The Miami Dolphins have worked out former Florida Gator Chad Jackson and may offer him a contract.
Jackson was recently cut by the New England Patriots after he caught just 13 passes in 14 games in 2006 ... and didn't catch a pass in an injury-plagued 2007. No one picked him up off of waivers due to him being in the middle of a four year deal. Now, with no contract glued to him, Miami is interested.
And well they should be. Miami isn't very deep at receiver right now. Ted Ginn, a second year player, is their main guy. After that is ... uh ... hmmm ... oh, Greg Camarillo! Oh ... and Devone Bess! Did I mention Ernest Wilford? How could I forget Derek Hagan?
The point is that there is no risk bringing Jackson in for a look-see. He's a big, speedy receiver who had a decent preseason. He's familiar with the AFC East and would have a good chance to pick up some playing time.
Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.
Quarterbacks: The Brett Favre Fallout ended up with Chad Pennington coming to Miami. Good thing, because the Dolphins didn't have a quarterback on their roster. Well, technically they did ... but when you are having a three-man race to figure out who might be able to handle the job ... you have no QB. Pennington gives Miami what they need: an experienced, accurate passer. He's a winner, but not the kind of guy who makes those dynamic plays. Right now, they don't have great receivers, either, so a guy that can hit his target is key. Chad Henne may be the future ... but that's what we thought about John Beck last year. Heat Index: 4
Running backs: This is the biggest strength of this offense. During their 1-15 season last year, the fact that Ronnie Brown was having an outstanding season was lost on many people. Brown was worthy of a Pro Bowl spot before he tore his ACL in mid-season. All indications are that he's healed. Brown will share duties with Ricky Williams. Yep, he's back and he's bad! I can't believe I'm saying this, but Ricky has been a model teammate. He's basically lived at the Dolphins complex, is in supreme physical shape and could get back to his pre-retirement form. Of course, that is all the good. The bad is that your steadiest part of the team involves a guy with a major knee injury and another who is now 31, barely has played over the last several seasons, already has two strikes and is unreliable. At least he's not on the hippie lettuce anymore. Heat Index: 7
Ernest Wilford was supposed to be a big-play veteran addition to the Dolphins' young corps of wideouts. So far, so bad on that front. And while Wilford's had a forgettable training camp, and continues to slip slide down the depth chart, it looks like the team won't cut him.
Partly because he got $6 million in guaranteed dough when Miami signed him this offseason, and partly because it's not like this club has gobs of depth at the position can can afford to lose anybody.
Wilford's struggles prompted coach Tony Sparano to sit down with him earlier this week for a talk. During their meeting Sparano encouraged Wilford, assuring the former Virginia Tech standout that he hadn't lost confidence in him. ...
Wilford blames part of his slow start on the difficulty in learning the nuances of a new offense and the lack of familiarity with the quarterbacks, and vice versa. But he points out it shouldn't continue to be a challenge seeing as how he had to learn three offenses in his four seasons with the Jaguars and worked with three different starting quarterbacks.
Huh. I suppose it's good that Wilford isn't a Dolphins quarterback, then. Seriously, Miami hasn't even played its second preseason game so it's probably too early to declare Wilford a bust. And although Ted Ginn is full of promise and Derek Hagan is improving, those two names hardly instill fear in opposing defenses.You know, like Wilford does.
Good news: Chad Pennington is coming to Miami and the Dolphins are back in the Super Bowl hunt. Bad news: it's still not clear who he will be throwing passes to. Ted Ginn, last year's first-round pick, hopes to build on last year, but behind him, well, the Dolphins have bupkes.
The team signed Ernest Wilford this offseason, and had grand plans for the former Jags wideout, but as it turns out, he's apparently not very good.
The Dolphins' WR corps is suffering from a bad case of the drops. Coach Tony Sparano gave them an earful after a recent practice, and as a coach who stresses the fundamentals, Sparano has been visibly agitated. One of the most disappointing receivers has been free-agent acquisition Ernest Wilford, who has been indefinitely demoted to the second team, with Derek Hagan taking his starting spot.
That's swell for Hagan, but he's had his own struggles. Ultimately, the Dolphins are going to have to find Pennington some weapons, and while Hagan might be a nice complementary player, he's not a starter -- at least not yet.
While the Dolphins take the next three months to sort out their quarterback situation, the team is wasting no time in trying to improve the wide receiver position. Last April, to the consternation of just about everybody, Miami passed on Brady Quinn and selected Ted Ginn.
It's still too early to tell if Ginn was the right choice (or if Quinn will be anything more than Derek Anderson's high-priced backup), but the Dolphins' current front office isn't spending a lot of time worrying about personnel decisions made by the previous administration. Water under the bridge and all that.
[A]lthough May/June performance shouldn't be overstated, their offseason development has the team encouraged. Ginn's ''release off the ball has gotten a lot better,'' cornerback Andre' Goodman said. ''He's a lot more assertive,'' Will Allen said.
[New wide receivers coach Karl] Dorrell told Ginn he must ``run at the same speed all the time so they can't tell if you're trying to run by them or you're running something shorter. He's doing a real good job trying to look fast with everything he does.''
Yesterday, Johnson told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that he'd love to return to the NFL, but denied a report that he's received an offer from the Dolphins, who are run by his former coach, Bill Parcells.
"Me and Bill talk all the time. We talk about football a lot. We talk about everything, except playing for the Miami Dolphins," said Johnson...
"He's helping me go over the pros and cons of coming back versus staying at ESPN," Johnson said. "He's always treated me like a father figure more than anything else. But not once has he said, 'Come play for me in Miami.'"
Johnson did say he'd be open to playing for the Dolphins, and wouldn't mind serving as a mentor to Ted Ginn and Derek Hagan. Plus, he's very familiar with new Miami offensive coordinator Dan Henning, who held the same job when Johnson was with the Panthers.
As I previously noted, "Johnson's ... a very capable blocker, has good hands, and isn't afraid to patrol the middle of the field. He's never had deep speed so his ability to stretch the defense is no more an issue now than it was early in his career." I don't see how bringing him back has a downside (although it does go against the team's off-season plan to get younger).
The Miami Dolphins have started the arduous task of remaking the roster. Earlier this week they cut nine players, including quarterback Trent Green and wideout Marty Booker.
They also have the first-overall selection, and could take defensive endChris Long, quarterback Matt Ryan, or look to trade down and accumulate picks to hasten the rebuilding process.
And then there's this, courtesy of the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson:
Jerome Stanley, Keyshawn Johnson's agent, said Tuesday the ESPN analyst continues strongly to consider a comeback and has discussed the Dolphins as a possibility. Word is he wants to decide by mid-March. WFOR-4 reported Johnson's former coach, Dolphins executive Bill Parcells, would be receptive to the ex-receiver making a comeback here.
Johnson was out of football last season, but he had 70 catches for 815 yards with the Panthers in 2006. He's also 35 years old, which means a comeback is not only improbable, but even if he makes the team, it'll likely be a one-year stint.
Dolphins wide receiver Derek Hagan enters his third year in the NFL. Early in his senior season at Arizona State, he was projected as a possible first-round pick, but inconsistent play and a knack for dropping passes saw his stock drop. Miami ended up taking him in the third round of the 2006 draft, and to date, he's still learning to become a complete receiver.
Dolphins wide receivers coach Terry Robiskie, who was let go when Bill Parcells took over the team, has some advice for Hagan (Robiskie has since been hired by the Falcons):
Before former Dolphins receivers coach Terry Robiskie was fired, he offered this unusual spin on receiver Derek Hagan: 'The biggest thing is for him to get married. Single guys don't have the focus of married guys. He's focusing on the rims of his car, on `Am I Cingular or T-Mobile?' and other things that are so irrelevant. He's got too many focuses.'' OK then.
Too bad nobody ever told Travis Henry about this marriage thing. I could've saved him the trouble of having to ignore all those child-support payments.
As for Hagan, I can understand how a 23-year-old who recently came into a lot of money might get caught up in things like rims and cell phones. But Robiskie's right: none of that crap matters when you're out of a job. And if Parcells has made anything clear it's that he doesn't suffer fools well.
Every week, NFL FanHouse hits the lowlights from Sunday's action, looking at those players who did the most to move their head coaches that much closer to returning to the Bed and Breakfast business.
Miami Dolphins That's right, for the first time in Coach Killers' short history, an entire organization earns the top spot. And they definitely earned it.
I understand the Dolphins are rebuilding, even though it's mid-season, but did everybody forget that they had a game Sunday? Want an example of how quickly things got out of hand against the Patriots? Here are Tom Brady's first half stats: 16 of 19 for 291 yards and FIVE TOUCHDOWNS. He finished with six for the day, and 27 for the year. There's a real chance he gets 100 by Christmas.
The Dolphins are now 0-7, and they truly have nothing to play for this season. Everything is about 2008 and beyond. Knowing that, it was encouraging to see Derek Hagan and Ted Ginn combine to haul in seven passes for 93 yards, and Ronnie Brown looked good until ... he left the game with an injury. Yeah, God has smited the 2007 Dolphins.
Silver lining: Joey Porter got his first sack of the season!
Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, 
Ernest Wilford
Good news: 
While the Dolphins take the next three months to 
Last week I mentioned that 
