Preseason Week 2 Focus: McMillan & Godchaux

McMillan and the ‘D’ get a mulligan for Week 1… Week 2, the excuses are near exhuasted

After a sloppy 2016 Season and Training Camp, Phinsnews saw team discipline as the key for Week 1 of Preseason.  Last week, that much-needed discipline was achieved, especially on the O-line. The game was followed by a week of practice that was fairly clean of penalties. Despite some brawls, this new-found discipline is verging on a tiny trend… that is if Miami can maintain their composure against the Panthers.

Week 1 also offered two other important positives as well. Against Tampa, the Offensive Line play was quite good and Mike Gesicki showed much better blocking. These are no small strides, despite some terrible play on defense. Team discipline, quality O-line play, and Gesicki’s growth are crucial building blocks if Miami wants a successful 2018 Season.

Now, the keys for Week 2 are obvious. Adam Gase must field a good defense on top of team discipline and good O-Line play.

The “D” needs to be better this week… starting in the middle with McMillan

Many fans complain about Matt Burke. Can you fault them? It’s hard to refute these fans outright because far too often the defense was near incompetent in 2017. Quality defensive games, like against the Falcons and Patriots, were the outliers. Was it the players? Poor coaching of said players? Both?

In Burke’s defense, how do you coach a unit when 2-3 players totally screw up every lineup that’s put out there? Some say Burke’s zone schemes are too complicated. Maybe they are, and maybe they aren’t. There have been more complicated schemes that reached championship caliber. Rex Ryan with the Ravens is a prime example.

So what gives?

I can say this for certain: Whether or not it’s Burke’s coaching or his scheme, the buck stops with him if this defense continues to underperform…

…We are nearing nose-to-nose with judgment day.

To be fair, the defense can’t function when a handful of players are clueless

Now regarding the players:

Three sophomores were expected to play key roles as starters on the Dolphins 2018 Defense. One of those three players, Cordrea Tankersley, is plummeting down the depth chart. Bobby McCain has been ‘shoe-horned’ into Tankersley’s spot to compensate. This will go well due to McCain’s technique, but it isn’t according to plan. Also, the depth on the defense has taken a hit because of Tankersley’s poor play.

The other 2nd year players, McMillan and Godchaux, had subpar performances in last Thursday’s Preseason Game. But both McMillan and Godchaux have qualifiers for their Week 1 performance that Tankersley did not. So they have some extra leash. Godchaux showed last season that he can make plays, and McMillan played his first snaps on the pro level.

Yet, the leash on those qualifiers has only 2 Weeks left… at most.

Against Tampa, Godchaux played on the right side in 1-2 techniques (between the A Gap and head-up on the Left Guard). He had very little success.

Teams put their best Guards on the left side and expect him to take on the right DT solo. If he does, the offense gets a ‘win’ that will go a long way towards a play’s success. Tampa’s offense got that  ‘win’ most of the time against Godchaux.

In the 4-3, the MLB and DTs ‘triangle’ is the heart of a defense

The right DT in a 4-3 scheme must at least equal the opponent’s best Guard and be good enough to at times draw a second blocker. The left DT gets a double-team nearly every snap in passing downs and quite often on runs. Spence saw a lot of doubles and was able to be somewhat effective. Godchaux, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly as effective one-on-one.

In the video below, Godchaux loses ground quickly and his technique follows. His hands drop when he’s overpowered as he desperately uses his shoulder to hold ground. This is the last ditch effort of pure desperation. It’s one step away from getting pancaked. When a defender’s shoulders are parallel with the sidelines, he can easily be washed one way or the other along the LOS. Even a semi-competent runner can find the open lane to run through.

This issue at DT is compounded when the Middle Linebacker is too aggressive or reads wrong. McMillan was both last week. Again, it was his first outing. But, you don’t need the pay per head reviews sites to understand that this level of play can’t continue. Especially in the run game, the Mike LB needs to be patient or dead on with his reads.

As with the run game, Godchaux can’t make hay against the LG on passing downs and McMillan bites hard. Interesting note, McMillan’s backup, Kiko, bites on the play action almost as hard as a rookie does. Say what you want about Anthony, but he’s the only one of the ‘starters’ who played with patience.

A defense with a soft center will be victimized week in and week out

Now there were a couple of flashes for both players. Godchaux’s issues were physical, and McMillan’s mental. When Godhcaux used his technique and speed, it went well in the pass rush. With McMillan, you could see he was just ‘rookin’ out’. The hope is the game slows for him this week. I’ve said it a dozen times: Fingers crossed.

The primary keys against the Panthers must be the interior of the D-line and the LB’s, especially McMillan. I rank them even higher of importance than McCain and Fitzpatrick. It will be their 1st game at the positions, so Week 3 will be a better evaluation for the pair.

Jordan Phillips and Taylor played much better than Godchaux, so there’s depth at DT. I rank Godchaux 4th on the squad at this point. But Phillips has a dinged shoulder… and he needs limited snaps even when healthy. So the position is in a precarious spot if Godchaux has a sophomore slump. It would be a big boon to see Godchaux even equal his play of 2017.

Even if Godchaux struggles, this week will be a ‘win’ should Miami continue to improve on last week’s gains and McMillan shows growth. Bottom Line: McMillan must play better. It will be a huge hit if last year’s 2nd, 3rd, and 5th round Picks are collecting splinters in 2018. But we are a ways off from that. I expect McMillan to make big strides this week. Go PHINS!!!

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