While the Dolphins may hope to select a quarterback in the first round of next month’s draft, many in the organization believe 2018’s Big Four — Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Josh Rosen, and Josh Allen — will be off the board by the time Miami’s slot comes at No. 11, reports Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Views on projected starter Ryan Tannehill vary even among the Dolphins’ decision-makers, per Salguero, but he’ll be under center for Miami in Week 1 if the team doesn’t land a signal-caller in the draft, as the only other quarterbacks on the Dolphins’ depth chart are Brock Osweiler, David Fales, and Brandon Doughty. Jay Cutler, who started 14 games for Miami in 2017, won’t be re-signed, leaving Tannehill and his recovering knee as the only viable starting option.
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- After being suspended four games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy, Chargers defensive tackle Corey Liuget is not in danger of being released, according to Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com, who adds Los Angeles will not seek to restructure Liuget’s contract. Liuget, 28, is slated to earn $8MM for the upcoming season, so he’ll lose out on $2MM in base salary. The former first-round pick appeared in 12 games in 2017, posting 15 tackles and 1.5 sacks while grading as the NFL’s No. 32 interior run defender, per Pro Football Focus. Liuget was especially proficient as a pass rusher, as his 81.8 grade ranked 15th among defensive tackles
- Although the Panthers are unlikely to make any more major moves in free agency, they are still open to re-signing backup quarterback Derek Anderson, per David Newton of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Aside from starter Cam Newton, the only other signal-caller on Carolina’s roster is Garrett Gilbert, who has never attempted an NFL pass. Anderson, who earned $2.25MM annually on his previous Panthers contract, has spent the past seven years as Newton’s backup. The backup quarterback market is rapidly thinning, but available options include Mark Sanchez, Kellen Clemens, and Geno Smith.
- Running back Mike Davis‘ new one-year deal with the Seahawks is worth $1.35MM, reports Brady Henderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Davis received a $350K signing bonus — the only guaranteed portion of the contract — an can earn $200K in per-game roster bonuses. Seattle opted not to tender Davis a restricted free agent, but will now retain at a cost about $600K cheaper than the lowest RFA tender. Davis, 25, is part of complicated Seahawks’ backfield that also includes Chris Carson, J.D. McKissic, and C.J. Prosise.
- The NFL has instituted a rule banning players from lowering their helmet to initiate contact, tweets Mark Maske of the Washington Post, who adds players can be ejected for doing violating the rule. The league will continue to work on the details of the rule and announce further revisions in May, as Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com writes.
Just to be clear, initiating contact by lowering your helmet has always been against the rules. It might be a clarification, or a modern “refreshing”, if you will, but this is nothing new. Coaches are drilling this into their youth players’ heads constantly, and I vividly remember many instances where my coaches lost it on a teammate for spearing. As a coach, I could never imagine allowing a player to tackle like this.
That said, some players are encouraged to hit like this in some programs. The amount of force you can put into a tackle by leading with the helmet and aligning your spine is astronomical. These hits are also commonly featured on SportsCenter and encouraged across all the TV broadcasts, so there are multiple reasons why the persist, even though players are keenly aware of the danger. For example, Ryan Shazier had hit like that for years before he had his injury, and his hits were featured all over TV as “bone crushing” and that he was a great tackler. It was not at all a fluke, as we’ve been made to believe. This was coming, sooner or later. And it’s sad to see.
A part of this whole thing should be to raise public awareness on this issue and get fans as well as parents on board with the idea that not all bone-crunching hits should be cheered. Coaches at every level are putting in a lot of time teaching cutting-edge, safe tackling techniques and this has been happening for many years.
Thanks!