Saturday Dolphins Mailbag: What If, Time Management, and More
In this story:
From Nicolas Kaoukis (via email):
Salut Alain, Je vous souhaite, à vous et à votre famille, une bonne année! Dolphins Fan from Montreal here. First off, thank you for the great work you put into these articles, always a pleasure reading your viewpoint. Two questions: 1: Do you see the Dolphins releasing a few big-name players on the current roster (i.e. J.Baker, B.Jones, etc.) and signing a few big-name free agents outside of this team? Most of the Dolphins linebackers and running backs will be free agents at the end of the year and Miami can make a splash in free agency at either one of those positions. What do you think? 2: Which was the better outfield trio for the Expos (Tim Raines, Andrew Dawson, Ellis Valentine) or (Moises Alou, Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom)?
Hey Nick, thanks, the Dolphins are going to have to restructure some contracts and release some players to just get under the cap. I certainly wouldn’t expect many, if any, big-splash signings because the Dolphins just won’t have the cap space. As for cut candidates, yeah, Byron Jones and Baker definitely are two names to watch. On the Expos outfield (love the question), the third outfielder with Valentine and Dawson was Warren Cromartie and not Raines. I’d still have to go with Alou, Grissom and Walker, which was a ridiculously talented trio.
From Cliffy Mac (@mclifford36):
I’m usually not one to play “what ifs,” but if all or most of the major players were available for the playoffs, how far do you think the Dolphins could have gone?
Hey Cliffy, unpopular opinion alert: I think the Dolphins would have gone as far as they did. As I tweeted the other day, I don’t buy this notion of the Dolphins (or Ravens, for that matter) beating the Bills (or Bengals) had Tua and/or Lamar Jackson played because that supposes everything else would have played out the same. For example, Josh Allen kept taking deep shots against the Dolphins and misfired on most. Do we think it’s possible the game plan would have been different had the Buffalo defense been facing Tua instead of Skylar Thompson?
From NY – Fins Up (@azomback34):
How can the Dolphins improve pre-snap clock management when they have so much motion & complex alignments? Is it as simple as breaking the huddle at a specific time remaining? Assume QB needs to have time to read the D as well. Nerve-racking when closing down to zero all the time.
Hey there, yeah, I do think it’s as simple as making the huddle breaks with a certain amount of time left on the play clock. You also have to factor in for all the pre-snap movement.
From Keith Strini (@keith_strini):
The defense being up and down pretty evenly this year with injuries, etc., and Boyer's philosophy so heavily reliant on stud DBs, do you think that is enough to move on (ie healthy DB 1/2 always a weakness) vs. scheme strength like a Fangio (top 10 consistently) regardless of health?
Vic Fangio is a very well respected defensive mind who would be an asset for any team, and he will be in heavy demand this offseason. All that said, I’m not advocating for a move there because I do think Boyer deserves another shot. UPDATE: Now that the Dolphins have fired Boyer, Fangio very much is in play.
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From Ricardo Hernandez (@Ricardo96451182):
Hi Alain. After the ‘08 & ‘16 playoffs, I felt that the new regimes had at least finally turned things around. But it was all one-and-done and ending badly. Do you get any sense this time it may actually be different or might we be waiting another 6 to 8 years to end the drought?
Hey Ricardo, quarterback always is the biggest key to maintaining continued success, so the question is whether Tua can stay healthy and build on the success he experienced until the December snag hit. In 2008, the Dolphins had Chad Pennington, whose body broke down starting the next season and in 2016, they had Ryan Tannehill, who is simply not an elite quarterback.
From The concrete ocean podcast (@Theconcreteoce1):
When do u think they start staff changes?
Those things usually will happen very quickly and be done by the end of January for teams out of the playoffs.
From MAKE THROWBACKS PERMANENT (@THROWBACKS4EVER):
Chances of throwbacks being made permanent?
Hmm, I’m thinking you’d like a high percentage. But I’ve never heard nothing to suggest it’s happening.
From im that drunk uncle (@UnoTheTruthh):
When should we expect Boyer to be fired? Today? Tomorrow? Next week?
How about not this year? I’m just not convinced this is going to happen, but if it does, it would happen with a week, I would think. UPDATE: It did happen, and within a week.
From Jeff (via email):
Hello Alain, I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you. Apart from all of the other writers about the Dolphins, I really applaud your column for these specific articles. Some of us don't have the local group to talk Dolphins with and seeing all the questions from the community makes it feel like we're all sitting around having a campfire conversation with you. It's a special thing. I wanted to ask... In your view, do you think the 1972 teams were "the best in the history of football"? Chuck Noll's Steelers, Landry's Cowboys, the Packers, Madden's Raiders, and of course the '72 Dolphins were just such amazing groups of players on both sides of the ball. Secondly, how do you view a coach’s first year? What I mean is, how does McDaniel's first year compare to say Chuck Noll, Shula, Madden, or Landry? I'm not trying to put him up there with those guys, but I am genuinely curious on what their first years were by comparison. One of the stats people always bring up is how bad Peyton Manning's rookie year was. It's one year, but you can usually get a feel for how the mindset is of that player (or coach) and that says a lot more than wins and losses.
Hey Jeff, thanks. The positive feedback I’ve gotten on the mailbags is why I’ve done them more often after a while. The 1972 Dolphins have been called at times the greatest team in NFL history, but to me that applies strictly if we’re going but won-loss record. As somebody old enough to have watched that team, I can’t say it’s the best team ever. In fact, some members of the Dolphins Super Bowl teams have conceded that the 1973 team was probably better and it certainly shows in the playoff scores — the 1972 Dolphins are one of only two Super Bowl champions not to win a playoff game by a double-digit margin (the 2001 Patriots are the other). As for McDaniel’s first year, the Dolphins were 9-8, so I don’t think she would put him in the Hall of Fame just yet. I would say it was a promising start.
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Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Dolphins news and analysis year-round. Also, you can follow me on Twitter at @PoupartNFL, and that's where you can ask questions for the regular All Dolphins mailbags. You also can ask questions via email at fnalldolphins@yahoo.com.
