WEEK 1 DETROIT at MIAMI by Nolan Dalla

[MadJack]

Dolphins by 7

Detroit is caught in much the same dilemma as the Falcons last season -- their quarterback of the future is too young and inexperienced to start his rookie season. Second year man, MacMahon, is now at the top of the Lions depth-chart -- with Batch now gone. He looked very good at times late in the season (best game versus Tampa), but he has only a few more games under his belt than NFL rookie, and top draft pick Joey Harrington. If MacMahon gets the start (and I expect he will) this has to be a psychological disadvantage, with teammates well aware the future of the franchise is holding a clipboard and the sidelines. Harrington could start if MacMahon falters in pre-season. MacMahon has also been criticized for a poor attitude, according to last week's Sporting News (not always the most reliable source, but it should be noted). It's hard to say if Lions players believe in Marty Mohrinweg's system. If Lions were playing anyone else, I would lay the big chalk, but Miami is the one team I don't have much confidence in as a home favorite. Jay Fielder should be a backup, not a starter. Fortunately for Miami, former offensive coordinator Chan "I don't have a clue" Gailey departed for college ball. Perhaps a high school team will be the next to call. I'm also wary of the Dolphins weak pass secondary -- which got burned deep so many times last season that they resembled a Colorado forest fire. Line is right where it should be at Miami -7. This appears to be a pass unless Harrington starts -- in which case I'll lay the chalk and watch the rookie choke in his first NFL game.

 

[IE]

6/27/2002
Miami Dolphins - Chuck Miller


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The Dolphins have completed their last mini-camp of the summer. With no pads it is hard to tell how players are going to pan out.

QB- Jay Fiedler will be the starter back-up by Ray Lucas. Miami traded Cabe McKnown to the 49ers but they have 2 undrafted FA competing for the third spot. Zak Kustok (Northwestern) and Tim Levcik (Robert Morris) are the two undrafted rookies. They have both looked good in the mini-camps which is one reason McKnown was let go. The other reason Mcknown was let go was that the coached felt with 5 QBs they would not be able to give everyone an equal opportunity to make the team.

RB- Ricky Williams has fit in nicely with the team. With out pads on Williams style of running does not show but he has been catching the ball well. Travis Minor will probably be the one to give ricky a breather but 7 round pick Leonard henry (East Carolina) has looked good. Robert Edwards will also be given a chance to prove he can come back from his injury.

FB- Rob Konrad is very excited to get into training camp and be a part of the offense. Will Norv Turner use Konrad the way he should be used? I think Konrad will have a good year but I wouldn't draft him as a starter on you fantasy team. He may be a good choice for your last running back if you are in a big league. Deon Dyer is also excited about being able to touch the ball but he just wants to help out any way he can.

WR- It looks like Chris Chambers will be a starter and James Mcknight and Orande Gadsden will battle for the other spot. Jeff Ogden and Dedric Ward will be the 4 and 5 WR. With a bunch of players fighting it out for a roster spot. Chambers is still rehabbing his ankle but should be ready to go by training camp.

TE- Jed Weaver was the best receiving TE last year and probably will be again this year. He has the speed OC Turner likes from his TE. Don't count out Alonzo Mayes or rookie Randy McMichael (Georgia) both are very capable of unseating Weaver.

OL- were Miami needed the most help in the off-season. Leon Searcy and Jamie Nails ( gotta love that name for an OL) came via FA and rookie Seth McKinney (Texas A&M) was drafted. I am hoping Searcy can get back to top form but if not it looks like the line-up will be T Brent Smith and Todd Wade, G Mark Dixon and Todd Perry and C Tim Ruddy.

DL- With the additions of DT Larry Chester and DE Rob Burnett this unit looks solid. Darryl Gardner will be asked to play both DE and DT. Gardner will play mostly play DE and slide to DT on passing situations. Miami rotates the DL most of the game but the main 5 will probably be DE Jason Taylor and Darryl Gardner DT Tim Bowens and Larry Chester. Rotating in at DE will be Burnett, David Bowens and Adewale Ogunleye DT will be Ernest Grant and Jermain Haley.

LB- This position is set as far as starters go but they only have one solid back-up in Tommy Hendricks. The Starters will be Zach Thomas Morlon Greenwood and Derrick Rodgers. Hendricks can play both Middle and weak side LB. Scott Galyon and twan Russell will be back-up but watch out for undrafted rookie Justin Seaverns who looks like he could make the team.

CB- Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain will man the corners again. Jamar Fletcher is over his injury and should be a solid back-up and third CB. Rookie Omare lowe has looked good and Miami is talking to Terrell Buckley.

S- Brock Marion will start at free safety and Arturo Freeman will be the strong safety as of right now. Miami has 3 other good safeties that I know of the others on the roster i do not know. Shawn Wooden, Trent Gamble and Scott McGarrahan could end up winning the strong safety spot.

Looking at my Crystal Ball Miami needs a few things to happen in order to make it deeper into the playoffs. First the OL must improve if Ricky is going to help this team out. Yes Ricky can get 2 yards on his own but after 3 downs thats only 6 yards and you are still punting. Second Miami can only handle 1 LB getting hurt if more than one gets hurt the defense will suffer. The third and final thing Miami needs is for Jay Fiedler not to have games were he throws 2 or 3 interceptions. If these three things happen Miami could contend for the Super Bowl.

 

[IE]

Detroit Lions - James Hintz


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With the Red Wings winning the Stanley Cup, there hasn?t been a lot of Lions talk yet around here, but there are still some things going on. Peter King (CNN/SI) wrote an article recently where he ranked all the NFL teams from 1 to 32 on the quality of their offseasons, and he put Detroit at 26, saying:

?Overpaid Az Hakim, who is not an every-down receiver, and left themselves lighter by $8.75 million on the cap next year by cutting Herman Moore and Charlie Batch. I have no idea how this team is going to solve its long-term problems.?

Seeing as how I enjoy ripping the Lions when I fell like they deserve it, I?d have to agree with King. It?s been well over a year and I?m still not sure if Matt Millen and Marty Mornhinweg know what they are doing. Before cutting Batch and Moore, the Lions only had $174,000 available under the cap.

QB: As expected, Charlie Batch was released for a savings of $2 million this year, but a hit of about $5 million next year. He ended up signing a 1-year deal with Pittsburgh to backup Kordell Stewart and will try to find a starting job next year. Meanwhile, the Lions starting job still belongs to Mike McMahon, but only until they can turn things over to the long term answer, Joey Harrington. No real word on Harrington?s contract negotiations yet, but I can?t see a long holdout here because he is smart enough to know that he needs to be in on time to continue the learning process that started in minicamp. Scott Dreisbach will be in camp as the 4th QB but he didn?t exactly light things up in NFL Europe so I doubt he will make the team. Ty Detmer is the #3 QB.

RB: It almost went right down to the wire but the Lions did re-work the contract of RB James Stewart. I don?t think they had much choice because there aren?t really any readily available replacements. So everyone wins here and I see Stewart as a reliable workhorse type of RB again this year. Remember this guy is not a breakaway threat yet averaged almost 5 yards per carry last year. You can keep the chains moving with Stewart and last year he proved he can catch passes as well which you must do in this offense. So far the whispers regarding 7th round pick Luke Staley of BYU have been positive as he could end up as a third down back. James Mungro from Syracuse was an undrafted free agent who might have a shot to beat out veteran Lamont Warren or Aveion Cason for a roster spot. One other note is that Stephen Trejo who played some TE last year has been shifted beck to FB and will be Cory Schlesinger?s backup.

WR/TE: I can?t wait for preseason to see how Az Hakim and Bill Schroeder will perform in this offense. It seems others around the league aren?t that imnpressed with Detroit bringing these guys in, and I?m worried they might be right. Hakim is probably best as a slot/3rd WR, and Schroeder still has that ?track star playing football? reputation. They got the big money deals though so they?ll be projected as the starters to try to get some return on the investment. Germane Crowell figures to rotate in as the 3rd WR, which means Hakim could still see a lot of action in the slot in the 3 WR formations. Crowell is still a concern with the 2 bad knees, and might start the year on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list. Larry Foster, Scotty Anderson, and return specialist Desmond Howard fill out the depth chart here. Herman Moore was cut, and has not yet signed with any team. He will take up $4 million on Detroit?s cap next year while he is likely retired. No word on Bert Emanuel so I guess he will only be resigned in case of an emergency. Mikhael Ricks is still your best bet to start at TE as Mornhinweg is hoping for big things from Ricks. Remember David Sloan has gone to the Saints and it sounds like the Saints are happy with Sloan so far. In summary, lots of question marks here.

Defense: During minicamp the Lions were impressed with what they saw from 3rd round pick Andre Goodman of South Carolina. He might have to start because of the uncertainty with Terry Fair (foot injury) so he better be good. Fair, like Crowell, might start camp on the PUP list. I still think CB will be the biggest problem on this team. DT Luther Elliss restructured his contract to help open up some cap room which will be needed to sign the draft picks. LB Brian Williams quietly re-signed and believe it or not he could start at OLB if he can beat out Jeff Gooch. If you need a sleeper in an individual defensive players league Williams is a guy who can give you a lot of tackles. Barrett Green and Chris Claiborne are locked in as the other starters at LB but depth is a concern. I still like the defensive line as it figures to be one of the team?s stongest units again this year if they stay healthy.

Training camp begins on July 22 with rookies reporting on that date, veterans by July 26. The first preseason game is at Baltimore on August 9th. Construction on Ford Field is going well with the first preseason home game on August 24th against Batch and the Steelers.

 

[djv]

Det receivers will hurt the team. Det will play deep ball and with this type receiver should. But the other teams will catch on fast. Hakim may not last season.

 

[daboyz#22]

-- McMahon to Start -- from FFMastermind.com


PFW's Howard Balzer reports Detroit Lions QB Mike McMahon is expected to start opening day.