Julius Thomas The Six Million Dollar Bust
Thomas was hand picked by Gase, despite 2 previous lack luster seasons
Thomas gets six-million dollars to be the worst offensive player on the Dolphins
Miami Dolphins Offense has been nothing but offensive so far in 2017. It’s been a let down and a shock. This team was built on the premise of having an offense that scores and a defense that limits.
Half of that formula has been true so far.
Prior to the Saints game I wrote an article about how the Dolphins interior Offensive Line had favorable match-ups, and much like the Chargers game, the run game would carry them to a win.
The Dolphins lost, and now as a reader Lemmus so eloquently said, “Would you like ketchup or mustard on those feet, M.J.?”
First, it’s not tasting too good, Lemmus.
Second, I’d like to try and qualify my meal with some context… starting with Julius Thomas.
Adam Gase was the main reason Thomas was given a sizable contract and brought in. Given his history of injuries and poor blocking, he was expected to be just an aspect of the Tightend position, not the beginning and end.
So far the only end he’s been is the one you wipe.
Thomas is slow, lacks physicality, concentration, and has been unproductive…. but other than that he’s fantastic.
This past Sunday Miami ran 28 passing plays, 15 running plays, and had 11 penalties for a total of 54 attempted snaps. Thomas was responsible for screwing up in almost 20% of them.
Below, Thomas is primarily responsible for the failure of 3 runs plays, and one of those plays killed a crucial drive on 3rd down. Also, he added in a backbreaking false start on 1st & 10 to open the second quarter.
Given Miami only had 15 runs, Thomas was primarily responsible for ruining a whopping 15% of the rushing plays.
Gase is the man responsible for bringing Thomas to Miami
Now digging deeper, Thomas also failed his assignment on 3 more running plays, 1 blocking assignment in the passing game, and showed little effort against a much smaller opponent in the Endzone, which led to a pick.
In the running game he failed nearly 50% of his assignments. The main problem I have is, why does Gase keep trotting Thomas out to fail in the most critical part of this offense when Anthony Fasano, who was ranked the #1 blocking TE in the NFL, is available?
I don’t know the answer to that question. But I know it’s one of his worst moves Gase has made, and continues to make, since he became the Dolphins Head Coach.
In the next video, the first of these two plays was a popular meme showing how Ajayi could make chick salad with a chick %@$% Offensive Line. It was funny and popular, but also quite misleading. First, this was another winner by Thomas… and also a penalty ( that was as blatant as they come) on the Saints that exasperated the failure.
There is one man primarily responsible for the Offensive failure… his name is Gase
Notice how Thomas doesn’t chip as he get to his assignment. He avoids all contact like the plague, allowing the end to distrupt the play. Also notice the horse collar by the DE. Amazing how this wasn’t picked up. A simple chip would have slowed the DE enough to allow the pulling Guard time to get there. The fact that Ajayi gets a good gain isn’t the point. The key points are: Thomas totally sucks at blocking and yet is still in 95% of the plays that a Tightend is called for, and the OL was blamed for this failure, which isn’t the case.
The second play is another issue–although this is more opinion than fact. Thomas is clueless of the blitz and the protection behind him. As the last option on this play his route is the least crucial, if he bends his release slightly, the blitzer would be slowed and the play might have had a chance.
Now factor in all the above against the only production he brought to the table.
The best price per head sportsbook‘s are betting my Grandmother could make those plays. Not only would Fasano and MarQueis Gray make those plays, but they would make a huge improvement in blocking for the run game. What the ripple effect of this would be is unknown? But whatever it would be, it would make the rushing attack better. If you look over both Gray and Fasano’s tape they are making their blocks at an astronomically higher rate than eel fingers Thomas. So why the hell is Thomas still in there? Gase reminds me of the idiot trying to force the square peg into the round hole, believe if he just turns it this way or that it will fit. Everyone knows what kind of player he is–everyone but Gase, it seems… and that makes this situation all the more troubling.
I’m still a big fan of Gase, but come on man… snap out of it! Go Fins!!!
…dum dum de dum …thing is, I remember this time last year …and me, myself, and I was as down on a phins team as anyone had ever been …then Gase up and outright fired both of the turnstile twins in a Monday Night Massacre …an unheard of thing in the NFL …and then pulled the J-Train out of his magic hat …and we forgot all about those first miserable weeks
…I want to believe in the magic …I do …not just because its been ages since the ’72 magic show left a much younger me thinking the Dolphins were forever …but because my clock is ticking away. telling me I might miss the sequel …it won’t be this year …but I need Gase to be the one to restore the dynasty here …and soon …I simply don’t have the time to wait for another rebuild …we all have our reasons for wanting to believe, mine just has a shorter time line
…c’mon Gase, get it together, punch somebody in the mouth …whatever it takes …but do it now, eh
They tried out a Guard today, so with no injuries it seems like they are either sending a message or really looking. For some reason it never really stuck with me that they paid 3 mill for his services. A lot of wasted money in this cap. I think mostly the interior is obviously not good, but I still think Gase is killing them with his calls. These guys are being brutalized with stacked boxes and that’s on
Gase. He didn’t call a route deeper than 20 yards till the 4th… the fact he was in 3 wides all game makes it nuts. Not saying they’d be stars, but they did well enough to be the Chargers D and that D in the middle of the league and top ten in pass rush. They could be playing far better if given some help. Tunsil is the anchor. His plays is poor. Thomas kills a handful of plays a game. Pouncey is frail so these G’s are getting exposed. Again the tackle pay was good in the first game and we had little bad to say about their play. Then the Jets exposed Gase and exposed the G’s. I’d move Davis to RG and bench Bushrod and Thomas. This will be a regime defining moment.
JT should be the sacrificial lamb this week. Cut the bum. Then Gase should fire himself.
“JT should be the sacrificial lamb this week. Cut the bum.” We don’t agree on much, but this we are welded together on. At the very least he needs to see a substantial reduction in playing time. Not ready to cut ties with Gase. This week will go a long way towards my decision. If Thomas keeps getting the same level of playing time and flops, then Gase isn’t what I thought he was.
…JT has been a complete bust …but this isn’t news, he had a terrible camp and still made the team …the news is that Gase is putting him on the field in situations where Fasano or MG is obviously the better player …there is a huge disconnect here
…as for the PFF numbers, Steen is getting barely half the reps, sharing them with Davis …both stink …30 out of 70+ stinks, mj …and its affecting Tunsil’s and Pouncy’s play on both sides of the duet …G isn’t a rotational position, it needs consistency in order to develop the teamwork the OL requires …but neither can play well enough to earn the slot outright …and the misery continues …we need 2 Gs and the best we have per the stats is ranked 30th in the NFL
…do I need to mention we paid dearly to resign Bushrod at RG, one of the very worst in the game two years running now? …he was good in his day at OT, but those days are long gone
…who would have predicted that James would be the star of the OL this year …not me …Tunsil has been a total disappointment at LT …whether its all on him or some of it comes from his having to cover for the LG play …or lack thereof …the end result speaks for itself
…Pouncy is a shadow of his early years …his injuries have taken their toll and the long sob story of the turnstiles on either side has not helped …Bowles exposed him …he is no longer even average and the lack of practice reps is telling on his play
…ultimately this comes back to Gase and T-bum …would anyone here now support the Harris pick over one of the OL still available? …and you can’t point to hindsight, mj …I said then and I’ve said it repeatedly in the months since …Harris has fail written all over him …and the loss of the OT that we could have had is killing us …literally
…and it gets worse …partially because of the guarantees that T-bum gave out, we are in cap hell come ’18 …so there won’t be any big FA signings to help …and we’re going to lose a couple to the cap …we still need a replacement for Wake …now we need a replacement for Pouncy as well as the two Guards and a red-zone TE who can block, run a route, and even catch in traffic …and god help us if TH doesn’t recover …in other words, next off-season, we’re going to need a lot of ammo, our magazines are near empty, and T-bum’s aim is looking like deja vu from his Jets tenure
…on the bright side, what little there is. Tankersly looked decent in his first start …he held his own, not a shut down corner, at least not yet …but against Brees/Evans he was tested repeatedly and made Evans earn what he got …still think taking a CB third was a bad call but Tankersly could make me rethink that if he holds up
…I won’t be watching Sunday …until Ross mans up and enforces the existing NFL rule book, I won’t be …but that doesn’t mean I won’t be looking at the aftermath …hoping against hope that Gase has another rabbit under his hat
Should get Fasano more playing time. Great blocker and good (not excellent) receiver.
I’d take you brother over Thomas… he is hot trash on the good days. I do like Grey and think he needs to get in there.
The players don’t seem to care. Penalties are insane. Players that shouldn’t be playing are playing. Bad drafting and off-season moves in general. Lets be nice and guarantee Misi some money??? This is all Gase… I was all on the Gase could be our next great coach boat… I’m not anymore. Now I’m just hoping he can be decent… Obviously you hope we can turn it around again… Thomas shouldn’t be benched.. He should be cut… Why Gase continues to play or even keep players on the roster that anyone who has ever watched a football game knows they should be bagging groceries is beyond me… And he is not using any players to their strengths… That is flat out bad coaching… The last 2 weeks he has been out coached by mediocre coaches… Are we gonna be a team that starts crappy every year… Gase better make some changes or he could be the change