Miami Dolphins In Depth

Dolphins sign rookie guard Shawn Murphy

The Dolphins will announce the signing of offensive guard Shawn Murphy in the coming hour or so. No financial terms are yet available.

Murphy, the team's foruth-round draft pick, is expected to compete for a starting job this year along with veteran Steve McKinney and darkhorse second-year player Ikechuku Ndukwe.

Props to anyone who can tell me where Ndukwe went to school. Murphy, the son of former Atlanta slugger Dale Murphy, attended Utah State.

The Dolphins have now signed six of their nine draft picks, with second-rounders Phillip Merling and Chad Henne and third-rounder Kendall Langford still not on board.

A crystal ball look at YOUR Dolphins offense

The torn Achilles tendon that receiver Tab Perry suffered during Miami's most recent minicamp underlined several issues that I want to share with you:

1. The Dolphins woeful lack of talent at wide receiver just got thinner. When Perry was signed to a one-year contract, former Cincinnati teammate T.J. Whoseyourmamma was disappointed. "That guy is talented," Whoseyourmamma said of Perry. "That's a loss for us." So I initially could see Perry, experienced and quick, giving the Dolphins receiver corps some of the lightning it definitely lacks beyond Ted Ginn. But now Perry is waived/injured and one must assume the team will seek other help at the position.
2. Speaking of other help at the position: Terry Glenn is not too thrilled with his situation in Dallas because according to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram the team has kept him from participating in OTA work unless he signs a $500,000 injury waiver agreement. If Glenn gets hurt and must sit out the season, the team would then owe him much less than his scheduled $1.74 million salary. But Glenn hasn't agreed to sign the waiver. So even though he is apparently healthy, he isn't working and he isn't happy. Can you say trade to the Dolphins? Maybe Glenn and a third-round pick for the Dancer whose name I will not utter? Glenn does, after all, have a long history of playing for Bill Parcells, and the Cowboys almost certainly would love to add the Dancer to a front 7 that is already pretty darn good. [By the way, take the poll below on this issue.]
3. Don't be fooled by the lack of contact. Throughout the NFL guys are pulling up lame and otherwise being sidelined by offseason camps and OTAs.
4. Finally, you should take a close look at what the Miami offense promises to be: A gang of bullies. This won't be a quick-strike, down-the-field unit. They will be a bruising running team first and foremost. They will try to go through rather than over defenses. Given the added girth of Justin Smiley and Jake Long up front, the return (everyone hopes) of 232-pound Ronnie Brown and 225-pound Ricky Williams at RB, the addition of 265-pound TE Anthony Fasano and with 270-pound Reagan Mauia at FB, this team will RUN the ball. This will particularly be the strategy against modern defenses that have become smaller and quicker to keep up with passing offenses. So in a time the rest of the NFL wants to throw 65 percent of the time, the Dolphins will field a throwback offense that runs 60-65 percent of the time. The idea is that an offense like this will shorten the game, keep Miami's unproven quarterback from getting exposed, and also cover up for a receiver corps that is short on proven downfield ability. Smashball comes to Miami!
5. If everything I've written is true, and it is, there is a downside. That is the Dolphins had better hope not to get behind in games. Otherwise the smashball thing becomes a liability more than a dividend.

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Update from Wednesday OTA practice

Here are some nuggets from today's OTA practice, hot off the presses:

The biggest news is that John Beck is taking most of the first-team snaps at quarterback. But that's just today. It does not mean he's the starting quarterback -- remember there will be a competition -- because he and Josh McCown are splitting days taking first-team snaps.

In other words, Beck took first team snaps today, McCown will tomorrow, Beck will Friday and so on. Rookie Chad Henne, who is present despite being unsigned, doesn't know the offense well enough yet to get thrown in with starters.

"This way is better than going back and forth," McCown said of splitting first-team snaps day to day. "It's better for continuity."

Running back Ronnie Brown was on the field and working. Good news considering he is recovering from ACL surgery. But don't go overboard here. A non-contact practice in shorts and no pads is not an indication Brown is ready for the season opener. But this is encouraging.

Safety Yeremiah Bell, injured all of last year with an Achilles' tendon tear, is indeed working, and as a starter no less. So he is obviously healthy. Jason Allen is also taking first-team snaps.

Another player injured much of last year -- cornerback Andre Goodman -- is working with the starters ahead of Mike Lehan, who was the starter most of last year

Justin Smiley is working at right guard which leaves something of a hole at left guard. Look for Ikechuku Ndukwe as a dark horse at that spot -- at least for now. Obviously, Trey Darilek and rookie Shawn Murphy are possibilities, also.

The Dolphins are making the most of their linebacker acquisitions. Reggie Torbor, Charlie Anderson, and Akin Ayodele are all looking like starters at this point. Obviously that doesn't account for Jason Taylor not being here. That starting group is also joined by holdover Joey Porter.

Porter is still playing the strong side linebacker spot. Anderson is the weakside, or rush linebacker that Taylor would play if he were here.

Torbor (Giants) and Anderson (Houston) were acquired as unrestricted free agents. Ayodele came in a trade with Dallas.

Players predictably played down Taylor's absence today.

"It doesn't matter to me that he's not here," Porter said. "I'm not concerned about Jason. He'll be here eventually and he'll learn everything he needs to learn."

The Dolphins have injuries they are nursing. The most disappointing is nose tackle Paul Soliai who was practicing at the end of last year but has somehow found a way to be not able to work today. Will try and report his injury later.

Other injured players sitting out work today are safety Renaldo Hill, tight end Anthony Fasano, and guard Steve McKinney. Linebacker Channing Crowder, who finished last season on IR after knee surgery, was on the field but was limited. That's why he wasn't in with the starting linebackers when they competed in team drills.

Things to look for out of today's OTA reveal

The Dolphins today will unveil their entire team -- minus Jason Taylor, of course -- to the media for the first time this offseason, and some issues bear noting.

Some guys that only a year ago seemed assured of long futures with the Dolphins are, shall we say, fighting for their lives. Before actually seeing today's organized team activity or whatever they call this stuff, I am pretty comfortable telling you this much:

1. Jason Allen, who finished last season as a starter, hasn't been running with starters during the early days of OTA practices. He will get first-team snaps, but he is definitely in a battle to keep the job he held last year. He is locked in a battle to keep his spot against the likes of Renaldo Hill and Chris Crocker and even Keith Davis.

At the other safetey, Yeremiah Bell apparently has been moving quite nicely while recovering from his Achilles' tendon tear in the 2007 season-opener. While perhaps not 100 percent yet, he's very, very close. And coaches like him enough that he is projected a starter.

Hill, recovering from an ACL tear, is also working his way back and should be ready for work by training camp. And Crocker and Davis are Ireland/Parcells/Sparano additions so they have a built-in advantage over Allen. The point is Jason Allen, who was starting to look like something other than a bust at the end of last year, is fighting to keep from being that again.

2. Matt Roth, a second-round pick of Nick Saban in 2005, is going to have to impress during the coming minicamps and into training camp and the preseason to keep his roster spot. That after he started nine games last year.

Roth sucked was something of a disappointment as a starter last year and doesn't seem really suited for the 3-4 because he's neither super big, nor super strong, nor super quick. He's really more a 4-3 end -- except the Dolphins aren't running a 4-3 most of the time. So the pressure is on.

3. I am assuming here, but I think you'll hear today that Josh McCown is taking a majority of the first-team snaps with John Beck taking the second-team snaps and rookie Chad Henne starting out with the third team snaps. It is the logical order, if Salguero is coaching the team.

If this is not the order, it should be news because it means Beck or Henne, two youngsters have caught the staff's attention while McCown, the veteran, hasn't translated his experience to an early advantage. Whatever the case today, eventually McCown and Beck will share first-team snaps and playing time in the preseason as coaches stoke the QB competition.

4. It should be interesting to see what the tight end rotation is. And one question to Bill Parcells: Why isn't Kyle Brady on this team?

5. If you read stories of Ronnie Brown continuing to look really good and even taking snaps in the coming camps, don't pay much attention. The fact is his real test will not come until the regular season. It is not too difficult to hide a knee injury in the preseason. Remember Daunte Culpepper? But the rigors of actually getting hit in full contact work throughout an 18-carry game is a whole different story than training camp or even moderate preseason work.

And that won't happen until the games count for real. So hold your breath because the early returns may not be indicative of reality.

Anyway, I'll be blogging live during Wednesday's practice. Oh, no I won't. The Dolphins don't want anyone doing that because it might upset their competitive advantage. Never mind that the Giants allow their media to blog live from practice and it didn't seem to affect their competitive advantage too much.

I will, however, provide a post-practice update. God willing.

Ferguson may make Samson Satele better

I talked to Jason Ferguson late this week and related his thoughts about how good the Dolphins may or may not be in a column I wrote for The Herald's print and online editions.

Regardless of how you feel about Ferguson's view of the Dolphins -- he believes they can be pretty good in 2008 -- there can be no denying his presence on the team will affect the offensive line as well as the defensive line.

Ferguson, you see, will be practicing every day opposite second-year center Samson Satele and the hope is he can help the young offensive player improve just as he helped Kevin Mawae (with the Jets) and Andre Gurode (with Dallas) become better players.

Both have been Pro Bowl performers, by the way.

"The last two teams I played with, I faced the best two centers in the league," Ferguson told me. "That was Kevin Mawae when I was with the Jets and Andre Gurode with the Cowboys. When you go against Pro Bowlers every day in practice, it made me better. And I think I helped make them better."

Ferguson says he and Satele should become close -- just as he did with the other two centers -- because it suits everyone's best interest as well as the team's.

"You become one of the guy's best friends because you go and check with him every day and ask questions that help each other," Ferguson said. "You say, 'What about my technique? How was it then?' And they ask me the same about themselves. That's what I expect from the young guy here.

"I think he's a good worker. He's a good, athletic kid. When I watch him, I say, 'Hey, he's not going to sit there and just take it.' You don't want no offensive lineman taking it."

Although I've talked to Ferguson only once, I like him already. He promises to improve the run defense, and his attitude is wonderful.

Example: I asked him how he did in his practice work against Mawae and Gurode: "You don't go in thinking I'll win this one and he'll win that one. I want to win nine out of 10."