Oh man I'm clipping this one to come back to in a year.

[Pappy13]

What a load of garbage this is. A flawed roster? What exactly is so flawed about it? The defense has plenty of good young players and the offense has at least a couple.

Flores firing signals bigger issues with the Dolphins organization

[Dolfanalyst]

The issue does suggest that they don't have an organizational structure in place that helps to manage such things.  There needs to be a layer of authority and leadership between the GM/HC and Ross that serves to essentially head the franchise.  An owner who doesn't devote all of his working time to the franchise can't possibly function effectively in that capacity.  Garfinkel is the CEO, but he's business-oriented and not "football."  There needs to be a football guy in an analogous position, between Ross and the GM/HC.

What's interesting is that this entire situation could've been addressed perhaps more successfully by hiring someone (in the capacity noted above) than by firing someone.

[Pappy13]

The issue does suggest that they don't have an organizational structure in place that helps to manage such things.  There needs to be a layer of authority and leadership between the GM/HC and Ross that serves to essentially head the franchise.  An owner who doesn't devote all of his working time to the franchise can't possibly function effectively in that capacity.  Garfinkel is the CEO, but he's business-oriented and not "football."  There needs to be a football guy in an analogous position, between Ross and the GM/HC.

I don't disagree, but Flores most definitely didn't get the most out of this roster this year. Not even close. His first year was good with a pretty crappy roster and last year they overachieved with an average roster, but it went south this year when he actually had most of the players he needed and got off to a 1-7 start that killed any chance of making the playoffs.

[masterfins]

What a load of garbage this is. A flawed roster? What exactly is so flawed about it? The defense has plenty of good young players and the offense has at least a couple.

Flores firing signals bigger issues with the Dolphins organization

This article pretty much sums up my feelings exactly.  I think the "flawed roster" term is a little over the top, but the article correctly pointed out the poor offensive line play, and the failure to secure a good OC.

[Spider-Dan]

Why would you need a "football guy" above the GM?  The GM should be THE football guy.

[masterfins]

I think the other problem with the roster this year has been the injuries to key offensive players.

1) Will Fuller was paid $10M to catch 4 passes in one game, and he sat out the other 16 games with an injured finger.

2) Parker - He missed 7 out of 17 games due to injury, and didn't even have a single catch in an 8th.

If 2 of your top 3 WR's are out for that many games at the same time that really hurts your offense, especially when you don't have a RB because you focused draft & FA on upgrading the WR's.

3) Tua missed four games, how many play off teams went without their starting QB for four games this past season?
 

The first game Tua missed was the OT loss to the Raiders on the road, IMO the Dolphins would have won this game if Tua played.  The 2nd game was home against the Colts, probably a toss up whether they win with Tua.  The 3rd game was on the road against the SB Champion Bucs, they would have lost this game even with Tua.  Tua then returned for the game in England against the Jags and lost by a field goal as time expired.  I'm sure Tua was rusty after having not played in a live game for a month.  I hate games in England, has Miami ever won one of these?

You can't blame Flores for these key injuries, and if Miami managed to win either the Raiders or Jags game (or both) then Miami is in the playoffs.

[EDGECRUSHER]

^^^

Yeah, I don't think anyone saw the end of Fuller's career coming this season. He would've been a disappointing signing if he only had 550 yards, no one could've reasonably predicted he would miss 15 games with a made up finger injury. I actually liked the signing in the offseason so I can't blame Grier too much for this one.

Counting on Parker to stay healthy is another story and that is something we cannot do this offseason. Anything we get from him in 2022 has to be considered a bonus. I wouldn't even have him penciled in as the #3 WR. Make him the 4th and have him compete for it too.

[Phishfan]

Why would you need a "football guy" above the GM?  The GM should be THE football guy.

You are correct.

[Dolfanalyst]

Why would you need a "football guy" above the GM?  The GM should be THE football guy.

The problem is that the dynamic between GM and HC can be inherently conflictual as the GM "shops for the groceries" and the HC "makes the meal" as Bill Parcells once put it.  The GM's livelihood depends on drafting well, primarily, while the HC's livelihood depends on putting the best players on the field and winning with them.  As soon as the GM believes he made a great draft pick(s) who should see the field and the HC disagrees, there is a conflict, and that can accumulate over time to the point that the working relationship between them becomes untenable.  There has to be someone within the organization who can manage and adjudicate such matters, and most NFL owners, including Stephen Ross, are incapable of that because they don't know football well enough, and in Ross's case he's largely busy managing his other enterprise.  Consequently you can have two key people within the organization (GM and HC) whose conflict simply festers over time as it receives too little management and attention.

[ArtieChokePhin]

^^^

But if you look at how many players left the team and flourished elsewhere, that's an indictment of the coach, not the GM.

[Dolfanalyst]

^^^

But if you look at how many players left the team and flourished elsewhere, that's an indictment of the coach, not the GM.

Or we don't know, because we don't know who made those decisions, and we don't know whether the HC was pressing the GM to surround those players with whatever may have been necessary to make them play better on those other teams, and the GM either balked or did a poor job of it.

This is all very complex.  The main issue in my opinion is that the organizational structure is not optimal and increases the likelihood that such GM/HC rifts will occur and fester.

[Spider-Dan]

The problem is that the dynamic between GM and HC can be inherently conflictual as the GM "shops for the groceries" and the HC "makes the meal" as Bill Parcells once put it.  The GM's livelihood depends on drafting well, primarily, while the HC's livelihood depends on putting the best players on the field and winning with them.  As soon as the GM believes he made a great draft pick(s) who should see the field and the HC disagrees, there is a conflict, and that can accumulate over time to the point that the working relationship between them becomes untenable.  There has to be someone within the organization who can manage and adjudicate such matters, and most NFL owners, including Stephen Ross, are incapable of that because they don't know football well enough, and in Ross's case he's largely busy managing his other enterprise.  Consequently you can have two key people within the organization (GM and HC) whose conflict simply festers over time as it receives too little management and attention.

If you insert another executive VP of football operations (or whatever) between the GM and the owner, not only have you simply shifted the focus of conflict, but you've actually introduced a new one:

before- potential conflict between HC and GM
after- potential conflict between HC and EVP, or between GM and EVP (and maybe even still between HC and GM!)

At the end of the day, someone is making the decisions on roster acquisitions.  If that person is not the HC, then you will potentially have conflict between the HC and that person; whether that person's title is "general manager" or "president of football operations" makes no difference.

[Phishfan]

More people doesn't mean less issues.

[Dolfanalyst]

If you insert another executive VP of football operations (or whatever) between the GM and the owner, not only have you simply shifted the focus of conflict, but you've actually introduced a new one:

before- potential conflict between HC and GM
after- potential conflict between HC and EVP, or between GM and EVP (and maybe even still between HC and GM!)

At the end of the day, someone is making the decisions on roster acquisitions.  If that person is not the HC, then you will potentially have conflict between the HC and that person; whether that person's title is "general manager" or "president of football operations" makes no difference.

The goal is not to end all conflict.  The goal is to manage conflict with a person of higher authority whose job is to prioritize the organization.  If they have a conflict with him, so be it.  At least that conflict will be adjudicated in the name of the Miami Dolphins and not possibly the selfish career interests of Chris Grier or Brian Flores.

And again, that can't be Ross, because he doesn't know football and he's largely doing his other business enterprise.