The first quarter of the season is in the books. How would you grade the performance of the season so far for Defensive Coordinator Kacy Rodgers?
I think Bowles is calling the plays but I might be wrong. I've seen him call plays a bunch of times, he's talking to guys on defense about coverages and whatnot. Maybe they're splitting, I haven't read anything about it yet. Either way, whoever is calling the plays, so far I'd give that guy a B. I was very disappointed with how the Eagles handled us with their stretch plays, they completely destroyed our defense. The D-Line and the linebackers. Hopefully they get this fixed because I think the Patriots might do the same. Anybody with half a brain would realize that running the ball up the gut against our defense is not going to work, but those stretch plays showed a big hole in our defense that needs to be fixed. On the flipside I love the coverages, the way we're blitzing, the different formations. Skrine can be a key guy in this defense despite being a "backup" corner even though he's playing the same amount as the starters. Demario could be an effective pass rusher, something Rex couldn't figure out in years. Took Bowles a couple of weeks only to get that much out of him.
I give him a B which isn't listed in the poll. He's held his own and was the choice of the head coach so they work together well. And give our GM credit on this one for not micromanaging and allowing the head coach to choose his assistants. I'll take him over Dennis Thurmond.
B. We have played soft with the lead and have allowed teams to get back into games and threaten late (Indy, Miami). We need to keep stepping on their necks and put them away earlier.
From Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen's 6 points: "Did the Dolphins let the wrong coach walk out the door in January?" "Did Dolphins err in letting defensive line coach go? When the Dolphins invested $60 million of fully guaranteed money in Ndamukong Suh, perhaps they should have regretted making a $500,000 decision two months earlier. It January, coach Joe Philbin decided to "do the right thing" when he allowed defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers to escape his estimated $500,000 per year contract to take a job as the New York Jets' defensive coordinator, reuniting him with new Jets head coach Todd Bowles. The two previously worked together in Miami and Dallas. Rodgers was special as a defensive line coach. He had a vital role in developing players he coached -- such as Cameron Wake, Randy Starks, Paul Soliai and Oliver Vernon -- into a forceful front. Although it's difficult to argue with Philbin's decision to let Rodgers out of his contract, it is not standard operating procedure. Coaches under contract are not given an automatic pass to take a promotion with another NFL team unless it is for a head-coaching position. The Buccaneers frustrated defensive line coach Rod Marinelli repeatedly by not allowing him to talk to teams that wanted him as a defensive coordinator. In turn, Tampa did its best by Marinelli by paying him more money and providing him with an assistant head coach title. Examples like this can be found across the NFL. Who's to say Rodgers would have made a difference for the Dolphins? But despite the offseason gain of Suh (six years, $114 million), the loss of a $500,000 assistant coach might have had a greater impact on the team. Philbin played the nice guy role, but you know what they say about nice guys. Now Rodgers is one step closer to being a head coach, and Philbin is no longer one after four games this season."
