Phins4life

I certainly agree it would be unfair...but this isn't really a fair world the athletes live in. We've seen penalties dished out for much less.

I grew up on it. My dad grew up in Stuart, FL and always talked about the Killer B's and Griese and the stacked backfield. As he got older and stopped watching as much, he spread loyalties around a little more...Panthers fan because he lives in SC, Pats fan ( ) because he does his 2 weeks up there and knows a bunch of people, and Texans fan because my step-mom is from Katy. He's still a Phins fan, but he doesn't really follow them as much as I do. I'm always the one giving him updates lol. Nope...this guy will only be loyal to one team. Although it is nice to live in a winning market ( ) for a change. I'll root for them, but I won't bleed their colors.

How long before King Goodell drops the fine hammer, you think?

I'm conflicted...I obviously think his lack of camaraderie poked through there, but at the same time...the Jets O sucks. Does he really want to be taking pointers from Sanchez? Feels like a Catch 22 for a rookie who just wants to succeed. But yeah, the correct move here would have been to hang out with the team. This is bound to come up later on in the locker room, especially if he ends up starting.

8 in the Box Myth

He unquestionably has the talent to do it. But there are so many factors that have to line up for it to happen...health, O-line performance, offensive gameplan, etc. I just don't see it happening, and it's less of a knock on him than it is an observation of just how freakin' hard it would be to accomplish.

I have a difficult time agreeing with the Phins being above the Steelers, Bears, and Giants. A case could be made for the Steelers being older on D, but if Ben stays healthy, I think they should be higher.

I like the idea of a tiered approach, because it's so difficult to do much more than that without at least seeing how the pre-season unfolds. Rosters are going to change dramatically in some cases, long shots will make the cut, big timers will get hurt and a lot of the current assessments will be out the window. That said, I have a hard time nailing down where the Phins should be. I think the OP had them too low at 24, but I've also seen them as high as 13, which I also disagree with based on lack of proven team talent (as opposed to obvious individual talent). Right now, I think they sit somewhere between 15-20...probably closer to 20.

Phins Dark Horses Most interesting is the mention of Sims being involved in 95% of the offense during mini-camp. Initial impressions were that he was going to be more of a blocking option. Now it's starting to look as if he's showing the skill improvement and work ethic to make 2-TE sets a more valid option for us moving into the season. I still like Miller as having the biggest impact in his new starting role, though, especially if we lock Leach up.

Per The Phinsider and Armando Salguero... Leach/Phins Talks I'm really hoping he gets a deal done. According to the article, he wants to see something longer than a 1-year deal with a team he sees as having a bright future. He also understandably wants the right price. Locking him up would be a massive upgrade over Lane in lead blocking and pass protection, and it's a signing that could help secure the FB position for the foreseeable future and allow us to figure out what to do with H-Back Charles Clay, who might have at least some modest trade value as a valid receiving option for offenses in need of check down players.

Before Michael Strahan, there was Mark Gastineau. Nice to see him on the list. Klecko, too, for that matter.

And that's all I was getting at. Time has proven that one is stellar year after year. Time will tell if the other can keep it up.

We are agreeing that Spiller could and probably should improve on last year with the additional carries, but it isn't fair to place him above a guy who's already proven he's arguably the second best in the league. If all we do is give out points for potential, then RG3 is gonna win 4 Super Bowls and smash all the former QB rushing records while still being one of the most efficient passers in the game. See what I mean? Saying what Spiller is likely to do is only meeting the criteria halfway.

If Spiller continues to capitalize on what he did last year, I'm completely in your corner. He and Charles are the most explosive backs in the league besides AP. The only real difference is that Charles has been playing at a high level for a longer period, and that's why he gets my nod as well. There's a good read on CHFF that breaks down how amazing Charles has been over the span of his career. Did you know he currently holds the best career YPC average in history? I didn't. He won't be able to supplant Jim Brown as the all-time leader until he reaches a certain number of carries though. Edit: I stand corrected...here's an article officially giving him the title... Charles Makes History

I could have sworn we use to have a thread on this, but maybe I'm just mis-remembering...I digress. Why'd you pick your screen name? Not all of us have the most enigmatic of TGP aliases (ahem...this guy), but it's still cool to hear the backstory. My story: I picked something highly unoriginal (it was also my first choice thanks to the absence of Phins fans), but it couldn't be more true of a statement about where my loyalties lie. I grew up in South Carolina, and for the first 8 years of my life it was all Miami football, since my dad had grown up in Florida and worshiped the Dolphins during their Golden Age. When the Panthers were born in 1995, it became more of an oddity to find a die hard Dolphins fan sitting in the backyard of the Panthers' market. But that's just how I was, despite having never grown up down there. Dan Marino was my football hero growing up, and I dealt with the almost annual pain of watching him fall short too early in the playoffs. I got to see our defense shine in the Madison/Surtain/Thomas/Taylor era. I've stuck with them through the 1,001 QB changes and the almost winless season (thank you, Greg), and the countless "this is our turnaround year" speeches. The name was an easy one to pick. In all honesty, it could be any of the teams that were around at the time. Family influence had the final say.

Pretty much...let's ask Ricky Watters how that's been going for him.

It started with Dan Marino for obvious reasons, but as I got older and more into football, Barry Sanders just stuck out like a sore thumb. I only really watched him play live a handful of times, but it was always a treat. But in the last few years, going over his highlight reels, the man was a physics defying nightmare of a runner. The only thing he couldn't really do is run through you, but he didn't have to because he had the lateral quickness to have you grabbing at air a half second later. He became one of the all-time leading rushers, while still having the all-time record for negative yards gained (IIRC), yet another ridiculous feat. For all the love Emmitt got over his career, I don't think he deserves the same respect Barry does (warning: personal opinion). Smith had a line that could produce holes big enough for a semi to roll through at times. Sanders never saw that kind of production out of his hogs (I guess at the very least they provided big bodies for the defenders to have to run around). He did virtually all the work himself. But what I love most about him is that he left with a little bit of gas left, leaving no doubt that he was one of the greatest from start to end. It's a hard thing to do...ask Favre. And I truly respect that about him. He ultimately didn't care about the record. He stopped when he felt he couldn't do it anymore. Playing for the Lions of that era, who can blame him? Imagine for a second how good Barry could have been behind a real O-line on a winning franchise...

In his defense he did indicate DE and Rush LB

I agree and disagree with you here. It's that dual opinion that makes these discussions so difficult for me. On the one hand, I understand that the QB touches the ball more than any other player on the team...that alone constitutes more accountability. Also, they are in charge of conducting the pace of a drive (depending on the trust of the coach) and scanning the defense pre-snap. History has shown us that QB's who can and can't do this are pretty easy to spot, so it's a valid criteria. Where it gets murky for me is where the accountability lies once the ball leaves the QB's hand, either via handoff or pass (if it even touches him to begin with a la direct snap). Did the RB get shaky and fuck up the handoff? Did the receiver run a sloppy route and end up out of position? Did the pass get deflected before being picked off? Did the other defense just lie down and let the opponent's offense walk all over them? Was the coach just out of his gourd calling stupid plays all day? Unless we go over each playoff drive by every QB on this list with a fine toothed comb to determine the exact value of the play, to some extent we are only relying on the numbers at face value. Who won the game? How many INT/TD/yards, etc. The QBs who throw 3 scores and no picks are the easy ones. No one can argue with a straight face that Flacco had an average post-season last year. But what about the ones who go 1:2 or even worse? Unless we analyze each play, we don't truly know who is ultimately accountable for the incompletion, or the fumble, or the loss of yards, or the interception that may have cost the game and tainted the QB's post-season record. Using Dan as an example (but I would use this defense for anyone), his post-season record, at face value, isn't impressive. His passer rating...not impressive. His numbers in general...not overly impressive. But how much was his fault and how much of the blame belongs on everyone else? You could compare his stellar regular season play to his post-season play and chalk it up as being a choke artist, but again, who else is to blame? Using the "6 degrees of [QB name here]" just doesn't feel right, considering no other position undergoes that kind of scrutiny. If anything, the playoff record argument should only include those games where the QB had a definitive role in the outcome, since we all know there are games where the QB rode the coat tails of his defense to victory and games where the QB stole the show from start to end. Don't mistake this for me saying post-season play and rings don't matter. They do...I would just see the argument adjusted to statistics that that truly reflect the QB's responsibility in the outcome of playoff games. I'm also a realist and understand this probably won't be possible. At the end of the day I know that the numbers are going to have their say, and I understand it. I just wish other players had to deal with the same scrutiny.

Romo beat me to slot #5, so put me down for a reserve in case one of the other guys don't return.

We were a handful of unlucky breaks/FG kicks away from being a playoff team last year. Once we figure out the recipe for closing games out, we will give the Pats a run for their money. Until then, I take satisfaction in knowing we are no longer that team that people circle on the calendar as an easy win like they did 6 years ago. I gave us 9 games, although several of those "wins" are games that can just as easily be lost if we don't find a way to seal the deal. Tannehill had a season that might have put him in the running for ROTY if he hadn't been drafted in the greatest QB class since '83. He also broke a handful of franchise rookie records, so not too shabby. As it stands, he still has improvements to make, and I think he will see them thanks to the makeover of the WR corps and the addition of an athletic TE who can play the slot if need be, something we haven't really ever had in recent memory. The coaches have hinted that the read-option will be utilized more than last year, which I look forward to with his athleticism. His pass pro will be key, and that's where my main concern lies, although last year he only got sacked something like 37 times, which seems like middle of the pack. Not bad but certainly not great. Miller has to shine, so that letting Bush walk doesn't look like a mistake. I have faith in him. His limited touches showed massive amounts of potential and he has decent hands to boot. If we snag Leach, the lead blocking and pass protection will get a tremendous boost. The defense looks to be coming back together, with a front 7 I can say I'm confident in. And for the first time in a while, we have more starting caliber DT's than we have starting slots...a good problem to have, imo. We may actually have a viable pass rush on either side of the ball this year, freeing Wake up to become a bigger nightmare than he already is. The corners are my main concern, and we will be facing heavy passing offenses early and often. Where we stand after the first 6 weeks may be a huge indicator of how the rest pans out.

Not gonna lie...I'm a sucker for the Subway Veggie Delight. Nothing like a good stir fry as well. I like most veggies, but I seem to gravitate towards the crunchy ones...bell peppers, onions (especially reds), cucumber, etc.

Well, shit, cuz...don't wait so long next time . Take the Vikes. Razor, gimme the Pats instead. If BradyFan comes along then I'll take whoever is left right before you start.

Gimme dem Vikings.