As the Miami Dolphins head into free agency and the early throes of the 2018 season, they’ll have yet another new face in the coaching ranks. The team announced today that Tony Oden will serve as the secondary/defensive backs coach, replacing Lou Anarumo, who was let go at the end of the 2017 season.

Oden has been an NFL coach since 2004, including stints with the Houton Texans (2004-05), New Orleans Saints (2006-11), Jacksonville Jaguars (2012) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2013). He has spent the past four seasons as the defensive backs and cornerbacks coach for the Detroit Lions.

Oden was part of the New Orleans Saints during their Super Bowl Championship season in 2011. But that distinction comes with an asterisk, as his time there also coincides with the Bountygate scandal that cost the Saints their defensive coordinator and massive team fines.

While Oden’s track record appears mostly unremarkable at first glance, with run of the mill success from his units, the Lions did have the #2 pass defense in the league in 2014, Oden’s first year there. However the rankings have dropped considerably in the past three years, ranking 18, 18, and 27 respectively.

In spite of that, Oden apparently comes highly recommended by former colleague and current Dolphins defensive line coach Kris Kocurek. His career also overlapped offensive line coach Jeremiah Washburn’s stint in Detroit during the 2014-15 seasons.

​This story was written by Eldon Jenson. Follow him on Twitter @EJFootball.

#GetMeToMiami

​Heisman Trophy winner from the Oklahoma Sooners; Baker Mayfield is an interesting prospect. The hashtag #GetMeToMiami instantly started trending as soon as Mayfield commented on Kenny Stills' Instagram live stream. How would Mayfield fit in Miami? First, let’s get to know the prospect:

• Quarterback
• 6’0", 216 pounds
• Age: 22
  
  

​Career Stats:

• ​14,607 Yards
• 131 Touchdowns
• 30 Interceptions
• 1,083 Rushing Yards
• 21 Rushing Touchdowns

After watching and reviewing eight games of Baker Mayfield’s electrifying career, here is what I came away with:

• Oklahoma’s offense was mainly the Run Pass Option (RPO) and Shotgun Formation.
• Mayfield’s bread and butter is his ability to make intermediate throws and timing routes. (Outs, Comebacks, Slants, Curls, etc.)
• Mayfield always seems to go through his progressions and find his checkdown target.
• Mayfield has great touch on his deep ball, but there are times when his placement can be off.
• When under pressure, Mayfield side-arms a lot of throws which leads to inaccuracy and batted passes. Mayfield also tends to side-arm throws on screen plays
• It should be said that Mayfield played with a lot of NFL talent that aided his high production (Samaje Perine, Joe Mixon, Orlando Brown Jr. , Rodney Anderson, Dede Westbrook, and Mark Andrews). Mayfield also had one of the best offensive lines in all of college football.
• Mayfield has a similar skill set to Alex Smith, though he is more mobile.
• What makes him special is his intangibles and alpha male mindset as a quarterback, which doesn’t always show on film. 

​​If Baker Mayfield were to be part of the Miami Dolphins roster next season, how would he fit in?

The Dolphins brass have made it very clear that they are going with Ryan Tannehill as the starting quarterback in 2018, which would leave Mayfield as his backup. Mayfield would also serve as Ryan Tannehill’s insurance policy, in case something unfortunate happens again in the offseason. This can be said for any draft eligible/free agent quarterback.

Would Baker Mayfield be a good fit in an Adam Gase offense? The Adam Gase offense creates matchup advantages through motions, bunch formation, crossers and one read timing routes.  One thing we didn’t see a lot of from the Gase offense this past season, is the run pass option, but that should return with a more mobile quarterback. Therefore, for what Mayfield brings to the table, he should be a good fit for the Dolphins.

Overall, Mayfield is always going to be a polarizing prospect for many reasons, but I believe based on the tape, he is worthy of a top 10 selection in the 2018 NFL Draft. So where does that leave the Dolphins? If the Dolphins want to get Baker Mayfield, one would have to think they would need to jump a few teams (Denver Broncos, New York Jets) to get him.

This report was done by Lake Prasad. Follow him on Twitter: @LakeMcGroove

What is there to say about Jarvis Landry that hasn't already been said?

Landry wants to get paid, and quite frankly, the man deserves to be paid. His career so far has him at just over 4,000 yards and right at 400 receptions, he has shown that he has both the ability and determination to be a dynamic part of any offense. So why aren’t the Dolphins paying him the money he wants?

Well, for starters, Landry has been known to have a little too much passion at the wrong times, which can be a detriment to a team in crunch time. He also has dealt with some off-the-field issues over this last season. The Dolphins don’t want to give him top-dollar because they are scared of what he might cost the team if he doesn’t figure out how to contain that fire that the fans definitely love.

Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if the big dogs upstairs aren’t paying him because of a receiver that they could potentially get at the 11th spot in this upcoming draft: Texas A&M WR Christian Kirk.

Kirk has shown himself to be a top 20 draft talent in this upcoming draft, so there is the potential for Miami to actually land him, yet I surprisingly haven’t heard the Dolphins as being linked to Kirk. He makes so much sense for them to take. Especially if we let someone as sure-handed and deadly with the ball as Landry, walk.

Kirk is roughly the same size as Landry - both register in at 5'11" and roughly 200 pounds - and also gets a ton of receptions each year. Kirk has solid hands and is actually more of a vertical target than what Miami gets from Landry. He has great speed and explosiveness to make it very difficult to guard him one-on-one. In the Belk Bowl, a game in which he didn’t have to even play in, Kirk made 13 receptions for 189 yards and three touchdowns.

Now I know Wake Forest isn’t playing with the blue chips, but to show that kind of heart in a bowl game that means nothing to a man who is about to make millions shows me how dedicated this guy is to his team.

I'll end this by saying that I believe the Dolphins should try their very best to keep Jarvis Landry on the team. I’m sure the fans want him back, the coaches want him back, and I can guarantee you that Ryan Tannehill wants him back. But, at the end of the day the NFL is a business, and the Dolphins have shown in the last 10-15 years that they don’t handle business well.

I will say that in the last couple of years we have finally started to keep our own home-grown talent, but that’s not to say we will get to keep Landry. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him making spectacular plays on another team next year, and you shouldn’t be either, but if he is just hope that Miami grabs Kirk to make it a little less bitter.

This story was written by Nate Tucek: Follow him on Twitter: @ntucek

For the longest time, the Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the worst teams in football, and then in 2017, they not only turned that reputation around, they became one of the best teams in the NFL, even managing to make it all the way to the AFC Championship game.

Only to be stopped by the Super Bowl defending champions, the New England Patriots.

Regardless of the final result, there's no denying how drastically the Jaguars managed to turn things around, going from a 3-13 team in 2016, to a 10-6 team in 2017, and arguably the most formidable opponent the Patriots faced all year.

But was it really that sudden? Was the Jaguars' turn around really just a product of a massive spending spree? Or was there something more?

As I have been repeatedly informed, a vast majority of Jacksonville's best players were acquired in either 2016 or 2017, which means my claim on Twitter is actually false.

​After making that statement, I was bombarded by tweets that stated just how wrong I was, the Jaguars became amazing instantly, there was no slow turnaround.

But, I still believe that this isn't true.

Yes, the Jaguars absolutely spent a lot of money these past two offseasons to build their roster. Marcell Dareus was traded from the Bills to Jacksonville for a 2018 sixth-round pick, Malik Jackson was signed to a huge contract in 2016, and cornerback A.J. Bouye and DT Calais Campbell were signed to their own well-paying deals in 2017.

Jacksonville definitely used the past several years of suffering to their advantage, not spending a lot and accumulating cap space so that they could overpay any free agent they desired. But there's more to it than that, Jacksonville has been accumulating young talent over the years, and that is part of the equation no matter how badly some might want to focus solely on the money spent.

Five of Jacksonville's starters were drafted in 2014, them being LB Telvin Smith, WRs Allen Robinson and Marqise Lee, center Brandon Linder, and quarterback Blake Bortles (though I don't put Bortles in very high regard). They also found a depth CB in Aaron Colvin.

In 2015, the Jaguars gave a contract extension to one of their core linebackers in Paul Posluzny, and though his role was lowered in 2017, he was still an excellent role player. Jacksonville also added A.J. Cann (their current starting RG), a talented (though oft-injured) RB in T.J. Yeldon, and Dante Fowler Jr., who still may yet have something to offer the Jaguars despite his injury problems.

Then 2016 rolled around, and the Jaguars began to really piece a team together. In 2016, the Jaguars extended a stalwart of their offense since he was drafted by them in 2006 - tight end Marcedes Lewis, and added several pieces to their defense, with their first three picks eventually turning into starters and even stars, CB Jalen Ramsey, LB Myles Jack, and DE Yannick Ngakoue. Add safety Tashaun Gipson to the list of free agents that panned out, and all that's left is to cover the Jaguars 2017 draft class.

And they drafted instant star RB Leonard Fournette in the first, while still keeping T.J. Yeldon, and their starting left tackle Cam Robinson.

So even with the admittedly hefty spending spree the Jaguars went on, there's no denying that their draft classes of the past several seasons have contributed greatly to their success, and should Jacksonville decide to draft a new QB in the first round of the 2018 draft (perhaps a Lamar Jackson), then they could find a way to be a real powerhouse in the NFL for years to come.

There is no reason Miami cannot do the same.

I recently wrote a column detailing why the Dolphins' future was bright, despite all the negative discussion surrounding the team, now I'm going to go more in-depth as to why that is, and the reason that is because I can see Miami eventually building themselves up the same way the Jaguars did, just without the several years of being out of contention for anything other than last place.

Granted, that's a large reason as to why Jacksonville found so much top-tier talent, but as we all know, it's more about who you pick than when they're picked, and Miami has started finding a lot of players that can be built around as a core.

Their drafts prior to 2016 have been sketchy at best, only yielding a few starters and a lot of busts, but that was with the regime before Adam Gase, and since he came in, there has been an increase in effectiveness in the team's draft picks.

Just taking a look at the 2016 draft class, you can see that there's already a lot more potential in those players than in the players prior. In 2014, Miami found Ja'Wuan James, and Jarvis Landry. Everyone else either busted or was used primarily on special teams.

We can argue how much Landry is worth another time. As for James, he's good, but not irreplaceable.

In 2015, Miami found DeVante Parker - who has not lived up to his first round pedigree, Jordan Phillips - who was briefly uprooted as a starting DT by a 2017 rookie, Bobby McCain - who up until this season looked like he might also be a bust as a slot corner but has now started making plays, Jay Ajayi - who was traded to Philadelphia for a fourth round pick due to several reasons we may never truly know, and Tony Lippett - who was a WR converted to CB and is still developing as a project and might still turn out to be a decent starter at corner, or at least valuable depth.

And then Gase came in, and 2016's draft brought in a ton of players who we now know have a lot to offer.

First is Laremy Tunsil - who was shifted inside at first since Branden Albert was at left tackle, and now Tunsil is trying to get used to left tackle at NFL speed, and hopefully will by the 2018 season.

Xavien Howard - who is currently one of the team's starting cornerbacks on the boundary and has definitely found times to flash on the field, though he still has kinks that need working out.

Kenyan Drake - who barely got chances to have the ball in his hands thanks to Ajayi's insistence on not sharing the ball, and now he is projected to be the team's starting running back and has arguably proven to have more to offer than Ajayi.

And Jakeem Grant - despite his small stature, is speedy, shifty, and has amazing playmaking potential, which he has proven on more than one occasion, and is just waiting for an opportunity to get on the field more.

Then in 2017, Miami found even more talent to develop in Charles Harris, Raekwon McMillan, Cordrea Tankersley (who now is also starting at cornerback), Davon Godchaux, and Vincent Taylor.

None of these Adam Gase era draft picks have emerged as stars (yet), but they have shown that they have the talent and the capability to be players that a team can be built around. Playoff teams find players that a core can be formed through, and Miami is doing that under Adam Gase.

Stars will emerge in time, and once they're found, the team will be able to cheer for them and enjoy watching them on the highlight reel when they make a big play. But every team usually has at least one star, and they don't always turn out to be winning teams. Winning teams have full teams, teams that have talent from top to bottom and have grown their own talent and core.

Adam Gase is doing that now, and if we are to follow the Jaguars example, then let the team build up a core of young players that can take the roles that are necessary for the team's success. Some of the pieces are already there; I suspect that this offseason, there will be a lot less holes that need filling, and we may even find that holes we thought would be holes, were never really holes to begin with.

This story was written by Luis Sung. Follow him on Twitter: @LuisDSung

On this episode of PhinManiacs Live, the crew returns to discuss their feelings towards the 2017 season and what went wrong, as well as who's ultimately to blame for it.

Then, the team will discuss the situation surrounding wide receiver Jarvis Landry; is Landry so important to the team that he's indispensable? And if so, how much money should he get?

Also, the quarterback position will once again be discussed, as the Miami Dolphins are keeping a close eye on some of the top prospects in this year's draft. Will Ryan Tannehill remain the team's starting quarterback, or is he now merely a placeholder for someone else?

If you missed our live show, you can go back and listen to what we said by clicking the video below, or by going to iTunes, Stitcher, or SoundCloud and listening/downloading them from there.

It seems that every single year, the Miami Dolphins find a way to get everyone's hopes up, only to fall extremely short of expectations. For four seasons, Joe Philbin "led" the Miami Dolphins to four straight seasons of average at best and bad at worst. Here's a quick recap.

2012: 7-9.
2013: 8-8.
2014: 8-8.
2015: 6-10.

And yes, just for full disclosure, Dan Campbell did technically finish the 2015 season as the interim head coach after Joe Philbin was fired after Week 4. But ultimately, that too fell apart and Campbell is now on Sean Payton's staff in New Orleans as the assistant head coach and (naturally) tight ends coach.

So the cycle continued. Mike Tannenbaum, Chris Grier and Stephen Ross were once again looking for the man who would find a way to turn the franchise around, and they chose highly touted offensive coordinator Adam Gase, due to his reputation with quarterbacks and the rave reviews and endorsements given to him by players, coaches, and future Hall of Famers (e.g. Peyton Manning).

His first year in the league, things started slow and then picked up in midseason, and everyone loved Gase for turning the Dolphins into a winning juggernaut, and Jay Ajayi emerged as a star running back. All was well in Dolphins land.

Then Ryan Tannehill sprained his ACL after Calais Campbell, now of the Jaguars, went low and took him out of the game. Matt Moore was then responsible for getting Miami the rest of the way, and the Dolphins clinched their first playoff berth since 2008.

They didn't get past the Steelers in the Wild Card, but that's another story for now.

The point is, Miami was 10-6 and everyone thought Gase was a genius, that he was a mastermind who somehow knew more than everyone around him.

Then 2017 happened, and everything crashed and burned before the season started. Let's have another recap.

- Ryan Tannehill re-injures his ACL in training camp and this time gets surgery for it, ending his season.
- Rookie LB Raekwon McMillan injures his ACL in the first play of his first preseason game, on a special teams play.
- Developing CB Tony Lippett tore his Achilles tendon in practice before the season and his season ended.
- LB Koa Misi, who was projected to be in a backup role, never played and spent the year on IR as well.

At the time, no one believed this would be a huge deal, and for a brief period of time, when the Dolphins signed Jay Cutler to a $10 million dollar deal to replace Tannehill, people were actually able to place themselves under the delusion that Cutler was a better QB than Tannehill.

Thank God that nightmare is over, but I digress.

The point is, injuries seriously sabotaged the Dolphins seasons, as well as losing their bye week due to Hurricane Irma blowing through, and then more injuries during the season, and the scandal with Chris Foerster, the list goes on and on. But in the end, all that anyone cares about is that Miami went 6-10.

Fans want a new QB, new coach, new everything. Fans scream Ryan Tannehill is not good and Adam Gase is a moron...even though both are one year removed from a playoff berth and literally had everything that could go wrong, go wrong.

​I will be the first to admit that the 2017 season left me as demoralized as I'd ever been, it was painful to watch, painful to tweet about, and basically the frustration over the team made it impossible to hang out on social media because everyone was angry at each other for basically the same reasons.

It's time to move on, and contrary to particular belief, things are not as bad as they seem.

There is a silver lining to be had, even if Jarvis Landry moves on to another team, which seems to be more and more likely as time goes on. It may not seem possible, but I will gladly explain why there is reason to be hopeful for next season and beyond, despite what others out there want to say.

Once again, let's recap, and this time I'll use bulletpoints to really get the point across.​

• First and foremost, the Miami Dolphins will be getting their starting QB back, and regardless of what you may think about him - whether you feel the rookies in this year's draft class are superior or not - there's no denying that rolling with Jay Cutler was a severe downgrade from Tannehill, and that had a major impact on the overall quality of the offense. With Tannehill back, there should be no reason the team can't get back to what they were doing in 2016.
  
  
•  To follow up on the previous point, yes, the Dolphins can get back to what they were doing before, even without Jay Ajayi, and that's because now they have Kenyan Drake, who finally got a fair chance to showcase his skills when Ajayi was traded to the Eagles and Damien Williams got injured. There should be some questions as to why it took so long for Drake to get his chance, but now that he got it, he showed he may actually have more to offer in the offense than Ajayi did, which arguably makes him an upgrade for the offense.
  
  
• Another year went by, and now the team will have another chance to find young talent. While no one has necessarily emerged as a star yet, teams are seldom built out of superstars, but rather several solid players who come together and do their jobs. Miami has started to build a core that might be able to do that, and they're still developing. Give credit to the scouting department for finding guys like Cordrea Tankersley and Davon Godchaux, who both were thrust into starting roles as rookies and even managed to show some of what they could potentially become.
  
  
• Adam Gase is no fool, and one does not simply go from a genius to a fool in one year. Remember exactly what Gase had to go through in 2017, and what he had to work with and try to overcome. It may seem like merely an excuse, but the Dolphins truly did have the worst luck last season, losing several important starters before the season even began. It would have to be a severe and unfortunate coincidence for it to happen again.
  
  
• It may seem like the Dolphins are going to be working under a very strict salary cap, but there are several contracts that can be worked with to clear up space, and Miami will likely look into at least a few of them. Lawrence Timmons, Julius Thomas, and perhaps even Ja'Wuan James may move on, which would clear up about $20 million in cap space. In James' case, it may seem like a bad idea to make that hole, but that's a bridge they will have to cross when they get to it. Either way, there will be opportunities to clear space and give some flexibility in the offseason.

With all of these points taken under consideration, there's no reason to believe the Dolphins won't improve from last year's nightmare season. It was something we'll remember for a long time, and it may even haunt some of us because of how painful it was to watch.

But rest easy Dolphins fans, the nightmare is over. With Tannehill and Gase, Miami was 10-6, and the team should become more talented in 2018 after another draft goes by. We now have seen what works and what doesn't, and I am positive that Gase is aware of it too.

Progress is coming.

​So let's lick our wounds and begin to heal, and keep our eyes on the silver and aqua lining that is shining through the dark cloud of the 2017 season.

This story was written by Luis Sung. Follow him on Twitter: LuisDSung

Ignore the noise.

That’s my advice when it comes to the brew-hah-hah between Jarvis Landry and the Dolphins as negotiations take place for a long-term extension with the club.

Landry’s agent, Damarius Bilbo, {has been going on the defensive} after Landry’s attitude and professionalism was.

“The team has the right to use their methods and to do what they think is best, if that is to wait it out or to (franchise or transition) tag him. Mike Tannenbaum is a great guy. Adam Gase is a very passionate guy. Chris Grier is a very intelligent guy. They have everything they need to get this done. It’s been an open line of communication. It’s always been, ‘call me,’ which is why it was shocking to me to see some negative anonymous comments made in the media. The timing is very interesting. But it’s a process.”

Bilbo has the right attitude. These kinds of tactics, where the team anonymously degrades the player in the media in order to bring the price down, are not uncommon around the league. The same scenario played out last year in negotiations between the Steelers and Antonio Brown where word was that {Brown’s act was “wearing thin”} last year.

They are doing it again with Le’Veon Bell this year. In the end the Steelers got the deal done with Brown just as they will get the deal done with Bell. Because they need him and they know that they need to make him the highest paid running back in the league in order to keep him. The only question is how much.

I’m not saying that the Dolphins wouldn’t like to see Landry keep himself under control a little better. But this deal with Landry isn’t going to come down to his act on and off the field. Its going to come down to money just like it always does.

Specifically, the Dolphins have to decide if they want to pay the best receiver on their team like a number one receiver even though he lines up in the slot. Bilbo knows it. Tannenbaum knows it. Everything else is just sound and fury.

This story was written by Tom Shannon. Follow him on Twitter: @bearingthenews

The Miami Dolphins are attempting to makes changes to their team to improve for the upcoming season, and the time has come for PhinManiacs to do the same. For several seasons now, we have attempted to bring you the best coverage possible, with the unfortunate exception being 2017 as the team's endless struggle led to a massive demoralization.

At least, that's what happened with this writer.

But it's a new year, both literally and figuratively, which means the time has come for things to be renewed and improved, which is precisely what all of us here at PhinManiacs intend to usher in.

So what does the future hold? Allow me to explain what we have in mind.

       1. Moving to a new site host​

For the longest time, PhinManiacs has been centered around Weebly, and while the convenience and ease that the site can be edited is something we have enjoyed, it is time to take things to the next level. We are currently in the process of constructing a WordPress site, which will make posting articles much more professional-looking, as well as make thumbnails on Twitter appear as thumbnails, rather than making me post a non-clickable photo along with the link of the article.

       2. More interactivity

We want you, the fans, to be much more involved with the website. So we're looking into ways we can do that, possibly looking into doing live events on Twitter so that we can answer questions in real time, as well as get your input on things we should do and write about. We know that it's you guys that make a site work, and so we want to try and give you all the opportunity to give your input.

       3. Writers wanted

Everyone here on the PhinManiacs staff is passionate about the team they cover, but with all the information and all the different perspective there are out there, we need more manpower to make sure that we don't miss a thing. So if you're good at watching and analyzing film, have a gift for writing and are looking for a platform, or think you would like to be a podcast panelist, be sure to contact me here at my Twitter account: @LuisDSung

That being said, until the WordPress site is completed to my satisfaction, we will look to continue updating here on this Weebly hosted version of PhinManiacs, as we move towards free agency and the draft. From all of us here at PhinManiacs, we thank you for the support you've given us over the years, and we hope to continue giving you the best content possible.

Sincerely,

Luis D. Sung