Chad O'Shea Fired as OC and they rehire Chan Gailey to replace him (edited)

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

but let's at least see it before we toss it.

That is my criticism of them moving on from O'Shea. 

You implement a system you know is complex and takes awhile to get to work.  The offense struggles at the beginning of the season but outplays the #1 defense in the league at the end of the season.

The decision to replace O'Shea was obviously made before the Patriots game, but the Patriots game proved that it worked in the long term.   

[Pappy13]

It was working with Fitzpatrick as the QB, obviously the long term plan doesn't include Fitzpatrick, in fact the plan is to have a young QB either next year or the year after. Makes sense to make that switch now to give your young QB's a better chance at competing for the QB position even if it doesn't necessarily help you win games next year. It's not about winning games at this point, it's about establishing an identity with a core group of young guys and having some consistency going forward.

[fyo]

That is my criticism of them moving on from O'Shea. 

You implement a system you know is complex and takes awhile to get to work.  The offense struggles at the beginning of the season but outplays the #1 defense in the league at the end of the season.

The decision to replace O'Shea was obviously made before the Patriots game, but the Patriots game proved that it worked in the long term.   

What we don't know is all the stuff behind the scenes. How did O'Shea and Flores get along? What direction did O'Shea want to pull the team in? How was his work going with the players, particularly the young players?

One forward-looking criticism of this team is that very few young guys stepped up. When you get rid of as many vets as the Dolphins did, you hope your young guys step up and make their presence felt. With a few exceptions, that just didn't happen. The remaining vets really stepped it up -- Parker being the prime example (as well as Fitz), but even guys like Gesicki and Eric Rowe.

None of the young receivers, running backs, or linemen showed much potential. Ford had a couple of good plays on offense, but considering the dearth of receiving targets and the willingness of Fitz to throw the ball, it was still disappointing IMHO. That young first round quarterback we picked up didn't exactly light the world on fire, either.

Things looked a bit better on the defensive side of the ball, with Needham looking like he could possibly develop into a decent starter, Steven Parker looked solid to quite good at linebacker, Wilkins (our first round DT) looked reasonable, and so on.

Anyway, point being that there's a lot we don't know and what we do know about the development of our young offensive talent has looked pretty bad.

[CF DolFan]

I know things are cyclical in the NFL but currently 6 of the top 9 rushing teams in the NFL are still in the playoffs. Hard to ignore the importance of a running game.

[fyo]

I know things are cyclical in the NFL but currently 6 of the top 9 rushing teams in the NFL are still in the playoffs. Hard to ignore the importance of a running game.

Yeah, it really does seem like the massive shift to less-massive (but much faster) linebackers has enabled the running game to make a comeback. There also seems to be a bit of a shift (back) to bigger / heavier running backs. Fullbacks seem to have made a bit of a comeback as well.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Yeah, it really does seem like the massive shift to less-massive (but much faster) linebackers has enabled the running game to make a comeback. There also seems to be a bit of a shift (back) to bigger / heavier running backs. Fullbacks seem to have made a bit of a comeback as well.

I didn't check the stats but I would be surprised if those 6 teams don't have very good O-Lines.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I didn't check the stats but I would be surprised if those 6 teams don't have very good O-Lines.

Without checking the stats I am going to postulate that asa general trend the 8 remaining teams on average have better than league average olines, dlines, qbs, kickers, punt returners etc.

[Pappy13]

Anyway, point being that there's a lot we don't know and what we do know about the development of our young offensive talent has looked pretty bad.

The exception would be Preston Williams. He looked terrific before he got hurt.

[Pappy13]

I didn't check the stats but I would be surprised if those 6 teams don't have very good O-Lines.

And good defenses. It's still and always has been a TEAM game. People forget that so often which is the reason that I ABSOLUTELY HATE that we talk about how many SuperBowls a QB won like it's a real stat. It's not.

[CF DolFan]

Derrick Henry just bought new Rolexes for his O-line after the playoff win against the Patriots. He previously bought them custom diamond necklaces when he rushed for over 230 yards as well. Here's a guy who knows the value of his unsung teammates.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Derrick Henry just bought new Rolexes for his O-line after the playoff win against the Patriots. He previously bought them custom diamond necklaces when he rushed for over 230 yards as well. Here's a guy who knows the value of his unsung teammates.

Absolutely. Henry rushes for 700 yards behind our O-Line. On an eerie note, OJ Simpson was one of the biggest proponents for showing love to his blockers. Talked about them all the time in interviews and even had them for a lot of his interviews.