Nothing comes for free at wideout in Miami

By Adam Sweeney  |   Thursday, February 26, 2009  |  Comments( 2 )

Miami Dolphins
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Maybe we should call the man Bill "Shakespeare" Parcells, because the scare many of us had about Miami Dolphins free agents leaving could have been a great scene in "Much Ado about Nothing." With Yeremiah Bell, Andre Goodman and Renaldo Hill the only remaining unsigned Dolphins as free agency approaches, Miami has to be pleased about where it stands. It does represent a bit of a concern that the three floaters of the group are all in the secondary, but we bet that will get fixed sooner than later.

Parcells, a draft guru, will have his eyes on filling spots with the picks that he has this April. That's just how he does things, and who can blame him? The man does have a pretty track record.

There is a bit of a dispute among the Realfootball365 brethren about the importance of filling the wide receiver position. Jeff Dickinson, a colleague who always makes great points, argued Tuesday that there is no need to panic about the lack of a playmaking wideout in Miami. I beg to differ.

Sure, the 2003, '04 and '05 Super Bowl champions all had leading receivers with fewer than 1,000 yards receiving on the season. They also had stud quarterbacks and defenses that could give them extra possessions. Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger are superior quarterbacks to Chad Pennington, without question.

We can talk all we want about how little the wide receivers did for those three teams, but let's take a closer look at the stats, shall we?

The 2003 Patriots had the worst offense of the three, but they were supported by a defense that gave up only 14.9 points a game. That's sick. The suffocating 'D' gave the Pats an advantage of seven points a game.

The 2004 Patriots averaged 27.4 points a game on offense. They also ran for 133 yards a game, something the Dolphins can't do currently with their offensive line. Yes, the Dolphins averaged 118 a game this past season, but every yard is critical -- especially when your defense is middle of the pack in the league. The Patriot defense in 2004 was superb, only giving up 16 points a game.

The '05 Steelers had the fourth-best defense in the game, only allowing 16.1 points per game. Their offense ran for 138 yards a week.

So, when you examine the numbers a bit closer, it is obvious why those Super Bowl teams could get away with having no 1,000-yard receiver. Before we dog all the receivers on those squads, let's not forget that Hines Ward is arguably a Hall of Famer. Thus, to put him in the argument based on stats is a bit deceptive. In addition his pass catching, Ward is a phenomenal blocker and leader. Miami certainly doesn't have a player of his caliber.

One has to admire Pennington's resilience and ability to put up relatively big numbers, but he and the offense were exposed in the playoffs. The Ravens put the Dolphins down like Old Yeller. So how do you combat a blitz-happy team? One way is to key on slant patterns. The Dolphins can do that to a certain degree, but no team is exactly scared of Ted Ginn Jr. and friends yet. The other way is to challenge the opponent deep. There simply is no one on the squad who can do that, though? Dolphins fans, wouldn't you kill for a guy like Wes Welker right now to punish aggressive defenses?

Free agents Laveranues Coles and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, the latter being a legit No. 1 receiver, would be upgrades. Coles, being close friends with Pennington from their days with the Jets, is a realistic option for the Dolphins. Houshmandzadeh, however, might not be.

In the end, the need at receiver must be addressed. Don't be surprised if Parcells takes the draft route.
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About Adam Sweeney

Adam Sweeney spent 4 years as an opinions and arts & entertainment columnist with the Lone Star Lutheran, also working with Sports Illustrated.com. Along with his work on Realfootball 365 he currently is a contributor for Film School Rejects, SLAM Online, Talkhoops.net, and C-Heads Magazine.
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