Miami Dolphins In Depth

Philbin talks to fans, preaches faith

Joe Philbin spent 45 minutes this evening on a conference call with Miami Dolphins season ticket customers. He took their questions. The media was allowed to listen but was kept at the kiddie table playing with our crayons. (In other words, we were asked to keep quiet).

Anyway, these are the highlights of what Philbin said in response to fans questions:

Mauricio in Miami-Dade asked Philbin to convince him that the Dolphins are worthy of investing in. The fan asked for Philbin's best halftime speech to motivate him to buy tickets.

"My experience is that with every successful organization in any sport you have to have good people," Philbin said. "You have to have faith and confidence in those people. I have great confidence in [owner] Steve Ross and [general manager] Jeff Ireland. Sometimes you just have to have faith.

"I'm asking for your faith and confidence that I'm going to be able to deliver results."

Philbin didn't offer too many specifics about, well, anything because he probably cannot and probably doesn't want to with what he can. But he was clear on his intended use of Reggie Bush.

Unlike last year when Miami mostly used Bush as a traditional running back until very late in the season, Philbin said his staff will try to maximize Bush. He mentioned using him at wide receiver. He mentioned using him in different formations. He mentioned doing things to create mismatches, which is what I thought Miami would do last year.

"We're not just going to hand the ball to him," Philbin said.

Speaking of wide receiver, Philbin obviously included the position among those needing upgrade. He mentioned wide receiver in the draft, along with quarterback, pass-rusher, defensive back. But it was interesting to me he referred to improving the position through free agecy and the draft. Free agency seems pretty much over to me as there is not a great amount of great talent left out there that I know of. He obviously knows more. Maybe he has something up his sleeve ... I hope.

Philbin mentioned the QB position a couple of times. Shocking right? IF you're a Dolphins quarterback you better be getting in your playbook because one aspect of the coming quarterback competition between Matt Moore and David Garrard is learning the West Coast offense and more specifically the Dolphins' version of the offense.

Philbin made the point that one way he'll be looking for the quarterback to "separate themselves" from on another is by more quickly learning the system and showing coaches they can be comfortable in the system.

Philbin was Green Bay's offensive coordinator but he didn't call the plays. He won't call them in Miami, either. "Mike Sherman will call the game," Philbin said. "I get to put in one play per week but I don't get to call it."

I'm confident he was kidding there as coach has something of a sense of humor. Philbin made the point Miami's offense will be a collaborative effort.

Karlos Dansby reps Dolphins among elite but does he belong?

You might have heard by now that Nike unveiled its new NFL uniforms today. The Dolphins' uniform is relatively unchanged. As part of the unveiling, each team sent a player representative to New York to model the threads.

Serving as model for the Dolphins ... Karlos Dansby.

Makes sense.

The man is an imposing figure at 6-4 and 250 pounds. He is well-known in league circles. He is a team leader. And he's a good player.

It's that last one that creates a bit of an issue. Unlike other reps at the Nike unveling -- such as Larry Fitzgerald for Arizona, Ben Roethlisberger for Pittsburgh, Wes Welker for New England, Ndamukong Suh for Detroit -- Dansby is not an elite player. And that, more than the uniform event is the point here.

The point is Karlos Dansby is good.

Sometimes he's excellent as he was last year against Washington when he had 10 tackles, including a sack and an interception. Sometimes he's not quite good as when he started 2011 very slowly because he was 24 pounds overweight and had only 11 tackles in his first three games combined.

But mostly that all averages out to, well, good.

The issue?

The Dolphins need better than good now. They've got plenty of nice, solid players. The Dolphins need elite. And that's what Dansby was brought to the team to be -- elite.

You'll remember that Dansby arrived just before Brandon Marshall in the 2010 offseason. He signed a five-year contract worth $43 million that included $22 million in guaranteed money. That agreement means Dansby's cap number in 2012 will be $12.8 million.

For that money and taking up that kind of cap space, Dansby needs to be elite.

But if his first two Miami seasons are to be believed, Dansby simply is not elite. He is good. He was second on the team in tackles in 2010. He was third on the team in tackles in 2011. Good.

He has combined for 3.5 sacks in two season. He has three forced fumbles in two years. He has one interception in two years. Good.

But Dansby has not been named to the Pro Bowl. He is not among the best two or three players at his position in the conference. Dansby is not elite.

Remember last year when I recounted for you that Dansby said he was the best linebacker in the NFL? "Period. Point blank, I'm the best," he said. "Period. Point blank."

I didn't weigh in on his comments then because I simply let him have his say. Well, after two seasons with the Dolphins, it is safe to say Dansby is not quite where he thinks. I really cannot offer to you any major flaw in his game. He has no off-field issues. He's brought stability to his position.

But the best?

That is not accurate.

And again, the problem with all this is Dansby was brought to South Florida to be outstanding. He is being paid as if he is a difference-maker. But outside of the Washington game last year, he really hasn't factored notably in any victory. He's played his spot. He's done his job.

But for $43 million it is fair to expect more.

This year Dansby will have the chance to give more. He is versatile enough that he can play both the middle or outside in Miami's 4-3 alignment. When the Dolphins go back to a 3-4 look, he can play the middle linebacker role.

If he's in shape at the start of 2012, chances are good he'll be able to pick up where he left off.

But, frankly, he needs to do better than that. At $12.8 million against the cap, Dansby needs to be elite. I assume he and the Dolphins know that.

McShay: The draft turns with Cleveland's pick

Dolphins fans know their team has the No. 8 overall pick in the draft. Good pick. Elite pick. But fans are rightly focused on what might happen at pick No. 4 before concentrating on No. 8 because many believe the draft's direction will be decided there.

Simply, the Indianapolis Colts are picking Andrew Luck at No. 1.

The Washington Redskins will pick Robert Griffin III at No. 2.

Most pundits believe the Vikings will pick USC left tackle Matt Kalil with the No. 3 pick.

The Browns, meanwhile, are the wildcard. They can trade the pick. Or they can draft. They can take a running back (Trent Richardson). They can take a receiver (Justin Blackmon). They can take a quarterback (Ryan Tannehill).

"I think the whole draft swings at number 4," ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said this week. "I say that because the Browns really do need almost all the top prospects that will be available at that spot.  They have a wide receiver need, and you've got Justin Blackmon who is most likely available to you.  You've got a need for running back.  You've got to upgrade that position.  You look at the last couple years, Hardesty is their top back, and he can't stay healthy.  He's three yards per carry in his career.

"You've got Little and Massaquoi as your top two wide receivers, and don't have a number one guy. Then quarterback maybe your third or fourth biggest need when you look at urgency.  But it's still a big need, and I think everyone understands that they need ‑‑ whether it's this year or next year, got to find an upgrade over Colt McCoy moving forward for this franchise to take a giant leap."

McShay, like many of you, looks at Tannehill as a possibility and wonders if he's worthy of No. 8 or perhaps even requiring a trade-up.

"It's frustrating, I know, when you look at Tannehill and how quickly he's risen in only 19 starts, and the production isn't elite and the completion percentage and all of that, but I would have a very difficult time passing on him at that number 4 pick," he said. "I just think that he has everything you look for in a future franchise quarterback if you develop him properly and you're willing to be patient.  So that's where Colt McCoy comes in to me.

"You know that you can win some games and you've got a young quarterback.  Yes, Colt may be frustrated, but I know Colt well enough that he's going to do what's right for the team and handle the situation properly at least in the short term.  Then maybe they can trade him and move on.

"But if you bring in Tannehill and sit him for ideally a year or the majority of the year and put him in towards the end of the year to get him some experience, I just think that you're looking at an organization that has its future franchise quarterback.  Has a guy with all the physical tools, the size, arm strength, accuracy, which continues to improve.  Has the right mentality, can handle pressure, and has intangibles through the roof."

McShay believes Tannehill is a bigger value than either Richardson or Blackmon.

"Richardson is going to be a phenomenal back ...," McShay said. "Blackmon, he's probably going to be in that second tier of wide receivers in the NFL, and that's great.  But they don't win Super Bowls.  We haven't seen Adrian Peterson win a Super Bowl.  We haven't seen Andre Johnson win a Super Bowl.  You have a great quarterback, you win Super Bowls; and I think Tannehill has a chance, if developed properly and patient with him, to become a great quarterback."