Phins Phocus answers questions from Total Titans

Written by Andrew Strickert on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 22:11.

We thank Daniel Eliesen of Phins Phocus for joining us in this week's question and answer exchange with a blogger from the other side. My answers to his questions are here. Following are his answers to my questions.

Total Titans: After eight games, what can you tell us about Ryan Tannehill? Can he be the franchise quarterback the Dolphins have been looking for since Dan Marino retired? What are his strengths and weaknesses so far?

Phins Phocus: I feel as a Dolphins fan it would be going into very dangerous waters even mentioning Tannehill's name in the same sentence as Dan Marino but I will say after 8 games his debut has been a success. Tannehill has looked rock solid early as he has been able to keep up with the game speed of the NFL and have success early in his career. Tannehill always had an advantage over other rookies knowing the Dolphins offense before even stepping into the door which definitely has been part of the reason of his early success. Tannehill has been poised, cool and confident and it's led to a 4-4 record.

A major strength for Ryan has been his ability to read coverages and help get his people in place. Tannehill has also been very solid against the blitz. A weakness has been that he has struggled at times with tipped passes, this happen to him at college as well and it's something he is going to need to work on.

TT: What have opposing offenses tried to do against the Dolphins defense this year? What have they been most successful at? What would you do if you were the Titans offensive coordinator?

PP: Well, up until last week the Dolphins D has been amazing, they had one of the top run d's in the league and their secondary has been over achieving. Andrew Luck exposed the Phins secondary last week and I expect the Titans to do the same. The Dolphins have slightly struggled with quick running backs which could mean a decent day for Chris Johnson but the Dolphins defensive front is no joke. The Titans would be wise to attack the weak dolphins secondary.

TT: How have opponents tried to defend the Dophins this year and what has worked best for them? What would you do if you were the Titans defensive coordinator?

PP: Early on the Dolphins faced a lot of blitzes which is common against a rookie QB, However like I mentioned early Ryan has been successful against the blitz. My approach would be to make the Dolphins one dimensional and don't let them install their gameplan.

TT: Most people didn't expect the Dolphins to do much this year. They were 6-10 last season, have a rookie coach and rookie quarterback, yet they're 4-4 and in playoff contention. How have they done it? What's the reason or reasons for the quick success?

PP: Solid coaching, new culture and better QB play. It's that simple.

TT: If there's anything I haven't asked you that you'd like to answer, or if there's something else about the Dolphins you'd like for Titans fans to know, here's your chance. Please also feel free to make a prediction here - who wins and why?

PP: Dolphins 27 Titans 17 - I think the Dolphins are the better coached team right now, the Dolphins play as a team and can play on both sides of the field, I have yet to see a complete game from the Titans this year.

Thanks again to Daniel for joining us this week and be sure to check out Phins Phocus for more Miami Dolphins content and opinion.

2 comments

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Bfrench47

Hey guys.I've commented before how much I enjoy your guys work. Being a Tennessee Oiler fan from back in the day, and not having the NFL ticket, you guys are my source for TItan info the past few years. And I have a couple questions, that to be honest don't have a thing to do about the Dolphns Titans game.

First, as I watch the Jaguars - Colts game a question I've had for a while came to mind. Is it just me or do the Titans never go after big or just semi relevant names and if we do we rarely use them if at all. Watching Donnie Avery play this year, I've been impressed. I know he isn't a awesome playmaker, but he's better than Hawkins, Williams, and Mariani. And he's not even on the team anymore, while the three previously mentioned are? The other example being Randy Moss. I know he wasn't the Randy Moss of old, but surely he could have cracked the starting lineup. I really like Kenny Britt and Nate Washington, but c'mon he could have started somewhere. Do you share my concern that their has to be something going on behind the scenes?

My second being, is there any way Gray returns as DC next year? I feel as Titans fan we have always excepted having a OK offensive, and prided ourself on our awesome defensive. Now, not only have we lost a step, but we're probably the worst D in the league. How could we have fallen so far? Do we have any plans to get this team back on track that makes any sense to us fans?

Thanks guys.

ThomasGower

@Bfrench47 Thanks for the comment.

The Titans tried to sign Avery, but he chose to sign with the Colts instead. He's starting there, and he wouldn't have started in Tennessee with Britt and Washington. As to Moss, I wrote about his play in far too much detail after the end of the 2010 season. He spent 2011 out of football because his 2010 level of performance didn't merit a roster spot-you need a really good and deep team to keep a fourth receiver who doesn't play special teams.

Unless the defense gets better the rest of this year, I would think Gray would be looking for another job. Then again, you never know. Things are unlikely to change much the rest of this year. My view is that defense is a lot about talent, and the Titans have no premium defensive players; no, paying non-premium players like they're premium players does not make them premium players. Acquiring multiple premium players on one side of the ball is typically, though not always, a multi-season process.

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