Key Players Flores “Can Make Best Version of Themselves”

M.J.

5 years ago

The success of Brian Flores and Chris Grier’s low-cost process depends on player development

Brian Flores has stated his job is to make his players “the best version of themselves.” This is such a simple and brilliant concept… and yet, it’s oh so difficult to achieve.

All you need to do is look at last season with Adam Gase and how he utilized Raekwon McMillan and Mike Gesicki as prime examples of putting players in position to be the worst versions of themselves. For a refresher, McMillan isn’t best suited to cover the deep middle and Gesicki isn’t best suited to be an inline blocker.

Remember Bum Phillip quote on Don Shula?

“Don Shula can take his’n and beat your’n… Or he can take your’n and beat his’n.”

There are many key components that make a successful head coach such as charisma, character, intelligence, organization, discipline, and communication. But one trait that every successful coach has is knowing how to emphasize a player’s strength and hide his weaknesses. This Sun Tzu philosophy Bill Belichick possesses in spades. The question for the Miami Dolphins fans is will his apprentice, Brian Flores, show a similar aptitude… and if so, to what degree?

Miami has been plagued by many things… mostly by poor coaching

I wrote many times last year that the Dolphins suffered not so much from a lack of talent as a lack of vision by the staff. To expand on this statement would take a dozen article, so I’ll simply touch this lack of vision for players.

Why did it take all of 2016 to realize DeVante Parker has such poor habits?
Playing McMillan, who was coming off a leg injury, in coverage so much was putting him at a severe disadvantage
Why force Gesicki into a key blocking role… especially after Gase made the same mistake with Julius Thomas?
Ted Larsen is best suited at Right Guard by his own admission, so why depend on him at Left Guard… even as a backup? Why not have a second option behind injury-prone Sitton?
How could you not know your coach was a complete coke head? Either oblivious or indifferent.
Why did it take two seasons to figure out Jakeem Grant was more suited to be split wide?
Moving Kiko from MLB to WLB when coverage isn’t his strength wasn’t thoughtful use of the player.
Why bring in McDonald who’s skill set matches Jones when neither can play deep coverage?
Why take a penetrating DT and your most expensive player in Suh and make him soak up blocks in a 2-Gap?

I could go on, but needless to say, Gase had his vision and ran with it… regardless if it suited his players or not. I get it in Year 1. He was a new coach. But, the same ‘mistakes’ happened in Year 3.

Can Coach Flores create a vision for the season that involves his players?

You can bet with the pay per heads like Ace Per Head, that Coach Flores will be far more flexible than Gase. How could he not? This isn’t a total indictment of Gase. Jimmy Johnson was similarly inflexible and he won and won big. The problem with this type of coaching it is hit or miss… and a talent pool like the 90’s Dallas teams comes but once in a generation. So this style is mostly a loser.

Miami’s talent pool wasn’t great under Gase, but the talent would have been more effective with better coaching. By better coaching, I mean knowing what your players’ strengths and weaknesses are and working with them in your overall plan.

1st tier players who Flores can rehabilitate by allowing them to play to their strengths.

Raekwon McMillan had a very ugly 3/4 of the season. The tape was very hard on his play over that stretch… and so was I. Over the last couple of games, his assignments were adjusted and he began to shine. He is better suited inside in a 3-4. I think he came could grow tremendously in 2019.

Charles Harris played outside linebacker in a 3-4 in college and was a raw player. Moved inline as a Defensive End in the 4-5 technique, he was exposed in the run game. Still, while there was a sophomore slump for Harris last year, his limited tape showed that he got better. As an example, he brutalized new Dolphins Jordan Mills in the run game. Outside in 6 technique as an OLB, Harris will rebound… to what level remains to be seen. Similar to Laremy Tunsil, lessons learned playing inside may pay dividends when moved back outside.

Mike Gesicki put on near 10 lbs this offseason, but he isn’t an inline blocker at this point. Also, he has trouble getting off the jam and he is slow early in the stem of a route. He needs to be schemed to get off the line. Play Action, motion, deep pressure to back off the coverage can help him get to the second level. Gase’s overuse of the short game and lack of attacking the middle was a bad recipe for Gesicki.

2nd tier players who Flores help by putting them in a better position to succeed

Cordrea Tankersley was an elite athlete who was thrown into the fire in 2017. Early he looked very good, but he was raw. Pressure, added complexity in his assignments as a starter, and opposing teams watching tape caused him to collapse. A torn ACL in 2018 has put Tankersly at the bottom of his young career. Man press is likely his best technique… unless he has made serious strides in the mental side of his game.

T.J. McDonald dropped plenty of weight this offseason. He seemed to know where to go in deep coverage but was too slow getting there. Can this weight reduction make him more versatile?

Kiko Alonso was very successful in a similar hybrid defense to what Flores will run under Mike Pettine in Buffalo. That defense was Rex Ryan’s 3-4/ 4-3 “Under” defense, so it had some different dynamics to what was run with the Pats… but many concepts for Kiko as the Mike will be very similar.

Jesse Davis would have started as the Right Tackle if the Dolphins didn’t bring back Ja’Wuan James. Inside at Right Guard, his height is a bit of a disadvantage in the run game. Technique and scheme shifts could help him out inside… or maybe a move to RT could have him bloom.

Turning even a handful of these nonfactors into contributors would go a long way in 2019

Every year Bill Belichick turns some ‘garbage players’ into factors for victory. And every year Dolphins coaches get their players to flop. There’s no doubt that this team needs more talent, but if Flores and his staff can even coach up what they have, Miami will take a real step towards success.

In the above players, I didn’t even name all the new additions of talent that have underperformed in light of their abilities elsewhere: Rosen, Fitzpatrick, Mills, Washington, Orchard, Walton, and Rowe. Can Flores turn around even a portion of all these players? If so, then he will have shown himself to be the best coach in Miami since Shula. No, that’s not saying a ton… But it’s a nice start. Go Phins!!!

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