Nuggets From First Batch Of OTA’s
OTA’s give coaches and fans their first nuggets of what the team has to offer.
Nuggets can offer hints at strengths or weakness
OTA’s offer glimpses or phantoms–depending on your take of what OTA’s actually offer NFL football prognosticators by the best pay per head review sites.
While some say they can gain gold nuggets in short windows, others say watching practices only offer fools gold.
I take the middle road: there’s a whole lot that can be gleaned from practice, but only time will reveal if those glimpses tell the whole story.
So, without further bloviating, here’s a bunch of nuggets for you to make heads or tails of:
1. Ryan Tannehill is moving around without any visible effect from his knee injury–he believes the stem cell therapy is the main ingredient to his recovery. Although he’s wearing a brace and will do so for the season, this is a fantastic sign.
2. Ted Larsen practiced at C, LG, and RG. Given Mike Pouncey will see limited practice and Preseason reps, the Center will be an interesting battle between Larsen, Kraig Urbick, and Anthony Steen. This is key to keep out eyes on because the backup might end up the starter if Pouncey’s injury history continues its trend. I’m very interested to see Larsen working the second level in Run Block.
3. Receiver DeVante Parker was impressive, catching a number of passes over the middle. Hunger seems to be his theme so far this see. Parker playing up to his potential could offer an incredible impact on the offense’s production.
4. The line was without three starters: Pouncey, Ja’Wuan James, and Jermon Bushrod. James has suffered an undisclosed injury but is considered 85%, and Bushrod’s injury was suggested as not serious. With injuries and Offensive Line being synonymous in recent years, this was concerning… even if it’s simply precautionary. Did I say this is concerning?
5. Lawrence Timmons was practicing on the outside. Since Matt Burke has stated he wants his backers flexible and pieces that can be moved around, this likely isn’t telling. But he also said he could see guys cemented in a position, so I guess it could be telling on the other hand. Maybe Raekwon McMillan is being looked at as MLB after all… or Kiko Alonso is staying put? It’s too early to make it definitive, but it was interesting to me nonetheless.
6. Koa Misi was supposed to be back in May. His progress is off schedule in the wrong direction. Seven months hasn’t been enough time for him to heal… questions if he ever will be trending soon.
7. Defensive end William Hayes was available for “a couple of days”, but he missed Thursday due to injury.
8. Walt Aikens is still set a safety, but he had some shots on the outside as “corner” several times Thursday. The results were a mixed bag. This could be good of Aikens–or bad. When they test you out, it’s either because they want to expand your role because your that good, or expand your role because you need more value to be kept. Aikens is a stellar special teamer, so likely this is a good thing.
Well, the next round of OTA’s begins from May 30th to June 1st. This second round of OTA’s will offer further glimpses of what is in store for Miami in 2017. To be honest, health is the only real concern I have at this point. And while some nuggets hint at good things, and are nice to hear, time will tell their worth. Go Fins!!!
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Lippett standing out in last weeks OTA’s, as well as rookie Tankersley (rookie, sweet). Also mentioned was how Howard was lock and loaded in coverage all week. With all the talk about our O-Line (or lack thereof) and LBers, it could be this defensive backfield that could really make a drastic improvement and become the story of this team early on (book it!!!).
Speaking of rookie, that rookie WR Drew Morgan opened some eyes apparently, managed to get open all week long. 7-11 reminisce??? This staff would have kept Hogan. I believe Grant is in trouble.
Another rookie, Asiata seemed to struggle in pass protection (according to media from Thursday). Both the D and O-lines are nearly impossible to evaluate without pads (hope thats the case for Asiata).
Also mentioned was Parker catching deep passes down the middle routinely. With all his hype this spring hope he comes into season healthy with a true opportunity to breakout!!!
Almost June, the season slowly approaching. Can’t wait to see how Parker is used if doesn’t have any health set backs prior to the season??? Also, really looking forward to seeing how this defense looks/plays???
Asiata in my mind is a RG… kinda sucks he did have the struggles, but I don’t expect him to start till earliest mid season. CB is looking very strong, no doubt. There some cray talk about Carroo being on the hot seat… maybe it’s not so crazy– although I can’t see him getting cut unless he goes full retard.
…thing is, I’d love to be wearing egg on my face re the fins come November …I don’t like being a negative Nelly here these days …but dammit, they’ve had multiple opportunities to fix the OL and they didn’t even try …please don’t insult me by pointing to Larsen or Bushrod as such …and so here we are again forced to pray that a 5th rounder will do a Brady and turn into Rookie of the Year material …or a 6 time loser will suddenly become a stud G …c’mon guys, that’s not “brilliance”, that’s just plain dumb luck …and that is what the cheerleaders are all rooting for …dumb luck
…me, I’m sick of it …we used up too much of our quota of dumb luck last year …and with the Branch, Larsen, and Bushrod deals, we paid too much for 3rd rate FAs …our cap for next year is blown already by “guarantees” meaning that we will be cleaning house come January just to keep our core …if we can even afford that
…the only positive in this mix appears to be Gase and a prayer that he won’t fall on his sword in his 2nd year …I’d like to see a bit more before I pull out the pom-poms, eh
“that’s just plain dumb luck …and that is what the cheerleaders are all rooting for …dumb luck”
I don’t fault, or from a conventional perspective, disagree with you or even consider you a “Negative Nelly”. But the disagreement I have with your points is 1) I don’t see myself as a cheerleader; I think I fight very hard to keep perspective: sometimes that falls into cheerleader and sometimes Negative Nelly. But I try to follow my gut and find a rational supported by facts and context. 2) Most successful players aren’t top picks or top FA’s. When I say successful I mean players who are assets to the scheme and gameplan… not Pro Bowlers.
Now, back to my agreement with you. Yes, you and I, and most Fin Fans, would like to have had one big FA or high pick at G– maybe even two. But it wasn’t the case. The staff is certain that Larsen and Asiata can be successful players, and along with Pouncey, Bushrod, Steen, and Urbik they can man the interior. If they are wrong then there is deep issues in evaluation skills as this would be the second year of this type of failure (third for Tannenbaum). And if this is the case… forget it, this regime will be a flop. Gase is supposed to be a top coach. He knows his scheme and the players he has, and if he screws the heart of the OLine up, then the team will be a disaster. If this is the case, we’ll see these kind of disasters again, and likely will never be an elite team.
But, if a unit plays well together, they have smart scrappy guys who stay healthy, then you can have a unit that can be effective, and when combined with the elite skill talent you have something to work with for this season. This is what I think Gase sees. Maybe Asiata develops and next year value at the interior falls to them… this is a value system they are running without relent. I am giving this year to see what Gase is. My gut tells me there is something here that’s more than meets the eye. Am I wrong? Likely. The kind to talent at coaching I’m talking about is rare, especially at his age.
And as for next years cap, Pouncey, Thomas, and Maxwell account for 24 mill or so… three cuts would leave Miami plenty of room.
…don’t usually think of you as a cheerleader …expect the site eds to wear pink colored lenses although jb does get rosy now and again 🙂
…as for the cap, we have several key players that we need to extend or resign including TH and Parker, not to mention Landry …if we have to tag Landry there goes your 24 mil in one poof …and we still need those holes filled …its going to be rough sledding no matter how you cut it
Yeah Jimmy can be a bit of a cheerleader, but I also think the Phibust era knocked a lot of that out of him. I’m also sure I have a little bit of cheerleader in me due to my like of Gase… just as I was a Negative Nelly under Philbum. Next year will be a cap tight year, but if they aren’t big spenders in FA and strive to keep their own, then I don’t think it will be a problem. By 2018 they loosen up big time with the cap. They can defer alot of the 2017 money to 2018. The cap is so screwy… it’s like the federal budget.