John Beck followed up Monday's good practice with another solid showing on Tuesday. Chad Henne started with the first team offense for the third straight practice.
Joey Porter had 4 sacks.
Jay Feely didn't practice and did not say why, but he did say he was fine.
Jake Long is now handling speed rushers with ease.
After going back through my series of training camp positional previews which all included a predicted depth chart for each position, here is what my 53-man roster would look like. I adjusted some of the players on the depth chart according to their performance in training camp so far. Also, I picked a few too many players over the 53-man limit, so I had to trim some of the fat off the bottom of the roster. That section of the roster is going to undergo continual changes anyways, as Parcells and Ireland continue to bring in free agents and pick players up off waivers.
Anyways, here it is:
1st String
2nd String
3rd String
OFFENSE
QB
John Beck
Josh McCown
Chad Henne
RB
Ronnie Brown
Ricky Williams
Jalen Parmele
FB
Reagan Mauia
Boomer Grigsby
TE
Anthony Fasano
David Martin
Sean Ryan
WR
Ted Ginn
Derek Hagan
Davone Bess
WR
Ernest Wilford
Greg Camarillo
LT
Jake Long
Daren Heerspink
LG
Justin Smiley
Shawn Murphy
C
Samson Satele
Steve McKinney
RG
Donald Thomas
Trey Darilek
RT
Vernon Carey
Ikechuku Ndukwe
DEFENSE
LDE
Matt Roth
Kendall Langford
RDE
Vonnie Holliday
Phillip Merling
Rodrique Wright
NT
Jason Ferguson
Randy Starks
LOLB
Joey Porter
Rob Ninkovich
LILB
Channing Crowder
Edmond Miles
RILB
Akin Ayodele
Reggie Torbor
ROLB
Charlie Anderson
Quentin Moses
LCB
Will Allen
Nathan Jones
RCB
Andre’ Goodman
Michael Lehan
Travis Daniels
SS
Yeremiah Bell
Keith Davis
FS
Jason Allen
Chris Crocker
SPECIALISTS
K
Jay Feely
P
Brandon Fields
LS
John Denney
Also, here is my predicted practice squad:
WR Jayson Foster
WR Selwyn Lymon
RB Lex Hilliard
G Mike Byrne
LB Kelly Poppinga
LB Kelvin Smith
CB Will Billingsley
NT Paul Soliai
There's likely to be a lot wrong about the depth chart and the practice squad since it's certain that there will be players on the team who are currently on other rosters right now, but I can only predict the roster using the guys currently on it.
The final segment of the training camp positional previews looks at the specialists. Tomorrow, I'll go back through the previews and compile my predicted depth charts to see what my predicted 53-man roster will look like (trimming or adding players as necessary).
Here's a closer look at the individual specialists currently on the roster and what can be expected of them this coming season: Jay Feely It looks like Randy Mueller made the correct decision last offseason by trading away Olindo Mare before his wheels really fell off (only 10/17 on field goals). Jay Feely, on the other hand, set the franchise record for field goal percentage (91.3%) in a single season. Still, field goal percentage is almost entirely random from season to season, so the simple fact that Feely had an incredibly accurate year is not cause enough to simply hand him a roster spot. Kickoff distance is where Feely really struggled, and unlike field goal percentage, kickoff distance is one of the most consistent statistics in football. He averaged a pathetic 57.8 yards per kickoff and kicked only 8 touchbacks.
However, some part of that very low average can be attributed to Cam Cameron's foolish decisions to squib kick so often and in situations that did not dictate such measures. From the camp reports, Feely is kicking farther and landing more touchbacks than last season, and more than his competitor, so it still seems like Feely is the correct choice. Besides, if it turns out that Feely's kickoff woes can no longer be tolerated during the season, it's likely that Dan Carpenter would still be around. The same cannot be said for Feely if he were to be cut and Carpenter were to struggle.
Dan Carpenter Carpenter is getting a fair chance to compete with Feely for the kicking job in training camp, and while he is showing just as much accuracy as Feely, his kickoff distances are falling shorter than Feely's. Given that Feely is not a very good kickoff man, that doesn't speak well of Carpenter's ability to kickoff deep.
Brandon Fields Punter is really the only position on the Dolphins that isn't being contested in training camp. Parcells and Ireland seemingly liked Fields from the moment they took over the team, and it's understandable why. Fields has an absolutely huge leg, and he's capable of booming his punts with the best of them. The problem is his consistency. He mixed in those boomers with several shanks last year, and that was precisely the scouting report on him coming out of college. Still, he played at a league average level in his rookie season, and that's not bad. He should improve on his consistency at least a little bit this year. Fields also has experience kicking off, and it would be great to see him take over the kickoff duties from Feely, since his huge leg seems more suitable for the role. Hopefully, the coaching staff will give him the opportunity to win that role during training camp.
John Denney Denney is the team's long-snapper. You can judge this position by how often you hear the player's name throughout the season. Since they are only called out when they mess up, the less you hear the guy's name, the better he's playing. By that measurement, Denney's been pretty good and I can't remember any snap that he's totally botched.Like they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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Here's my predicted depth chart: K - Jay Feely P - Brandon Fields LS - John Denney
Next up in the series of training camp positional previews are the safeties.
What to expect: Miami's group of safeties dropped like flies last season, with ligaments snapping seemingly every game. Losing Yeremiah Bell for the season in the first game immediately set things off on the wrong foot, and there was little playmaking to be seen from the backups. However, given all the injuries, Miami's secondary still ranked 11th best against opposing tight ends and 13th against opposing running backs. The safeties deserve some credit for that. Their success this year will depend largely upon staying healthy and improving their deep coverage against wide receivers.
Here's a closer look at the individual safeties currently on the roster and what can be expected of them this coming season:
Yeremiah Bell Everyone had high hopes for Bell entering last season, as he was coming off a healthy 2006 in which he flashed consistent big play ability. Even though he wasn't a starter from the beginning of the season that year, Bell still managed to record 68 tackles, 2 sacks, 13 PD, 3 FF, and 2 FR. It was almost a given that Bell would be involved in some kind of game-changing play at least once a game. All that promise was derailed in the very first game last season, when Bell tore his Achilles tendon. He'll be back in the starting lineup from week one again this year, and it's anyone's guess as to how long he'll stay healthy. The Dallas Cowboys' teams of the past few years are well known for their impeccable health, so there is some hope that Miami will be a healthier team overall this year. Everyone's waiting to see what Bell can do if he starts for a whole year. Maybe 2008 is that year.
Jason Allen Jason Allen has, in general, been a bust in his first two seasons, but he finally showed a glimpse of promise during the second half of last season when he was given the opportunity to start. He's still awful against the run and he made too many mistakes in deep coverage, a definite no-no for the free safety. On the other hand, he did come up with a few big plays in pass defense. He should get the opportunity to start from week one, but he needs to improve his success rate (a disappointing 43%) and his Adjusted Pass Yards allowed (12.3, among the very worst in the league). We all know about his phenomenal physical talents, but he has still not translated that into the kind of success he's capable of on the field. Another year of experience and a new coaching staff should help somewhat. This year will go a long way towards determining whether Jason Allen will have a future with the Dolphins.
Renaldo Hill Hill is another safety recovering from surgery, as he tore his ACL in October. Allen should supplant Hill as the starting FS, but if he falters, Hill is an adequate replacement. He's more suited to being a nickel/dimeback at this point in his career, but he still offers suitable run/pass defense numbers.
Keith Davis Davis is a special teams stud, and he'll make the team simply for that reason. He needs to prove he can consistently play well on defense if he wants to earn any time in the backfield rotation.
Chris Crocker Crocker has tons of experience from his time in Atlanta, and his deep coverage abilities are solid. He's a liability in run defense, but he would make a good dimeback in obvious passing situations. Last season he had 10 passes defensed and 3 INTs.
Courtney Bryan Bryan, an undrafted rookie free agent last year, got a lot more playing time than he was suited for last season with all of the injuries. It's admirable that he's made it through the regime change, but I'm not sure he has enough talent to make the final roster.
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Here's my predicted depth chart: SS - Yeremiah Bell FS - Jason Allen
Backups: 1. Renaldo Hill 2. Keith Davis 3. Chris Crocker
Training camp battle to watch: Allen vs. Hill for the starting FS spot.
The final segment of the training camp positional previews looks at the specialists. Tomorrow, I'll go back through the previews and compile my predicted depth charts to see what my predicted 53-man roster will look like (trimming or adding players as necessary).
Next up in the series of training camp positional previews are the safeties.