The Dolphins have a really strong running game with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. Teams will absolutely have to defend the run. They have a very good young QB in Henne who can deliver the ball all over the field and who seems to have a good head for the game. They’ve got speed at the WR position and very good pass protection. Marshall should thrive and the entire offense gets a big boost. Even having Parcells there who tends to be great at nurturing moody talents is a nice fit.
The big caveat? South Beach. Can Marshall stay out of trouble if he becomes the toast of town?
Makes him the highest paid receiver ever. The guy is good but I’m not sure I’d have gone that long on him. He’s not better than Fitzy or either Johnson.
Yup, there you go. That explains the trade perfectly to me.
I would be entirely supportive if Sheldon wasn’t exactly the type of player the Eagles need right now. Now I’m wondering who on that defense can actually tackle. But, he wasn’t happy there and wasn’t willing to work with the team (and probably the team wasn’t willing to work with him either), so off he goes. Seems like there are a whole lot of “ifs” on that side of the ball now.
The way I see the trade. Miami had a big glaring hole at WR and had to do something to address it. So they either had to trade for a WR or draft one. The one talented one left to trade for was Marshall. The only one possibly worth drafting 10th overall is Dez. So which would you rather have, A head case/character issue guy with proven excellent NFL talent and a first round pick. Or an head case/character issue guy with nothing proven in the NFL, and 2 second round picks. I think it’s a no-brainer (ignoring the money aspect for my purposes)
Absolutely. Though it’s worth noting that Dez would have been much cheaper than Marshall and would have been committed for a shorter time frame in case it blows up. Plus Marshall could very likely end up suspended some games if he screws up again, while Dez’s issues don’t seem to be the type that will end up leading to league suspensions.
Marshall played his high school football in Orlando, and went to college here. It’s not like he hasn’t had opportunities to party in the past (and it’s worth noting that he was a perfect angel in college).
I get the idea that all the talking heads going “can he stay out of trouble in South Beach??!?!” have no idea where he’s from. It’s a four hour drive - trust me, he’s been there.
Who cares how cheap he is? Marshall’s contract is front-loaded, so most of the guaranteed money comes this year (when there’s no cap for it to count against).
Anyway, Bryant would need at least one and probably two seasons under his belt before he could possibly match Marshall’s production. Marshall will still only be 28 by the time Bryant becomes a star (if he ever does).
I doubt he was a perfect angel in college considering how things have gone in the pros. Chances are that he simply wasn’t disciplined publicly or wasn’t caught/reported by friendly local authorities. Even if he was squeaky clean it doesn’t matter, his more recent history contradicts that and it’s more pertinent. The elephant in the room is that he was broke when he was in college, if he was going to South Beach then it won’t compare at all to what is possible now that he’s got a ton of money and fame.
Marshall might be great, but for the first time ever he’s got a ton of money and a long guaranteed contract. We’ll see if he starts relaxing or not.
The guys writing the checks do. The Dolphins are one of the cash-poorest teams in the entire league. Just because it’s an uncapped year doesn’t mean teams want to break the bank on a question mark. I’d rather have Marshall for 2 2nd rounders than Bryant for a 1st but you can’t pretend that money isn’t a factor.
Probably. But we’ll see. Marshall had the benefit of playing against the Raiders, Chiefs and Chargers 6 times a season and during his career those have been 3 of the worst pas defenses in the entire league. The AFC East is the exact opposite. Marshall might have a yearlong adjustment period to the new surroundings and system too.
He wasn’t broke in college. His parents are pretty much middle class. He was arrested once for disorderly conduct in Orlando, but it was a bullshit charge - he was in a crowd of disorderly people and all of them got arrested.
Stephen Ross and Wayne Huizenga are the richest owners in the league, after Chainsaw Dan. Money’s not a factor.
Marshall played against Nnamdi Asomugha and Antonio Cromartie four times a year, and seems to have produced equally well regardless of opponent.
Anyway, the Raiders, Chargers and Chiefs ranked 7th, 11th and 22nd in pass defense last season.
My parents were middle class, maybe a little better, and I’m in the ballpark of middle class now. I can’t afford to have a good time on South Beach. In college I couldn’t even sniff South Beach prices. Being a middle class college student and a multi-millionaire are light years apart. He will find trouble. Just about everyone does there.
Huizenga barely owns any of the Dolphin any more as Ross owns 96% of the team. He lost about half his fortune in the real estate bubble and is in hock for $1B of what he has left to buy the team. He’s rich but he’s cash poor in the present economy. Of course a few million dollars on the cap aren’t going to hurt him in the long run but he’s not exactly in a position to be spending like a drunken sailor.
Marshall played against the scrub who lined up across from Asomugha most of the time as the Raiders don’t flip flop corners. Their run defense was so awful teams barely passed against them, ditto the Chiefs. Experts pretty much universally agreed that the Chiefs and the Raiders had terrible pass defenses, but whatever there’s no argument that the AFC East isn’t a massive upgrade in competition.
Overall, of course it is… but in terms of ability to produce at the wide receiver position, it isn’t. Think about it for a second - the fact that teams don’t pass against the Chiefs and Raiders hurt Marshall’s production.
Since there is no “receiver rating”, let’s use average receiving yards per game:
102.8 AFC South (6 games)
95.3 NFC North (4 games)
87.5 NFC East (4 games)
79.3 NFC South (4 games) 61.4 AFC West (20 games) 57.7 AFC East (7 games)
49.7 NFC West (3 games)
45.0 AFC North (8 games)
The sample sizes are too small to really draw meaningful conclusions. However my point wasn’t necessarily about raw stats anyways. I’m saying that it’s probably not a foregone conclusion that Marshall will pick up where he left off. His adjustment period in the new system and against new opponents could very likely mean his first year is a down one.
It seems the Browns are sniffing around the Rams for a trade to #1. Holmgren has said that they won’t pull a Ricky Williams-style trade, but assuming they can put together a good enough package of picks (and they may have the picks to do it) the Browns take Bradford at #1 overall, who does St. Louis take at #7 and who do they take for a QB since they have set themselves up for one?
I am thinking they go either with one of the OTs that should be left (Williams, Bulaga or Davis) or beef up their LB corps with McClain or get a quality starter CB in Haden and then go Colt McCoy in the 2nd round. I do not see Clausen being a good fit for the Rams and Safety is about the only position they do not need immediate help in so I think they can pass on Berry. This would allow them to fill a huge gap and still get a potential franchise QB in round 2.
…Isn’t that assuming the Browns do take Bradford? I could see the Browns picking up Suh or McCoy, especially after Big Baby had to get himself into trouble and they traded away another defensive player.
Just saw on SportsCenter, the 49ers acquire receiver Ted Ginn, Jr., from the Dolphins in exchange for a 5th round draft pick. I like the move, especially for the price.
I wanted Ginn out of the draft as a return guy, and we still desperately need one still. In addition to that, a deep threat will open things up for Crabs and Vernon. This affects the draft, in that we won’t necessarily look for a DB that doubles as a return option, and a late-round WR is less necessary (Dexter McCluster was one I liked).
The Browns are not going to trade up to the first overall pick to take a defensive tackle. No way, no how. Take a tackle if you have the pick, maybe - but no team would ever go out of its way to commit that sort of money to a defensive tackle. Quarterback, wideout, offensive tackle, defensive end, running back, sure.
Nobody bothers to cover Ginn deep because he can’t catch the ball. Anyway, you’re paying him #7 overall money for however much longer he’s under contract, which is crazy.
Plus, to get a defensive tackle, they could try to trade into the #2 or #3 spot, which would be less expensive, not that the Lions or Bucs would be receptive.
Ginn’s contract is for two more years at $1 mil for 2010 and $1.4 million for 2011, plus escalators that could raise the 2011 to up to $3.3 million. Not too bad, really, and it could be restructured.