The grand possibilities of the Dolphins pass rush

While some folks have spent this Dolphins-Jets week distracted by the fact the Jets have a great blitz package and get their best pass-rusher, Calvin Pace, back from an NFL mandated suspension, it has gotten somewhat lost that Miami's pass rush also is looking intimidating.

Consider that Jason Taylor is coming off a two-sack performance against Buffalo and is tied for the team lead with three sacks. Consider that Joey Porter returned to practice this week, even if on a limited basis, and could be back on the field Monday night after missing last week's game.

And then consider Cameron Wake.

Cameron Wake.

Cameron Wake.

There, I wrote his name once for each sack he had against Buffalo last game.

The Dolphins kept Wake inactive the first two games of the season for special teams and other reasons, but figured out the past two weeks that even if Wake isn't a great run-stopper, even if he isn't a Pro Bowl special teams guy, he does one thing very well.

Rush the passer.

The guy is relentless. And when I asked Wake what one special trait, more than any other, makes him a good pass rusher, he picked that relentless nature.

"You know what, I'd probably say determination," Wake answered. "I have that desire to want to get to the ball at all costs. I play to the whistle and obviously put all the other God-given talents you have -- the speed, the power, the quickness -- in there with the drive. Because if you don't have the desire to get to the quarterback, it doesn't matter what kind of skills you have."

The Dolphins have Wake on something of a plan as they try to mold him into a fulltime player. That work probably will not be completed this season. But in the meantime, the orders of the day is to get Wake in the lineup in pass-rush situations.

“Cam is a strong guy, he’s one of those guys with the unique ability to get around the edge and bend the way he bends," said coach Tony Sparano. "Not too many people can make those kind of moves and stay on their feet, but he has that ability. [He has a] really good first step, really good. So, I think those are some of the things I think he brings to you.

"There’s a whole progression that we have with Cameron right now, and in some places, he’s still certainly a work in progress with his progression. But there’s some things that he can do well that we need to make sure we emphasize.”

Pass rush being the primary among those.

And that presents the Dolphins with grand possibilities. Once Porter fully returns from his hamstring injury, the Dolphins need to figure out how to rush the passer with Porter, Jason Taylor and Wake -- at the same time.

It's not an easy problem because all three are edge rushers and there are only two edges to be attacked. But the Dolphins have to figure out a way to unleash their best pass rushers on the passer -- and Wake is one of those.

I'm sure in some nickel and dime looks the Dolphins will include Randy Starks or Phillip Merling on the attack as they currently do. But it would certainly create some problems for an offensive line to have Porter lined up on one side, Jason Taylor lined up on the other, and Wake outside of one or the other.

It hasn't happened yet.

But the possibility is certainly exciting.

Comments

[Genothefox]

Dolphins 45 - Jets 0

[Dishpan]

Dolphins 27 - Jets 3

[markeyh]

I agree....

Get your popcorn!

[9/11 was an inside job]

Would love to have the trio of Porter, JT and Wake on the field at the same time. JT does a lot better with his hands down, seems to hesitate when he starts out standing up...

9/11 was an inside job

checkout wtc7.net& watch the collapse videos.

[J.A.T.]

Wake definitely has a knack for getting to the quarterback. The key to beating the Jets offense is to contain Leon Washington on screen passes and quick draws. If the Fins D can limit the big plays and force the stinkin' Jets into 3rd and longs, it'll be a sackfest all game long for JT, J-Peezy, and Wake. I hope they drop Mark Sanchez on his ass all night long!

Dolphins - 20 Jets - 14

[Jacob]

I know this is an open forum, but must we have lunatics posting on here? I am embarrassed to be a fan of a team that also has someone claiming to be a fan who is a radical conspiracy theorist. What next, posters talking about the 'fake' moon landing? Am I really the only one of us bothered by that?

[dolfanSF]

Wake seems very promising. that's all you can say right now. lets see what happens.

[Kula]

I agree with Jacob. Enough of the stupid conspiracy theories, this is a sports blog.

BTW, i am pretty sure that Bellichick framed Will Billingsley.

[zach]

for all of you conspiracy theory people...NASA shot a missle at the moon, no joke

[zach]

anyway i wouldnt be surprised to see those three on the field at the same time, what a great problem to have...too many guys who know how to get after the QB

[Kula]

Bill Parcells believes that football teams don't need wide receivers, so maybe anything is possible.

[klndry]

Dear 9/11, you are wrong.

I just want to see Sanchez on his butt, a lot. Let Ronnie and Rickie run all night long.

All night long....alll night.

[Biff]

Looking forward to Taylor, Wake, and Porter creating a Dirty Sanchez!!

[EmoFinFan]

we had a pass rush against the Bills, fer crissakes, a team missing several lineman & w/ a mediocre qb. If we get to Sanchez, I'll believe it, but I ain't counting on it.

[dad]

u emos are so melancholy

[gary skelton]

In this one, it may not matter much cus dirty will be getting rid of the ball in less than 2 seconds 70% of the time.

Its a Jets thing.

And this comparison to the Ravens defense thing is hogwash. 13th ranked doesnt measure up to Baltimore defenses.

I little bit much made by media these days.

[MrylndFinFan]

New Orleans' Defense best the Jets.

Not their high powered offense. I expect the same on Monday. Rattle the Sanchez Cage!

[MrylndFinFan]

Has anyone noticed we don't have standout receivers?

We should comment on that.

[carltio from pollito]

killerdoplhins stop calling me monkey. you child, clown

[Dolfan4life]

Put joey on one end and cam on the other. AllowJT to freelance and rush or defend the pass!!!

[carlito's mother in law]

killerdolphins is a goat breeder in the open field of grass where his brother in law comes every day to bring him lunch of red onion and left over bread .

[nitemare]

9/11 was not an inside job unless you consider al qaeada a govt agency....I lot of people died for no reason, so out of respect for them and for the Dolphins, stfu or gtfo.

[bokamper53]

"Put joey on one end and cam on the other. AllowJT to freelance and rush or defend the pass!!!

Posted by: Dolfan4life "

Just like that !!!

Let's see the o-line of the Jets defend that !!!

Dolphins D will make more points than Jets O ... ;-)

[Coyotecane]

I need a favor. My son's doing a project on making and understanding polls.

The question is this: Among AFC East rivalries whom do hate most, and why.

For me, it's always been the Jets. I was raised to be a Jet Hater, and age hasn't helped. Vinnie on Monday night was the singular worst moment for me. Chad P. in last years final was the best.

What memory sticks out? Which one's do tell your kids about?

Thanks.

[harricane]

the fake downing the ball by marino for a touchdown.

[Dolphindenny]

No question most of us hate the jets a lot more. Has to do with their obnoxious a..h... fans who relocate down here and then complain about everything. That and the puke green uni's

[DolfanBerg]

BEAT THEM JETS.. FIREM UP TONY

Mando, you the man.

[Mark Epstein]

Do anyone of you guys realize that you are 1-3, have the worst pass defense in football and that you beat the Bills last week who have the worst offensive line in the NFL. You also gave up 6 sacks to the Bills. I woke up in a bad mood this morning but reading these posts made me laugh and feel better. You guys are so scared of this game on Monday I can feel it. Hey, at least your better then the Bills. Good luck in the draft

[maximus]

dear mark lipshitz, i mean epstein

pride comes before the fall, the time for honoring the Jets will soon come to an end, and we will have our veangence, in this game or the next.

[bokamper63]

What do we need a pass defense for, when Babyface Sanchez is on his backside most of the time ???
... or running scared because Joey, Jason or Cam are chasing him all over the field ...

[Phinatic]

Hey Mark! Your an idiot.

[Kevin]

Were not scared bubba, were just eager for the war!

[Phinatic]

Bring on the Overated jets. Hope Joey & co. Make sanchez look like the overated little byotch he really is.

[lacesoutdan]

Scared of this game on monday? No one is scared of dirty sanchez and his 0TD 3INT performance last week. The jets are as overrated a team as you will ever see in the nfl. I remember them starting hot last year and i remember the disgusting choke job they pulled down the stretch. Miami 24 NY 6

[Mike]

Problem is, with JT, Porter and wake in the game at the same time, who is going to stop the run. Both JT and Porter are weak in run support as they overplay a lot of pass rushes and from what I read, Wake is not a great run stopper either.
Sounds exiting to have them, but they are also a huge liability.

[Florida Tuskers]

The UFL has officially kicked off. Check it out at http://www.ufl-football.com

[Elchano]

The best way using this 3 LB are rotating and keep fesh, destroying the JETS's OL , but Dolphins need keep a eye in the back field.

[Morty]

Armando please give us updates on the UFL...it's more your speed and you can make up more fake trades/deals.

[Account Deleted]

Jacob, you're certainly preaching to the choir here. I've been asking for the nonsense posters to be deleted for a while. Now that I've put a little thought into it I don't believe Armando has the time to police his blog. He would have to read every entry day and night to put a stop to it. Or you could have some paper lacky do the dirty work but then you're getting into a gray area where someone who doesn't contribute is in charge of the fate of all of our posts. The best thing to do, if you're offended or just generally annoyed by something, is to point it out to Armando. He's usually pretty fair and will get rid of the problems when they rear their ugly heads.

[Tommya]

Mando,

The cool thing about Wake is that he played for a while rushing from the DE position in Canada. Combine that with Jason Taylor's experience playing DE and what I envision is a 4 DL rush on obvious passing downs.

I'd play it like this:

Wake LDE, Starks LDT, Merling RDT, Taylor RDE and I'd rush Porter on the right side outside of Taylor.

[Mark Epstein]

If you think this is last years jets or last years Dullfins, you are kidding yourself. You are 60 minutes from your season being over. I only wish Chad " Noodle Arm" Pennington was playing. You guys are funny, if you score 10, I will be pissed. I am already thinking about what I am cooking for the Bills game

[Mark Epstein]

So I am a nonsense poster because I am not a Dullfin cheerleader? Reality scares you huh NYscott?

[MBGreen]

Jets 24
Phins 3

Even if the Phins had a viable "starting QB"...we've seen what Rex Ryan's defense did to them in the playoffs....I expect a repeat performance.

[kyle brady]

did anyone actually think the jets would beat the saints last week, lol seriously.

[Jutty]

Jets are gonna crush the dolfags.

[GIANTS STADIUM]

Go GIANTS!

[meshawn]

The New York Football Giants lol,

[rich kotite]

Miami Dolphins 24
jets 10

Rich Kotite.com
Welcome To The One and Only Rich Kotite Homepage. Dedicated to the worst Possible Coach EVER!

[shaggy]

Epstein? hahaha go back to mr Kotters class you fool. Miami will work your failure of a team over on monday.

[Gian]

Hey, did you check Gutierrez article today? Redundant and there was one part in particular that was pretty awful. See if you can find it.

Anyway. I hear Turner is getting better in practices. But can we try him during games. PLEASE??????? I know its about placing the right people on special teams. bla, bla, bla. The guy is a receiver!! I know London played special teams. But Turner has better hands, and I bet you he would have more catches than Ginn right now if he would've started the season. Turner needs to be on the field. That's one thing that really disappoints me about this front office. They don't give some important guys a chance. Look at Wake. "Wake doesn't do this, Wake doesn't do that" Oh, come on! Get off it! He got into the game and recorded 2 1/2 sacks! You gotta give guys a chance man! Let Turner play. We need WRs, everyone knows that by now. Turner is a WR and a big one. We have no size, other than incumbent Haynos and non-existant Fasano. Ginn? pft!, Camarillo? Solid, but with plenty of limitations, Bess? Good one, but lack of speed makes him average, Hartline? I like him. He needs to have even more playtime. Turner should sit Ginn and start next to Hartline and Bess as the 3rd.

Henne is at the helm now, and it was no secret to see him throw some darts last Sunday compared to "Game Manager" Pennington. Yeah, he's just beginning so he made some mistakes, and he will make some more along the growing lanes, but there is no doubt that he would give a tall receiver more chances to make plays with his strong arm. He will only get better. Henne is lucky to have Henning up there, though. He will always give him a more than decent chance to be succesfull.

[Tony V]

Mark Epstein - get a bagel, a fake watch and lock yourself in your 800 sq ft apartment. Oh and find a JETS blog... we really dont need you here.

[Tommya]

Mark Epstein,

Maybe you should worry about getting the mustard and ketchup stains off of the Wayne Chrebet jersey your mom bought you that you still wear every Sunday.

[Cesar (Section 446 ROW 17)]

I love how all these Jet's fan can talk all this smack on the forums but when you confront them face to face they just wilt over like a bunch of poser's it's so amusing and if you wanna try it by all means my section and row is listed in my sig and its SEAT#23 just for better clarification. The Dolphins Passrush will do there job and our running D will be in full effect. The Offense will get the job done because Mr.Henne is just as good (with more arm strength) then Mr.Pennington because he learned from Mr.P how to manage the clock and ball and win games. So in short Jets fans are all Wet and and we'll see what happens on monday night, untill then let the trash talking continue!

[bobbyd12]

Epstein and Jutty, and yet you to pole lovers have nothing better to do then get on the Dolphins blog...I believe it's best if you two cuddle with a couple pink umbrella drinks and tell each other that you won't collapse like you have EVERY SINGLE YEAR since 1969!!! So put on your Namath jerseys, some Donna Summers music and Dr. Phil and let some REAL MEN talk on this blog..

[Mark Epstein]

Gee, that's creative, Welcome back Koter refrences and jewish humor. Is the game even sold out you lame college football town. What's the under/over on Jet fans, 10,000

[Account Deleted]

I love that Armando wrote this because it's been bugging me ever since Sunday. Maybe in Nickel against 3 wr sets they can use JT as a down lineman in his natural position with Solai in the middle and Merling on the left end. So you run a 3-3-5 with Wake on the strong side, Porter on the weak, and your best coverage linebacker in the middle watching the RB. You have your 3 corners covering the wr's with Bell or Wilson (whichever side it comes to) watching the TE if the LB on his side is blitzing. That leaves one of the safeties to give help over the top of the 2 wr side. Bottom line is you have all 3 of your best pass rushers on the field and JT is playing where he dominated for over a decade. You can run all kinds of disguises out of this set and really try to confuse a young Sanchez.

[Fake GM]

Esptein,

Where were you at the end of last year when the Jets got embarrassed in their own stadium, the Dolphins took the division, and your coach got fired b/c the Dolphins embarrassed him in his own stadium? You were too embarrassed to say anything. If the Jets win Monday, then you can talk. Until then, I own you and all your friends.

[sonny]

remember Ginn as inconsistent as he's been and clearly not a #1 WR, is going up against the #1 corners every wk, i like what the coaches seem to be doing, starting Cammy and Hartline and bringing ginn in as a changeup,

[Fake GM]

If the Jets win monday, you can come on here and talk. Until then, I own you.

[Fake GM]

So that means the right now, I own you.