Why Adam Gase is wrong about Miami Dolphins Jordan Phillips
Sometimes seeing something misrepresented can go by the wayside. But when it starts getting exacerbated it’s time to sound off.
More from Dolphins News
- 4 offensive tackles Miami Dolphins could draft at 51
- Miami Dolphins don’t need CB help but these 5 could be available at 51
- 4 players that could replace Wilkins if Miami Dolphins don’t re-sign him
- Miami Dolphins have a starting point with Wilkins after Simmons deal
- The Miami Dolphins should not take a running back in the draft
Adam Gase is a godsend to the Miami Dolphins and deserves the benefit of the doubt. But when something that he stated seems out-of-order then gets misconstrued as fact, well it leads to this story.
The main reason is Jordan Phillips averaged 39 snaps on defense not 25. If you see this in media reports refer to the stats yourself to see otherwise.
Jordan Phillips 2016 Defensive snaps
Click here to go to the webpage of above chart at pro-football-reference.com.
It doesn’t show the playoff game but if you add the 33 snaps from it the average still works out to 39. That is if I operated the calculator properly (math is not my strong suit) But a quick look at the snap chart for his 2016 season shows not one game below 25 snaps rendering it impossible to have that figure as an average.
Maybe it was just an arbitrary number that coach Gase threw out. Maybe the new Defensive coach Matt Burke likes Phillips and covered fudge on the numbers. But to take it as factual is wrong. After spending the last season recapping games and looking at snap counts which was part of the posses this stood out to me immediately after he made the statement of him needing more than 25 snaps.
If the 39 snaps for this last season is accurate it is already close to the fuller time role Gase might have in mind for him with 45 to 50 snaps. He started 11 games and just about showed what one can expect from him. Giving him 6 – 11 more snaps a game should not be very significant.
Jordan Phillips 2016 season
2016 comparison to Earl Mitchell
Phillips started six more games than Mitchell gaining him 3 more solo tackles and 4 more assisted ones along with an interception 3 passes defended and half a sack. One more thing of note, overall last season Phillips had twice the amount of snaps on defense over Mitchell 622 to 306. And on special teams it was about the same with 77 to 62 so no burn out factor could be attributed.
I could be wrong but I believe we have seen all we are going to see from Jordan Phillips. Last season was the window of opportunity, he had ample time to shine and not just flash as did Earl Mitchell. They both had one game each were they both looked like playmakers. And that one game flash can be attributed to former DC Vance Joseph scheming them into position.
It is not enough to just have the size to play effectively, playmaking ability will show itself for more than just one game.
Mike Tannenbaum might be reluctant to pull the trigger ending this project he reportedly created. If reports are correct he was behind drafting him, and clashed with former GM Dennis Hickey who wanted Ameer Abdullah. As it turns out both of these players are not looking like world beaters and could be moved on from.