Shake Up At WR Puts Ginn Behind Hagan
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins are in state of flux and it isn’t good. Last week, Ernest Wilford was inactive which allowed the Monday morning QB’s to rip the decision since he was not the target on the final play of the Dolphins first game. Derek Hagan who a week before was demoted in favor of Greg Camarillo as the number 2 WR is now running as the number 1 WR putting Ted Ginn as the 2nd team WR. What the hell is going on in Miami?
I don’t think there is anyone in the world right now who looks at Miami and thinks this receiving corp is good. In fact, while many felt this could be a strong group just before training camp, the reality of the situation came to light when pass after pass after pass was dropped by receivers. Ironically, the only two receivers who really caught everything was rookie Davone Bess who still holds the slot position and Anthony Armstrong who is on the practice squad.
Derek Hagan’s promotion is going to further cause the screamers to yell even louder about the Ted Ginn situation, and let me be the first to say that it will only spark demands for a trade by some fans. While I can say with some degree of confidence that if the Dolphins go into Arizona with Hagan as number 1, Camarillo as number 2, Bess at 3, and Ginn somewhere in there as a 4th, the Dolphins will not be lining up like that the following week against NE.
When the Dolphins entered this season they did so with the intention on rebuilding the franchise inside out. Focusing on both sides of the line of scrimmage and middle. RB’s and LB’s. Next year it expected that the team will work outside in, focusing on the secondary and wide-outs. They have to get through this year first and the struggle will be trying not to make a move before the trade deadline.
Frankly, the Dolphins have no tradable commodity outside of say Ted Ginn who would likely do well in Baltimore with Cam Cameron. While I am by no means saying or suggesting we should explore any trade of Ginn, the fact is that outside of our draft picks, there is no tradable commodity that is expendable. I’ll explain.
Our two best defenders, on paper are Channing Crowder and Vonnie Holiday. Holiday
is in his 30’s which means he has little trade value and Crowder is in a contract year and has yet to prove he has value beyond this season the Dolphins let alone someone else in a trade.
On the offensive side of the ball, Vernon Carey is the only one that has any value on the line but the Dolphins are so thin at that position that Carey is a nescessity and not a luxury. In addition, rarely if ever do lineman get traded period, let alone in the middle of a season. Runningback is probably
the best position the Dolphins have right now with both Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown. While Williams has little or no value in a trade due to his previous issues, Ronnie Brown is hanging on the hopes of a full recovery from an ACL injury last year. While he looked good, it is still too early to risk a trade and if you did, where would the value in that trade be for a WR which is what you need anyways?
The fact is that there are only a few WR’s out there now that at crunch time could be available VIA trade. The obvious name is Anquan Boldin, but the Cardinals will not let him leave for a 2nd round pick and a player. Outside of the Boldin? Nothing to get you all excited as most WR’s come with their own baggage and question marks which is exactly what Miami got with Ernest Wilford.
Wilford is not expected to be inactive this week as the Dolphins try and find a way to use him on Special Teams to keep him involved. The issue at hand for HC Tony Sparano is keeping guys active that will only contribute single digit play counts. Wilford doesn’t play special teams and if not for his 6 million dollar contract, would have been cut by now.
So the Dolphins are now the movers and shakers of the NFL WR’s. For now Hagan is in, Ginn is out, Camarillo and Bess are staying put. Ginn has the speed but Pennington doesn’t have that type of arm strength to get the ball down the field to him. What started off a week ago as a promising season, is slowly starting to unwind. Is this the beginning of more confusion or simple changes to find the right fit? One thing is for certain, even the Tuna can’t waive a magic wand and fix this mess. Not this year anyways.