This is the least excited I've been for a long, long time.

[Dave Gray]

I'm happy for football to start.

But I'm not at all excited for the promise of this team, in any aspect.

I don't really understand what we're going for, I don't see the vision for the future.  I don't really understand the strategy and I don't love the contracted players that we have hitched our wagon to.  It all seems very backwards to me.

I will go along to get along and hope for the best, but I am starting my expectations for this year and the future at ground zero.

[Spider-Dan]

My expectations are set at "Joe Philbin 2.0" but without the hope for the future that a first-round rookie QB provides.

Or alternatively, the 2019 team but without a generational QB to tank for.

[Sibster]

My expectations are set at "Joe Philbin 2.0" but without the hope for the future that a first-round rookie QB provides.

Or alternatively, the 2019 team but without a generational QB to tank for.

The 2011 team as well.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

This is the quietest I have seen this board at this time of year.  Even in other years when the Dolphins fans had little reason to be optimistic, this board was much more active and hopeful. 

[Spider-Dan]

In fairness: I also was not looking forward to Mike McDaniel, and he provided the most excitement for the Dolphins I've had since the Ricky trade.

[Dave Gray]

I'm think I'm still kind of struggling with why we cut Tua only to still pay him and then pay for another QB at a pretty decent rate, who is probably a bum that we don't plan on keeping for the future.

It just seems to be wishy washy.  If you're gonna tank, tank.  This feels a bit like a half-measure to keep fans on the hook for another season and I'm not really buying it.

[Spider-Dan]

The one area where Stephen Ross has been the most egregiously incompetent is in his handling of head coaches.

There was the debacle with Sparano when Ross was trying to chase Jim Harbaugh, and then the Sean Payton fiasco that resulted in a lost draft pick.  This last time, it seemed like Ross was willing to run it back with McDaniel for another year until John Harbaugh became available, at which point Ross throws everything in the trash to chase Harbaugh... who naturally signs elsewhere.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

The one area where Stephen Ross has been the most egregiously incompetent is in his handling of head coaches.

IMHO, Ross's biggest problem has been the selecting of bad coaches as much as selecting bad GMs.

[Spider-Dan]

Lots of owners hire bad personnel.  Statistically, that happens more often than not.

Ross' issue has not been "Who did you hire?" as much as it has been "How did you go about trying to replace your head coach?"  It's a process problem.

[Sibster]

Lots of owners hire bad personnel.  Statistically, that happens more often than not.

Ross' issue has not been "Who did you hire?" as much as it has been "How did you go about trying to replace your head coach?"  It's a process problem.

Like I said in another thread.   Ross is a complete disaster.   He could fuck up a cup of black coffee.

[CF DolFan]

I'm think I'm still kind of struggling with why we cut Tua only to still pay him and then pay for another QB at a pretty decent rate, who is probably a bum that we don't plan on keeping for the future.

It just seems to be wishy washy.  If you're gonna tank, tank.  This feels a bit like a half-measure to keep fans on the hook for another season and I'm not really buying it.

By all accounts, overall Malik Willis has been pretty good in camp. Tua was good in camp too but that never actually panned out in the season. Last season he was horrible and couldn't run for a first down even when it was there. Willis is definitely more athletic and built much more towards handle being tackled. His arm is stronger than any QB we've had since Marino and his accuracy seems pretty decent.

We've also had some good reports of several of the rookies, as well as Malik Washington as a receiver.

If wins is your only thing to get excited about, then this will be a long season. If you focus on young players getting better then it would be more fun. It's ok to feel whatever you want but they did have the highest attendance at practice last weekend. This means some people are excited.

[Dave Gray]

Ross' issue has not been "Who did you hire?" as much as it has been "How did you go about trying to replace your head coach?"  It's a process problem.

This rings true to me.  The overall direction organizationally seems aimless.

[Dave Gray]

If wins is your only thing to get excited about, then this will be a long season.

It's literally the opposite.

I think we have poured our money into a backup QB who we don't expect to be a long-term solution at the position and a RB, who admittedly is an exciting player, but RB lifespans have historically been questionable.

I don't feel like we are creating an environment that is doing more than trying to put a band-aid on a terrible situation.

[Pappy13]

I'm officially in wait and see mode. I don't have high expectations so pretty much anything above 3 or 4 wins will be a nice surprise. I honestly don't think the starting 22 are that bad, but injuries typically cause the Dolphins a ton of missed games from starters and backups have historically been below average, so we'll see how that works out. Maybe the current staff does a better job of getting the players ready for the season and the starters play the majority of snaps or maybe even better we lose a bunch of starters to injury as usual and their backups are actually decent and we're better than I expect. Either of those scenario's would make me feel a lot better about the current staff. I sort of feel like conditioning/stretching etc has been an area that's been ignored too much which is the reason for a lot of the injuries or perhaps it's just because so many of the players are smaller and faster and can't take the pounding and they are officially headed in a different direction now but either way if we can find a way to get less bit with the injury bug the team shouldn't underperform as bad as they have in the last 2 decades but even if they overperform I can't see more than about 6 wins on the schedule with this roster.

On the other hand, this is the time of year to be optimistic, once the season starts I may get a big dose of reality and we really are as bad as all the pundits think we will be and it will be time to start watching the pre-draft conversations.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I'm officially in wait and see mode. I don't have high expectations so pretty much anything above 3 or 4 wins will be a nice surprise. I honestly don't think the starting 22 are that bad, but injuries typically cause the Dolphins a ton of missed games from starters and backups have historically been below average,

All teams have injuries.  What separates the good teams from the bad teams, typically isn't who has the best 22 starters or which teams stays the healthiest, but which team has better depth, and the Dolphins have a history of ignoring the bottom half of the roster, and almost exclusively concerned with having a flashy starting lineup. 

You don't win the SB by avoiding injuries you win it in spite of injuries.