Immediate Will Fuller Impressions -

 I prefer to think about how Miami’s moves (in general) will work out. Will Fuller feels like a retread of an idea that hasn’t worked out in 20 years.

To be fair, Will Fuller was not treated to the bombast of Mike Wallace. He feels like Kenny Stills - a number 2 who can take the top off. But I’ve been a private Will Fuller skeptic for years.

To me, those guys get a lot of fan attention because they score a lot of points. Or, at least, when they score points, they do it in difficult and frankly poetic ways.

I’m waiting for Miami to get someone consistent.

My favorite receivers have always been guys like O.J. McDuffie and Hines Ward. DeAndre Hopkins a few years ago put on a performance unlike anything I’ve ever seen. His jersey was literally in shreds because defenders had no other options but to hold onto him for dear life. In other words - I like dudes who are open when they aren't. Chain-movers.

Bucky Brooks talks about building your wide receivers room like a basketball team. I don't really know what that means. I don't enjoy basketball. But I think it means you want five dudes all with different body types and skillsets, but similar dudes on the bench. I've said on Twitter that I see Flores, et al, as being married to the Lynn Bowden experiment. But everyone else feels complimentary to me. 

DeVante Parker and Preston Williams; Albert Wilson and Jakeem Grant; Lynn Bowden and Robert Foster. Will Fuller is different. Does that mean they're targeting a chain-mover to attack the middle of the field or do they believe in Durham Smythe and Mike Gesicki? If they do, I think they go DeVante Smith in the draft. A Young compliment to Will Fuller.

My takeaway, after today’s slate and the addition of Center Matt Skuda, is that the Free Agency is for depth. You spend big Year 2 to win some games. Years 3 - 5, you draft and develop and strategically add stars.

I don’t think this Dolphins team is a Super Bowl contender. Tua or no Tua. That argument is silly to me. I understand the perception that Deshaun Watson is the kind of guy that you just… make it work with (for) if you have the chance to get him. But I think that Tua is tailor-made for what Flores wants to do with this team.

I’ve said it elsewhere, but this is the first time on this blog. You need to score 25 points to win in the NFL. Conversely, you need to prevent the opponent from scoring more than 24.

Flores is a defensive coach. He has experience coaching all three phases of the game (and scouting), but philosophically he is a defensive coach. Defensive coaches, whether they’re Billy B or Rex Ryan, want a ball-control offense with the ability to score at will.

The idea is that you want to grind teams out between the five minute marks of each half. You want to score on your first two drives, then you want to score going into half. Then you choke the life out of the other team. Defensively, you give them nothing; offensively, you wear them out with the horizontal passing game and running between the tackles. Then you catch them making a mistake in play-action and score again.

It’s not flashy. Frankly, it’s boring.

But when it works, like it has a few times for this new Dolphins, the wins are comfortable. And your Quarterback looks pedestrian.

Look, let’s be real. The reason I’m kind of meh about the Will Fuller signing is, apart from not knowing what kinda dude he is because I haven’t much paid attention, defensive coaches struggle with hungry offensive talent. Why do you think Billy B has never had star skill players on offense?

The Bruce Arians offense, with all the weapons and the dazzle, works because in-season Bruce wants to throw it all over the yard and try to score 50 points. That shit is fun between weeks 1 and 17 (is it 18 this year?). Traditionally it hasn’t worked after December. That’s why Brees only has the one ring. And Payton had to go to a defensive team to get his second.

Brian Flores is trying to get through the regular season as quickly as possible. He’s that Poker player who folds ever single hand except the Blinds. The thing about that guy is he’s always there at the end of the game.

I think Will Fuller is a smart signing. I’ve talked myself into it. But. If they don’t find a runner, a 3-down back they can bell-cow when they have a lead, none of this matters.

I was saying that last year, though. If they can’t get that coveted 4-yards-per-carry (shoutout to Miami’s 3.3 ypc at midseason last year) no matter how the blocking looks or who the defensive front-seven are, the pass-catchers don’t matter.

I know that’s silly talk. But in this scheme, in the gameplan that’s in the heart of Brian Flores’s heart, they have to find one runner who can be on the field for 75% of the offensive snaps.

I think he’s in the Draft. I think Green Bay thinks Aaron Jones is that guy.

I keep teasing a look at the backs in this class. I’m going to go look at what the rest of the AFC East has done this week. Then I’ll probably swing around to those backs. Because I am interested.

Thanks for reading! See you in a couple hours, maybe.