• Resources

  • All Wikis

• News

  • CH (2,604)
  • CZ (99)
  • DE (557)
  • EN (4,235)
  • ES (65)
  • FR (106)
  • HU (7)
  • IL (687)
  • IT (1,810)
  • NO (101)
  • PL (289)
  • PT (9)
  • RU (5,118)
  • SE (6)
  • TR (20)
  • UA (2,615)

Mike Pouncey Questions Repeated Release and Re-Signing of Sam Brenner

The Miami Dolphins have released and re-signed center Sam Brenner multiple times this season, but they likely won’t get the chance to re-sign him again, as the Denver Broncos signed him after his latest release this week, per Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post. 

One person not happy with this yo-yo treatment of Brenner was center Mike Pouncey. 

According to Abramson, Pouncey had hoped the Dolphins would re-sign Brenner, but then he questioned the way he has bounced between the 53-man roster and the practice squad throughout the year: 

It’s tough. It’s just how the league works sometimes. I don’t feel like it’s fair all the time because he’s definitely a guy deserving of a spot on this football team.

We really enjoy having him inside of our offensive line room. He’s been a valuable piece to our offensive line unit for the past few years. It sucks, man, especially when you’re friends with a guy.

To see guys get done that way, it’s tough. I know he understands it and so do we.

Brenner was released in order to make room for linebacker James-Michael Johnson, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. That itself is a necessary signing, as the Dolphins are struggling with linebacker depth. 

Unfortunately, it only contributes to the lack of offensive line depth, as Brenner was the only true center backing up Pouncey. 

Lamar Miller Still Miami’s Starting Running Back

In two games, rookie Jay Ajayi has been a tremendous addition to the Dolphins offense. 

This comes thanks to Ajayi’s 8.1 yards-per-carry average, as he has run for 89 yards on only 11 attempts in two games. 

Despite this high average, Lamar Miller isn’t going anywhere, per Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, as head coach Dan Campbell has stated that Miller “is still the starter for us.” 

This makes sense, as Miller has more experience in the offense and has so far been a better pass-blocker. However, this shouldn’t preclude the Dolphins from giving Ajayi more carries. 

If Miami can run the ball at least 30 times a game, it should be successful. Splitting those carries between Miller and Ajayi makes sense, either by going with a 50-50 split or a 60-40 split toward Miller. 

Either way, the Dolphins have a new offensive weapon to work with, and they should use him well in the final seven games of the season. 

WR-Turned-CB Tony Lippett Ahead of Schedule

One of the most intriguing players from Miami’s 2015 NFL draft was Michigan State’s Tony Lippett, who played both receiver and corner in college but was transitioning to corner in the NFL. 

At the same time, I didn’t expect Lippett to get any significant snaps in 2015, yet he played 23 percent of Miami’s defensive snaps against the Eagles thanks to an injury-riddled secondary that was missing Brent Grimes and Brice McCain. 

The fact that the Dolphins trusted Lippett ahead of veteran Zack Bowman late in the game shows how much progress Lippett has made, per Andrew Abramson of the Palm Beach Post, and as Lippett himself would explain, it shows how far he has come: 

I feel like I’m coming along better than some people anticipated. 

When I first got here I was real raw and not experienced at the position. But now I’m starting to learn the ins and outs of playing corner and just learning different techniques and how to leverage the ball, leverage the defender and things like that.

Lippett only had one tackle on Sunday, but that tackle came on the only catch he allowed. In his limited snaps, the quarterback rating against Lippett is 77.1, per Pro Football Focus. 

Grimes and McCain will be back against Dallas, meaning Lippett won’t see the field barring more catastrophic injuries. But don’t sleep on him, especially going into next year after he has a full offseason with the Dolphins. He could surprise you in 2016 training camp, but based off of what has happened so far, it shouldn’t be too big of a surprise. 

Comments