Miami Dolphins In Depth

Notes from first day of voluntary minicamp

It was a day for establishing practice habits. It was a day to make sure fundamentals were on point. It was a day in which Dolphins coaches challenged players mentally.

The result of Tuesdays two practices at this voluntary veteran minicamp?

""I really liked the way the guys worked," coach Joe Philbin said. "I thought their work ethic was excellent. Obviously, we made a lot of mistakes from a technique and fundamental standpoint. There wasn't a whole lot of blown assignments believe it or not so I think the guys were attentive, I think they gave effort. I think we're off to a good start."

Cameron Wake was the only player of 64 on the roster who did not report today. He has missed various times this offseason to call attention to his displeasure over his contract situation.

The quarterbacks-- David Garrard and Matt Moore -- split the reps "almost dead even" Philbin said and Wednesday Pat Devlin will get more work.

The center-quarterback exchange was sloppy today. Moore and Mike Pouncey, who had issues last year, had a couple of problems with the exchange today.

A lot of my twitter followers mocked me when I mentioned I like Mississippi State defensive tackle Fletcher Cox as Miami's first-round pick if they select at No. 8. Some said it makes no sense to add another defensive tackle when Randy Starks, Jared Odrick and Paul Soliai are likely defensive tackles.

Well, the Dolphins don't necessarily see Odrick as a 4-3 DT. They think he might be a fit as a 4-3 DE.

"We're intrigued by him," Philbin said. "We think he has a chance to fit in a couple of different spots. Obviously, in the sub packages he's done a good job inside as a rusher. We think he may have a fit as an outside (defensive end) player as well."

Speaking of Ryan Tannehill, it is obvious that offensive coordinator Mike Sherman, formerly Tannehill's coach at Texas A&M, has briefed the Dolphins on his former quarterback. But it's not like you think.

"We've talked obviously a lot," Philbin said. "We''ve had draft meetings. We've discussed him as an individual. We've watched his film. Obviously, Mike has been around Ryan for a long, long time. But it wasn't like we sat around and said, 'OK what about him at No. 8?"

"Remember a coach doesn't have the same perspective on the draft that a general manager has. A coach doesn't exhaustively watch player A and compare him to B and to C and to D and to F ... We really haven't had any discussions where he should go. But certainly he's a resource so we've asked him some questions about him."  

Jake Long said he feels "as healthy as I've felt in a while." Old Faithful is back.

Odrick and linebacker Karlos Dansby, meanwhile, missed work both in the morning and afternoon drills with unknown injuries.

Wake not at veteran minicamp PLUS other observations

The Dolphins are participating in a voluntary veteran minicamp and right away I noticed two things:

1. Cameron Wake was not here. His displeasure over his contract status -- he's entering the final year of his deal that calls for him to make $615,000 -- is personified by his absence. Interesting that Wake was part of the conditioning workouts last week after missing the first week of those workouts.

2. The Dolphins are on a quicker practice pace, it seems to me. If you've read this blog for any period of time, you know I'm a big proponent of practicing fast. Moving, moving, moving because I believe if you practice fast, you play fast. The past couple of years, and last year in particular, I often complained the club lumbered through workouts. It picked up as the season went on but it was dead slow through training camp.

3. Jared Odrick sat out the entire workout and instead worked on the side with ropes for strengthening work. Karlos Dansby also sat out portions of the workout this morning. It is unclear if they are nursing injuries or which injuries they're nursing.

It just dawns on me the Dolphins played better later in the year than earlier.

Anyway, the pace today was very, very quick. The offense would run a play and soon as it was over, the next play was up. In team periods, what sometimes happened is one unit would run a play and the next unit would be right up.

The rules at this minicamp prohibit me from telling you where players are lining up or how they are running in depth chart order. In fact, I cannot tell you practically anything about practice.

But let me tell you this:

In Miami's coming hybrid 4-3, Wake will be a defensive end. Obviously we didn't see this today because Wake is not here. But I am making a prediction of where Wake would fit best. It'll be interesting to see how this works, but I would tell you he played defensive end in the CFL when he had approximately 14,024 sacks his final two seasons in that league.

I can also tell you the Dolphins are hoping from a lot out of Clyde Gates. He was on the receiving end of more passes than just about any wide receiver today. I didn't say he was the most impressive receiver at the workout. To me, that was Brian Hartline and Roberto Wallace.

But suffice to say Gates was a major focal point.

I get asked by many of you how the Dolphins will handle their quarterback situation. That's impossible to predict with accuracy because we don't know if the Dolphins will add a QB in the first round or beyond in the draft.

I would guess this: Matt Moore will take the first-team snaps in training camp. David Garrard will take second-team snaps. Pat Devlin will take third team. The rookie (assuming Miami gets one) will take fourth team. I assume, eventually, Moore and Garrard will shift so that the former Jacksonville veteran will get some work with starters.

That's the only way to keep the competition legitimate. It's also a way to keep it competitive because if Garrard is always going against second-team defenses, he'll almost certainly always look better than Moore.

I like the Dolphins' plan for Reggie Bush. Yes, he might get introduced out of the tunnel on Sundays. But he might not necessarily get the most carries. It's clear Daniel Thomas, who was busy gaining his footing (pun intended) as a rookie, seems more grounded now (pun intended).

He looked good today. Obviously, there were no pads or hitting out there. But Thomas simply looked like he belonged.

Bush? I like the idea of getting him the ball on swing passes or putting him out in space a lot more than I like having him stick his nose in the B-gap and try to grind out four yards. Yes, I know it worked last year, but there's no guarantee Bush would stay healthy through two years of that type of work.

Dolphins can now add 10 more players than expected

A different kind of free agency is about to hit the NFL in general and the Dolphins in particular.

The NFL on Monday suddenly expanded rosters for the offseason and preseason to 90 players. Previously, the limit was 80, but the league's Management Council voted to increase it Monday. The first cutdown, in late August, will be to 75, with the final cut after the last of four preseason games bringing rosters to 53.

So what does that mean to the Dolphins?

Well, suddenly players that might not have been signed could be on the radar and could get a chance to compete for a roster spot. That's good news for folks such as Ernie Sims or Omar Gaither, whom the Dolphins announced visited with the team on Monday.

Suddenly, there are extra roster spots for take-a-flyer players such as the two veterans.

The added roster spots might also encourage teams to trade down in the coming draft. Typically, a trade down involves a scenario where a team trades a pick for multiple picks. In other words, one player for two players or more players. The added camp roster spots might encourage this kind of trading by some teams wanting camp bodies later in the draft.

The added spots could also put a premium on getting the best available undrafted free agents. That might mean more money being handed out. That also might mean teams that traditionally do well getting undrafted free agents might have the ability to add more talent.

The Dolphins have been very good with undrafted free agents. Kicker Dan Carpenter, recievers Davone Bess and Roberto Wallace were among Miami's undrafted free agents who made the final rosters.

Only the 51 highest-paid players count toward the salary cap.

The 90 players will include all active, inactive, practice squad, exempt and reserve list players, plus unsigned draft choices and franchise-tagged free agents.