Man, this is a dreadfully painful time with no sports.  As I’ve said since day one, having to go without sports and having to cancel a vacation—that’s nothing compared to people losing their lives to the virus.  I’d rather have this minor inconvenience than suffer what others have been through.  But after 3 or 4 months, I’m really eager to get back to normal…if only mother nature would agree. I haven’t had much to report here, and even the Dolphin writers at the Herald and Sun Sentinel are re-hashing the same stuff.  What this unit MIGHT look like.   WHAT IF this or that happens?  ARead More →

Various reports indicate that Xavien Howard will not be suspended to begin the 2020 season, if there is one. The legal charges were dropped, but Howard still could have faced discipline from Roger Goodell under the league’s personal conduct policy.  Apparently, even that will not occur, and it’s great news for the Dolphins. Meanwhile, Tua is in Miami.  Players with injuries are allowed to consult with team doctors, and that’s exactly the case here.  The “contact” rules are extremely vague during the pandemic.  I don’t even know if Tua and Brian Flores are allowed to meet and say hello in person.  I know Tua isRead More →

The NFL reported today that it’s toying with a shorter pre-season (2 games instead of 4).   I’m curious what you all think. Me?   I am all for it.   The NFL preseason is like no other.  It’s grueling. It’s violent and dangerous.  It’s meaningless like the Pro Bowl, if you’re a veteran.   But to rookies dying to make the team, it’s life and death.  Put those rookies and the vets on the field at the same time, and it’s scary. The pre-season, they say, lets coaches see what they have.  True, no doubt.   But you can also see that, for the most part, at practices andRead More →

2020 has featured so much uncertainty that it’s hard to get an accurate indication of when certain NFL milestones will be coming. Training camp seems a long way off still, but there is some progress.   Teams might be able to resume in-person meetings (whether it’s just coaches or players or both is unknown).  Actual practices are not around the corner, but it gives us something to look forward to. My one main wish is that the NFL stays unified and fair on when the camps will open and when teams can begin their activities.   In MLB, it’s not very unified.  The players union can’t agreeRead More →

There’s been a lot in the news lately with the police in Minnesota killing an unarmed man, plus a new expanded Rooney rule that gives teams bonuses if they interview minority candidates.   I stay away from all that stuff, because right or wrong, it comes down to your opinions, rather than factual truths. Brian Flores today weighed in on a lot of stuff going on.  He seems upset that some people who complained about a player kneeling didn’t also complain about police brutality.   His logic seems to be that if you complain about A then you must also complain about B.   The incidents are allRead More →

https://sports.yahoo.com/mike-gesicki-was-bored-so-he-tossed-a-football-over-his-house-and-caught-it-on-the-other-side-164500915.html    Read More →

I’m sure you all read the reports (it’s been in all the papers and online this week).  It seems that the Dolphins fired OC Chad O’Shea because his offense was too complicated.  More specifically, the players had a hard time adapting and learning it. I’m sure there’s a lot of truth to that, but there must be something more.  The Dolphins had a J.V. roster, and in all honesty, they should have lost 17 games last year.  What gained them 5 wins was some innovative offense.  In each win, there was some well-timed trickery, plus some outstanding effort by the WR corps.   And don’t forget,Read More →

As you know, in the weeks leading up to the draft, I was hoping we’d draft Tua.  And I obviously got my wish.  I think his upside is tremendous, and that counteracts his risk of injury.  He’s exciting and young, and I think that is what we needed. But… this isn’t really a “but” at this point, but rather a few things I’ve noticed recently that MAY start to be cause for concern. First, Tua already has endorsement deals in place, and he’s already promoting Muscle Milk drinks.  That is clearly his right and it takes nothing away from his athletic skills.  But in the backRead More →

Week 1. Sept. 13 @ New England Patriots. Week 2. Sept. 20 BUFFALO BILLS. Week 3. Sept. 24 @ Jacksonville (Thursday night). Week 4. Oct. 4 SEATTLE SEAHAWKS. Week 5. Oct. 11 @ San Francisco 49ers. Week 6. Oct. 18 at Denver Broncos. Week 7. Oct. 25 Los Angeles Chargers. Week 8. Nov. 1 Los Angeles Rams. Week 9. Nov. 8 @ Arizona Cardinals. Week 10. Nov. 15 New York Jets Week 11. BYE Week 12. Nov. 29 @ New York Jets. Week 13. Dec. 6 Cincinnati Bengals. Week 14. Dec. 13. Kansas City Chiefs. Week 15. Dec. 20 New England Patriots Week. 16. Dec.Read More →

I hate to break away from the Don Shula thread, but life does indeed go on, and we can certainly discuss The Coach at any time. In the meantime, I’m happy to report that Albert Wilson is staying.  He agreed to a salary cut and contract renegotiation in order to stay put.  As many of you know, I love both Wilson and Jakeem Grant, but with Malcolm Perry getting a lot of buzz, there are only so many fast little guys the Dolphins can keep.  And with both Grant’s and Wilson’s injury history, I’m sure that’s why they drafted Perry. I think Perry is anRead More →

The accolades are flying in on virtually all news networks and sports blogs.   I cannot even keep up. Rather than cite a long bio here, let’s open it up to your thoughts and your stories/memories about Don Shula.  I know a few younger readers don’t even remember his coaching.  But for us others, what are your thoughts on Shula personally?  His impact?  His coaching style? We’d love to hear from you all…  Read More →

I’ve spent nearly the entire week reading up on our draft picks before writing this.  In general, I am pleased with the selections, and I certainly feel the Dolphins are better off today than a week ago.  Would love to hear from you all on your overall thoughts. Obviously, each pick comes with strengths and weaknesses.   But interestingly enough, most of the “weaknesses” for this crop of rookies are actually mysteries, not weaknesses.  These question marks include: Can Tua stay healthy? Will he play at all in 2020? Is Austin Jackson ready for the NFL, or still several years away as many have said? Will NoahRead More →

So I was very happy with the Tua pick.   My gut was telling me to make this pick, and I’m glad the Dolphin Chris Grier agreed.   The young Flores boys seemed to agree too, as they were so eager to grab the phone and talk to Tua. I was going to vow to learn how to spell and pronounce his last name, but I gave up already.  Incidentally, Tua is just a nickname.   I cannot pronounce or spell his real first name either.  So he is Tua for life in this blog. Austin Jackson and Noah I. (another young man whose name I won’t tryRead More →

Okay, I’d love to chat with our group here during the draft, and I’ll open up the chat room before the draft commences at 8 Eastern. Also, reader Justin and some friends are having a Zoom video draft party, and I’m working with him to provide the invite links here.  Zoom is pretty fun an easy, and you just have to click the link.   If you have Zoom, you’re in.  If not, it will ask you to download it, which is quick and easy. I’m going to TRY to do our chat room while I’m in Justin’s Zoom party, so we’ll see how that goes.Read More →

With everyone concerned about Coronavirus, I’m sure a lot of our excitement about the draft and the schedule release has been curtailed.   But with 10 days to go for the draft (and probably any day now for the schedule release), it’s finally starting to hit me. I hope you all are safe and sound. A lot of the same rumors continue to buzz around, plus some new rumors, plus some contradictions of the original rumors.   The bottom line?   IT’S ALL RUMORS!  We don’t know.   The good news is that we only need to wait 2 more days to find out. I’ll begin by saying this one lastRead More →

I see a lot of debate about if the draft should still be held in 3 weeks or postponed because of all the corona situations.  Some NFL executives say they need more time, since in-person meetings and physicals can’t take place right now.   It’s true that no in-person interviews can take place, but it’s ridiculous to think these scouts need more time. I think the draft should proceed as normal. One of the more convincing parts of this comes from an article I read about “What if we delay the draft and give GMs more time to evaluate players?”   Will their info-gathering be any better?  TheseRead More →

So now that the free agent signings have slowed down, the “graders” are starting to rate how all the teams did.   Most “experts” seem to be giving the Dolphins a grade of around B to A+.  People tend to like the new Dolphin acquisitions, but many of them thought we overpaid. I’m fine with that.  We have plenty of money, and overpaying is insurance that some other team won’t outbid us.  Plus, my long-time readers know my core belief that the salary cap is just a fluid, flexible number.  There’s a long history in the NFL of teams being at or over their cap limit, andRead More →