NFL think tank gives Dolphins’ offense positive grades
Asix-pack of media notes on a Thursday: The 33rd Team — an NFL think tank — graded the Dolphins by position the other day.
Here’s how Miami fared on offense, with an excerpt of the comments offered:
B-minus at quarterback (“while [Tua Tagovailoa] has not been bad, his play has not been up to par for a team looking to contend”).
B-plus at running back (“this position group is very reminiscent of a classic Shanahan-system backfield, with no true number 1 back, but a handful of ball carriers that can be difference makers”).
B- on the offensive line (“They are an improved group but still are not great and have some question marks, specifically on the right side”).
A at wide receiver (“this group has star power and a lot of speed”).
B-plus at tight end (even beyond Mike Gesicki’s receiving skills, “between
Durham Smythe, Adam Shaheen and Hunter Long, Miami has players that can block and catch, as [coach Mike] McDaniel can run as many two TE sets as he would like”).
Here’s how Miami graded out defensively:
B for defensive linemen and edge players (“while there is talent, this is a top-heavy group, but the grade can easily improve given an even bigger year from Jaelan Phillips and Emmanuel Ogbah”).
C- for linebackers (“this group is a clear weak point on the team. While Jerome Baker is good, he is not enough of a superstar to make up for the ... deficiencies in this group”).
A for cornerbacks (“at the top, there might not be a better CB duo in football” than Xavien Howard and Byron Jones).
B for safeties (“Jevon Holland is coming off a very good rookie season and is becoming one of the better safeties in the entire league. Brandon Jones and Eric Rowe will have to compete for the other spot, but both are likely not high-level starting-caliber players”).
COVID-19 continues to handicap ABC’s NBA Finals coverage. Mike Breen missed the first two games — and Jeff Van Gundy missed the opener — after testing positive for the virus.
That left South Floridabased Mark Jones, the network’s No. 2 NBA play-by-play voice, filling in for Breen on both Game 7 of the Heat-Celtics series and Games 1 and 2 of the Celtics-Warriors series. Breen was expected back for Game 3 on Wednesday.
Information man
Adrian Wojnarowski and reporter Kendra Andrews (Malika’s sister) also were sidelined in the early stages of the Finals due to COVID.
As expected, former UM and NFL standout tight end Greg Olsen was promoted to Fox’s lead NFL announcing team, on an interim basis, until
Tom Brady retires and takes the job in 2023 or at some point after that.
With Joe Buck and
Troy Aikman leaving Fox to join ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” former Fox No. 2 NFL voice Kevin Burkhardt will join Olsen on Fox’s lead team next season, which includes the February 2023 Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.
Olsen likely will move back to the No. 2 team when Brady retires, while Burkhardt figures to remain on the lead team long term.
Fox opted to promote from within because network executives loved the Burkhardt/Olsen tandem; they had a lively, conversational rapport. Or, as Fox executive producer
Brad Zager said, “an undeniable chemistry and ability to call football at an elite level.”
Olsen told Dan Patrick: “Even if I get one year at it, I’m going to try to kill it. I’m going to try to make it a fun season, to have people really enjoy our broadcast. And hopefully Tom plays for a few more years.”
Olsen said he would tell Brady that there’s a “very fine balance calling the games. You don’t want to dumb it down and take away from the complex nature that makes football so special and so interesting. But you also can’t talk on air like I would talk to my coach or I would talk to a current player or teammate who understands the language and terminology because you could lose a lot of people.”
With Christmas and New Year’s Day on a Sunday this year, here’s how that impacts the NFL and college football schedules:
The NFL will schedule most of the Christmas weekend games on Saturday, Dec. 24, with three games on Christmas Day: Packers-Dolphins (1 p.m. on Fox), Broncos-Rams (4:30 p.m. on CBS), Buccaneers-Cardinals (8:20 p.m. on NBC).
Jaguars-Jets will be the Dec. 22 Thursday night game on Amazon, with Chargers-Colts the ESPN Monday night game on Dec. 26.
During Week 17, every
NFL game will be played on Sunday, Jan. 1 except Cowboys-Titans on Thursday, Dec. 29 and BillsBengals on ABC and
ESPN on Monday night, Jan. 2.
To avoid conflict with the Rams-Chargers game on NBC on Sunday night, Jan. 1, the Sugar Bowl has moved off its traditional prime-time Jan. 1 slot to noon Dec. 31. The last time the Sugar Bowl was played before Jan. 1 was 1995.
The two college football semifinals will be played on Dec. 31 in the late afternoon and evening, in Atlanta and Glendale, Arizona.
No bowl games will be played on Christmas or New Year’s Day, thus avoiding competition with the NFL.
Four bowl games are scheduled for Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, beginning with the Tampa Bay Bowl at noon on ESPN2.
Also on tap Jan. 2: the Cotton Bowl (1 p.m., ESPN), Citrus Bowl (1 p.m., ABC), and Rose
Bowl (5 p.m., ESPN).
Former Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is negotiating with Amazon to be a studio analyst on its Thursday night package. Fitzpatrick has the intelligence, personality and self-deprecating humor to thrive on television. …
Drew Brees is leaving NBC’s NFL studio and Notre Dame package after one season. He’s a candidate for an NFL game analyst role on Fox. Former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett is a candidate to replace Brees on NBC’s Fighting Irish home games, as The New York Post reported . ...
CBS hired former Sports Illustrated reporter and veteran NFL writer Jonathan Jones as its new NFL TV insider, replacing
Jason La Canfora.
Quick stuff: Former Marlins CEO Derek Jeter — whose ESPN documentary about his life will debut this summer — joined Twitter and announced his arrival to the social media service by responding to a tweet from Dec. 9, 2014, two months after his final game as a player.
That tweet said: “Derek Jeter has no excuse not to have a Twitter account by now.” Jeter’s first tweet: “Looks like I’ve officially run out of excuses.”
Within a week, he had 354,000 followers. Dick Vitale, Pedro Martinez and the Yankees are among the 17 people he’s following, none of whom are associated with the Marlins. …
Mick Hubert retired after 33 years as radio voice of the Florida Gators. … The Detroit Lions will be the focus of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” during training camp.