Old members of the Miami Dolphins team including Chad Pennington, OJ McDuffie, Larry Little, James McKnight, and Lousaka Polite spoke together about the Dolphins upcoming season over a live phone conference on Wednesday evening.
There were a lot of questions directed toward Pennington because of his close relationship to both the coaching staff of the Dolphins and Ryan Tannehill. Right now Pennington is coaching middle school football in Kentucky where he now lives. When asked if he would eventually become a coach for the Dolphins, he responded by saying that “coaching is one of [his] passions, so maybe somewhere down the road.” Pennington believes that the Fins have a great young QB coach that has been working hard with Tannehill to prepare him for the upcoming season. As for Tannehill, Pennington is very excited to see all the progress he has made during his time off. Pennington also noted that Brian Hartline has had a great offseason and is a player to look forward to in the 2013-14 NFL season.
As two notable Miami Dolphin receivers, OJ McDuffie and James McKnight weighed in on the Dolphins new offensive weapons. McDuffie sees Brandon Gipson as one of the greatest threats Miami has acquired during the offseason. Along with Gipson, McDuffie thinks Dustin Keller is going to be critical down in the red zone for Miami. McDuffie is sure that Tannehill is going to have a lot of options when it comes to plays within striking distance of the end zone. As for James McKnight, Lamar Miller is the player that he foresees having the greatest impact on the Miami Dolphin’s team. McKnight stated that “if our running levels gets off the ground it makes Ryan Tannehill a better QB. It makes it easier to avoid third and long positions,” which is what Miami has struggled with in the past.
Lousaka Polite also has great faith in Miami’s running game this season. As a former Miami fullback, he is able to comment upon Jorvorskie Lane’s abilities with insider knowledge. When speaking about Lane, Polite commented that he feels “like Lane is a perfect fit for the Dolphins. He has the talent and he is very athletic for his size. If he takes care of his body he will play for along time.” This is great news for Dolphin’s fans who want to see continued success in fourth and short situations. Polite also had positive words to say about Lamar Miller becoming the starting RB for the Dolphins. Just as Polite believes Lane will play for a long time (if he remains healthy), the same scenario goes for Lamar Miller.
The Dolphins have seen plenty of changes in the offseason, as has the NFL in general from back when Larry Little was playing the game. The rule that bothers Little the most is that offensive lines can now use their hands in contrast with when he was playing under the leadership of Don Shula. The biggest change in Little’s eyes is the Dolphin’s logo. He admitted that the new logo is growing on [him] the more [he] sees it, but he is still “an old traditionalist, sometimes you just have to roll with the punches.”
More stories you might like