Well, for whatever its worth, the Dolphins won their preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Of course, the “win” doesn’t really mean much- but there were some very important information to glean from the game.  After getting a chance to re watch the game here is what I have.  Let’s start with the disappointments (so we can end on a high note of course).

Since he was the number one draft pick, let’s get started by picking on Vontae Davis.  While he had some good moments in coverage, he also gave up a few plays and had a bad pass interference penalty.  But what is totally inexcusable is the fact that he had 2 big time penalties on special teams, including a completely senseless late hit on a fair catch.  He has all the physical talent in the world, but he needs to be much more disciplined if he wants to contribute to this team any time soon.  That being said, Vontae looked like an All Pro compared to Eric Green.  Green gave up completion after completion to scrubs like first round bust Troy Williamson, he showed absolutely no ball skills, missed a chance for an easy interception off of a tipped pass, and generally looked awful.  Apparently, Tony Sparano agreed as Green has since been cut from the team.

The other big disappointment of the night was the offensive line- from first team to third string.  For a group that has so much money invested in it, they sure have some work to do.  Like I said, the preseason does not mean the end of the world and I am certainly not about to lose any sleep, but I AM going to be looking for some improvement this Saturday.  Both Jake Long and Vernon Carey whiffed on pass rushers, Jake Grove was hit or miss in the middle, and Justin Smiley has some rust to knock off still from his injury.  The only pluses of the night were that Shawn Murphy looked like he at least belonged on an NFL field, and when Donald Thomas was back on the field he was once again standing up his guy and regularly dishing out pancake blocks.  There was absolutely NO push in the run game though.  Ronnie Brown had to fight for every inch of turf and had zero space to operate.  For the most part though, Chad Pennington had decent time to throw the ball. If the first team offensive line was disappointing though, the  back-ups were a disaster.  Chad Henne regularly had pressure in his face (which lead to his horrible decision and pick).  Even when he made some big gains, and threw for his touchdown he had pressure right in his face.

Speaking of Henne, he didn’t shine like some had hoped.  He looked good in spots, but one thing that really stood out is that he REALLY stares down his receivers. If he doesn’t break that habit he is going to have a lot of passes broken up, and interceptions.  Pat White also had a tough night, but he was a victim of he receivers to an extent (3 passes dropped, including one tipped right to a DB for an interception).

OK, enough harping on the negatives- let’s look at what went right.  What really stood out to me was the play of the front 7.  The defensive line played lights out, Channing Crowder was getting good pressure and locking down in coverage, and the OLBs were getting pressure.  Crowder got into the backfield, Jason Taylor got in the backfield, Cameron Wake got good pressure (though he did get taken out from a nasty block by a TE), Reggie Torbor manhandled his guys.  Tony McDaniel and Randy Starks really stood outamong the crowd.  McDaniel wasn’t just a tall guy taking up space- he was making disruptive plays consistently,  and Starks was regularly getting to the QB.  The first team especially did a great job at disrupting Jackonsville’s O-line, and rendered the first time O relatively ineffective.

Patrick Tuner, Brian Hartline, Davone Bess, and even Earnest Wilford made big plays in the receiving game.  Bess was not only his old reliable self catching the ball, but looked much stronger as a blocker.  The guy who stood out most though was Ted Ginn, Jr.  He started out with a 14 yard gain on and end around, he made two heads up catches, and forced a pass interference penalty on third and long.

And finally- there was another small, speedy receiver who flashed big time skills-  5′ 8″ UDFA Chris Williams.  After some jittery mistakes on some punts, he made some BIG time returns in the kicking game (he averaged over 30 yards per kick return, and nearly broke two for touchdowns).  If he can do that consistently he may make a case for keeping a 6th WR on the team and beat out big Brandon London.

That is about all I have for now.   I’ll try to get back on before Saturday’s game against Carolina.