News from Monday's Dolphins locker-room and Philbin's state-of-franchise address; Fins draft order

The Dolphins will have five of the first 82 picks in April's draft: 12, 42, the Colts pick (one of the last 12 in the second round, to be determined by playoff results), 77 and 82 (from the Bears in the Brandon Marshall trade).

On another note, here are some snippets from Dolphins coach Joe Philbin’s end-of-season news conference on Monday:

### His overall conclusion on the season: “7-9 is not good enough. You put a lot of effort and make a lot of sacrifices. There should be no one who’s satisfied where we’re at. “

### Philbin has made clear he wants to build primarily through the draft. But asked whether he is philosophically opposed to pursuing a high priced free agent, he said: “I am not opposed to improving the team in any way we can – draft, trade, free agency…. This offseason has the makings of one that’s very important.”

(Jeff Ireland is going to be more aggressive than last year in free agency.)

### Philbin pointed to two big areas of improvement: “The most glaring thing is the turnover margin. We ended the year at minus 10, which will put us roughly 25^th. That’s not good enough. The number one criteria of winning games in the NFL is holding onto the ball and [creating] turnovers. We need to take a thorough evaluation of the entire program.”

The second thing the Dolphins need, he said, is "explosive play element on both sides of the ball. We’ve got to create more and eliminate our opponents’ more. We’ve got to do a better job of putting points on the board.”

### Asked if he need to improve at receiver and cornerback, Philbin regrettably refused to go down that road. “I don’t know if it’s isolated to the cornerback or defensive back position…. We have a lot of work to do. We need to take a thorough evaluation of the entire program.”

### On whether reaching New England's level -- and figuring out how to beat them - is a major goal. "We have to be more focused on our own guys," Philbin responded. "They have their team. We have our team."

### Philbin, on himself: "I definitely need to improve like everybody else. I am going to sit down with every one of [the players] and ask for their input. Listening to some of the guys you work with on a consistent basis [is helpful]. There will be changes and adjustments. I plan on improving myself."

### Philbin, on Ryan Tannehill: "He made a lot of progress. I’m confident with the work ethic he has, the passion he has. You hope in coaching between your first and second year, there is usually a pretty big curve. We’re excited about the possibility of improvement with him. You want to make those around you better. We need to get better production and performance out of the offensive unit."

### Is the pass rush good enough or does that need to be addressed? “Sack numbers you would say it’s satisfactory, but we have to examine that in a little more detail. It would be premature to say.”

## I asked Philbin what young players first come to mind, beyond Tannehill, that he is excited to see a big jump from. Oddly, he mentioned only rookie linebacker Josh Kaddu. "Josh will be interesting to see. We’re counting on a bump from year one to year two.”

MONDAY PLAYER REACTION

Center Mike Pouncey was the only player willing to say on-the-record that personnel upgrades are needed. "We got lucky when we picked that kid," Pouncey said of Ryan Tannehill. "We want to get him some help." He then spoke of Miami's cap space ($47 million) and "getting some guys in here to help this team get where we want to be."

Added Pouncey: "This team did a great job for what we had. [But] we're not there."

### Sean Smith made clear he wants to re-sign here: "There is where I want to be forever. I'm confident something will work out."

### Another impending free agent, Reggie Bush, said: "It has been a pleasure to play here. I still feel there's unfinished business. Hopefully, I'll be back."

Bush said Sunday's 28-0 drubbing to the Patriots "leaves a bitter taste in the mouth and a wakeup call. We have a long way to go." 

### I asked Tannehill what this year has proven to him about his longterm potential as an NFL quarterback. "It has given me a lot of confidence. I have a lot of room to grow, a lot of things I can get better at. That excites me."

### Tannehill's biggest regret? "I had a lot of chances to win games that we weren't able to."

### Cornerback Richard Marshall, off back surgery, said he couldn't say for sure he will be back for offseason practices but expects to be ready for training camp.

### Tight end Charles Clay, on crutches after knee surgery, said he will ready for offseason practices.

 

 

Comments

[GMoney]

Based on the overall talent that this team had, they finished about where they should have. I believe they have a long term solution at quarterback, if they could draft well, and spend wisely in free agency, things could improve in the near future.

[green]

Barry J. is an old-school, hard-nosed reporter who works the phones, has sources and ferrets out good nuggets and tidbits. If I were a beat reporter I'd be upset that he infringes on my beat. But I mean that as a compliment to him.

Posted by: Greg Cote | December 31, 2012 at 01:08 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muckraker

MUCKRAKER

[Freddie]

Does anyone have confidence this organization will make the most of all this cap space? What evidence is there of that?

[green]

http://www.hurricanesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=28700&ATCLID=205862901

For at least the 2nd straight year, Miami Hurricanes have more ACTIVE alums in #NFLPlayoffs than any school:
18 this year. 26 last year.
-- chris freet

GREENTREE

[green]

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8796807/boise-state-broncos-staying-mountain-west-conference-sources-say

Boise State remaining in MWC & will not join Big East in 2013
-- Brett McMurphy

THE BIG HURT

[sickandtired]

Incompetent. Sad. Pathetic. Irrelevant. Current and future state of the Miami Dolphins under Ireland. To give him yet another year to fix this mess is a complete and utter joke. Fans should immediately boycott the games and stop showing up at the stadium...oh wait.

[Matt]

Philbin said all the things I didn't want to hear. I'm starting to hate Philbin. They will undoubtedly fail again this offseason. This organization is a joke.

[Habib]

Lets make sure we spend the $47 million dollars. If nothing else, keep our FA and bring a stud WR.

[octavio de armas]

As long as IRELAND & ROSS runs this organization they will never rise above being mediocre.

[The Seer]

Can't can the owner BUT THERE IS A SIMPLE FIRST MOVE POSSIBLE:

FIRE IRELAND!

Grossly incompetent & in-over-his-head.

Handing him cap space & extra draft picks makes the measure of the upcoming debacle even more gutwrenching.

[phil]

Gee i sure hope our #1 corner Sean Smith comes back. Its a joy watching him drop ints and chase receviers after they make catches where the ball goes right by him due to his zero lack of ball awareness that a real corner could pick off or at least bat down..What a talented #1 corner we have !!!! Why not bring him back and give him a big raise !! lmao....wow !!! only the Pins....Anything that has to due with throwing the ball we suc at !!! On offense or defense...Thats our major problem and has been forever... Isnt the NFL a passing leauge now ? duh....