NFL 2009 DOLPHIN TIDIBITS

With the start of the 2009 pre-season, many of you are wondering whether we can keep up for a 3rd year our absolutely astounding ability to pick football games well beyond the 66% winning percentile most pro touts only dream about.

Rumpole says: we've been doing it for 25 years or so, so why should this year be any different? Take it from the guy who has watched 90% of ALL plays in EVERY pre-season game this year so far (The NFL Channel makes our job so much easier), we will be ready on day one to make you some bucks.

Your 2009 Dolphin pre-pre forecast:

The best Dolphin draft pick in 2009: Second round (61st overall) Sean Smith. A real steal at 61 and very impressive in camp. This 6' 3 1/2" 214 pound CB will be a shut down corner in the red zone man defense for many years to come.

The worst Dolphin draft pick in 2009? Easy. Our insiders tell us that first round pick CB Vontae Davis - while athletically gifted, lacks the desire, intelligence, and is far from the hard nosed football player a first round CB should be. This will be a wasted pick as Sean Smith keeps Davis relegated to an expensive nickel back substitution player.

Will the Dolphins win the division again this year? Not likely. Although Chad Pennngton becomes the first QB to start a second season for the Dolphins in 7 years, a weak wide receiving corps (you really think Greg Camarillo and Devon Bess match up favorably with the likes of say,

Moss and Welker for the Cheaters, or Ward and Holmes for the Steelers?) puts the pressure on the offense. Teams will put 7 and 8 defenders in the box, double Ted Ginn if necessary and press coverage on Camarillo and Bess or the TE. With the running game tied down, the Fins don't have the guns at WR to stretch the field and make the defense pay.

The defense also has some gaps, including the aforementioned rookies at CB, and the disappointing pre-season of Dolphin LB/DE Matt Roth. Don't expect Joey Porter to repeat his feats of last year, and Jason Taylor is a nice pick up, but lets face it- he's way past his prime and subject to injury.

The bottom line: The Dolphins still have a suspect secondary, a weak WR corps, and an aging group of LB's with Porter and Taylor. Their running game is solid, but teams will shut that down and force them into passing situations. The wildcat won't surprise anyone this year, and coach Bill Cowher has been telling anyone and everyone that will listen that the way to beat the Wildcat is to blitz it. Just ask the Ravens if that works. (Remember last year's playoff fiasco?)

The dolphins are well coached but they invested a luxury pick in the second round in QB Pat White when a LB, DL lineman, or RB would have had more immediate results. Vonate Davis will be a bust like his older brother TE Vernon Davis (also a first round pick with exceptional athleticism but no heart for the game).

The Patriots are back. The Jets are well coached but should be beatable and the Colts are also on their way down but Manning is always tough and the home opener on Monday night should tell us a lot.

A wildcard slot is possible, but we just don't see the Dolphins better than 9-7 this year. They are improving, but this is a tough league.

CHAD-STER!!!!!

(send me your tired, your weak, your washed up and injured and "on the way out" veterans)

The Fins sign Chad Pennington, late of the NY Jets who just signed Brett Favre. The title links to the Yahoo sports article. 

The Dolphins now have an estimated 64 quarterbacks in camp, with the number expected to rise over the weekend as other teams begin cutting QBs. 

Rumpole says: In the league since 2000, Pennington is older than his years. Injuries have sapped questionable arm strength to begin with, and we do not believe he is capable of throwing the 20 yard out any more. If you want to know how important that throw is, watch Tom Brady- that is his out pass and he throws it better than anyone since Montana. Because Pennington cannot go deep or throw the out with zip, defenses sit on the short stuff and take away the routes, thus he gets sacked, injured, etc. 

Just what kind of plan is it to  get all the other teams QB rejects?  It seems like a program designed for mediocrity.  And with the way things have been here, who wouldn't take 8-8 this year? 4-12 sounds more like it though. 

See you in court Monday, its going to be a long season again for Fins Fans. 

0-7

"Success has many Fathers, but failure is an orphan."
John F. Kennedy. (original attribution unknown.)


This just in: Rumor is that the Miami Chapter of the FACDL will be filing a lawsuit based on the 8th Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, seeking an injunction prohibiting the Dolphins from playing, and if they play, prohibiting any media coverage of the game whatsoever.


On a serious note, many criminal practitioners know the difficulty of representing a Defendant in Federal Custody who is housed in the “SHU”. The special housing unit is a close confinement area where the most difficult and potentially dangerous individuals being held pre-trial are kept. Now comes word that the Bureau of Prisons has decided that to discipline the worst of the worst- to discipline the inmates in the SHU, the BOP will force those incorrigible inmates to watch the seven games the Dolphins have played this year.


If the Concorde still flew, it would be theoretically possible for the Dolphins, who play in London next week, to play the game and arrive at home before they actually lose.


Dolphins Coach Cam Cameron gave a speech recently where he said things were looking up for the Dolphins. Earlier in the week, the Dolphins welcomed as their new speechwriter the guy who used to write Bush’s speeches on Iraq.

Actually, Huizenga offered the State Department to have the Dolphins make a quick stop in Iraq to cheer up the troops. General Petraeus responded by saying
“What, things aren’t depressing enough over here?”


How bad are things for the Dolphins? Michael Vick sent them a message before Sundays game telling them to cheer up.

Things are so bad that the entire Broward Judiciary is embarrassed for the Dolphins.

The biggest hit Zach Thomas had all day was when he wrecked his car on the way home from the game. (True story and no one was hurt.)


Now that we’ve got that out of our system, we can return to the REGJB topics.