Chuck Muncie

During his playing days some referred to him as "Snort" Muncie because he had a bit of a cocaine habit.

Muncie passed away today, much too young, at 60.

Muncie may be remembered by Dolphins fans on two counts.  First, of course, was on that 1981 Chargers team that beat the Dolphins in the infamous playoff game; he had nearly 100 yards rushing, and was able to keep the Dolphins defense off-balance.

Second, Muncie was traded to the Dolphins in 1984....he made it to Miami, and.... immediately failed a drug test, and the trade was voided.  Miami then tried to trade for Rickey Young, but he failed a drug test as well. So, they turned back to the Chargers, and ultimately got "6 point Pete" Johnson.

Its an odd connection to be sure,  but Shula said at the time "A back of his caliber can really help our offense."

Analyzing Dolphins Draft Pick by Pick: Part 2

With Jeff Ireland improving the defense, both pass rush and defending the pass, the Dolphins went into day three (rounds 4-7) with the mindset of adding depth, and that is exactly what the Dolphins did. With that said, lets look at what the Dolphins did with the other half of their draft. 

Jelani Jenkins OLB Florida 6'0" 243lbs

Jenkins in the fourth round was about where he was projected to go. Jenkins was one of the key leaders in that Florida Gators defense his senior year! Jelani coming out of high school was a highly sought-after 5 star recruit, bit did not live fully up to expectations in college. Jenkins has great range for a LB and can run side line to sideline to make plays. He is a very fast and quick athlete for a LB. His downfall is that is a not a strong and tall as you would want a starter in the NFL to be. Jenkins future in the NFL is a Special Teams ace and a solid backup when needed. With his good speed, he should excel quickly on Special Teams for Coach Darren Rizzi and possibly earn some playing time on 3rd down obvious passing situations. Overall, Jenkins adds depth to an already good LB core. The better quality depth you have, the better team you are.

Dion Sims TE Michigan St. 6'5" 262 lbs

With questions at the TE position this offseason (the signing of Dustin Keller, maturation process of Egnew and Clay), the pick of Dion Sims makes a lot of sense. Dion Sims is one of the best blockers in the NFL Draft, and with TE Dan Campbell, he should only improve. Being as big as he his, he will also make a great target and safety net for Ryan Tannehill, even though he is not the most athletic TE in the NFL. Coming out of high school, he was a highly recruited basketball, and with TE's in the NFL playing basketball before, Tony Gonzalez, Jimmy Graham, and Antonio Gates, he is in good company. With the combination of Sims being a good blocker and being a big target with soft hands, Sims should see some playing time early on in his career. 

Mike Gillislee RB Florida 5'11" 208lbs  

Starting his career at Florida, his first three years there he stuck behind Tim Tebow, Chris Rainey, and Jeff Demps, which limited his initial productivity. Starting his senior year, he finally got his chance to start and took advantage of it, amassing nearly 1,200 yds and 10 TD's. He is a very versatile back, who can carry the ball, catch the ball out of the backfield, and pass protect, which the Dolphins had trouble doing at the RB position last year. Gillislee has very good vision for a RB, and that is key when you run a zone blocking scheme. He locates the hole very well and hits it very had. He also has the ability to make the cutback when holes close up. Overall, Gillislee should add depth and competition to this already full backfield, which should only make thing better

Caleb Sturgis K Florida 5'10" 188 lbs

With Dan Carpenter missing filed goals to win games twice in a row last year (Jets and Cardinals), apparently the Dolphins thought it was a good time to bring in solid competition for his job, and in many people's minds, they are right in doing so. Caleb is the best K in this draft and the Dolphins pulled the trigger on him in the 5th round. Many are expecting him to beat Carpenter out for the job, while saving $3 million in cap space in the process. Sturgis was a very accurate K at the University of Florida, so do not expect that to change in the NFL. The only question for him is his kickoffs. They were not as long as you would like, but with added strength that comes with an NFL offseason, that should help with that problem. 

Don Jones CB/S Arkansas St. 5'11 191lbs

With Don Jones going to a smaller school in Arkansas St., there will be questions about whether he can play against real NFL competition, but one thing you cannot argue is his athleticism. Running 4.40 in the 40 yd dash, and jumping 42 inches in his vertical jump, there is no denying he has NFL athleticism. Jones, played both FS and CB at Arkansas St., which makes him very versatile, which Jeff Ireland and Joe Philbin like very much. When arriving at Arkansas St., he was a RB, but converted to S/CB his last two years, making him very raw at his position. Look for Jones to be slot WR cover corner and key Special Teams contributor for the Miami Dolphins. 

The overall theme of this draft was adding speed and athleticism, and the Dolphins certainly got a lot of it. With the Dolphins going heavily offensive in Free Agency, Jeff Ireland stuck to what he is good at, drafting defense. Building a solid secondary behind an improving pass rush will make the Dolphins Defense a nightmare to prepare for. And with Ryan Tannehill only getting better and adding him more weapons through the draft now in Dion Sims and Mike Gillislee, the Dolphins Offense looks to be much improved as well! The  third day (rounds 4-7), added depth and Special Teams contributors, which is important. Overall, the Dolphins, in my opinion, had a good draft, not a great one, filling needs and adding speed and athleticism that they were in desperate need of in 2012. This coming season is looking very promising for the Dolphins, but do not look for this rookie draft class to knock you off your feet. They should be solid contributors, with 2-3 starters (Jamar Taylor, Caleb Strugis, and maybe Dion Jordan). This is a very exciting time in Miami Dolphins football, and many are looking forward to the product they put on the field this season! 

G.G.G.

Look for my next article as I analyze each position of the whole team, starting with the offense.

Have questions or suggestions? Email me at sethAfisher07@gmail.com or tweet at me @PhinsBlogger13 

Utter nonsense

I finally had a chance to see the "plans" such as they were released to the public for the stadium improvement.  Included items were:

• Removing the lower bowl on the visitor side, and re-pouring concrete to make it permanent and closer to the field
• Re-doing part of the lower bowl on the home side and both endzones, including some new concrete
• Replacing seats in the lower bowl
• Replacing most of the seats in the upper bowl; removing some number of them
• Adding new video display boards
• Adding a partial roof
• (and as Stu Gotts reminds me) HD lighting

What did you notice about that list?   There's NO INFRASTRUCTURE.  The stadium itself is sound, this is about changing the seating and nothing more.

Yeah, maybe the seats are old and need to be replaced.  And perhaps there is a need to re-pour the concrete on the visitor side, based on the retractable seating for the Marlins.  But does it *have to be* done?

And the new video boards?  Didn't Wayne replace those just 6 years ago?

The roof - whatever.  Sure it might be nice.  But its not a must-have, certainly.

So its a ruse to get public funds to create new seats, and thus make more money for him.

Now we can look forward to more "woe is me" from him, and a lot of arm twisting saying he needs this, or boo hoo, he might have to move.

And once again....they ain't moving anywhere - that's just more bluster.

sigh....its just utter nonsense.

A little fact checking

I've read some of the recent reports by our intrepid local reporters and some national ones.  And I felt the need to comment on some of the "facts" they present to you.

Comment: The Dolphins will lose $41 million this year.
Reality: The Dolphins lowest attendance was in 2009.  Even in that year, according to Forbes, the Dolphins (on the whole) made $232 million because of profit sharing and revenue - and that was after their expenditures.  With all the corporations that have been established, its possible the team itself will show an operating loss.  But that does not mean that "the Dolphins" are losing money, or that Mr. Ross is taking a personal loss on the ownership of the franchise.

Comment: The Dolphins don't intend to purge their payroll, like the Marlins did.
Reality: they can't.  There is a salary cap AND a salary floor.  Right now they reside in the upper part of the range.  But they can't drop too many pieces and go below the floor.

Comment: They might move.  Maybe to LA or even to Palm Beach.
Reality: the Dolphins (see my comment above about the multiple entities) own the stadium.  And there are hundreds of millions of dollars in loan payments that are still outstanding.  The Dolphins are listed as the ones with the debt.  Unless the new city is willing to eat that for them, and essentially they find a way to sell the stadium, this will never happen.

Comment: Now that the stadium deal is done, the new stadium in Santa Clara will get the stadium
Reality: Sorry to break it to you, but that was pretty much a done deal LAST YEAR, before the stadium talk got going.  It was going to take a lot of "lobbying" to get the vote to go another way.

Comment: The NFL brings in new dollars with a SuperBowl
Reality: rough estimates are that 120,000 people may show up in a town that has the big game.  Many of them are the owners, the people they bring, the NFL's contingent, and large corporate sponsors.  What we don't see in the fine print is that they get special rates at the hotels, discounted meals, and the kicker is that they are exempt from paying taxes on most of it.  And add to that the fact that host committee gives them a lot of perks - like great tee times at prime resorts, VIP events at local venues, etc, etc.  All at no cost to these VIPs.  So who pays for that? 
Any guesses?  I'll let you think about that one.

Comment: he said, she said in Tallahassee
Reality: Will Weatherford is a politician.  Steve Ross is a businessman.  They both had their say and now the Dolphins are acting silly in accumulating witnesses to try and muckrake against Weatherford.  This IS politics.  I don't like it, either.  But, move along.

Stadium Fallout

Mr. Ross asked for money his stadium.  The legislature declined to vote on the measure, which naturally was their decision.  Its legislation, after all, and that business "is what it is" and they can play games, not vote, decide to vote, or amend it however they see fit.

And Mr. Ross is within his rights, of course, to decry the fact that there was no vote. It affects his business in some way.

But he's done a lot of posturing on the topic, because he's not happy.   He said that this just won't do, and while he won't move the team, the next owner might not have a choice, and an archaic stadium such as this could force the issue.

And the media has speculated on this further, and drawn parallels to other franchises that have asked for improvements to their stadia, didn't get it, and ultimately moved.  I'd like to add a team to that list: The Miami Dolphins.  Think about: Joe Robbie asked for the Orange Bowl to be improved, the city balked, and he moved the team to a stadium that he built with essentially his own money.

And that's where the stories diverge.  You see, in every case - other than Miami - when a team moved, they were renting a publicly owned facility.  They didn't get the improvements they wanted, and either broke their lease or waited for it to end and then moved into another publicly owned facility in another city.  And since then, they've managed to get money to improve said stadia in those cities - or have threatened to move if they don't get it.

There's also another factor.  After several moves, the NFL enacted a new rule that the owners have to vote on any move, to ensure that the Colts situation doesn't happen (think moving trucks in the middle of the night), and to ensure that NFL cities generally make sense - and that you don't leave one profitable city without a team.

Yes, the LA Dolphins certainly sounds like a possibility....but it seems unrealistic, and here's why: Miami is still a profitable franchise, and there is a following.  It seems unlikely the owners would agree to move the franchise and leave Miami open.  But there's a larger problem in that the stadium is not publicly owned...it is quite private.

Steve Ross (and his partner in this H Wayne, who still has a stake in it) owns the stadium in its entirety.  And he has an "outstanding debt" of the low- and no-interest loans that financed construction and improvements....that's money that has to be paid back by the owner "someday."  If he sold the team and stadium, and the new owner wanted to move it, well, that person would still would own a stadium that essentially would sit vacant, and owe money on it.  He would still have to pay some amount of taxes on it, and would be on the hook for the loan regardless.

Who in their right mind would do that?

So Ross' insistence that the new owner might move the team are hyperbole.  No way would an owner take a huge loss on a "white elephant" of a stadium.  And I think that's what's pissing him off.  Ross has no leverage left.  He got himself into what amounts to a bad deal on emotion - he wanted to own an NFL team and he paid too much for it, and is "stuck" with an aging stadium.

Now back to another question: why not finance improvements himself?  As I've mentioned before, he never planned to pay for it himself: he was going to use the NFL stadium funds as "his" dollars, but those dollars are only available if  there's a public-private partnership, and since there wasn't, "his" portion is off the table.

Realistically, there is only a small number of choices left for him.  He could accelerate the sale of the team, he could get some investors together to get money, or he could pay for it himself.  Or perhaps there's a combination of things that could happen.

I believe that he will wind up making a scaled back version of the improvements himself.  It would include some infrastructure pieces, and changes to provide seating closer to the field - anything else could wait.

And that's my take.

Where There Is Smoke, There Is Fire!

Someone fired the first shot.  Someone got this whole thing started and I am not sure who is to blame or congratulate.

The internet is abuzz with talk of the Dolphins leaving Miami!

From ESPN to NFL.COM, from every blogger south of the Mason-Dixon Line to soon to be every blogger west of the Mississippi, that is as soon as they wake up, will be writing about the Dolphins leaving Miami for their new digs in LA.

You know, this is how it always starts and can finish with a Mayflower Truck sleaking away in the middle of the night.

First, there is conjecture.  Followed by denial.  Next possibilities.  And finally come the overtures.

We have heard the speculations.  Florida didn't pass the bill to help pay for the Stadium improvements. Florida said yes way to no pay. So Ross has to foot the bill.

We have the denial.  CEO Dee says no way to Ross move away.  But he did leave the door open for a new owner to possibly move the team.

Aha!  So here comes the overtures.  Count on it.

Someone in LA has already picked up the phone to talk with someone else in LA about the Dolphins possibly being in play.

Their next step is to reach out to Dee.  Why Dee?  Because he responded with the first possibility by saying a new owner may move the team.  So he sounds receptive to the idea by leaving that door open just a little enough for someone in LA to peek into.

And peek they shall.  "We are gonna be in Miami next week Mike.  How about lunch?"

Dee tells Ross who says "Make it somewhere public so people see you."

Dee meets and eats.  The LA guys flatter Dee about the Dolphin Organization and then brag about the size of their market compared to the size of the Miami market.

Now what's a CEO to do.  Bigger market, higher percentage of profits, more bonus $$$$!

Dee says "Put it in writing and I will run it up the flag pole."

Ross looks at their proposal and decides to fly out and meet and eat with the men from LA.  Somewhere public ofcourse.

"Oh no!" exclaims Edwin Pope, "Say it ain't so, say it ain't so."  But it is so.

Now we go from no vote, no money to ante up or we move away.  Yep, this is where we are headed.

Ross may love the Miami Dolphins.  He may want them to stay in Miami.  But eventually he will realize that he is a businessman too. So when that kicks in, Florida, look out because at that moment you will be dealing with a guy with options.  Options in writing!

Options he is already considering because someone fired the first shot!

Carl Leone
Dolfan since 12/25/1971

Analyzing Dolphins Draft Pick by Pick: Part 1

With the Dolphins Draft finally done and with some time to gain some perspective on the Dolphins picks, it is a good time to analyze each pick individually AND as whole. With that being said, lets begin!

Dion Jordan DE/LB Oregon 6'6" 246lbs. 

Before the draft started, Dion Jordan was number one on the Dolphins draft board. There was no denying that fact when on day one of the NFL Draft, the Dolphins traded to the 3rd overall selection to select this freakish athlete. Jordan was one of the most coveted defenders in the draft this year, none the less pass rushers. Dion is a freak of an athlete, running a 4.60 40 yard dash at 6'6" 246lbs and jumping 32.5 inches in the vertical! With that being said, many people are comparing him to the Miami Dolphin's greatest pass rusher ever, Jason Taylor. Both are 6'6" and 245 to 255 lbs. Both have long arms and are explosive off the edge. Dion Jordan can provide that much needed pressure from the other side of Pro Bowler Cameron Wake. Now you might be asking yourself, isn't number three overall in the NFL Draft a little high for a guy who just rushes the passer and has a shoulder injury that might not let him be available until training camp? Well, first, saying Dion Jordan is just a guy who rushes the passer is very inaccurate and wrong. Dion is one of, if not the most, versatile Defenders in the NFL Draft this year. At Oregon, Jordan was asked to not only rush the passer, but also cover TE's and slot WR's, and he did a pretty dang good job of it too. Another question that arises is if he is selected 3rd overall to be an elite pass rusher, why did he only produce 5.5 sacks last year? As said before, Dion Jordan was asked to do to multiple things at Oregon, many of which did not involve rushing the passer. He dropped back in coverage a lot, which led to lesser opportunities Dto produce sacks. Overall, Dion Jordan has tremendous talent and could become elite in this league. Mike Mayock said this about Dion, ""This young man, I think he's got the potential to be the player that I compare him to, which is Jason Taylor, who ironically played for the Miami Dolphins. I also think he looks like an Aldon Smith, and if he puts on 20 pounds on that 6-foot-7 frame, one day he might be as good as a DeMarcus Ware." That is quite a comparison. IF Dion turned out to be any of those guys, the Dolphins will have a formidable pass rush for years to come! With the NFL becoming more and more of a passing league, rushing the passer and guarding WR's are becoming ever more important. TE's are also becoming more and more involved in the passing game with guys like Rob Gronkowski, and Jimmy Graham being elite at their positions. Dion Jordan has the potential to be an elite pass rusher and capability to guard big TE's like Gronkowski and Graham, who the Dolphins both play this year. 

Jamar Taylor CB Boise State 5'11" 192 lbs

With the 54th overall selection, the Dolphins selected Jamar Taylor. This is a great pick because the talented Taylor, infuses youth and athleticism into a older secondary (Richard Marshall 28 Dimitri Patterson 29 Brent Grimes 30) with some injury problems (Marshall with a back and Grimes with a Achilles). Taylor is a very physical CB that plays really well in press and bail coverage. He also has the ability make plays on the football in a congested area and is not afraid to stick his nose in the run game and set the edge. With a physical CB like Taylor, he provides a CB who can press a WR on the goal and prevent jump ball passes with his 35 in. vertical. Look for him to be the nickle CB this season but contend for a starting position this year in training camp. Also look for him to have an immediate impact guarding boundary WR's with his good straight-line speed (4.39 40 yd. dash) and physical demeanor at the line of scrimmage. Jamar Taylor shohiuld add youth and depth to a secondary that was in need of some athleticism. 

Dallas Thomas LT/LG Tennessee 6'5" 300lbs. 

Dallas Thomas was the Dolphins first of two 3rd round picks and first offensive player the Dolphins chose in the 2013 NFL Draft. At Tennessee, Dallas Thomas played LT his sophomore and junior and then moved inside to LG his senior year. So he has the versatility to play multiple positions on the OL, but early reports are the Dolphins want him on the left side, presumably as the back up LT this year and eventually taking over for Richie Incognito at LG in later years. Dallas Thomas  can sit down and anchor his blocks and plays with great bend in his knees and is really agile, which means he is more than capable of getting to second level blocks and being a good pulling guard which the Dolphins were in desperate need of last year with their zone blocking scheme. With his versatility, he will be a much needed upgrade in depth for the OL this year and a probable starter in years to come. This is a very good value pick for the Dolphins and could pay dividends this year, but most likely in future years being a starter on the OL.

Will Davis CB Utah St. 5'11" 186lbs

With the Dolphins trading their second 3rd rounder for two 4th rounders, it looked like the Dolphins were done in the 3rd round after Dallas Thomas, but the Dolphins traded back up into the 3rd to select Will Davis. Davis is a physical CB with great ball skills to make a play on the ball. Although he is not a blazing fast CB (4.51 40 yd dash), he has very quick feet and great change of direction, which means he is good at covering WR's in and out of their routes. He is a gambler who will make plays on the ball, but can also be burned because of his over aggressiveness sometimes. With his decent speed and great change of direction, he sounds like a great candidate to be the slot WR cover corner, which is needed position in the NFL now. He is also likely to be a key special teams contributor if he looks to get on the the field immediately

After the first  two days of the NFL draft, the Dolphins added to three positions of need on the team, but most notably decided to ignore OT, TE. What this said  was that 1) the Dolphins have faith in Jonathan Martin to be the LT and blindside protector of Franchise QB Ryan Tannehill, and 2) They either have confidence in Dustin Keller to do the job, or they liked a TE in later rounds they thought can provide help (which we know they did in Dion Sims). Overall, the Dolphins addressed needs, mainly on the defense, and added athleticism and youth to a already young team. The future looks bright in sunny South Beach, and if the Dolphins keep it up, could be very explosive for years to come!

G.G.G.

Look for my next article as I finish part 2 of this article!

Have questions or suggestions? Email me at sethAfisher07@gmail.com or tweet at me @PhinsBlogger13 

Offensive line finally solidified

 Geoff Burke- USA TODAY Sports 

What are the Dolphins going to do at left tackle? That was the question on most peoples minds when they evaluated the Dolphins draft. Yea they brought in a couple of corners, and an end/linebacker but what about the offensive side? Who will protect the franchise QB? It was only a matter of time before those questions got answered and the answer is....Jonathan Martin.

This is because the Dolphins have signed Tyson Clabo, a starting right tackle released by the Falcons to free up $4.5 million dollars, to a one year deal. Clabo is a solid starter in this league, he has started every game for the since 2008 (91 consecutive games), and actually made the pro bowl in 2010. The Dolphins also drafted guard Dallas Thomas in the 3rd round so this could mean two new starters on the offensive line which could look like this:

LT Martin LG Incognito C Pouncey RG Thomas RT Clabo    

Add in the additions of Mike Wallace and Dustin Keller and we have a very solid offense. Little by little Ireland is redeeming himself, now lets see who this all fits in together. 

30 for 30: Elway to Marino

I got a chance to watch this program yesterday.  And it was fascinating.  Like pretty much all of the episodes, this one was extremely well done and interesting.

The story focuses on the first round of the 1983 draft, and mainly revolves around Marvin Demoff - he was the agent for both Elway and Marino.  As it happens, he kept a journal of his conversations with the players, as well as the people he talked with at various teams.

There are some great segments with many of those people, interspersed with archival footage from the time period.  Demoff does the whole thing while sitting in a re-created draft room, which adds a nice element to the story.

One thing you come to realize is just how lucky the Dolphins were, and how it could have gone very differently along the way.  And perhaps more incredibly, how pretty much every team in the league would have given *anything* to get John Elway - and several almost did!

And when you look at the other 26 players in that first round, you also realize how few of them actually were "great" - some were very good, and some were just okay, and a few never did much in the NFL.  And it reminds you again that the NFL draft is nothing more than the allocation of players from college to the NFL.  There are no guarantees.

Its worth watching - so set your Tivos for the next showing!

Wa wa Waaaaa

Stevie Ross (or as I once called him "Cap't Izzy Firepants") did release a statement last night about the stadium.  Predictably, he blamed someone.  Yeah, he threw Sparano under the bus again for not getting him a stadium.  Oh wait, he blamed Tony *last* week for something.  This week, it was speaker of the Florida house Will Weatherford.

Essentially he said Weatherford promised him his legislation would come to a vote, and it didn't...so now he sets about calling out the speaker and saying Tallahassee is dysfunctional.  Look, I'm not saying its not.  Politics are a strange beast, and a handshake is nothing more than that.  But IMHO, he came off as a spoiled rich kid.

He goes on to talk about how that means jobs won't be coming to South Florida (and Weatherford is  job killer) and how he'll keep working to bring big events to South Florida anyway (and Weatherford doesn't like the revenue it brings). He may have even said Weatherford doesn't like oranges - Ross' statement read like he was really mad at the guy....

It was long, and mentioned something about San Diego's Qualcomm stadium being taken out of the SuperBowl rotation because it won't be renovated with public funds.  There's an enormous difference here: Qualcomm is a public stadium, owned San Diego, and thus public funds would be required to renovate it.  Joe Robbie Stadium is privately owned, and public funds should never be used unless there's an equity stake in the stadium given - or it is truly a loan to be repaid.

Anyway, Ross made a vague statement about continuing to pursue future SuperBowls and large events, and having a commitment to South Florida.  But his next steps remain vague.  Will he look to move? Will he look for a new source of funds? Will he pay for it himself?

Time will tell.