NFC Draft Grades

(NFC South)

Weedseed

The fun NFC South. Highly competitive division that from the outside in, looks like one of the funnest divisions to play in this cycle. This is one of the divisions that I am not surprised on who wins as it only takes one of them to get hot to win it all. The Bucs have been the king, but the Panthers surged last season, along with the Falcons, and the Saints are sneaky. One really good draft class could send one of these teams to the top, or keep the Bucs there, so let's get to it.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Best Pick: Markus Ecker CB

Worst Pick: Thomas McCrary HB

Grade: B-

I’m going to start this one off a little different. I don’t think the Bucs did enough to surpass the other top teams in the NFC. They essentially are an older version of last years squad. This class was a complacency draft class in my eyes. Sure, you get your OJ Howard replacement down the road, and you do add two very good developmental corners in the 2nd, but there is nothing explosive about this class. 1st round pick Griffin Simonson may be the best TE in the class, but isn’t half the tight end OJ Howard is athletically, tight ends are one of the worst positions to focus development on, and he's slow dev. Now I do love Markus Ecker. Hes super fast and will match up well with those small speedsters, but is a developmental talent. Not an awful draft class, just not an aggressive one to get him over this hump. B-

New Orleans Saints

Best Pick: Banks Drake CB

Worst Pick: Every other one

Grade: F

Now I do remember that JP didn’t get to pick, but he still coulda set his draft board. So fair warning, he gets no sympathy in these grades.

This draft by the cpu was not good. 2nd round defensive tackle Terik Mosely is actually pretty athletic for an interior defensive lineman, but there were so many better defensive linemen that were taken in the 2nd round and later better than Mosley that it hurts my heart. 3rd round linebacker Poindexter is slow, and with a name like that belongs on the Bills. The qb they drafted in the 5th has nothing you look for in a developmental qb. He has a weak hard, not very fast, and his accuracy is below avg for rookies coming out. The one player I feel they did get good value on was cornerback Banks Drake, a 6’2 92 speed corner with mid 70’s man and zone. This draft is a cautionary tale, set your draft boards. F

Carolina Panthers

Best Pick: Devonne Ramsey OLB

Worst Pick: Jameon Fontenot CB

Grade: B+

I am very impressed by the Panthers draft class. It was very hard for me to rank a worst pick for this team as every pick had value. The Panthers came into this draft with no first round pick, and were still able to find decent players and in fact, didn’t draft a sub 70 overall player until the 7th round, and that 7th round pick, is a pretty stinkin good 7th round pick. Devonne Ramsey will look nice opposite last years first round pass rusher Maxey Sherman, and this rebuilding defense is only a piece or 2 away from being a complete unit. Even if you say they reached taking the punter in the 4th, they got a 94 kick power rookie punter, which I am sure is one of the better punters to be drafted this cycle. They got a nice speed rusher with Sparks in the 5th, a value guard in the 6th, and the 7th round corner comes in at 6’1, 91 speed, and 84 man coverage. Overall, very solid drafting by the Panthers and a very solid B+.

Atlanta Falcons

Best Pick: Charles Trotter CB

Worst Pick: Rashaun Swancutt III FS

Grade: C

The Atlanta Falcons wanted to upgrade their secondary badly. They spent a 1st, 2 3rds, and their 4th round selections all on defensive backs. 1st round pick cb Jimmy Balmer is good out of the box, but his slow dev will prevent him from being the Darrelle Revis/Richard Sherman they were looking for. 3rd round pick Charles Trotter is definitely my favorite pick out of the bunch already sitting at 85 zone coverage, and good measurables, but most likely will be delegated to play slot being 5’10. Overall, I think it was bad luck with Jimmy Balmer being slow dev that really cost this draft class a higher grade. None of the players were bad, but with no quarterback the slow dev Balmer could have been superstar quarterback Houston Redding who I think is the 2nd best quarterback drafted this cycle. I don’t think this draft puts the Falcons ahead of the Bucs and I have to give it a lower pack grade of a C.

NFC Draft Grades

(NFC North)

Weedseed

Oh the NFC North… home of cheese heads and the purple people eaters. Is this the season Trent puts it together? Can Beech play spoiler for and sneak into the playoffs? Will the Vikings finally be as dominate as we all thought they were going to be? Will the Lions continue to overachieve? This division could be a fun one or a dull one and a lot of that hinges on how these teams did in the draft so let's dive in to how these NFC North teams did.

Detroit Lions

Best Pick: Houston Redding QB

Worst Pick: Vaetuitonga Porton DT

Grade: B+

The Lions get a B+ almost entirely because of quarterback Houston Redding. Redding is without question the best qb in this draft, and I would argue the best prospect since Hillman. Redding doesn’t have a cannon, but makes up for that with very nice mobility. This is the type of qb whos athleticism decreases interceptions(But increases fumbles), and if used properly can give no hope to the rest of the NFC North. They scored a nice linebacker later in the first with Conner who really can run, but totally whiffed on third round defensive tackle Porton. Porton should not be on a roster with low 70’s strength, and low 60’s speed he is not athletic, he's not strong, and has poor block shedding and pass rush attributes. Plenty rosterable players in the 3rd and Porton is not one. Lions smashed the 1sts round, but were pretty lackluster from then on giving them a B+.

Green Bay Packers

Best Pick: Miles Purvis LB

Worst Pick: Nat Porter DT

Grade: B

Is it just me or does it seem like the Packers draft a linebacker in the first every year? Anyways, the Packers had a pretty good draft, value wide. Purvis isn’t quick/ss dev, but is ready to start out of the box anyways.  2nd round guard Charlie Medina is one of the better value picks in that round, and really what I thought was there worst pick, wasn’t an awful pick and still demands a spot on a roster with above average athleticism for an interior linemen. With 2 season to go, I did expect the 10th pick to be a bit more impactful like maybe corner Hanna to help with the a quickly depleting secondary. Overall, not bad and a solid B grade for this class.

Chicago Bears

Best Pick: Deandre Draft CB

Worst Pick: Will Mercilus HB

Grade: C+

The Bears went all in this offseason for defensive backfield spending big in FA on Vernon Hargreaves and Jack Wendling, then to go cornerback with the 5th pick in the daft. Draft is a top fleit corner and instantly elevates the play of this secondary and should match up well with Vikings new toy in Ricky Conner. With the rest of the division getting more explosive, secondary does look to be the best counter, but I do wonder how much the Bears looked into QB Houston. Overall, the Bears draft was just okay. 3rd round tackle Christian Arkin looked to be a good pick with nice athleticism and strength, but with slow dev, most likely won’t develop in time to be an impactful player. This team didn’t wow me in this draft and this class belongs in the middle of the pack, C+.

Minnesota Vikings

Best Pick: Dewitt Simon DE

Worst Pick: TJ Scott HB

Grade: B

The Vikings came into this draft with a small amount of draft capitol trading first round pick to the Dolphins for wide receiver Ricky Conner, but still were able to find rosterable players late in the draft. 3rd round pick guard, Russ Sullivan, is in that same late round linemen mold with low strength, but at 21 years old, has some really nice run blocking attributes with 85 run block and 92 impact. My favorite pick of this class is defensive end Dewitt Smion. Not as athletic as Cowboys defensive end Woodyard, but if a lot more polished coming in with 89 power move.Great value for a 4th rounder. Worst pick is running back TJ Scott. Scott doesn’t have good or even avg elusiveness or trucking, making his ceiling very low and his only saving grace is that he has 90 speed and accel. Not the worst of the worst picks as he was a 5th rounder. Overall, good value for most picks, B grade.

NFC Draft Grades

(NFC East)

Weedseed

With Metals return and we see the return of the Eagles, Giants rivalry that we all love. I expect after his playoff loss Sin will be very hungry and now with a full offseason and season ahead, Metal should be going back to normal, not to mention the Skins will be back this year. This division could be one of the more competitive in the league this coming year with a lot riding on this draft.

New York Giants

Best picks: Tomas Delgado WR

Grade: D+

I can not grade based on amount of picks only what the team did with the picks it had. This Giants team only had a 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th round pick making this more of a depth setting draft. With that being said, I do think they could have gotten better value with they picks they did draft, case in point being Tomas Delgado, who was taken 20 picks before Seahawks monster Don Billingsley. Tomas is talented, standing at 6’3, 21 years old and 90 speed. Good size and speed makes him a nice piece to complement speedster Stuart Whitted, but doesn’t really bring anything to the table Curry Waynes or Kevin McConnell (Other Giant wr’s) don’t already posses. Late round picks were also lack luster with weak linemen or slow receivers. Overall value compounded with little draft capitol giving this team a low D+.

Philadelphia Eagles

Best picks: Leonard Hunter T - Jaron Milstead DL

Grade: B

Another case of low draft capitol, but when I look at this class, I see a few players who definitely deserve to be developed. My favorite player from this class is tackle Leonard Hunter picked in the 6th round. Leonard come out with 73 overall with 88 stock strength. Easily could have been a late 1st, mid second round pick, Hunter will be a nice piece to develop over this season. Then defensive linemen Jaron Milstead, alot like Hunter comes in with higher strength and if moved to dt could be one of the more athletic interior linemen in the league and guess what, he was picked in round 3. Overall not a flashy draft with low draft capitol but the Eagles did the best with what they had and I respect that. B for this draft class.

Dallas Cowboys

Best picks: Kelon Forte DL - Clayton Woodyard DE

Grade: A

I love what the Cowboys did in this draft, and it is my favorite class of any team so far. This teams for 3 picks were all defensive linemen, and good ones to boot.  I do feel Forte would fit better in a 3-4 system, but will be a very sturdy run stuffing defensive end, but what Forte lacks in pass rush, Clayton Woodyard will definitely make up for. This guy is a freak, 6’6 coming in with 87 speed/88 accel. Clayton with development, could be the best pass rusher in this class and Turtles got him at the top of the 2nd. Great value for a freak pass rusher. Then in the 3rd and 4th round, he gets a solid rotational defensive tackle and a 96 speed speed burner slot guy/return man. Turtles gets a very solid A on this class.

Washington Redskins

Best picks: Willis Milloy HB

Grade: C

Three teams in this division did not have a 1st, and the Redskins are one of them. Willis Milloy is a nice piece to pick up late in the 2nd. Hes got 93 speed and 84 elusiveness rating and will be a nice change of pace back to complement RaKayle Keith. Overall, not a very strong class, and like I said before, low capitol doesn’t get you a low grade, it's what you do with those picks and I feel only 1 maybe 2 players from this draft stick in any capacity. C

NFC Draft Grades

(NFC West)

Weedseed

    With just 1 more draft to go, this draft could prove to be very important to the legacy of many this cycle. This draft did prove to be one of the weaker drafts this cycle, but there were still winners and losers like there always is. Adel has agreed to take the AFC grades(rip), and I will handle the NFC grades. So without further ado, we start off with the NFC West;

Division - NFC West
 

Arizona Cardinals

Best picks: Rakkim McGee WR

Grade: C

The Cardinals add a speedy receiver to complement the aging Maurice Spellman.Rakkim will be a playmaker for the Cardinals, but I would argue that Rakkim might be the only player to see any real playing time either now or in the future from this draft class for the Cardinals. The Cards did add TJ Green in a trade sending their 2nd round pick, who is going to be great for them this year, but has declined. This Cardinals team is aging quickly, has quite a few players going to show up on the 3+1, and had a lot of holes that did not get filled.

Seattle Seahawks

Best picks: Don Billingsley WR

Grade: C+

In a very competitive NFC West, the Seahawks are fighting to stay in the hunt after losing in the NFC Championship game to division rival Rams. I am in love with their 2nd round pick, Don Billingsley who they stole with the 30th pick in the 2nd round. Don is 6’5 with 92 speed, which is faster than Knox. Don is a speedster with great size and good stock attributes and goes to a team who isn’t afraid of 50/50 balls. First round pick Duncan Nevis is a bit underwhelming but with the amount of linebackers off the board, they felt they needed to reach to make sure they got one. The Billingsley pick saved their draft as I would have rated this a D otherwise.

LA Rams

Best picks: Zach Bryant LB - Connor Troup S

Grade: B-

I appreciate draft classes that have many decent players over ones with 1 star followed by cut time fodder, which is why this draft class, even without a standout star gets a higher grade than the Seahawks or Cards. This grade also would be a bit higher if the Rams didn’t release some of their top picks who I felt were pretty decent prospects with promise. Players like, Riley Nicholson DE. A 22 year old super fast speed rusher who with the right dev and situational time, could be built into a nice player. Or even Fisher Mebane. A 6’2 90 speed receiver with 84 catching and 87 catch in traffic. Both of those players are 2nd round picks and needed to be apart of this Rams team and develop. Overall I do think this team got better, but with cuts to top picks, they get a B-.

San Francisco 49ers
Best picks: Thomas Chapman WR Russel Holdman DE
 

Grade: A

With star receiver Iran Bodiford in decline, this team went out and got Bodiford 2.0 with Thomas Chapman. Chapman is this drafts best deep threat and even comes out with a 84 elusiveness and 92 juke rating making him even more effective. Then in the 2nd round, this team picked up a superstar 86 speed defensive end, while raw, with only a preseason and few weeks of dev, will definitely be a contributor on the field. This team definitely had the best draft class in the division getting a player with workable traits in almost every round. This draft class checks all the boxes for me and they get an A grade.

     The Miami Dolphins came into the draft with seven picks, one in each round. In this article, we will be going over each one of these draft picks, their projected role on the team and the players sucess on the season.

Round: 1
Pick: 21
Pos: C
Name: Heath Bullocks
School: Tenessee

     Heath was the heart and soul of the offensive line and one of the team captains at Tenessee. He is tauted as one of the best center prospects in the last 5 years. Heath is just what this team needed after losing their home grown center Blake Ledford in free agency, and Heath has the potential to be better. Heath joins the ranks of an already top unit with star offensive line talent from tackle to tackle. Heath is the last piece to this offensive line that wants to be able to put opposing teams into submission.

Round: 2
Pick: 53
Pos: G
Name: C.J. O'Brien
School: Yale

     CJ is a mauler. He put defensive linemen to shame at Yale and will do the same for the Dolphins, the only question is, when? The Dolphins offensive line is stacked at every single position with the first to picks in this draft and O'Brien will need to show his metal to fit in. On any other team, hes a day one starter, but we could see this coaching staff easing O'Brien into the lineup.

Round: 3
Pick: 85
Pos: OLB
Name: Rashawn Parnell
School: Buffalo

     Rashawn Parnell is a raw, physical freak. Parnell has one of the fastest get offs in all of college football last season and joins a team with one of the best in the business with Bedell. Parnell is raw as he played a 4-3 end in Buffalo, but will make his transition to outside linebacker in the Dolphins 3-4. Look for him to come in on passing downs, until he gets a graps of the NFL game.

Round: 4
Pick: 117
Pos: S
Name: Taviouzie King
School: Oklahoma St.

     With the depature of starting strong safety Montrae Olsen, and the release of Kurtis Zuttah, this team became thin at strong safety with just one on the roster. Taviouzie King is a different kind of safety then the Dolphins usually go after. Big, tall, heavy hitterers, like Olsen and Zuttah. With King, they get rangy safety with good coverage skills. Won't be in competition to start baring injuries, but should down the road.

Round: 5
Pick: 149
Pos: LB
Name: Arryn Demps
School: Temple

     Arryn Demps was a stand out defender at Temple, and looks to do so in the NFL. At the time of writting this article, the Dolphins placed Demps on the practice squad, where he was quickly picked up by the New York Giants. Demps has the physical tools to be in the NFL, but is a little raw in pass coverage, and shedding blocks. Look for him to develop under good coaching in New York.

Round: 6
Pick: 181
Pos: RB
Name: Vincent Golson
School: Cincinatti

     The Dolphins seem to want to revamp this back field. Rumors were flying before the draft the Dolphins wanted to trade starting back Boyer, but the draft came and went, and hes still on the roster. They how ever, draft a 6th round speedy Vincent Golson out of Cincinatti. More of a 1 cut and go back, Golson is the prototype zone runner and with the thin nature of the Dolphins back field, we project Golson getting carrier this season and beyond. Look for Golson.

Round: 7
Pick: 213
Pos: S
Name: DJ Beckum
School: Washington

     For the second time in this article, the player drafted has been signed by another team. The Dolphins placed Beckum on the practice squad for him to be quickly signed to the Bucaneers 53. Much like King, Beckum has some range, but is more in the mold of the box safeties the Dolphins are used to impoying. Beckum can hit, and has played some time at corner. Good value pick in the 7th, but also nice nab from the practice squad for the Bucs.

This offseason, the Dolphins had around 25 million to spend in the free agency period of the offseason, and they used it. The team made some moves mostly resigning players wanting to test free agency for big money. Below, I will be reveiwing each free agent aquisition.
 

The biggest splash of the Dolphins free agent signing was bringin in ex Pittsburgh Steeler defensive linemen and 2nd round pick, Stephon Tuitt. The Dolphins showed us something with this signing along with the signing of Damon "Snacks" Harrison last offseason. What did they show us? They don't want to develop defensive line talent. Spend big money on free agents for the 3 man front, and put your draft stock into the pass rush and secondary. Tuitt will be an impact player for this defense line, and was one of the top defensive players in this free agent class. He should play all three downs and will be a force in the run game next to Harrison.

 

The 2nd free agent we will be reviewing is fullback Danny Vitale. Danny opted to hit the open market, but ultimatly was resigned by the Dolphins after it appeard Vitale had little interest even after being named to multiple pro bowls at full back. Danny is a do it all type fullback. A running back in a full backs body, Danny has the speed and hands to be a viable option in the passing game, and is a consistent run blocker. He has been very important to this offense.

The final signing we will be reviewing is also a Dolphin resign. Brown also decided to test free agency after a grooling contract negotiation process at the end of the season. Brown has been groomed to take over next to McMillan since Brown was released by. Brown has explosive speed and good coverage skills. The Dolphins still need to address the 2nd inside line backer position in the seasons to come, but Brown will be a dynamic stop gap, and will finally see a starting spot after being on the bench for multiple seasons.

-Resignings-

Resigned -
Jakeem Grant WR
Westly Blackstock WR

Not Resigned -
T.J. McDonald Jr S
Max Garcia G
Xavien Howard CB
Jimmy Smith CB
Jacob Schum P
A.J. Derby TE

Released-
Kiko Alonso LB
Ryan Tannehill QB
Jaylen Watkins FS
Jimmy GrahamTE
Grover Stewart NT
Jamal Tucker OLB

The Dolphins didn't sign any of their 3+1 players, and cut multiple key contributors from the season prior. Not seeing TJ resigned was not a surpise with the development of Montrae Olsen, but this team lost 2 top corners in Xavien Howard and Jimmy Smith. A lot of the depatures were definitly cap saving moves, like the release of QB Ryan Tannehill who was due over 25 million this season. Overall, it seems the Dolphins are content with draft and develop or filling holes via free agency.

- Trades -

1. Dolphins send CB Cordrea Tankersley to the Saints, for their 2nd round pick

After not resigning 2 top flight corners, the Dolphins turn around and trade yet another top flight corner. I will say a 2nd for Tankersley is a pretty good deal for the Dolphins, but it leaves this team very thin at corner.

2. Dolphins send WR Kenny Stills and a 4th round pick to the Chargers for WR Keenan Allen.

Kenny Stills was kind of a disapointment last season. Pushed into a starting role, he struggled to stay involved. Dolphins get that big bodied receiver they were looking for, and bascially did it for a 4th round pick in their eyes as Stills was ineffective. Overall a very balanced trade, but the Dolphins improved alot with this addition.

- Free Agency -

Signings-
Cameron Heyward DL
Ladarius Green TE
Calais Campbell DL
Latavius Murray RB
De'Vondre Campbell LB
Andy Dalton QB
 

If this was 2013, this would be one of the badest FA hauls ever. Still not a bad one, the Dolphins used alot of short term options to fill holes. This team has had problems filling holes along the defensive line outside of Suh, but look to have filled both with big time dlinemen in Campbell and Heyward. This team was a top unit agaisn't the run last year, and just got even better.

Another interesting point in the Dolphins free agent class, is the pick up of Andy Dalton. Dolphins traded for DeShone Kizer last offseason, but after this team struggled through the air, brought in a vet to rejuvenate the offense. Interesting to see how this qb situation works out.

- Draft -

1(22) - TE - Spencer Doering - 22 - Slow -76
2(8) - G - Brady Stenstrom - 23 - Norm - 80
2(22) -G -Jarius Vaughn -21 - Quick - 77
3(22) -WR - Rickey Conner -22 - Norm- 65
5(22) -RB -Reshard Conrad -23 - Norm- 70
6(22) -S - Jimmy Thornton -23 - Norm - 68
7(22) -C - Wesley Tarpinian- 22 - Norm - 72

The highlight of the Dolphins draft was back to back 2nd round guards. This team has made an effort since the first offseason to make this unit a strength of the team, and it seems to have finished that feat. Both Stenstrom and Vaughn will both make big impacts at either left or right guard, and will help convert those short yardage situations that have plagued this team. Another key is the Jimmy Graham replacement in Spencer Doering. His slow dev makes it apear as if this is a bad pick, but this guy can move, and stands at 6'6. He needs work with his route running, blocking, and could sure up his catching, but to think this guy won't make an impact is upserd. Look for him to be a big piece for this offsense.
 

Continueation of http://daddyleagues.com/redzone/blog/news/19822/Roster-Breakdown---Offense

Defensive Line - B

Defensive Ends - B+
Ndamukong Suh - 32 years old and 93 overall. Suh might be our best player on defense and maybe the team. Suh is aging and is commanding a 20+ mill contract. If Suh wasn't on the defensive line, this group would be the weakness of this team. Strong and can shut down any runs to his side. Valueable but needs help.

Jordan Phillips - 26 years old and 77 overall. Jordan is a huge man at 6'6 and fits the long defensive ends that we want. Doesn't stuff the run as well as we'd like. Currently a slightly below average 3-4 defense end but could end up average at age 27-28.

Chip Watkins - 22 years old and 72 overall. Super young, but with a lack of 3-4 end builds, adds a young body to develop. Needs to improve his run stopping ability but is very young in his career.

J.T. Conley - 24 years old and 67 overall. Has better pass rush ability then both Watkins and Phllips, but poor in stopping the run. Has the size and length to play 3-4 DE but needs to improve run stopping ability. Rotational player

Nose Tackle - C+
Ian Williams - 30 years old and 81 overall. Williams is undersized and underweight, but his 93 strength and 88 block shedding gives him a shot to make plays. One of our best run stuffers, Ians has played both NT and DE, but is really suited for a 4-3. Has another year on his contract and will sick as a 1st 2nd down player.

Grover Stewart - 25 years old and 75 overall. Proto type NT build. Below avg run stopper and pass rush. Has time to develop and has the size we target. Will need to hit 80 blockshed to stick.

Linebackers - B

Inside
Raekwon McMillan - 22 years old and 83 overall. McMillan was a breakout player for us this season. Took a season to develop his tackling to make sure we had a solid tackling linebacker group. Came in as a 20 year old player with speed, will be one of this defenses best players till the end of the cycle. Can cover, fast, and strong.

Kiko Alonso - 29 years old and 82 overall. Has been a play making inside linebacker for us since the start. Getting old, but still has respectable none user speed at 81. A bit better in coverage than McMillan. Prolly has another season starting for us under his belt but has moved from #1 MLB to #2.

T.J. Peterson - 23 years old and 69 overall. Fast and very strong, but has almost no coverage abilities. Needs to improve tackling. Could be a nice user linebacker but will need to get coverages, and tackling up to see more play time. May not make the roster.

Jayon Brown - 24 years old and 67 overall. Had tackling issues. Fixed, but now needs to improve play req and awr. Is a season away from being a reliable player, but could fill Kiko's shoes.

Rush - D+
Charles Harris - 24 years old and 74 overall. Came into the season as the Wake replacement, but underwelmed. Played better as the seaosn progressed. Better suited for a 4-3 end as he can not cover. Did not see the field unless he was rushing. Has another season to dev to smooth over the flaws but will need a break out season to be in our long term plans.

Shaq Riddick - 26 years old and 69 overall. High rush ability and good speed kept Shaq on the roster. Hasn't shown enough to leap frog any of the starters. May not make it on the roster.

Ellis Miller - 24 years old and 70 overall. Major project player. Huge standing at 6'7 and fast with 85 speed. Miller needs alot to hit his pass rushing potiential but like Harris has 0 coverage ability. With as much work as he needs, may not make the roster for the long term.

Trevardo Williams - 28 years old and 69 overall. 1 dimensional player. Very low play req and awr along with coverage ability, but is super fast and has 87 finesse move. Situational pass rusher at most that will regress now that hes 28. Unlikley to make the roster with amount of rushers that have no coverage skills.

Joker - B+
Francis Bedell -24 years old and 75 overall. Bedell was a break out star for us with 21 sacks. Probably our best coverage linebacker. Needs to improve tackling and block shedding, but has a ton of versatility and will be a mainstay of this defense at the Joker spot. Super fast, good rusher, with above average coverage ability for a linebacker.

Defensive Backs - B+

Cornerbacks - B
Verlon Morgan - 23 years old and 83 overall. Morgan started off rough but got into a groove as the season progressed. Best corner out of his class, should dev into one of the best corners in the league. Needs to improve press to achieve what we want, but as a ton of dev time ahead of him.

Cordrea Tankersley - 25 years old and 80 overall. Tanker is tall and fast. Needs a bit more press, but does what we need him to do. Our big receiver defensder, Tanker has the speed and length for the Julio types of the league and will continue to do that for us.

Xavien Howard - 26 years old and 80 overall. Tough nosed corner, but has lost his starting spoyt to Morgan. Decreasing man and press skills but still a solid corner. Good depth player as he is a starter on most teams.

Jerron Montgomery - 24 years old and 72 overall. Short and kinda slow, Jerron was our nickle being one of the best man coverage corners in his UDFA class. Needs to attack the ball, needs to improve his press, and play req and awr. Will not be an outside corner but can lock down the underneath routes.

Tony Lippett - 27 years old and 78 overall. Tony is a huge corner but is really ment for a cover 3 scheme as hes a zone defender. Slow, but has decent man/zone/press skills. Possibly could transiiton to FS and be a TE killer. Most likely will see the open market.

Free Safety - B+

T.J. Green - 24 years old and 87 overall. TJ is the premier center feilder in the redzone. 93 speed and 6'3 speed gives him the range and length to attack deep balls on a regular basis. A building block player, Green is the key continueing with this cover 1 scheme.

Jaylen Watkins - 27 years old and 78 overall. Watkins is fast at 91 speed and has good coverage skills. Could start for most team. Will play SS on passing downs in place of one of the run stuffers. Price tag in the offseason will dictate if he sticks.

Bryant Brooking - 23 years old and 74 overall. Bryant is 1 speed lower then Watkins but has just as good coverage and a few more seasons of deving ahead of him. Will take over the SS role on passing downs is Watkins is not kept.

Strong Safety - B

Reshad Jones - 31 years old and 91 overall. Jones has forced a ton os fumble over the middle, but his speed may catch up to him. High price tag for an aging player. Jones could find a new home in the offseason depending on regression.

T.J. McDonald JR - 28 years old and 81 overall. TJ is Jones replacement. Heavy hitter with a bit more speed and good coverage skills. Will be a 1 season fill in as Olsen developes, but should bring the same hitting force as Jones.

Montrae Olsen - 23 years old and 75 overall. Weakest hitter of the strong safety group, but only because TJ and Jones are such heavy hitters. Olsen is our long term answer at SS. Fast, big, and can cover. Just needs another season to get at the level of TJ.
 

In this article, I will be going over every position on the Dolphins roster. This is more for me to put my ideas on paper, then for you to read. So if you think its too long, fuck off.

Offensive line = C+

Left Tackle
Laremy Tunsil - 25 years old, with 85 pblk and 82 rblk, in my eyes, Tunsil is a middle of the road LT that can progress into above average tackle by the time hes 28. Tunsil is in our future plans.

Hunter Kerrigan - 24 years old, with 79 pblk and 75 rblk. Hunter is strong and big. Almost started when Tunsil went down and is a very good depth olinemen. Could develope into an average to above average linemen, best place is RT.

Right Tackle = B
Shawn Luzar - 23 years old, with 88 pblk and 89 rblk. Luzar is no loser. Best offensiveline on the team and he just came off his rookie year. Is already above average, should be an elite tackle by age 25. Could see time at LT depending on roster fluidity.

Lindsey Levy - 24 years old, with 78 pblk and 75 rblk. Levy is exactly the same as Hunter. Both are strong, and are very nice pieces to have with oline injuries. Could end up using one or both as trade bait later on in their develepment.

Sam Tevi - 24 years old, with 80 pblk and 79 rblk. Sam stepped in for Tunsil at LT and didn't play bad. His strength is an issue, but  does have athleticism and with further developement, could be a average LT by age 26.

Guard = C
Ja'Wuan James - 27 years old, with 84 pblk and 83 rblk. James is a solid guard could play tackle. Tried to make sure best 5 started so moved James from RT to LG. James and Tunsil made a nice left side of the line, but James is close to his potiental. Is close to peak, and is currently an average linemen.

Max Garcia - 27 years old with 80 pblk and 80 rblk. Max is another good utilitly linemen. For us, should only start if we miss on a draft pick or injuries, but is a decent linemen with good strength. Will peak in 2 seasons, but could end up being an average linemen.

Isaac Asiata - 26 years old with 85 pblk and 80 rblk. Asitata is our strongest offensive linemen. Came in at 24 as a rookie. If he didn't would have deved into a fringe elite linemen. Currently will top out at above average, but with some run blocking work, will be a decent guard.

Vadal Alexander - 25 years old with 82 pblk and 80 rblk. Alexander has a good 4 years of developeming he will do and will come out looking pretty nice. Currently is a back up, utility offensive linemen. Could see him starting at LG if James is not resigned.

Center = B-
Zach Fulton - 27 years old with 84 pblk and 80 rblk. Fulton was signed as a stop gap incase we were unable to draft a starting center. Didn't draft a starting center, so he was pushed to start. Will continue to start unless a elite caliber center is signed or drafted. Need run block progressed to handle big nose tackles.

Blake Ledford - 24 years old with 80 pbl and 80 rblk. Ledford is primed to take over for Fulton in a season or 2. Ledord was a 7th round pick that turned out way better then we thought and has progressed well. Could develop into an above average center by age 28.

Quarterback = C

Ryan Tannehill - 31 years old at 84 overall. Tannehill has a decently strong arm, and has good mobility. Poor decisions and out of time to Dev leaves Tanehill as a stop gap starter. Could see him sticking depending on how the qb market looks.

Travis Fox - 23 years old and 60 overall. Fox is fast as hell but only has 82 throw power and below avg in every throwing category. Started the lst 3 or 4 games to see how his skill set would look on the field. Prolly not worth a roster spot, but his speed is dynamic for moving in the pocket and scrambling.

Backs - D+

HB's
Russell Ruegamer - 25 years old and 75 overall. Picked up as an UDFA. Gamer is a monster. He's 6'1 with 90 speed and 87 trucking. Hes a battering ram and will stick to this roster unless someone with his skill set comes in way younger and a tad better. Not a starting caliber back, can turn into a nice short yardage and spell back.

Kenyan Drake - 25 years old and 74 overall. Drake was our 3rd down back. Could be quicker with better receiving skills, but filled in nicely. Probably the odd man out if a running back is signed/drafted.

Darius Jackson - 25 years old and 67 overall. Jackson is a power back with 92 speed. Turned into a home run hitter later on in the season. Will never be the lead back, but with good trucking and very good speed, he deserves touches.

Fulbacks - C
Marcel Reece - 34 years old, FB. Reece was brought in more for the bootleg portion of the offense. Didn't play bad, but due to age, most likely will not make the roster next season.

Receivers = B+

Wide Receivers - B+
Jarvis Landry - 26 years old and 89 overall. Landry is our best player on offense. Quicker then fast. He is our get in space player and will continue to be a focul point of the offense. Not used much as a deep threat, could use more route running to get more room to run.

Keny Sntills - 27 years old and 82 overall. Kenny kind of falls in a weird spot of the offense. Typically if we want to go deep, we go to Jakeem Grant, if we want yac, we go with Jarvis. All around a good receiver, but has not found a solid spot on the roster as hes not big or overly fast.

Jakeem Grant - 26 years old and 67 overall, ss dev. Grant is super fast but is only 5'7. Needs more of a Landry role with some deep shots mixed in, but is hard to throw enough wr screens that both players get theirs. Needs to develop to get of the line more for more deep shots.

Sam Watson - 25 years old and 70 overall. Sam is the big white possession receiver. UDFA, one of the best overall wr's that came out of the UDFA class. Needs more time, but no doubt could be a 1st down machine with more targets.

Dezmin Lewis - 26 years old and 61 overall. Signed as a big receiver with speed. Hes 90 speed, 6'4 and has 87 catching. Too low on the chart to have developed and with 50's route running, will prolly not stick to the roster through the offseason.

Tight Ends - C-
Julius Thomas - 31 years old and 86 overall. Julius is an aobve average receiver and a below average blocker. Getting paid way to much to be so one demintional. The TE is very improtant for the stretch run. Hasn't stayed healthy for a single season. Will not stick through the offseason.

AJ Derby - 27 years old and 76 overall. A pleasent surprise on this offense. Has speed to not only be a short yardage player, can block with the best of them. Derby helps this offense transition from Thomas as we search for another top flight TE. Could start, but likely to be the #2 TE.

Eric Claxton - 23 years old and 71 overall. Less polished blocker then Derby, but is not on the level of Thomas. Aroun the same abilities catching the ball as Derby, could stick as the #3 TE or #2 if another isn't picked up.

Adrian Gleason - 24 years old and 70 overall. Gleason is much slower but still a decent possession option. Better blocker then Claxton, but doesn't offer the down the field ability. Practice squad posibility, but prolly doesn't stick if another is signed.
 

The Miami Dolphins had a terrible season winning only 3 games. The Dolphins were one of the lowest ranked offenses and defenses for the entire season. They lead the league in fumbles, 2nd in allowed sacks, and 3rd in thrown interceptions. Defensively, they were able to get to the quarterback thanks in large part by defensive rookie of the year canidate, outside linebacker Francis Bedell. The Dolphins were 16th in forcing fumbles, with four coming from the rookie, and bottom 10 in defensive interceptions. With all that being said, there are many bright spots. This team played almost all rookie talent. You could see the defense molding into what Coach Snyder invisions with a ful offseason bringing in players for his system. In this article, we will be going over the bright spots, future additions and subtractions, and the season to come.

Early on, this team learned that it had a turn over problem, and they problem did not go away the entire season. We expect this issue to be addressed big time in the offseason. First, I expect this front office to continue to put effort into improving the offensive line. Rookie tackle, Shawn Luzar has made huge strides, and will be an elite offensive linemen in this league, suring up the right tackle position for season to come. Pair him with ever improving Tunsil, and this team has a very nice line in the making.

Probably the biggest bright spot on this entire team was rookie 5th round pick Francis Bedell. One of the biggest concerns for this team coming into the season was how they would replace the great Cameron Wake. Bedell proved he was the answer all season, racking up 21 sacks in his first season in the Redzone. With the emergence of Bedell, we also saw Verlon Morgan grow leaps and bounds. The rookie corner started the season off rough, matching up agaisn't the other teams top receiver, but ended the season with 4 interceptions. Lastly, we saw Raekwon McMillan grow into one of the best blitzing inside linebackers in the league bringing down the quarterbacks 12 times.

This team has a long ways to go, but with a top 5 pick in this draft, and a 2nd first round pick, this team has potential. This Dolphins team had a rookie in a promenet role in all most every position group. The secondary had first round pick Verlon Morgan, the linebackers had 5th round outside linebacker, Francis Bedell, the offensive line had first rounder Shawn Luzar, and the undrafted rookie Russell Ruegamer was the teams bell cow back after trading Ajayi.

This team had a very good draft in what many called a weak draft. With more draft capitol and a much stronger draft, with smart selections, this team could make vast improvements. Look for this team to look at the quarterback market to jumpstart their offense, and don't be surprised if they bring in a running back or 2, either through the draft or free agency.

Overall, this team has made great strides and could make a push next season given a good draft. Key areas this team needs to improve are; secondary, quarterback, and defensive line. Look for this team to make alot of moves this offseason.

The Stretch Coast

The stretch run has been one of the best runs in Madden for the last few cycles, but I would also argue, the outside zone run is also one of the best runs in football. The specifics of why this run is one of the top runs I will get into later, but I would like to address the elephant in the room, the Stretch Coast. Silk coined my offense from my time with the Redskins as the Stretch Coast, very clever. The knock was I ran the stretch too much, and on top of that, got very good at spinning into the cutback. I completely understand, but to my defense, we didn’t win a whole lot also, it was a scheme I chose to run. I didn’t just find something in Madden that worked and abuse it. I had predetermined when choosing the Redskins, I was going to run an offense just like the one that was ran RG3’s rookie year with Mike Shanahan. I plan to run this offense again, but with a bit more depth. So if you continue in this article, you will see how I plan to use the stretch, build the stretch, and expand the stretch.

Anatomy of the Stretch

First and foremost, THE STRETCH ISN'T JUST AN OUTSIDE RUN. Just like most zone running plays, the stretch gives you options. Depending on the alignment of the defense, you can usually tell where leverage will be the strongest and anticipate the running lane. “He who defends everything defends nothing.” Frederick the Great. The same goes for football, and it is demonstrated beautifully with the Stretch. Say you have been running the stretch a lot, now the defense puts a defender outside the tight end play side, you will most likely be cutting it back inside(how far inside depends on other variables). If the defense chooses to defend the outside running lanes aggressively, this will in turn leave a weakness inside, or back side. This is where it gets fun and moves us onto our second topic when running the stretch.

The Play Action Boot

    You can not have a consistently effective play in football without a complement. The play action boot is the perfect complement to the stretch run. Like pictured above, the Redskins fake the stretch right, get the defense flowing, then boot around for the easy gain. You hit the defense with this stretch a few times. First few you are able to bounce it outside for nice yardage. The defense wises up, protecting the edge, so cut back inside. Same thing happens, the defense wises up, both containing and loading the box. Then comes the boot. You fake the same run you’ve been tearing them apart with, get them flowing, then dump it off short where the defense is at its weakest. Similar to the stretch, the play action boot will take advantage of the defense trying to defend everything. Obviously if the defense bites hard on the fake, then most of the backside routes will be open, but say the defense doesn’t bite as hard as you like, or they run a cover 2 and are protecting the flats against the easy check down to the flat route? This is where having a mobile quarterback comes in. The stretch/boot combo is at its best when your quarterback can run. If the stretch is defended well, and the defense has a flat defender, your mobile quarterback can now take advantage by running. One of these elements will be open as like I stated before, the defense can not defend everything.

Building an Offense

    In football, you can’t be good at everything, so specializing, and building off of that, in my opinion, is the only proper way to play, coach, win in football. Specializing helps in so many ways. One way it helps, is you know what your team is good at. If you have a ton of zone corners, you know you are better off running a zone defense. Specializing also helps when building a roster. You want to run a cover 1 defense? You know you are going to need good free safety. So if you don't have one, then the cover 1 is probably not a good defense for you to run. Specializing also makes sure you are good at something. There were times with the Bengals were on offense, we didn’t have an identity and because of that, play calling became random and sporadic. Specializing keeps me in my lane, knowing what I am good at, and game planning from there.

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That is all I have this week for my stretch running scheme and I hope that I cleared some things up in terms of cheese, my mindset, and team building. I have never set out to cheese, as Madden is my football outlet that I have never gotten a chance unleash in real life. I believe the stretch is one of the prettiest plays in football, stretching a defense and then hitting the soft spots. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. If anyone has any ideas or schemes they would like to share, please do. If you would like my input, @ me or just hit me in the dm’s. I’d be happy to give input on building playbooks, schemes, and team building in general for anyone who is interested. I’ll be back next week with possibly my final installment. Stay tuned.

It has been a while since I have written an article for Red Zone, and a lot of the vets will remember my article where I wrote about my Saints screen/option offense. I plan for this series to be very similar to that article only with more than 1 installment. The plan is to write three or four pieces. One about the defense(this one), one about the offense, and one about building the Dolphins. In each of these topics, my goal is to shed light on how I approach each aspect, the thought I have put into my strategies, and also what it takes to make each successful. So in this article, I will be going over the cover 1 defense I look to install when we start the new cycle. It may be boring to some, but I find these types of articles to be the funnest to write, and the funnest to read.

The difference between the 2017 Bengals and the 2018 Dolphins defenses.

    The defense I built with the Bengals was a very vanilla defense built around a stout defensive line and zone coverage. The personnel for the Bengals defense could change in the secondary without much of a problem as the strength of the defense was not shut down coverage or speed. The true strength of the defense that I ran was disguise. The plan was to show 1 look, all game, force people into post reads where most tend to make mistakes. We showed a cover 4 off coverage look no matter the coverage. With this, people typically couldn’t hit us with easy go routes over the top and were forced to make the reads.

    Contrast the Bengals 4-3 zone sit back defense to the 2018 Dolphins plans. The philosophy is changed. Put elite personnel on the field, and make a better team beat you. The the essence of this cover 1 scheme. I want to man up my corners, I want to blitz my linebackers, I want to show multiple looks. The defensive mindset has completely changed. One being a read and react, one being an attack defense.

The keys to the Cover 1

    There are 3 keys to making the cover 1 defense work. Whether it be a cover 1 blitz, a cover 1 spy, or a cover 1 robber. We all know that in a cover 1, your covering receivers man 2 man. I got this guy, style of coverage defense. In order for the regular man beating strategies to not kill this scheme, all come together in these 3 keys. All 3 must be present to be dominate cover 1 scheme.

Key #1 - A Rangy Free Safety

This defense can not be an effective group without a top flight safety. The safety has to be one of the top players on your defense. He has to be fast, very fast, as he is the only deep player and will have not only see the deep route, but react to it quickly enough to go from the middle of the field to potentially the boundary. Teams will test your coverage, and he has to be able to stand up and make them pay. The safety is the engine that makes this all work. If the safety play in Madden 18 is piss poor, the Dolphins are going to lose a lot of games.

Key #2 - Press Corners

What does pressing the receiver accomplish? Well, it not only makes it harder for the receiver to run his route, but also make it take longer. The longer the ball is in the quarterback's hands the better. The longer it takes for the wide receiver to get into his route, the more time the safety, or other help coverage have time to get to their spots. If you have a speedy receiver on the outside, getting a good jam could save a touchdown by giving the safety time to get over top. Lastly, it gives the rush time to get home, causing either a forced throw, an errant throw, or a sack. Another reason the corner is important is that he is responsible for his man, especially in the short to intermediate range where the over the top coverage won’t be there to help. Having at least one, true stud corner is vital in making this defense run as designed.

Key #3 - Pass rush

The third and final piece to the cover 1 defense is pressure. Like any pass defense, the more pressure the better. Less amount of time for the quarterback to throw, more turnovers, longer 1st downs. Compound a good pass rush with a long developing route due to press coverage, and no easy go routes due to a rangy free safety, and you have the makings of the 2000 ravens. With the Dolphins in 2018, we have a few different options in terms of rush. We have one of the league's premier pass rushers in Cameron Wake, who will help a ton early on when transitioning to this defense as a good pass rush covers a bad secondary. The best part is the cover 1 will give you an extra defender to rush the passer. With the cover 1, we can rush 3, 4, or 5 defenders and still have stable coverage, giving it a lot of perks when attacking an offense.

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I really hope you all enjoyed reading not only what I plan to do with the Dolphins defense next cycle, but hopefully put some fire under you to come up with cool schemes, packages, and overall creative things to make every Red Zone game unique and in depth. I have given you the blueprint to just a defensive play call, but something you can use to build a team around. Next week, I will be bringing you another article all about the offense that I plan to bring out for next cycle. With a new cycle we all have a very awesome opportunity to create something new and fun.

Weed

With the offseason activities in full effect, I sat down the with the coach of the 9 and 7 Oakland Raiders, Ramesu.

Hello Coach Ramesu. Thanks for doing this interview. This team went 9-7. Not a loosing season, but not good enough, right?

Coach: Thanks for having me, weed. Honored to do this. We were extremely disappointed with our 9-7 finish. The defense was really a sieve all year and we had 2 games that ended in our opponents' red zone down less than one score. Most of our starters on both sides are returning and we're looking forward to making a better effort next season

Exactly, some would argue that this defense from secondary to d line is the best. You have 2 premier edge players. What do the Raiders have to do to make sure the disappointments on defense start to be the norm in Oakland?

Coach: In the beginning of the season we took a more aggressive approach on both sides to try to get early leads and control the game. Unfortunately, the secondary we constructed wasn't quite up to the task as we'd planned. Later in the year we fell back to our fundamental approach and saw more success. The plan going into next season will be to have as much complimentary football as possible. Sustain long drives on offense to protect the defense and we expect to have a top 10 unit in season 32

You want to have longer drives, but your loosing your mainstay at running back, Latavius Murray. How much is Murray being gone going to impact that ball control type of offense?

Coach: We drafted Rashaud Conway last season in the first round and in the second half of last season he became the starter and demonstrated that he could carry the load. We also have Dechauz McKee....power back, 3rd year guy out of Penn State...he complimented Latavius before RC got here and we have complete faith in a Conway and McKee led backfield

Conway has to produce right? I mean a 1st round pick and now that his mentor is gone, its do or die right?

Coach: Most definitely....we're only gonna go as far as 27 can take us. But he's got "it" and we're ready for it

How do you make sure your not putting too much pressure on a young player like Conway, but still use him as a bell cow?

Coach: Top 5? We were the best. Had D.C. Not gone down vs the Packers when Blaine threw for 400 he would've won the passing title last season. The approach will be different next season though. We expect shortened games fewer possessions and just to play mistake free on Offense. We'll be focused on being efficient more than anything and our only goal is to be a winning offense regardless of stats.

So it seems like the whole league is transitioning to the Kelly model, minimal blitzes, rush 3 or 4, and keep all the rest back in coverage. How much does this style and his success with this style of defense input with your philosophy change?

Coach: It will have zero impact. We'll continue to defend the way we do. We strive to be the best situational football team in RZ and a big part of that is calling plays that apply to the down/distance/personnel

Does Kelly's success make you think about adopting aspects of his style?

Coach: Not at all. I'm a traditionalist at heart...we'll use 5 WR and 3-man rush but not as a primary mode of attack or a foundational philosophy

Last season you moved Mack to the middle. What impact has this made on his game, and also your defense as a whole? You took maybe the best edge rusher in the game, and told him to cover in space. It reminds me of when the Packers moved Clay Matthews to inside linebacker due to injuries, but they eventually moved him back. Are Khalil's days on the edge now over?