Saban will be Judged yet Again on Sunday
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins will take the field on Sunday against the Houston Texans, a team they have yet to beat…they have played them twice. Roderique Wright will also be taking the field on Sunday, starting for the injured Vonnie Holliday. Wright will start his first game after surgery 17 months ago. His start brings former Phins coach Nick Saban back into the spotlight where once again a draft pick of his will be judged, as will Saban.
This year it is only fair to be judging the 2004 draft in its entirety. Vernon Carey the first and 4th round pick is good, but is not great. His move to LT this year is proving to be a good move with each week as he gets better, but realistically, he should be a far better lineman than he has become.
Rex Hadnot, taken in the 6th is on the end of his line and he very well may be seeing the final year of his tenure in Miami if he does not improve significantly. Right now, it seems as though Hadnot is on the field due to a lack of starting talent. He served as a Center last year, but immediately lost that spot to a rookie…Samson Satele.
Tony Bua, 4th round CB Will Poole, and Tony Pape are not on the team. LB Derrick Pope who was drafted in the 7th round is still backing up the OLB spot held by Channing Crowder.
If we are to judge the 2004 draft, then the grade out must be considered a “D” if for no other reason they managed a good starting offensive lineman and another one who is trying to become “O.k.” Pope is on the roster and contributes as a back-up, but realistically this draft could have been much more.
Still, with a team desperate for starting caliber players and impact players, fans do not care where they come from anymore. Speilman? We will take it. Saban? We will take it. Cameron/Mueller? We will take it. So this weekend, we get to judge Wright. Wright was considered a steal by media pundits and fans alike. He was put on the IR list almost immediately and had surgery performed on his shoulder. Finally, he is ready to show what he has.
This weekend, Nick Saban will be judged again and one of his draft picks will be on the front of everyones minds. The Dolphins must stop the run, and Wright will be one of the anchors to do it. The micro-scope will be zoomed in a bit more.
A solid outing by Wright could steer the Phins to a close game and a possible win, a poor performance by Wright and it is safe to assume that the Texans will be running all over the Phins once proud defense. Wright may not deserve the blame considering his NFL experience, but on an 0-4 teams, fans really don’t care…they are done with excuses.