Dolphins’ defense not only beleaguered, but shallow

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, October 04, 2007  |  Comments( 10 )

Miami Dolphins
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Let's imagine, for a moment, that Miami Dolphins coach Cam Cameron decided that his first-string defense couldn't possibly get any worse than it played last Sunday in a 35-17 loss to Oakland.

There was the embarrassing spectacle of Daunte Culpepper, the quarterback the Dolphins eased out the door earlier this year, accounting for five Raider touchdowns. There was Justin Fargas, never before confused with LaDainian Tomlinson, rushing for 100 yards -- in the fourth quarter. There was the fact that Oakland threw only 12 passes, completed five, and won by 18 points.

So just for the sake of argument, suppose Cameron benched his entire first string and inserted the backups. Based on a quick perusal of the depth chart listed on the Dolphins' Web site, things would only get worse.

At one defensive end, you'd have Chase Page, a second-year man out of North Carolina who was waived by the Chargers before the season and never got into a game as a rookie. The other end would be Rob Ninkovich, a good player with bad knees. At tackle would be Rodrique Wright from Texas, a rookie for all practical purposes because he missed last season with an injury (incidentally, he'll be filling in for Vonnie Holliday this week). The nose tackle would be Paul Soliai, a 344-pound true rookie from Utah.

Linebackers? Forget, for the moment, that Zach Thomas is coming back soon, perhaps this week against Houston. Or that Channing Crowder, still limping badly, probably won't play. Without Thomas and Channing, the Dolphins are left with seventh-year man Derrick Pope (one tackle coming into the Oakland game, although he broke out with eight against the Raiders), rookie Abraham Wright (Colorado) and rookie Edmond Miles (Iowa).

It's a little better in the secondary, with Andre' Goodman and Jason Allen with some experience at the corners, Travares Tillman a seasoned backup to Donovan Darius at one safety spot. If the second string were inserted en masse, however, the other safety position would be manned by seldom-used Bears castoff Cameron Worrell (in reality, either Tillman or Daniels would probably be moved over there).

That's four rookies, two other defenders seeing their first NFL action, and a couple of retreads backing up a No. 1 defense that was flattened by the Oakland running game. It sounds very much like an NFL Europa team.

How does that happen, exactly? It's hard to blame the newcomers, because they're still finding their way, but don't most credible NFL teams go at least two deep?

This could have had something to do with Justin Fargas turning into a superstar in the fourth quarter last Sunday. With no one to replace the wounded and Trent Green seemingly shooting himself in the foot on almost every possession, the defense was probably just tired.

At this point, so are Miami's fans.
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CommentsComments: 10  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Raider Revenge		07:43 AM
10/04/2007
DOLPHINS FANS GET UGLY: A group of Dolphins fans took out their anger on the Raiders for manhandling their team by pelting the...
No.2
WHAT???		10:20 AM
10/04/2007
Dude, where did you find this story? I haven't heard anything about this and I live in Miami. I am going to look for this story...
No.3
Pete		10:47 AM
10/04/2007
Look man, where did you read this? That would have been a HUGE news story if that really happened. It would have been all over...
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