It is now the offseason for every NFL team as the Super Bowl was played this past weekend. I won't bore you with many thoughts on that because it is now Tuesday and you've surely heard enough about it. I've been pretty quiet on the blog here since the Dolphins season ended. I've actually had more time to write lately so I'll try to bang out some thoughts on free agency and the draft soon. For now, I'll quickly explain the three areas of most concern (in no particular order)
- Playmakers: On offense there are no real home run hitters. The backs are good but their only huge plays were more due to playcalling and scheming rather than playmaking ability. Ted Ginn could be a playmaker in the deep passing game but when Pennington is your QB you pretty much forfeit that option (I'm not compaining, it's just the truth). On defense, the players and scheme are good, but not enough huge game changing plays are made. When interceptions are made, the returns are short. When sacks are made, fumbles are not. We need to turn a good defense into an outstanding one, and the way to do that is by making huge plays and scores.
- Offensive Line: Last year we did a great job of reworking the line with the additions of Jake Long and Justin Smiley. We need more depth though and a possible reshaping of the interior line. Smiley's injury really hurt us down the stretch as the running game production decreased and Pennington faced constan pressure. Samson Satele had a dropoff in his second year. I'm not sure if he should be replaced or moved to guard, but he needs to be in an open competition with other good players to see if he's the best option. The unrestricted free agency of Vernon Carey is also an issue. I'd love to sign him and keep him at right tackle, but not breaking the bank account. We'll have to see what happens there.
- Coaching Staff: This is all about stability, and the wish is that we don't lose any assistant coaches or coordinators to promotions and jobs with other NFL teams. Whenever you have a good or improving team it's just the reality that you will probably have part of your staff raided (ask Dallas). Luckily it looks like we have survived this for now. Pasqualoni was being mentioned for the Chiefs job (which is still open) and Todd Bowles was a Lions candidate before they settled on Jim Schwartz
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