Porter would be the biggest loser if Taylor rejoins Dolphins

By Hugo Guzman  |   Sunday, March 29, 2009  |  Comments( 12 )

Miami Dolphins
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The rumor and innuendo surrounding free-agent pass rusher Jason Taylor is beginning to hit a fever pitch in South Florida. Local media pundits waxing poetic, and fans from near and far have a plethora of differing opinions. Yours truly has a rather simplistic take on the situation, and in a sense, it has little to do with Taylor -- the all-time great Dolphin whom they traded to Washington last offseason, but was released earlier this year.

However, it has a whole lot to do with Joey Porter.

Porter is coming off a career year in which he bagged 17.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. That's no small statement considering Porter's penchant for turning in Pro Bowl campaigns coupled with his lackluster performance in 2007. Granted, Porter's 2007 campaign was mired by a nagging early season knee ailment, but it was still fairly clear that Taylor's departure paved the way for Porter's resurgence as a pass rusher. Mind you, this has little to do with intangibles relating to team leadership or teamwork in general. It's much easier than that. Simply put, when Taylor left, Porter was able to return to his natural position and focus on the one thing that he does extremely well: rush the quarterback.

If Taylor were to return, it would likely force Porter back into some sort of hybrid or shared role. And while there's a chance that Taylor would be willing to occupy the strongside linebacker position, leaving Porter on the weak side to continue his unmitigated assault on the quarterback, that scenario seems unlikely.

If this writer is correct in assuming that Taylor's return would result in a role change for Porter, then it's probably best to let Jason Taylor pass on by, even if it means that he'll end up with the hated New England Patriots. Even an ugly scenario such as that would be better than attempting to fix something that's not broken at the weakside linebacker position in Miami.
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About Hugo Guzman

Co-founder of RealFootball365.com. Born in Argentina, of Dominican descent, living in Hoboken, but from Miami through and ...
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