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Edge wants to go to the 'Phins


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http://www.ffmastermind.com/quickbits.php

 

-- Edge Wants to Play for Dolphins, But... --

Sun Jan 30, 2005 --from FFMastermind.com

 

ESPN’s Chris Mortenson reports Indianapolis Colts RB Edgerrin James is telling friend he wants his freedom and wants to play for his hometown team, the Miami Dolphins. However, the Colts are determined to keep James. The Colts are discussing all options such as sign him, let go as a free agent, franchising James to keep or to trade. James, an unrestricted free agent could be designated by the Colts as their "franchise player," a decision that carries an $8 million price tag for one season only. James is a six year veteran with 7,720 rushing yards, 10,222 total yards from scrimmage, and 61 touchdowns.

 

 

Well, this is interesting, as it could set in motion a chain of events involving, ultimately, Travis' departure - perhaps to the Colts. Which would make sense, b/c they have cap issues, and can have Henry at a reasonable price for at least next season. Plus, their second-round pick is late in the round, meaning perhaps they'd be more likely to give it up.

 

(Wait 'till they discover he can't pick up blitzes.) (Or memorize the Colts' huge playbook.) (Or keep his footing on a 3rd and 1.)

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if James goes to the Dolphins, I assure you, the Colts will not go after Henry. 

 

He fits that offense about as well as a size 4 dress fits a lady that weighs 250 lbs.

223648[/snapback]

 

Please dont put that image in my head this early in the morning.... :lol:

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I don't blame him.  That is were his family and kids are!  He has sated that he really misses being away from them.

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why can't he move his kids/wife to indy. The guy would rather miss them

then move them....surprising...

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Can't rule out the possibility of seeing big changes at RB in the Colt's backfield. The backup (Dominic Rhodes) is also going to be a UFA and could go because he also brings some halfway decent kickoff return capability.

 

Getting Travis at a reasonable price for a year may help free up $'s for other FA's that some people are saying are desperately needed on their defense. Travis doesn't have the complete game as the Edge, but in the scheme of things he may be good enough...especially if the Colts are thinking just short-term.

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Can't rule out the possibility of seeing big changes at RB in the Colt's backfield.  The backup (Dominic Rhodes) is also going to be a UFA and could go because he also brings some halfway decent kickoff return capability.

 

Getting Travis at a reasonable price for a year may help free up $'s for other FA's that some people are saying are desperately needed on their defense.  Travis doesn't have the complete game as the Edge, but in the scheme of things he may be good enough...especially if the Colts are thinking just short-term.

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The colts (if they think they can afford to pay James), have actually plenty of

options....They can sign James or pay the same money to Alexander too.

 

I don't think Miami has the cap freedom to sign James to a huge payday as their needs are huge. They cannot tie all their available cap dollars to one player,

unless they are going to have a mass purge of their roster and take a big

cap hit this year.

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Not that Edge is finished, but he's got six bruising seasons in the books along with a reconstructed knee. Then you consider Miami is probably looking at being a couple of seasons away from decency. I wonder how much money that want to commit to a RB like James who will be commanding top dollar as this will be the one contract in his career where he can cash in.

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The Fish would have to really clean out their roster to make room for Edge - they are currently $17 mil

over the cap.

 

releasing Boston, Fielder, and Seau supposedly clears a lot of the overage but ---still --- I doubt James will play for peanuts.

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if James goes to the Dolphins, I assure you, the Colts will not go after Henry. 

 

He fits that offense about as well as a size 4 dress fits a lady that weighs 250 lbs.

223648[/snapback]

 

Do you have any objective data to support that or is this the usual fact-free opinion we are all entitled to have.

 

My sense is that what the Colts would certainly get from Henry until proven otherwise by poor play by him is the threat that a former Pro Bowl RB brings. It is this threat which makes an O put defenders on the OL to guard against the run rather than simply run the nickel or the dime all the time to complicate the Manning pass game that is the prmary benefit an RB brings to the Colts O.

 

I have little doubt Henry can be stopped and denied, but opposing defenses need to run their standard D at least if not stack the line a bit on his better days to stop Henry from pealing off the 1300+ yards he racked up in 2 of his 4 seasons. The threat of production rather than simply the production is the contribution I think he would make.

 

Pass catching ability is the second issue and there is a marked difference between the high 50s low 60s production of James and the low 40s production that Henry had in his best year. However, part of this difference is likely to be made up because Henry will be catching passes from Peytom Manning rather than Bledsoe. Did Henry drop some critical passes in 2003? Yes. Were his drops a showing of a big time droppsie problem like that shown by Josh Reed or was it just the unfortunate but not unusal drops of an NFL player? I think it was the latter as his problems didn't even come close to the real problems evidenced by a Reed and mostly reflects the overblown frustration of us Bills fans.

 

A third issue is the blitz pick-up and while I would defintiely not judge Henry to be anywhere near as good at the blitz pick-up as the great one's like Thurman, again I think this seems an overblown issue amongst us Bills fans who care a lot about our team rather than a big issue in Henry's game. I say this because:

 

1. Henry struggled as almost all rookies do with blitz pick-up (WM for example sucked at it early this season) but it certainly was not talked about a lot or seen as a problem his second year when he made an appearance at the Pro Bowl or his third year when he made the opening page of TSW as an embodiment of the Bills spirit. I think this is an issue which sprung up here on TSW when folks turned on him rather than this being an issue for focus in his game.

2. Among the sack problems for the Bills, the blitz pick-up issue was well down the list of important causes as folks more correctly identified deficits in OL play and the relative immodbiliy of Bledsoe as bigger factors in any sack problems than blitz pick-up issues.

3. The sack numbers did go down as the season went on and that number coincided with WM taking over for TH, but these correspondence is different than finding a direct cause and effect. Observers definitely noted an upturn in producton of OL play which was separate from a blitz pick-up issue as ME received a gameball for his improved play and the OL developed chemistry. In addition, the O game plan definitely found and employed Bledsoe's faking and running ability as the season went on and successfully using this resulted in plays like the WM scamper for a TD on a fake QB sneak and several QB draws by Drew for positive yardage and most important setting the blitx back a little. The sack numbers dropped but these strategic differences seemed more important than the blitz pick-up issues.

4. Due to the quick release of Manning I suspect that blitz pick-up will need to be part of the focus for any RB, but not a big deal in figuring how Henry fits into an Indy O.

 

There are still some issues which may make you correct that Indy would have no interest in Henry, but actually from what I see these are the same cap constraints which may stop an Indy investment in James may also make a lesser investment into a lesser player like Henry not a viable option for Polian. However, I think you are wrong to totally dismiss the Colts interest based on their O style and Henry's play because having a former Pro Bowler with a couple of productive running seasons in his brief career who has demonstrated the ability to catch 40+ receptions in a season seems to fit quite well with giving Peyton the time and the safety valve for his bread and butter of going deep.

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