Dolphins Truth

Don’t listen to the Dolphins’ official spin:  “Oh, this is not a big deal.   Just an internal issue we will work out.” It’s not a small little thing requiring the dotting of some I’s.  It’s bigger.   It’s HUGE. Xavien Howard is holding out. A year after he willing agreed to a contact, and willing accepted it, and willingly signed his name on the dotted line…he is now proving he is NOT a man of his word.  He feels he does not have to honor a contact that he already committed to.   He is greedy.  He is dishonest. If he had a poor season last year,Read More →

Barry Jackson at the Herald shared this article about the analytics of ranking the Dolphins defense. https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article251997838.html I usually agree with much of Jackson’s commentary, but he is way off base here.   You see, the ratings had the Dolphins’ linebackers ranked pretty low, and our defensive line ranked even lower.  No surprise there.   But I’m shocked that Barry Jackson thought the grades were unfair.  He thinks the Dolphins LBs and D-Line are better. Why?  What did he watch last year to indicate our non-secondary guys were any good?  Andrew Van Ginkel had a very exciting fumble recovery for a TD against the Rams, but canRead More →

A few random thoughts as rookie training camp got underway…. Jaylen Waddle signed his contract.   I probably care about that stuff more than most people, but this is big news.  Too many times, players hold out, gripe about their deals, or simply delay the signing until much later in the season.  I’m glad our #1 pick is set in stone now. Historically, the Dolphins have been fairly lucky with their holdouts.  There have been a few, but none of the holdouts devastated the team.  I think Reshad Jones was one, but his holdout came and went under the radar and didn’t affect the Dolphins.  CompareRead More →

We covered many of these yesterday, but here are some topics I’d love to hear your opinions on. Prime Time Games.   The Dolphins have a Monday game, a Thursday game, and an International game (whicj will be aired in prime time for the British soccer hooligans, but airs at 6 in the morning for the U.S.’s west coast.   Yep, Roger Goodell sure knows his priorities!  Anyway, prime time games used to be important.   Back in the 80s, and even moreso in the 70s, you did not have an internet, streaming, DirecTV Sunday ticket, ESPN instant highlights, etc etc.  You got two games on Sunday and oneRead More →

The schedule release is not even official, and yet the Dolphins are already getting screwed.  Twice. We’ll keep checking in during the day, but what we know for now is that the Dolphins have to open the season at New England, AGAIN.  The Patriots always get to open at home, and how this is never pointed out by anyone but me is remarkable!   The Patriots sign Kyle Van Noy and Davon Godchaux.  They will be a lot better than last year. Second, the Dolphins quick ride up to Jacksonville is now set to take place in London.  Yep, once again, Stephen Ross allows his teamRead More →

Thanks to reader Mike for pointing this out today. So it appears the Dolphins’ defensive purge continues.  I was wondering why the Dolphins took a safety in the second round, and now the answer is clear why we drafted Jevon Holland. There are a few ways to look at this.  Bobby McCain was a loyal and reliable safety who kept his mouth shut and did whatever was asked of him.  A team leader, as shown by his peers electing him team captain.  But he was making too much money.  This can be seen (again) as a salary-cutting move.   Holland’s rookie contract will be significantly lessRead More →

Well, the draft is here and gone.  (The next event on the horizon is the schedule release on May 12). We’ve commented a lot the last few days, but here is my overall take.  It’s on odd way to break things down, but this is a precedent:  I love the players we selected, and I don’t think there are any duds.  HOWEVER, the timing, trading, and gamesmanship that went into these picks leaves me scratching my end and feeling less enthusiastic than I should. Let’s start with BC toght end Hunter Long.  A good player by all accounts.  He may be a great pro.  butRead More →

I’m going to start with the negatives, and then have a happy ending later on with the positives.   Not the Robert Kraft happy endings either. First was Jaylen Waddle. I don’t mind the pick, as this kid seems to be highly touted.  No doubts about his abilities or speed.  The “negatives” surrounding him aren’t really his fault at all, as he doesn’t have many weaknesses in his game.  Rather, the Dolphins blew this. Chris Grier gambled, overspent, and lost badly.  How, you ask? By almost all consensus, Waddle would have been there at #12 if we stayed put after the 49er deal.  We went fromRead More →

I’ll have a chat room open tonight if anyone wants to join in and gab.   Just go to http://dolphinstruth.com/chat/ round 8 pm Eastern I might update this to a Zoom meeting instead if I can figure that out in time, but my wife may need our video camera for her work, so I don’t know if Zoom will work out. I’ve been reading all the “final” mock drafts, and no real surprises here.  Read More →

The Dolphins basically gave Ereck Flowers to the Redskins in what can only be described as a cost-cutting move. The Dolphins continue to believe that a handful of new offensive linemen and zero continuity year after year after year is a good idea.  It’s an annual merry-go-round on the line.  After letting our most consistent lineman–center Ted Karras–walk away to the Patriots, the Dolphins now get nothing in return for our 2nd best lineman, guard Flowers. Versatile backup Julien Davenport was also sent packing, along with one-and-done tackle Isaiah Wilson. It might be a sign that we are making roster space for Penei Sewell.   Or itRead More →

Not a lot of draft news or rumors circulating around…except more of the same.   Pretty much everyone thinks that WR is the Dolphins’ main need, and virtually all “experts” have us taking LSU’s Chase at #4.  As you all know, I hope we choose defense instead, but I understand the offense get use some help too. As I’ve said, I don’t remember Tua throwing the ball to wide open WRs last year, and they all dropped the ball.  No, our WRs were fine.  Our kid QB no time to throw all season, and that was the problem.  Fitz didn’t have any time either, but veteransRead More →

Sam Darnold is out as Jets quarterback, in a move that was expected some time ago…but Jets’ management did a good job of playing it coy and not really revealing their plans.  Darnold has been a gift to the Dolphins, and he became as bad as Josh Allen became good.   Opposite paths for these two young men. So the draft just got a bit clearer.  The Jets MUST select a QB now.  There was some talk of them taking a non-QB if they kept Darnold.  But that is a non-issue now. I am against the Dolphins taking a WR with the #6 pick.  I’m evenRead More →

While there are many reasons to rationalize what the NFL does (and why), adding a 17th game clearly comes down to greed.  Greedy owners, greedy TV networks.  Greedy Roger Goodell. Seriously, does anyone on earth buy into Goodell’s lie about how he just wants to spread the NFL to new audience by giving them more opportunity to see a game for the first time, etc.?  It’s all about revenue, which is fine.  Just admit it! So now the Giants at Dolphins will end the season.   The NFL’s insanely unfairly unbalanced schedule just got even more unbalanced.  This season, we are already slated to play theRead More →

I’m so bust today and don’t have a lot of time to get into depth, but I wanted to start the conversation here and open it up for you guys to comment. We went from 3rd to 12th, BUT we picked up the 49ers FIRST ROUNDERS in 2022 and 23.  Man, this is better than the Houston deal!   Now we have to root against San Fran for the next 2 years!!! Thoughts?  Read More →

I don’t like the revolving door and the center position, but at least we got someone to replace Ted Karras, who we should have kept.  Anyway, Matt Skura is serviceable, but I don’t see him as a long-term answer.  the Dolphins don’t see him long-term either, only giving him a one-year deal. We went undrafted, so most of the NFL ignored him when he came our of college.  And then there is this troubling tidbit:  “Last season, Skura was benched after making three costly errors during an inclement weather Week 10 game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough. Skura reported abuse and threats directed atRead More →

The guy just wants to play football. A losing team with zero chance of making the playoffs?  He doesn’t care. A doormat of a team so bad they call themselves the “Football Team?”   He doesn’t care. A team with a horrible offensive line that will get him killed?  He doesn’t care He just wants to play. As much as WE loved him in the role of mentor/backup/teacher, Ryan Fitzpatrick did not want to be any of those things.  While most of us selfishly wanted the guy to stick around as an emergency backup, the Redskins wanted him to be their starter, God knows why.  $10Read More →

Thanks to reader Sean for first alerting me to this trade as it occurred on Sunday. The Dolphins became the second team in as many years to give up on Shaq Lawson.  I think Lawson was adequate, but he was the stud DE we were hoping for.   By the way, I call him a DE.   There is no such thing as an “Edge” like all the millenials like to call a defensive end nowadays!   🙂 So in the course of a week, the Dolphins cut a starting linebacker in Kyle Van Noy and a pass-rushing DE in Lawson.   McKinney had some pro bowl years inRead More →