Kaspers Korner

Going into the season the Miami Dolphins were thought of to be a walk over in divisional play.  That has proven to be not true as they are one game behind the rest of the division.

The reason for their resurgence this year.  The resurection of the careers of quarterback Chad Pennington, and outside linebacker Joey Poter.

Pennington is on pace for a career high in passing yards.  Through eight games he has 1,991 yards passing with seven touchdowns, and four interceptions.

Simply, he has got a line in front of him that is doing a good enough job.  Also, he has an outlet in the passing game in Anthony Fasano.

Fasano is in his first year with the Dolphins, as well as a starter.  The last two was spent as a back up on the Dallas Cowboys to tight end Jason Witten. 

Fasano has 21 receptions for 288 yards receiving, and three touchdowns.  All three are career highs already.

Poter has been the reason for the Dolphins defensive success.  The reason for his resurgence is that the Dolphins have switched to a 3-4 defense, which Poter was in for his entire time with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

When you start doing the basics very well things start falling into place.  With Dolphins head coach Anthony Sparano being from the Bill Parcells tree you can be assure he is empathizing that.

Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams has been an enigma as he has considered life outside of football more important.  However, that has all changed as Williams has been rewarded with an outstanding training camp with a contract extension, and a pay raise.

ESPN’s Tim Graham was writing for the Miami Herald just before he joined ESPN.  He stated in an interview that Williams looked better than ever.

So, what is the main reason for the turn around?  The answer to that has two parts.

First, the money is to good to pass up.  Outside of football the only way that you are going to make the kind of money that you get in the National Football league is if you own your own business.

Secondly, is his leagacy, which is a surprise.  Williams is concerned with the way people will look back at him.

Williams is only 31 years old, and with running back Ronnie Brown he can easily play at a high level for four more years.  Former New York Giant running back Tiki Barber retired at age 32, and he was still in his prime when he retired.

What Williams also has going for him is that he has not played in two years.  Most running backs hit the wall just after turning 30, beacause they have taken such a pounding by that time. 

With the addition of quarterback Chad Pennington during the preseason, thanks to the stupidity of the Jets, the Dolphins could present a much tougher opponent than first thought.

Chad Pennington for all purposes looked to be in the twilight of his career after having two shoulder surgeries.  However, the trade to the Miami Dolphins has looked to breathed new life into Pennington.

In his first game as a Dolphin Pennington went five for six for 55 yards, and scrambled twice both being for nine yard gains.

What was more impressive was that Pennington completed a deep pass over the middle of the field for 22 yards.  That shouldn’t come as a surprise, because statistically Pennington is a better deep ball thrower than even Brett Farve.

What makes him a effective deep thrower is that he knows when to pick his spots. 

Also, it looks like ESPN’s TIm Graham was right in an interview on a Buffalo, NY radio station. 

In the interview he went on to state that Dolphins running back Ricky Williams looks determine to change the way people will remember him. 

Williams in a preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars gained 43 yards on 10 carries.  Also, it was against the Jaguars first team defense, which makes it an impressive number.

The way things are shaping up the AFC East is starting to look like a division that is going to be tough to play in this year. 

The team that will come out on top will be the team that has the survives the war of attrition.  Meaning the team that gets injured the least will win the division. 

Jason Taylor will be done with “Dancing with the Stars” as next week is the season finale, but you can guarantee the Miami Dolphin head honcho Bill Parcells will still be mad at Taylor for even just being on.  However, if Parcells actually learned more about it he would actually be happy.

Yeah, Taylor is using the competition as a means to get himself a job in acting after football, but there are actually physical benefits to the competition.  Even Tayloy himself stated that he is in the best shape of his life, and that includes the year he won the MVP award.

Many stars that appear on the show lose weight.  That is due to them usuing muscles they have never used before, and the amount of practice it takes to get down a routine.

There are many similarities between dancing, and what a defensive end does. 

First is footwork, both need to have quick feet as for both are fast moving. 

Second is use of the hands, in dancing a person is constantly grabing, and leting go of their dance partner, which defensive ends also do with offensive tackles. 

Finally is concentration, in dancing as well a person has to concentrate on his routine.  Also, they have to concentrate on making sure that his technique is also sound.

If Parcells actually would cool his hot head he would see that Taylor is in the best shape he has ever been in years.  However, this is Parcells we are talking about, and that will mos likely never happen.

The Miami Dolphins have been on a slow downward spiral for years, with hitting rock bottom this past season, thus earning him the first pick in the draft.  Well it looks like they will be there a while after general manger Jeff Ireland’s comments.

“I’m going after the player who best fits us,” Ireland said.  ”That’s the best way I can say it.  I don’t want bad guys on my team.  Of course I want guys who have great upside; it’s the first pick in the draft.  You hope that this guy is a pillar of your defense for a long time.  Of course we think he’s going to have upside.  I, the economics, to me . . . ”  He did not even notice the slip, until he asked the media what they were laughing at, while in a press conference with the media thursday.

Talk about holy stupidity Batman, but this takes the cake.  Not even the Buffalo Bills COO Russ Brandon in his predraft luncheon with the media made that mistake, and Brandon has never been involved with the draft before.

There is one thing for sure his boss Bill Parcells will not be happy with the slip.  Say what you want it was not the smart thiing to do, even if it is sending up smoke signals. 

With the Dolphins in the position they are their best interest is to sign a player to the lowest amount of guarantees as possible.  If that is going to happen then they need to be open minded about their position.

In the end the slip up could cost to a heck of a lot of money to the Dolphins, and even their guy that they really want.

The Miami Dolphins have the first pick in the up coming National Football League draft later this month.  Already the Dolphins have confirmed that there are problems with the draft, since no team wants to trade up.

Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga indicated that teams are not interested in moving up to the first spot, according to the Miami Herald.  Indicating that there is no clear cut number one pick this year.  In addition to that Huizenga said, “the top four or five picks — a lot of teams aren’t willing to spend the money to move up. This is one of those off years where no team really wants to move up.'’

That is exactly the problem with the draft.  The top player in this years draft will almost get just as much guaranteed money as the top quarterbacks in the league.  Eventhough, they have never played a down in the NFL.

To make things worst the problem cannot be addressed till the league, and the players union sit down at the table to work on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The only other solution is that the Dolphins can let the time expire intentionally, and let teams go first.  The only problem is that the guy they might want might be selected by another team.

In the end Huizenga said it best himself on their situation, “it’s important not to make a mistake, because it could screw up your whole program.'’ “If you pay $35 million to a person who does not work out, you are stuck with that for five or six years, which means you can’t get rid of them — which means someone else could be there taking the money. We always pay to the cap. We’re not trying to save money. It’s a matter of being prudent in putting money in the right place.”

In the end if the Dolphins are going to get out of the NFL basement any time soon they have to hit on their pick.  IF they do not then they will be in the top five of the draft for many years to come.

Bill Parcells is now in control of the Miami Dolphins.  However, it will be the input of Dolphins quarterback coach David Lee that will most likely decide the fate of the Dolphins number one pick.

Lee before joining the Dolphins was the quarterback coach of the Dallas Cowboys.  According to the Miami Herald Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo credits his development as a quarterback to Lee.

Quarterback John Beck, who was drafted by the Dolphins in the second round in last years draft, stated that he has received more individual attention this offseason than he did all of last year.  Beck sited that being the third quarterback on the depth chart as the reason.

Beck went on to say this about the increased attention, and his development, ‘’Now, it’s been nice because we’ve been able to focus a little bit of time on me. Coach Lee definitely has helped me. I’ve made a lot of strides since the end of the season in some smaller detailed things.'’

This is huge for Dolphin fans in regards to the upcoming draft.  If Lee feels that Beck will be a quality quarterback in the National Football League, then Parcells, along with the rest of the front office, will decide on another position to take with the first pick.

What could also influence the Dolphins choice at number one is what happens to defensive end Jason Taylor.  Taylor on Saturday in an interview pretty much shot down all the rumours that have been going around.

So, in the end what will happen in regards to the draft with the Dolphins? 

With Beck progressing, and Matt Ryan not a clear cut number one a quarterback will not be taken by the Dolphins.  Also, running back is out of the question with the Dolphins having Ronnie Brown, and Ricky Williams on the roster.

If you have been looking at mock drafts then you know it will come down to between offensive tackle and defensive tackle, and maybe defensive end if a player takes a lower guaranteed contract.

in the end looking at Parcells history I would not be surprised if the Dolphins grabbed a defensive player, especially a defensive tackle.

The Miami Dolphins this past season was the worst in the league, and part of the reason was the fact that running backs Ronnie Brown, and Ricky Williams were hurt.  Even with that in mind the Dolphins are seeming to enter the season with them two as the top running backs again.

According to Harvey Fialkov of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, “All signs point to the Dolphins not using any of their first three draft picks on high-profile running backs such as Arkansas’ Darren McFadden or Illinois’ Rashard Mendenhall.”

Fialkov a little later did go on to point out that Parcells has a history of getting quality running backs in late round picks. 

Still the matter of fact that the Dolphins are not going into the season without an emergency play is dumb.   Also, and in preparing for the possible departure of Ricky Williams, whose contract expires after this year, you have a receipe for disaster.

The Dolphins do have a lot of holes on their team, but the Dophins have a much easier schedule this year facing the NFC West.

Obviously, Parcells is relying on his ability to get a running back in the late rounds to fill the void at the third running back spot. 

The matter of the fact is that picks panning out in the late rounds is like finding a needle in a haystack.  The only team that has made a knack of finding picks in the late round is the New England Patriots.

Dolphins fans are right to be skeptical about the teams ability to turn it around.  After all this is a team, as SI’s Peter King pointed out, that does not have one player on their roster from their drafts earlier this decade.

So, in the end how can Dolphins fans have hope that the scouting staff wil get the job done.

The Miami Dolphins had the worst record in the National Football League last year.  With it now comes being in the worst situation of having to give a draft pick $30 million in signing bonus money, and not being able to get out of it.

It has become unanimous that there is not one clear cut number one draft prospect in the upcoming draft.  That means that teams will not be willing to trade up into the number one spot.

Miami has the undoubious job of having to rebuild completely from scratch.  Their front office has done so horrible of a job that no player remains from one of their drafts from eariler this decade. That means that they are pretty much an expansion team right now.

If this was several years ago the Dolphins could trade out of the spot, and get multiple draft picks.  Now, agents have pushed the asking price of the first pick so high that teams are reluctant to even want to be in that position.

As John Clayton stated in an interview on the Colin Cowherd show on ESPN radio, “Teams would be willing to trade up if there was a clear cut number one, but there is not that this year. So teams will not want to trade up to the number one spot, because of the bonus money that they have to give out to that player.

The difference between the number one draft pick and the number eight draft pick is almost $20 million, eventhough there is not much of a drop off.  That pretty much means the Dolphins are screwed.

They will have to tie up a large amount of their cap in a player that has never played a down.  The money should go to resigning of players, and free agents. 

Even Bill Polian agrees with this thinking in a statement he made at the Combine according to NFL.com, “The draft was designed to either allow the weakest teams, based on record, to choose the best players, or if they chose not to take a particular player, to gather a bunch of picks to further accelerate their growth and competitiveness.”

So Dolphins fans buckle up it is going to be a long time before the Dolphins are back into the playoffs. 

The Miami Dolphins since Bill Parcells has cleaned house, and continued that with the release of linebacker Zach Thomas.  Now, what will happen to Jason Taylor?

According to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports.com the Dolphins released Thomas today.  That means that the only significant veteran left is Jason Taylor  Whose days are obviously numbered now.

With Taylor pretty much on the way out also one has to wonder where he will go, and for how much.  An obvious fit would be the Giants if defensive end Michael Strahan calls it quits.

Strahan almost called it quits last year, but decided to comeback.  Now, with a Super Bowl Trophy in hand one has to ponder what is holding him back from calling it quits.  Most likely money due to a divorce.

Taylor would obviously want to go to a winner.  The other question is would Bill Parcell even let Talyor have any say in the matter.  Parcell is a no nonsense type of guy, and Taylor could wind up somewhere he does not want to go.

Things should get interesting in the verteran market as teams seem to be sliding more to the drafting rather than building through free agency.

The Miami Dolphins fired head coach Cam Cameron shortly after the season.  Since then rumour has spread like wild fire that Dallas Cowboys offensive line coach Tony Sparano will be the Dolphins next head coach, and thus leaving it hard for them to find minority candidates to interview.

The Rooney rule states that when any of the 32 National Football League teams have a head coaching vacancy they must have at least one minority candidate interview for the job.  So far the Dolphins haven’t interviewed any.

They have so far only interviewed white candidates, and the black candidates have pulled out.  It also seems that they do not have one scheduled in the near future.

Their next interview is expected to be Tenessee Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.  Who is a top candidate with many others.

If Miami does not comply with the Rooney rule then the Dolphins should have their first round draft pick this year ripped from them.  Pffenders Not following rules for racial equality should be severly punished.

Spy gate is nothing compared to a violation of the Rooney rule.  The rule was set up for the simple purpose of giving a minority a chance  Hey after all you never know what will happen.  The candidate might just blow the team away.

Newy hired Dolphin Bill Parcell should know better than anyone about following the rules.  He is one of those old school hard nosed my way or the highway guys.

The fact is that the NFL does not need all the bad plublicity of a team going against the Rooney rule.  After all they have big enough of a head ache with Tony Romo and Jessica circus.  Along, with all the bust cops have been making of NFL players.

Good luck Miami trying to find one.  Being a Bills fan it will be fun to watch squirm around out of this mess.