NFL 2006: Miami Dolphins
Nick Saban begins year number two with fresh faces and a new offensive coordinator in Mike Mularkey. The former Bills coach takes over for the departed Scott Linehan, the new head coach of the St. Louis Rams. Optimism reigns supreme in Miami as Saban turned a 3-13 team the year before into a 9-7 one last season. With a veteran cast returning, along with key free agent pickups, many feel the Dolphins are legitimate playoff contenders in 2006. Offense: The biggest acquisition of the off season was grabbing Daunte Culpepper from the Minnesota Vikings. Gone is Gus Frerotte, who did a respectable job as the starter last season and in comes Culpepper. There's no question when he's healthy, Culpepper is one of the best in the game. But a devastating knee injury, where he suffered damage to three ligaments, may keep him off the field on opening day. To correct that problem the Dolphins made a trade for Joey Harrington (2,021 yards, 12 touchdowns), who wore out his welcome in Detroit. The former number two overall selection hasn't lived up to his draft status, but could be reborn with Saban in Miami. Either way, he'll be an adequate backup and an upgrade over Sage Rosenfels. Ricky Williams was suspended again so he took his papers and bong to Canada for a year. No matter, second year man Ronnie Brown will be handed the reigns of the feature back role and should do well. The Auburn standout rushed for 907 yards and four scores splitting time with Ricky last season. Travis Minor will be his principle backup. Fred Beasley didn't leave his heart in San Francisco and will help Brown immensely at fullback. Beasley has decent hands and is a solid blocker. The Dolphins have two good starters, but not much depth after that at the wide receiver position. Chris Chambers (82-1,118-11) had a breakout year last season and Marty Booker is a solid number two guy. Behind them rookies Derek Hagan and Devin Aromashodu will be asked to play key roles. Randy McMichael is one of the best receiving tight ends in the game and proved it again last season with 60 receptions and five TDs. Justin Peele was brought in from San Diego to be a blocker in running situations. There is plenty of competition on the offensive line and it's here where the most spirited battles will take place. Rex Hadnot is the incumbent center, but Seth McKinney returns from injury and will challenge. Free agent signee Bennie Anderson (Bills) will team with returner Jeno James at guard, but McKinney could land here as well. Vernon Carey and Damion McIntosh return at tackle but free agents L.J. Shelton (Browns) and Mike Pearson (Jaguars) are in the mix as well. Defense: This is an aging defense even with Junior Seau gone, particularly on the line. Ageless wonder Jason Taylor (12 sacks) and Kevin Carter (six sacks) return at defensive end, but look out for high energy Matt Roth to get even more playing time in 2006. Vonnie Holliday (five sacks) and Keith Traylor man the tackle spots with Jeff Zgonina providing adequate backup. Manuel Wright and rookie Rodrique Wright provide youthful legs. Zach Thomas continues to defy father time and looks to put up another outstanding season on the boards. Thomas led the team with 166 tackles from his middle linebacker slot and shows no signs of slowing down. On the outside, emerging star Channing Crowder (90 tackles) could have a break out year and Donnie Spragan is solid if not spectacular. Eddie Moore is a quality backup. The secondary is in a state of flux after a turbulent off season. Gone are safety Lance Shulters and corners Sam Madison and Reggie Howard. Travis Daniels will man one corner spot while free agent signees Will Allen (Giants), Renaldo Hill (Raiders) and Andre Goodman (Lions) will compete for the other. Tavaris Tillman returns at strong safety, while Yeremiah Bell and number one draft pick, Jason Allen, will battle for the free safety spot. Special Teams: Olindo Mare had another great season, scoring 108 points on 25-30 field goals and 33-33 on extra points. You can't find many better or more consistent then him. Donnie Jones looks to improve on his solid 43.5 yards per punt last season and Wes Welker is an exciting return man (22.6 KR; 9.1 PR). Outlook: Nick Saban is one of the best young coaches in the business and he'll have the Dolphins fighting for a playoff spot. The Culpepper injury situation, coupled with an aging defense and instability in the secondary will keep them from catching New England in the division. Prediction: Saban has picked Miami out of the cellar and restored confidence in the fans, the city and the team. The Dolphins are still a couple of pieces away from being a serious contender, but a wild card berth is not out of the question in 2006. Miami finishes 9-7 or 10-6.
Other Football Tips Articles
Sports Betting 101- How to Bet on NFL Football The NFL has long since supplanted baseball as “America’s sport” and for good reason when considering NFL and College football teams play once weekly which in the end lends credence to the saying of “absence makes the heart grow fonder”, however, in the big picture one of the predominate reasons for the popularity of football centers around how e ...Sports Betting Affiliates Online betting has become a big industry. Everyday people log on to place wagers on the outcome of upcoming sports tournaments like baseball, basketball, football, soccer or horseracing. Online gaming has become one of the Internet's fastest growing business areas with a very high rate of profitability. Sports betting affiliate programs are gro ...NFL Draft Discussions Every year before the NFL draft takes place fans all over the world participate in mock drafts that outline which teams they think will choose which players. Even though this may not sound like fun, there are millions of people who participate in these drafts every year.The NFL draft is often a very difficult event to predict. Teams chang ...Voice Coaching - Training Your Voice to Give Better Presentations Picture a cool crisp autumn morning in the wide open farming lands in the Great Southern region of Western Australia at Wagin, home of the annual Wagin Woolarama and Giant Ram.Imagine a white metal caravan with brown carpet on the inside walls fitted out as a outside broadcast van on a dusty, damp road by the edge of a large green footbal ...College Football Marquee Match-ups If you're like me, you are counting the seconds until college football starts next week. Even though there are some decent match-ups coming up in week one, there are some even better ones that will take place all throughout the season. The first week of the season isn't very interesting as most teams tune up with patsies. What really gets my blo ...Falcons Finally Have a Chance to Get Off to a Good Start in the Opening Month There are seven clubs that are candidates for rebound status in 2006 the seven flopped relatively miserably in 2005, averaging only 6.6 victories and three of the clubs finishing in last place in their divisions. They are: Atlanta, Green Bay, Minnesota, the New York Jets, Philadelphia, St. Louis and San Diego. All made the postseason in 2004, an ...Online Slots Tips - To Win Big While online slots are a game of chance, there are certain steps you can take to put the odds in favor and win big jackpots.Slots are simple, exciting and fun and if you learn the enclosed online slot tips you will have as much chance as winning the big jackpots as anyone else.The 8 online slot tips below to put the odds in your fa ...Writing for Online Article Sites – Horrors and Blessings Each ezine article database has its own terms of service (tos). They are generally uniform and mostly based on common sense. Most of them want well written articles that have had spell checking. They allow only so much html within an article and they don’t want hate material and a short list of other things that most readers don’t want to see ei ...Binge Eating - Men Also At Risk Binge Eating Disorder affects just about as many men as it does women, even though the stereotype is that eating disorders are thought to be a women’s disorder. This stereotype is incorrect. There are 25 million people that struggle daily with Binge Eating Disorder. Out of that 25 million, you may be surprised to know that 40% are men. Accor ...All About Shower Curtains - Shower Curtain Styles And Cleaning Tips Your shower curtain is likely the largest item in your bathroom, so it’s in your own interest to put some thought into which one you want to hang up. These days, there are so many different options as to what your shower curtain can look and feel like, the experience of shopping for a shower curtain can be more like shopping for a beautiful tap ...NFL Power Rankings - Week 4 Somewhere between Chris Simms' spleen and Terrell Owens' publicist the NFL made a hard left-hand turn this week. We have teams coming off byes, clubs trying to rebound from heartbreaking divisional losses and the Oakland Raiders. But amidst the madness we have a strong slate this weekend, topped by the Seattle at Chicago showdown Sunday night. ...Missouri Real Estate - The Show Me State Nicknamed the “Show Me” state, Missouri is an interesting mix of big cities and rural lands. Missouri real estate prices do not require you to “show” a lot of money.MissouriThe quintessential midwestern state, Missouri offers interesting contrasts. On one hand, you have large cities such as St. Louis and Kansas City. On the other, ...Renting Houses And Renting Flats In Liverpool - The Guide A snapshot of LiverpoolThe Liverpool City Council area has a population of 439,476 with 26.39% of the population aged between 0-19 years. Liverpool is situated in the North West of England and has different regions including The Wirral, Southport, Knowsley, Halton, St. Helens and Liverpool. There is much to see and do in and arou ...Restore Your Lost Youth - Naturally Is it our fate to merely be young in our teens till perhaps our 30’s, and then without any alternative, just join middle and old age?Can we really restore our lost youth, naturally without surgery and expensive medications? We can, as our body is inexorably linked to our mind and those morphogenetic fields that determine our future. ...Preseason Betting Tips Sports handicappers can’t beat this time of year: Baseball pennant races in full swing, college football is on the horizon and preseason NFL action is already underway! This weekend is the first full slate of NFL play. Contrary to what some might think, there are numerous wagering opportunities with exhibition football, you just have to know wha ...Football - The San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers are from San Diego, CA and play their football games in the AFC Western Division. Interestingly, the San Diego Chargers actually began as the Los Angeles Chargers in 1960. Here is a brief history of this popular football team.As one of the original members of the AFL, the Chargers played their first year in Los An ...Bummer in the Bayou I felt the Eagles-Saints matchup last week was more of a "trap" game then a "letdown" game. After defeating the Dallas Cowboys in a game that grabbed Super Bowl-like attention the Birds would have to be on their game 2 weeks in a row as they faced a new and definitely improved New Orleans Saints team. The Saints are leading the NFC South, and fo ...Soccer Cleats Guide - General Tips on Soccer Cleats Soccer cleats are athletic shoes that are specially designed for soccer players. Soccer shoes have large studs or cleats on the bottom that assist players in gripping the surface. These studs help players to be easily moved in the desired position.Generally the cleats are made up of molded plastic because metal cleats are illegal as they ...Driving Tips To Help You To Pollute Less We've all been told to drive defensively and watch out for the "other guy" on the road, but what exactly should we be doing? What should we be watching out for? Here are some good driving tips to help you better understand defensive driving and how to avoid having an accident.What If?While driving on the highway, or in the city, al ...A Summer Of Great British Sport Are you a Brit who loves their sport? Are you looking forward to the Fifa World Cup? Are you a tennis fan? Do you love the cricket? If you are fan of sport then this could be a summer to saviour and remember. I personally have been looking forward to this summer for many months and am very excited at all of the sporting events that are forthcomi ...Chargers at Broncos : Fight For Division Supremacy It's week 11 in the NFL and the Chargers and Broncos are both 7-2 in the AFC West. This week the two titans go at it in Denver. At stake is first place in the AFC West and potentially the division title. These two teams will square off once more on December 10 in San Diego.The San Diego Chargers have won three games in a row, including an ...Winning At Video Poker - The Only 4 Tips You Need to Win Big! Video Poker is a slot machine which involves a level of skill and you can get the odds in your favor, if you know how to play correctly.The odds of you winning at Video poker are determined by following 4 simple tips, that are easy to learn.If you apply them, you will dramatically enhance your chances of success.How to Play ...Real and Virtual Football Fields are Up for How can commercial firms make football fans happy, besides selling T-shirts with names of favorite players? The largest German trading company "Quelle" found such original souvenir from World Cup 2006 – this is “exclusive” grass from Berlin Olympic stadium football arena after final game.The whole of surface will be sold out in parts with ...Another One Bites The Dust: Willie McGinest Experts predicted that when the salary cap negotiations began there would be veteran players being let go, and they were right. One of the first biggest moves was by the New England Patriots. They have let go of Willie McGinest, their twelve year defensive lineman. The move was somewhat surprising since McGinest is the all-time post season sack ...Tips On Buying Your First Chainsaw Chainsaws have earnt a reputation as the planet's most dangerous power tool; and with good reason. Almost 40,000 people are injured each year using these effective but volatile machines . If you are in the market to purchase your first chainsaw then there are some important points to consider.Frequent Or Infrequent Use?One of the b ...Top 5 Reasons Why People Lose Money With Football Betting Sports Betting on the NFL and college football is a national pastime. Every week millions of dollars are bet on the home town favorites with local bookies. People bet even more money with online sports book agencies. Even the major news services publish all the betting stats. If you're going to bet money on games, you might as well be as informe ...2006 NFL Draft: The Reggie Bush Sweepstakes While it's still quite a few months before the NFL Draft, with the regular season winding down, it's a good time as any to take a glance at the teams who are "competing' for the league's worst record and the right to draft the lone "can't miss" college player, USC running back/receiver/kick return specialist Reggie Bush.If you weren't con ...Staging a Super Bowl Party The Super Bowl party is almost as much a part of Super Bowl history as the football itself. Arriving right at the end of the month of January, Super Bowl party planning gives you the perfect chance to escape from possibly the most boring time of year. When you are Super Bowl party planning you must always remember that not everyone will be atten ...NFL Players Equipped - Why Helmet Phones? In order to help players the League may soon allow visiting teams the benefit of a helmet-to-helmet wireless communication system.In most big ballgames, noise is good, and more noise is better. Cheerleaders, mascots and noisemakers like inflatable bat-shaped balloons are there to create a cacophony meant to raise the home ...
|
