Mysterious Calf Injuries and a Player on the Rise
One thing that is eerily evident is that the Dolphins are being plagued by calf injuries. I am not a doctor so I do not know what that means, but when three different players have calf injuries, I think the sports medicine department needs to step in and see if ther may be something causing this. Usually calf injuries come from cramps or improper stretching, but whatever it is from, Miami definitely needs to find a way to prevent this, because now Stills, Misi and Miller are all hobbling around with calf injuries.
Recently I had mentioned that the Dolphins offense has looked ahead of the defense, well now that the pads are on that has quickly changed. The Dolphins defensive line, which most football gambling fans are betting is going to be one of the best D-Line’s in the NFL, is now utterly dominating the offensive line. It is like the perfect storm, with our worst unit on the team going against the best unit on the team so its a double whammy. Hopefully the D-line can make the offensive line better.
On a side note Evan Mathis is still out there and the Dolphins are definitely a team that is still in the mix for him. However, according to sources within the organization the two sides are very far apart in terms of money. The Dolphins are looking for more of a stop gap player that they can pay around $2-$3 million, and Mathis who turned down a $5.5 million dollar deal from the Eagles is looking to at least make that much. It also appears that neither side is in any rush to make a deal happen any time soon. The Dolphins would like to evaluate their Guard play after a few pre-season games, and Mathis’ camp is hoping that a team has an injury at one of the Guard positions which would raise his market value.
A player that is continuing to turn heads at camp is Terence Fede. Fede is entering his second year, and was very raw coming out of Marist college, but it appears he is already making a huge leap in improvement going into his second season in the league. The coaches and higher ups in the organization have been openly praising his improvement, and some are even saying he is the most improved player on the entire roster. What is ironic is that Fede plays defensive end, a position that the Dolphins are extremely stacked at, so it just reinforces the fact that Miami is going to have a very special defensive line. Not only do they have studs like Suh, Wake, and Vernon, but they have high quality depth in Fede, Mosley, Phillips, Shelby and Francis, who are all players that would have a very good chance of starting for other teams in the league.
If the Dolphins D-line can truly play up to expectations for a full 16 games, than they have the chance to be elite. And if they can be elite than this will spread to the rest of the defense, which means the entire defense has the chance to be elite. As we have said in the past offense wins games, but defense wins championships, so if Miami’s defense can be elite, then the sky will be the limit for this team. What does the rest of the Miami Dolphins news fans think about the Dolphins training camp so far, and whether or not their defense can be great?
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I don’t think we can afford an aging Mathis at the price and length of contract that he wants. In 2016, mgt. will have to negotiate with several key players on extensions or new contracts. Next year Suh and RT17’s contacts will come into play in the cap. I am sure that mgt. is acutely aware of their cap limits. I see good progress on the plan to have players that can play multiple positions and schemes. We have the makings of a playoff team. We should be able to become a respected top-tier team after the draft in 2016. I hope that the new linebackers are given every opportunity to earn a spot in this team. We should cut both 3rd and 4th QBs in order to have space for our outstanding crop of WR and LB candidates. Very few of the other candidates for back-up positions will make the last cut. I have great hopes for our beloved team this year and years to come. I predict a 10-6 season which is likely to get us into the playoffs. Go Dolphins !! Kick A** !!
Yes most teams only go in with 2 Qb’s on the roster so the third and 4th Qbs will be cut, and I agree Fred that we need to make room for WR and LB players, our WR are one of the strengths on our team, and we have had an issue with injuries in our LB’s so it would be wise to keep at least two of our undrafted LB’s
Appreciate the reply Jimmy B. I do wonder just how many First-String players contracts expire after the 2015 season ? The Cap is obviously going to be an issue going into 2016. If the Cap
“Guru’s” become magicians, and retain almost all of the up-and-coming players in next year the
Dolphins may very well become one of the national press’s darlings. It’s about time ! Keep up
the good work, I enjoy the insights.
Yeah next year is going to take a Houdini trick to keep this team together, but its possible that Suh may be convinced to restructure his contract if he believes he can be the cornerstone for a championship team. Thanks for your input Fred, always appreciated
Jimmy, the team needs to somehow find a way and sign Mathis!! If we go into the regular season with the OG’s we have, the team will be in trouble when we face the Bills, Jets, Ravens, etc. Sign this guy or make a trade to KC or someone else who needs a solid veteran QB like Matt Moore, or a WR like Matthews! This team needs a solid veteran OG, plus we need to pick up more players on the OL/OG during the preseason. I think that the organization as a whole has done a great job this offseason, but the OG/OL still needs to be addressed. The team must be able to win up front on the offensive side of the ball now! Your thoughts Jimmy?
I agree Stephen, the only truly glaring need on this roster is Guard, and we need to make a move like you said to either sign Mathis or trade with a team that has a plethora of viable Guards. I think we can win with what we have on the offensive line, but we can be a top team in the AFC if we can upgrade at Guard. The offensive line is the glue that holds the offense together and at the moment we don’t even have glue we have silly putty
I don’t think this organization plans to sign Mathis unless his price comes way down, in which case there will be a lot of competition from other NFL teams. I see more of a need for a RG than a LG. Mathis plays LG. I actually feel more confident in the winner of the Dallas Thomas/Jamil Douglas race for the spot than I feel about Billy Turner and whatever competition he is facing behind him. According to what we saw in the scrimmage, he was actually sharing snaps with a guy that just last week looked like a for certain first wave of cuts man in McClendon. I know that Suh is excellent but Turner looks like a turnstile. We need more competition at that spot. I think this team is waiting and seeing who gets dumped off from OL stacked teams like Kansas City and Dallas. Or maybe they are thinking trade. Whatever it is, I don’t think they are going to sign Mathis to a long term deal with big money attached to it. We haven’t been an irresponsible franchise when it comes to cap, and I don’t see them signing off on it and ultimately I don’t think Mathis will take a low money long term deal over a one year pay me the maximum now and I will prove to you you’ll want to extend me type deal.
You are probably right Diego, Mathis’ price is way too high for what Miami is looking to pay. the key is going to be scouring around the league to see what decent Guards get cut from Guard heavy teams. Turner has 0 NFL experience and has not looked very good this training camp. If I had to pick I would say Douglas has been the best Guard of the bunch, but he is still a rookie so there are going to be plenty of bumps along the way