribute.

I just wouldn't carry a FB. I'd rather have 4 TE's who can catch. I'd use the TE in motion as the lead blocker in short yardage.

Patterson has been working as the 1st string outside CB (for 3 straight days) ahead of Marshall. Considering the salaries of both, I think they will only keep one. I hope Patterson is good enough to win the job as I have never been all that impressed with Marshall...and by Patterson beating him it probably means we got better.

I could be wrong but that's 9 mil for our #2 and 3 (nickle) CB's and we have two high draft picks to train.

Marshall has a 5.76 cap hit and would count 2.3 mil in dead space if released. Patterson has no dead space if released. Edge goes to Marshall in a tie.

I wish the rookie (Taylor) could get on the field. He is going to be way behind. Not much chance he can start this year unless it is later in the season. Word is that Davis is looking good though.

Our secondary should be much improved with a shut down guy on one side and two good safeties. That just means more sacks for a very good D-line.

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“I'm here" You're welcome!" - Kenny Powers

Coming into this season, I thought the Dolphins were going to release Patterson because there is no penalty, and then re-sign him to a more economical deal. I didn't think we would keep him at that cap number. I wonder if this is really the plan. I wonder if other teams even have him on their radar.

Also, I hope that we go into the season with 10 OL. I've seen Steelers seasons go down the drain because of linemen getting hurt so often that they were basically using TEs and guys off the street. We've had our own issues in the past. Would hate to see this talented team succumb to a lack of O-line depth.

if patterson is in line to be our starting CB (sounds like it) then we are not going to get cute and cut him. we have cap space this year and his contract is up next year, what is the benefit to cutting him now if he is going to be a starter? I suppose if he sucks and was going to be the 4 or 5 DB it makes sense to dump him, but not if he is a top 3 guy.

I think Richard Marshall is more likely to be cut for $$ reasons

________________________________________________________
The beatings will continue until morale improves.

berkeley223 Wrote:
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> if patterson is in line to be our starting CB
> (sounds like it) then we are not going to get cute
> and cut him. we have cap space this year and his
> contract is up next year, what is the benefit to
> cutting him now if he is going to be a starter? I
> suppose if he sucks and was going to be the 4 or 5
> DB it makes sense to dump him, but not if he is a
> top 3 guy.
>
> I think Richard Marshall is more likely to be cut
> for $$ reasons

Patterson is under contract for next year. The two years average out at around $5m per year.

Marshall is on the books for about the same.


The difference between the two is Marshall has upfront money we'd have to eat as a cap hit if we parted ways. Patterson has none becasue we picked him up off waivers. his old team ate that bonus money already.

In addition, Marshall can play FS as well.

I think Patterson is going to have to be a lot better than Marshall and Nolan Carroll to make this team.

Grimes, Taylor and Davis are locks. I think Marshall is as well.

I think we are playing Patterson a lot right now to showcase him. He can play, and someone will need a solid corner before camp is over.

If we get rid of Patterson before the season starts we can roll his $5mill into next year as cap space to go with the $5m we wouldn't have to pay him next year.

kelreign Wrote:
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> Coming into this season, I thought the Dolphins
> were going to release Patterson because there is
> no penalty, and then re-sign him to a more
> economical deal. I didn't think we would keep him
> at that cap number. I wonder if this is really
> the plan. I wonder if other teams even have him
> on their radar.
>
> Also, I hope that we go into the season with 10
> OL. I've seen Steelers seasons go down the drain
> because of linemen getting hurt so often that they
> were basically using TEs and guys off the street.
> We've had our own issues in the past. Would hate
> to see this talented team succumb to a lack of
> O-line depth.

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Hell, just two or three seasons ago, I believe we had 3 OL go down in the same game. Yeah, too many OL is a joke.

I remember that Captkoi. That was crazy. I remember the announcer saying that we didn't have anyone left on the bench if one of these guys got hurt. lol.
Remember when the O-line used to be an after-though... yeah, O-line is def. the most important aspect of a football game now. Just ask the 95' Cowboys and Emmitt Smith how much they loved their O-line!

I like to pull for Jerry. Every year fans have him cut. All he does is show up and start. He has played every position except center, no other olinemen can say that. The guy gets injured and everything is in chaos.

No way we keep 4 TE's over a FB. That would be plain stupid. Especially if Yeatman makes the squad.

Egnew might have improved but has not show that he's better than Keller,Sims or Clay (imo). He still has a chance to show it in pre season but right now bye bye.

I'm happy with D. Great battles in camp. The D should go to another level this year.