Chris Hogan: From NCAA Lacrosse to NFL

The Buffalo Bills have promoted wide receiver Chris Hogan from the practice squad to the 53-man roster for Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins.

If that name isn't familiar to you, maybe you'll recall he was nicknamed "7-11" on HBO's hit series "Hard Knocks" which aired this past summer and profiled the Miami Dolphins journey through training camp. He earned the nickname from then-teammate Reggie Bush for always being open.

Another thing revealed about Hogan was that he was formerly a lacrosse player. Hogan, a New Jersey-native, played NCAA Division 1 lacrosse at Penn State before transferring to Monmouth University to play football for one year.

In September I profiled Hogan's rise from NCAA lacrosse player to the spotlight of the NFL life.

Photo Credit.
AP Photo/Alan Diaz

Miami Dolphins Wide Receivers Continue to Hurt the Team

It’s no secret: the Miami Dolphins need a good wide receiver. More than one would be nice, but right now the team should be happy if they could get one.

The observation is nothing new. It has been talked about since the team traded Brandon Marshall to the Chicago Bears in March. It was talked about when the team signed and then cut Chad Johnson.

Yet despite all the clamoring for a dependable receiver close to nothing has been done by Dolphins management and it hurt the team in Sunday’s 23-20 overtime loss to the New York Jets, a game Miami was winning at halftime and very well could have won on a couple of occasions.

Yes, Dan Carpenter missed two field goals that would have won the game. Yes, head coach Joe Philbin tried to ice the kicker when the defense blocked Nick Folk’s first attempt at the game-winning kick. Yes, Reggie Bush was injured and sat out the entire second half.

Had those things gone differently the Dolphins could have won Sunday’s game. But this issue isn’t about one victory; it’s about setting the team up for failure for at least the entire season.

The Dolphins are 24th in the NFL in receptions (54). They are last in the league in receiving touchdowns, the only team in the entire NFL with only a single touchdown reception. The team has had eight different players catch passes but only three of them are wide receivers.

That touchdown reception was by tight end Anthony Fasano, a solid player that looks like he is becoming rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s safety blanket.

The players at the wide receiver position, for the most part, have done a poor job.

Brian Hartline is the team’s leading receiver with 13 receptions for 202 yards. He’s 30th in the league in reception yards. Hartline is good for one big play a game, but against the Jets that was it. He had one catch for 41 yards against the Jets despite being targeted nine times.

Hartline’s tendency to disappear should come as no surprise to Dolphin fans. Last season, in his final 10 games he recorded one or no catches six times.

When rosters were cut to 53 right before the season the Dolphins “big” move at improving the position was by signing Anthony Armstrong, who was cut by the Washington Redskins. For the Dolphins, Armstrong has three receptions in two games for a grand total of 12 yards.

Against the Jets, Armstrong had two catches for nine yards. He was targeted six times. In the fourth quarter Armstrong allowed a pass to go right through his hands and hit him on a third down play that could’ve extended the team’s drive and help them preserve the victory.

Former Carolina Panthers receiver Legedu Naane—who had his best season of his five year career at that point—was signed in April. He had a very disappointing preseason, dropping a number of passes, and in three games has yet to catch a pass in 2012.

The only other receiver even worth mentioning at this point is Davone Bess. The former Hawaii receiver is in his fifth season in the NFL and is solid if not spectacular. He was the team’s leading receiver Sunday, hauling in five passes for 86 yards on seven targets. He is most dangerous as a slot receiver but is being counted on by the team to do too much because of lack of depth at the position.

Once Reggie Bush was injured in the second quarter the offense began to stall. Bush is not only a very good runner but he does a good job catching passes too and Tannehill and the Dolphins have relied heavily on him.
Without the Jets defense keying on Bush they were able to really shut down the Dolphins offense, especially their passing attack. In the second half Tannehill threw his only interception. The team still regained the lead but when the defense stopped the Jets offense and forced a punt the Dolphins failed to capitalize.

The Dolphins had four possessions in the final quarter. On two of those the team went three-and-out, gaining a total of two yards on back-to-back possessions. They gave the ball back to the Jets and allowed them to take the lead.

If the Dolphins are going to be competitive and if the team is going to let Tannehill start and develop then the wide receiver position desperately needs to be improved. The guys the team signed and put their faith in this year—especially Armstrong and Naanee—are not even close to getting the job done.

Photo Credit.
AP Photo/Rhona Wise

Miami Dolphins Should Pursue Chad Ochocinco

Chad Ochocinco recorded career lows in receptions (15), yards (276) and touchdowns (one). He never made more than two catches in a game and was eventually fazed out of the offense.

Now that the New England Patriots have released him however the division rival Miami Dolphins should take a crack at signing him.

Ochocinco’s lack of production in New England wasn’t a result of a lack of talent. It’s been popularly opined that he just never understood the complexities of the Patriot playbook. It became obvious that Tom Brady and Ochocinco never developed that strong a chemistry and this offseason Jabar Gaffney became available, one of Brady’s all-time favorite targets. Ochocinco became expendable.

What is New England’s loss would be Miami’s gain.

After trading away Brandon Marshall prior to the draft, with the belief that off the field issues influenced Miami into dealing its leading receiver, the Dolphins were left with a huge hole at the wide receiver position.

Davonne Bess is a nice slot receiver that’s made some big catches for the team over the past few years. Brian Hartline is a guy the team drafted that the previous coaching staff thought very highly of. Neither is a bonifide No. 1 wide receiver and it just gets worse from there.

The Dolphins currently have 12 receivers on the team roster. Four are rookies and none of those players were selected higher than the sixth round. Only three players have even more than seven career receptions.

Ochocinco would add veteran leadership to the group. Not only that but he would help out the Dolphins quarterback situation and make any of the three players the team may start look better.

While he’s been criticized over his career for having character issues, really it has not been the same thing as Terrell Owens or Randy Moss.

Yes, once he did publicly ask to be traded from Cincinnati but he apologized for it and worked with head coach Marvin Lewis and quarterback Carson Palmer through their issues. His “diva” attitude comes more from his fun-loving side: his love for Twitter and his endzone celebrations. He demands a lot of attention but he isn’t a clubhouse cancer.

After being contained last season by the Patriots staff, both on the field and off it, it isn’t crazy to expect him to be itching to get out on the field and do his thing. A motivated Ochocinco could put up some impressive numbers.

It’s his fun-loving attitude that will also endear him to fans and that would be a huge bonus for a team going through some bad publicity these days.

Ochocinco is a fan favorite and those in Miami will be very familiar with him because that is where his off-season home is. He’d sell a lot of jerseys and bring back some interest to a franchise that has really underwhelmed since Dan Marino retired after the 1999 season.

Don’t forget how Ochocinco really blew up in popularity: HBO’s Hard Knocks. The TV series focused on the Bengals in 2009 and he was one of the central characters.

The Miami Dolphins will be the featured team this season and Ochocinco would make for prime television once more.

It’s a strong match and a move the Dolphins should seriously consider.

Ochocinco would plug a huge hole on the roster and bring some joy to a team in distress. All that’s left is to “kiss the baby”.

Photo Credit.

AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez

Miami Dolphins Should Regret Passing on Drew Brees Twice

AP Photo/Paul Sancya

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.

The Dolphins organization must feel really stupid for passing on Drew Brees not once, but twice.

Brees, a two-time Heisman finalist, Big Ten MVP, Maxwell Award winner, Academic All-America Player of the Year, and a 2001 Rose Bowl appearance at Purdue was sliding down the 2001 NFL Draft board.

The Dolphins were up with the 26th pick. They had just gone through their first season without Dan Marino (some referred to it as 1 A.D. for “After Dan”) and while Jay Fiedler was serviceable, he was not the quarterback of the future. Miami needed a quarterback and their fans knew Brees was still around.

The Dolphins went with cornerback Jamar Fletcher from Wisconsin instead. Brees was taken six spots later by San Diego. Fletcher, who was only a backup to Sam Madison and Patrick Surtain, lasted three seasons with Miami before being traded to San Diego for David Boston who played a grand total of five games in two seasons.

At the quarterback position the Dolphins trotted out Fiedler, Ray Lucas, Brian Griese, A.J. Feeley, Sage Rosenfels, and Gus Frerotte. In those five seasons the Dolphins made one playoff appearance.

Meanwhile, after playing in only one game his rookie season Brees took over the starting quarterback role for the Chargers, was selected to one Pro Bowl (he was first alternate to a second but couldn’t play because of injury), was named the 2004 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, and also went to the playoffs once.

A shoulder injury and a ton of money invested in backup Philip Rivers signaled the end of Brees’ time as a Charger. Miami would get another crack at him.

Obviously still unsettled at quarterback Brees again was available, and he was very interested in joining the Dolphins.

Nick Saban balked at Brees’ shoulder injury though, and decided to trade for Daunte Culpepper instead, even though he had a knee injury himself.

The only other team to have interest in Brees—the Saints—signed him after Miami went in another direction.

Culpepper never really recovered and the Dolphins had a losing season. After the season Nick Saban bolted from Miami back to college football and Alabama and Culpepper was released.

Since the decision to go with Culpepper over Brees, the Dolphins have used seven different quarterbacks: Culpepper, Joey Harrington, Cleo Lemon, Trent Green, John Beck, Chad Pennington, and Chad Henne.

Brees has made the Dolphins look ridiculous.

He’s accomplished an incredible amount as a Saint: three more Pro Bowls, three All-Pro selections, one NFL offensive Player of the Year award, countless franchise records, and oh yea, a Super Bowl championship and Super Bowl MVP.

And Brees’ shoulder? Well, he has played in every single game possible in his career as a Saint, minus one game this past season when head coach Sean Payton sat him because the Saints had home field advantage locked up.

Since Dan Marino retired the Dolphins have been looking for a franchise quarterback to replace him with. That was a decade ago. Chad Henne had a solid first year as a starter, but it’s been a painful ride for Dolphin fans.

Dolphin fans watched Brees holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy Sunday night and could only wonder what if, as their team has only been to the playoffs twice in the past decade losing in the first round both times.

They wanted Brees all along.

They could’ve had him twice.

They won’t get another crack at him, and who knows when they’ll get another shot at either their franchise quarterback or the Super Bowl.

Wild No More

The Wildcat just got tamed.

The Miami Dolphins placed running back Ronnie Brown on injured reserve yesterday with a right ankle and foot injury, shelving him for the rest of the season.

Brown’s injury is a huge blow to the remainder of Miami’s season.

Part of a fourth ranked rushing attack, Brown had 648 yard rushing and eight touchdowns, leading the Dolphins in both categories. What makes him more irreplaceable to Miami though is how well he ran the Wildcat offense.

Miami’s offense, minus the ‘cat, is pretty bland. Ranked 30th in passing offense, Davone Bess is the team’s leading receiver with only 334 yards through nine games and only one tight end or receiver, Joey Haynos, has caught two touchdown passes.
The Dolphins rely heavily on the rush, but what gives them flexibility and makes them unpredictable in order to keep defenses honest is their ability to run the Wildcat.

Brown was the triggerman for the unorthodox formation. First things first, he is able to cleanly catch the direct snap. Although basic, running backs aren’t familiar with taking snaps from the center, and dropping the snap easily botches the entire play. Also, he was able to make clean handoffs to Ricky Williams. Again, while they get the handoff, actually passing the ball on to someone is not something they do very often and would ruin the play.

Everyone is aware of the ability Brown has as a runner but what made him so effective in the Wildcat was his ability as a passer.

During his career, Brown has completed four of 10 passes for 63 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, and has a 101.2 passer rating. His ability to roll out and throw a left handed pass to a receiver in the end zone keeps defenses off-balance.

While Ricky Williams, the 2002 NFL rushing champion, is having a fine season himself—compiling 558 yards on the ground with six touchdowns, with an additional 193 receiving yards (fourth-best on the team) and one receiving touchdown—and is a more than capable backup running back, replacing Brown in the Wildcat will not be something easily done.

How well will Williams throw the ball? The possibility of a pass, even without a quarterback, keeps teams guessing. If Williams is a lousy passer, then the formation will not be effective.

And who will take Williams’ role in the formation? With Brown taking snaps, Williams has been the key motion man, and without him, the play becomes even less effective.

Without Brown, Miami fans could see more of the Pistol formation, where backup quarterback Pat White enters the game. White has completed zero passes on three attempts, but the threat is there. He does have 48 rushing yards on 11 carries and is a dangerous ball carrier.

Another question that begs to be answered is with Brown accumulating another injury is his career as a Dolphin in jeopardy?

In five NFL seasons, only once has Brown played in all 16 games and this will be the second time in three years that he plays in less than 10 games due to an injury on his right leg.

While he is a very talented player and plays a critical role on the team, durability is a big issue, especially with Bill Parcells and his crew running the team. If Brown is not healthy and cannot perform on the field, what sense is there in keeping him around?



Brown is in the last year of his rookie contract and will turn 28 years old next month. With questions of his durability coupled with his advanced age, will Miami be willing to bring him back or will they start to look in a new direction?

This latest injury to Brown creates a new question the Dolphins will have to answer: how much longer will both the Wildcat and Brown be around in Miami?

NFL Week 11 picks:

Another Thursday night game this week. Miami (4-5) faces off against Carolina (4-5).
The Panthers had a big win last week against Atlanta, while Miami just squeezed by Tampa Bay.

The biggest factor here, as stated above, is how Miami’s offense responds without Ronnie Brown in the lineup.

Will they still run the Wildcat?

Can Ricky Williams shoulder a larger load?

Can the Dolphins be successful in a more conventional style of offense?

On the other side of the ball it will be Miami’s pass rush against Jake Delhomme.
While Miami’s pass defense is not very good, their pass rush has generated 25 sacks, good for fourth best in the NFL. They also get the return of Joey Porter, who has not been as effective as he was last season, but still has enough talent and bravado to provide some extra punch.

Delhomme is second in the NFL in interceptions thrown with 13 (Jay Cutler, 17, is first). However, he hasn’t thrown an interception in his last three games, two of which were Carolina wins.

On Tuesday, Carolina placed left tackle Jordan Gross on injured reserve with a broken ankle. Gross has been one of the league’s best left tackles and Delhomme, in his rockiest moments, has depended on the 6’4”, 305 pound man to protect his blindside.

The Gross injury will have a greater effect in the game than the Brown injury because Miami will take its aggressive pass rush and attack Delhomme, coming after him and forcing him to make plays and causing turnovers.

Miami wins.

Photo Credits.
Top: AP Photo/Hans Deryk
Right: AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee

Ronnie Brown and Wildcat highlights. Video from Youtube.

Swimming with the 'Phins

AP Photo/ J. Pat Carter

Bill Parcells and Jeff Ireland have pulled off another coup, and this time, it isn’t with an undiscovered player. It’s with a potential, and former, face of the franchise.

The Miami Dolphins came to terms on a one-year contract with one-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and Dolphin fan favorite Jason Taylor. At a cost of $1.1 million plus incentives, there is no risk here for Miami, only possible reward.

The once-proud franchise went through a rough stretch the past few years, culminating in the awful 1-15 season in 2007. They were able to turn everything around last season though, making the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons and beating out rival Jets and Patriots to win the AFC East division championship.

Even though they had a poor showing against the Ravens in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, the 10-game turnaround brought the fans back to what is now called LandShark Stadium.

There was excitement. Fans were proud of their team.

Bringing in the most popular Dolphin since Dan Marino retired gives the fans even more reason to be excited, to cheer for their team, and to trust what the front office is doing with the team.

Even more important is what Jason Taylor can do on the field for the Dolphins. Yes, he struggled last year with the Washington Redskins, but he still has plenty left in the tank. Taylor is a six-time Pro-Bowler, three-time first team All-Pro, and, as stated before, 2006 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Taylor uses his athleticism and speed to wreck havoc on opposing offenses and quarterbacks.

Miami's all-time leader in sacks was hampered by a calf-injury last season in Washington and never adjusted to his new defensive scheme, but returning to familiar territory should benefit him.

Also aiding Taylor in his second tenure with the Dolphins is that he is not the only defender teams have to worry about. Joey Porter recorded 17.5 sacks last season, Channing Crowder and Akin Ayodele were second and third respectively in tackles on the team, and newcomer Cameron Wake was the equivalent of Jason Taylor in the CFL, utilizing his speed and athleticism to lead the league in sacks.

Taylor still has talent, and Miami needs it. Aside from Porter, last year’s pass rush was not very good. After Porter, the highest sack total was five by Matt Roth. The team signed Wake hoping to bolster its attack, but Wake’s only experience in the NFL is training camp with the New York Giants before getting released. Taylor can show Wake the ropes while performing on the field.

The other teams in the AFC East improved on offense. The Bills signed Terrell Owens and the Patriots signed Joey Galloway and Fred Taylor, not to mention the return of Tom Brady. Taylor adds depth to an improved Dolphin defense. Also, Taylor is extremely successful against the Patriots and Brady. From 2001-2007, Taylor has 10.5 sacks in 14 games against New England.

Taylor is also a good character guy. He was named Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2007. His leadership and character make him a good role model for the younger players on the team, and they make him a good team representative to the community.

Most importantly, Taylor wants to be a Dolphin. In a statement included in an ESPN.com piece, Taylor said, “My heart has always been in Miami and so I'm truly excited to call myself a Dolphin once again.”

The story goes on to include a quote from Taylor’s agent, saying that Taylor said to allow the Dolphins to sign him to whatever contract fit in the team’s budget. Taylor took a significant pay cut in order to be a Dolphin again. A player doesn’t give up millions unless he is 100% sure he wants to be there.

For the Dolphins, it’s a win-win situation. If he returns to form, Taylor immediately improves the team’s defense. If he struggles, he counts for very little against the cap and the Dolphins can elect not to bring him back next season. Even if he does struggle, the Dolphins still get a good leader, a guy that can help groom the younger players, garner fan appreciation, and is a positive agent in the community.

Miami will hope Taylor goes back to his old form, but the signing is already a great thing for the Dolphins, regardless of how he plays.