Vance Joseph Named Denver Broncos Head Coach
Joseph brought strong leadership and character to Miami
Joseph was named Broncos Head Coach leaving Miami short a coach
Vance Joseph spent only one season as the Miami Dolphins Defensive Coordinator before leaving for the Head Coach position with the Denver Broncos.
In his time with Miami, he earned to the respect of his players with an ability to teach technique, delegate, and communicate in a way that was tough, but still respected.
Despite what I, and many of the best pay per head bookie service, saw as game-day short comings, he managed to move players in and out from starting positions without acrimony from the unit…and that is not an easy task. He was a charismatic leader who, like Adam Gase, was young but had wisdom beyond his years. Joseph has a rare charisma that can make the modern player respect and like him. And that is a rare commodity.
Joseph is skyrocketing to the top of the NFL ranks
I’m not going to say that his departure will give me sleepless nights pining for his return.
It won’t.
I did like Joseph a lot, but most of those traits that struck me are traits that will accentuated as a Head Coach, and his weakness as a defensive coordinator will be non-applicable.
Joseph was raw as a D.C. , and his inexperience may have been the root of his occasional head scratcher of a play and generally vanilla defenses. He is smart and has played at the NFL level, so I think he would have improved dramatically in year two, but honestly, H.C. is where he is best suited. And I’m relieved that I don’t have to bet the 2017 on whether he will grow in the area of X’s and O’s.
I hope only the best for Joseph — except for when he play Miami, which will happen Week 4 of 2017.
But, for now, Miami is short a defensive coordinator. Although, it’s already being reported that Linebacker coach Matt Burke has been given the job. I hope the grass ends up being greener… I really, really do. Go Fins!!!
…a decent LB will cost you an arm, a leg, and your first born in FA …our needs are so great that I’d triple shot the position in the draft’s first 3 rounds unless a Tunsil type talent drops into our laps again
…imnsho, we can live another year with what we have elsewhere on defense …its the LBs that are killing us
…FA must find two starting guards …don’t bet on the come and try to find them in the 4th and later draft rounds …we have all the pieces for a top five run oriented offense except at guard
….please, please, please Tannenbaum …no more aging/injury ridden castoff former pro bowlers …it doesn’t work
…trade Moore for a high draft pick or starting LB …this is a poor QB draft and his value will never be higher …his QBR over the last games was higher than 90% of the starters over the same game span
…pay Jones
…restructure Suh and Tannehill
…keep Stills
…now THAT would be an off season 🙂
All true, but I doubt they get 2 G’s. With desperate needs at LB, DE, G, …maybe DT and T…it’s gonna’ be rough to fit another quality G in there. alpha has me thinking maybe getting into the teens of defensive ranking might be too much for this season! Where Steve and all his talent knowledge..I need to bone up big time of this draft class…..Suh should get a restructure…Tanny, not so sure. He holds all the card. Suh at least might be able to work it to get more guaranteed money…or years or something. Need to also look into their contracts…more coffee on the table it seems. They should move Moore if the can get a 3rd or 4th. Picks are so valuable these days, maybe even that will be hard to get for him. Not sure of the current value. But, more talent for shipping off Moore would be nice.
Likely too early for him to be a Head Coach. Bright enough, personal skills and dedicated but looking at his defense it was pretty predictable, no sign of having differentiated, developed any unusual level of skill. I think he would have, had he done the job long enough to learn to be a DC, but this was just a training year for him in the basics of being a DC. Good luck to him but I expect he will have a rocky time. Choice to select from inside is not irrational. Allows us to keep the same basic vanilla system and facilitates getting everyone on the same side. Hopefully the new DC actually learns to do the job with creativity and insight. The main thing needed on defense is more talent – especially at LB but also strengthening in the BD and getting someone to be what we hoped Mario would be – especially given that the amazing Mr. Wake, the best trained athlete in Dolphin’s history – is getting a little older. Moving our defense up a notch or two seems very do-able. We are currently – with a lot of injury – probably at the bottom of the middle third. Getting people healthy (if they stay healthy) probably moves us up to the middle of the middle third. A good draft and FA focused on defense possibly moves us to the bottom of the upper third. I doubt we will get to the level of a Baltimore even with a great draft but we could get much nearer to that.
That comment was pre coffee….
Great thoughts, Alpha. I think Miami could move higher than that given the right pick ups. If all piece are healthy — not sure about Quddus at this point – – but, let’s say they are:
Safety: top 8 tandem with decent depth
Corner: Maxwell, Howard and Lippett, nice depth and some playmaking talent 15-10 ranking, unless Lippett and Howard take a big step forward.
LB: Kiko small, lacks shedding ability and average coverage, but play-maker, great effort and fast a 20-10 LB This is a huge hole, but a high draft choice and / or FA the LB core could move 32-27 to around 15-10 depending if they get a high priced talented vet in FA
DE Big weakness with a Star in Wake who is a top 5 end. They need an end even if the keep Branch. Fede offers a good backup. With the 22nd pick a star DE will take luck and good eval to find one. Lack of edge control was nearly as big and issue as pass-rush…this will be hard to resolve unless they go FA or use their 1st.
DT Suh play well, but he has worn down at the end of two seasons now…although, his insane number of plays make sit expected. But, he rarely dominates…might be due to the scheme and lack of LB’s ability to blitz. Phillips is above average and at times when he goes 100% he can dominate. Suh gives them 18-12 ranking at Dt. Not sure if Phillips will progress. Finding a DT that is a playmaker will be very hard, especially given the search for LB’s, DE’s and OL. But, they could bring in big FA’s, but that might not be good for the long term health of the cap. I still see a scheme and caller that doesn’t run zone shells over and over would help. If they can at least get a DE / DT and one above average LB, then when healthy, I could see them get into the 20-15 range…they were ranked in the low 20’s in 2015, so I could see them advance that a bit farther. At least, that’s sorta’ how I see it.
Let the off-season begin 🙁
Plenty to look forward to though, as the foundation is there, finally.
Agree w our safety tandem (assuming they are Jones/Isa), I can even see them ranking in the top 5, health considering.
I see our CB trio ranking much higher than the 15 range, top 10 all day. Why? Lets assume Maxwell comes in and prepares and plays like the post benched Maxwell, no reason not to think that. I believe that both Lippett and Howard will improve. Lippett may be close to his ceiling, but Howard has just tapped into his capabilities and with a much higher ceiling Howard should take a HUGE leap forward in 17, Thus putting our CB’s possibly in the top 10 as well.
LBer is hard to predict. There is a chance that Kiko may not even be our “Mike”, he may play his more natural position as the “Will”. Imo, we will have 2 new starting LBers in 17. Yes, a FA LBer may cost a bunch, but in our case well worth every penny for the right one. A player such as Melvin Ingram (Chargers, or whatever their name is), or Nick Perry (GB), Dont’a Hightower (Pats, yes this regime would love to add while subtracting from the Pats), Lawrence Timmons (Pitt), and don’t forget about the LBer Gase stole from the Pats practice squad in Trevor Reilly. One thing is for certain, this LBer unit will be improved with a chance of HUGE improvement, thus improving their ranking 10 fold.
DE is a concern. As big a Wake fan as I am, he will be 35, just saying. Hoping they bring Branch back. Even if they bring Branch back there could be a strong possibility that we take a DE at 22. Good fortune for us is that this years DE draft class is one of the deepest and strongest in quite some time (again, the stars are aligning for us as we speak). We could be in bad shape without Branch, could be in all right shape with him, but could be in real good shape with both Wake, Branch and the draftee @ 22. There are a few DE’s via free agency worth paying top $ for. So, do we pay a LBer and draft a DE @ 22, or pay a DE and draft a LBer @ 22? Again, there are 2 positions of strength in this years draft (according to the experts), oddly enough we need both, with DE being one and another position of need and strength being TE. Again, the stars are aligning.
DT is in decent shape as is. A lot will depend on the step forward (or not) of Phillips. Regardless, Miami always takes a DT in the draft, question is which round? Regardless, I do not see a dramatic drop even if the DTs are the same in 17. Should Miami surprise all and take one that they see as value at 22 and he is that player, this positional group flirts in the top 10 all day, if not they stay in the middle and with a better DL scheme, improvement is unavoidable.
Favorable variables heading into the 17 off season:
Good cap shape already and with a few re-structures plus a 15 +/- million dollar increase in team cap expenditure, finances should not be a liability (again, stars are aligning).
Attraction; Players see what goes on, and you can believe they see what is transpiring here in Miami. Players love Gase, coupled with the impressive roster, that will only attract players here, unlike the previous coaches and the joke players viewed them as. Not to mention state tax = none!
I know offense is for another day, but I have been thinking Miami should take OJ Howard (Alabama TE) at 22 if he is there. He is a Gronk type player, and teamed w Sims would be a unstoppable force. I do know we need DEFENSE though.
Bottom line is getting players to come will not be hard. Which ever players we draft I now feel that this staff has the capability to coach them up.
J-Train has reached its station for the winter. HOOT!!! HOOT!!!
…Dun …I’m hard core on hitting LBs multiple times early …think the rest of the defense will hold its own for another year …multiple picks because the fail rate on picks at 22 and lower is too high to gamble on one pick solving the problem
…I have to admit, the thought of OJ Howard is tempting …normally I’d say there’s no way he drops …but then Tunsil happened …have to do some research on Howard’s passwords, eh 🙂
..mj …they have to fix both guard positions in FA …Tunsil has to move to LT this year, Albert just can’t take the mauling any more …but he’d be the best bu in the league …and remaining guards are bu at best …we have one of the top five RBs but he’s being wasted by an injury riddled OL that just can’t get the job done against stacked defenses
I def. think they’ll get two guard, but I’m not sure if both will be premium chips!! One might fall into that 4-5 round get, plus they need to do something about Center. Does anyone think Pouncey will make it through the season? It could also end up being a second tier FA….I Want Albert gone I think. Besides breaking down his play a has slipped as well.
he this happened so it appears not 3-4: “Gase had said Wednesday that the Dolphins plan to stay with their 4-3 defensive scheme as opposed to switching to a 3-4.”
Alpha, I’m starting to agree with you more after thinking about it and agreeing less with myself. It will take one heck of an off season to boost this D substantially.
…well there you go mj, we already have a better team for 2017 👍
Gase was saying he wanted continuity. It seemed he was against going to 3-4. I’d love to get Wade in and build a 3-4. I think Burke isn’t my first choice. He’d have a bunch of bumps due to a learning curve. I think they need a proven guy with talent and I’d love to move from the 4-3. We saw in the game against the Steelers that his line isn’t elite. Suh was a bit of a disappointment. But, I think he fit more in the role he is going to, than the one he is leaving. Hope we pick the right guy.
…”bit of a disappointment” doesn’t quite fit with $114 mil and change, eh
…if you’re given Suh, Wake, and Williams to build a line with …and that line gets blown away …that qualifies you for DC? …its the Peter Principle at work, imnsho
…Gase should be able to attract top talent for his staff after this past season …Miami is no longer a career killer.
…but any top tier DC is going to insist on his own staff …and get it …which would be a death knell to “continuity” and loyalty …its a trade-off and Gase has to get his priorities straight …what will help him win next year …not consistency for consistency’s sake, nor loyalty misplaced …winning is not only the right answer, it’s the only answer
It’s official…Burke is the new D.C….trying to find out as much as I can about him….
There is no way we move to a 3-4 as long as Suh is here!
Well he lives on double team…he is athletic enough to play DE in a 3-4…not, saying they will. hate to do this because it’s impersonal, but I’m feeling lazy — just something to think about. Suh seems slower at popping the gaps then he used to, so “Linemen in 3–4 schemes tend to be larger than their 4–3 counterparts to take up more space and guard more territory along the defensive front. As a consequence, many 3–4 defensive linemen begin their NFL careers as 4-3 defensive tackles, as younger players typically do not possess the size, weight, and strength to play on a 3-4 defensive front. They must be strong at the point of attack and are aligned in most cases head-up on an offensive tackle. First and foremost, they must control run gaps. Size and strength become more of a factor for linemen in 3–4 defenses than in 4–3 defenses because they move primarily within the confines of line play and seldom are in space using athletic ability. Ideally 3–4 DEs should weigh 290–315 pounds (132–143 kg) and be able to beat double teams by getting a push.[7] Albert Breer noted, “In general, ideal front-seven players in the 3–4 are bigger and need to take on and defeat blocks more often in the running game.””
Again, not saying they will, but he doesn’t seem the same since he came to Miami…there’s seemed to be less pop of the line…maybe that’s why he gets so many encroachment penalties….not betting the house on any of my statements here..just post coffee thoughts.
Admin., I agree with you 100% on all assessments. I just remember inside people saying that Suh came with the agreement from Ross that the defense would be 4-3. That is when nothing was kept in house, now, nothing leaves the house, so I guess you never know. Another element of a switch to a 3-4, that would mean we would need 3 new starting LBers, opposed to 2. Like you Admin. I really wouldn’t mind the switch, but I think a more creative DL approach could help Suh big time, as well as the 4-3 scheme.
Agree on all points…even though it takes more talent the last good D we had was a hybrid 3-4 / 4-3 …honestly I think wake would even benefit from coming from a OLB. I just wonder if we can get enough talent quickly to make the 4-3 good enough as Alpha a said. Maybe an excellent blitzing LB could also help with that….
…and Dunner I had forgotten about the dislike for 3-4 with Suh….and the clause. Thanks for the refresh.