Daniel Thomas About to Go Packing?

 
Mike Gillislee is 5 11 208 pounds, he arrived in Gainsville from DeLand Florida with high expectations as a top 10 recruit. Despite playing all 13 games in his freshman season behind the shadow of Tebow, Rainey, and Demps he only had 31 carries for 267 yards and one TD; however he did rush for 78 yards on 5 carries during his teams win vs. Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl. As a sophomore he scored 7 TDs but his carries were still limited only had 58 carries for 325 yards. As a junior he had fewer touchdowns with a less than ideal workload. With 56 touches for 328 yards and only 2 TDs. Before the 2012 season Gillislee stated that his goal was to rush for 1,500 yards, and 24 touchdowns. Even though at that moment that sounded unlikely to some, he wasn’t far off with a larger workload he reached 1152 yards on 244 carries scoring 10Tds.

 

  Strengths: Solid, durable, runner who can be a featured back when asked to carry the load. He posses the amount of power and size, very strong at cutbacks which help him avoid direct hits. He keeps his feet moving and is very good at pushing of defenders with his hands. Ultimately he is a very good pass catcher, who can adjust to high passes and make the first defender miss making him an asset in the passing game.

 

  Weaknesses: Mike is agile guy who can make a guy miss, however sometimes he has a lot of wasted movement and steps. Another issue with Gillislee is that he can be inconsistent in taking what the defense gives him because he tries to look for the big play which results in him not been able to gain the yards available to him. Cuts a lot of runs to the outside where NFL defenders will hunt him down. As far as pass blocking goes he needs to learn how to anchor, and learn how to react better when he gets cut blocked.

 

  Overall: Daniel Thomas can start packing in my opinion. As we remember last year he missed multiple games, had fumble issues, and was in the dog house with Coach Philbin. I’m perfectly fine with Gillislee been an early contributor (as in day 1), and think he will make a great 1 2 punch with Lamar Miller.


 

Who is Jamar Taylor a Closer Look

  



   With the 54th pick in the draft the Miami Dolphins went with my favorite corner in this draft, Boise States Jamar Taylor. At 5'11 192 Taylor started his Carrier at Helix High School in San Diego California.

   Taylor headed to Boise State.During his true freshman season he played in all 13 games racking up 24 tackles 2 for loss, and an interception. In the 2009 season due to the depth at the position he decided to red shirt. In 2010 Jamar finally earned a starting spot and had 35 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks 2 pass breakups and 3 forced fumbles. In 2011 he stared the first 9 games before suffering a stress fracture that forced him to miss the last 4 games of the season. He managed to return at less then a 100 percent for the last Vegas Bowl vs Boise State, and he did it in great fashion with a 100 yard interception return. Overall that year he had 27 tackles, two for loss and six pass breakups. As a senior Lamar really stepped his game up with 51 total tackles, 3.5 went for loss, including 2.5 sacks. In addition he added 9 pass breakups, 4 interceptions, and 3 forced fumbles. showing a propensity to tackle well and knock the ball out of opponents hands. He finished his Boise State Carrier with first team All-Mountain West honors for the first time.He is compared to NFL CB Drayton Florence

   Strengths: Physical strong hands which he uses to redirect wide receivers. He works well in press bail has good fluid hips, gets out of backpedal really well, and turns smoothly. Jamar is very capable of setting the edge and sticking his nose on the run game and contests the ball really well in tight situations. He is also very solid at covering down field routes.

   Weaknesses: Needs to improve technique in press coverage, acceleration and recovery speed aren't very good, he gives up to much ground on outside breaking routes. In addition he needs to diagnose playaction plays more accurately and start bringing in more difficult interceptions. Finally he needs to be a more consistent tackler in space.

  Overall: Even though Taylor has some things he has to work at I think they are all coachable and he will be able to start Day one for the Miami Dolphins opposite Brent Grimes.This was a very good pick by Jeff Ireland giving Kevin Coyle a Corner to groom.