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Miami Dolphins Tipsheet: News and notes from Day 1 at the Senior Bowl

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Dolphins news and notes from the first day at the Senior Bowl:

* The Dolphins are turning over most of the coaching staff. Joe Philbin met with the coaches for about 20 minutes over the weekend, and most are preparing their resumes. Receivers coach Steve Bush is officially out, and here in Mobile looking for work. Offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo is out, too, and about to join Tony Sparano and the Jets. Assistant receivers coach Ike Hilliard is now the receivers coach in Washington. Mike Nolan is in Atlanta, and Todd Bowles, Brian Daboll and the rest of the staff likely will be elsewhere soon, too.

The one guy reportedly staying – special teams coach Darren Rizzi, who will be retained by Philbin, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette. The Dolphins’ special teams were fantastic last year in all three phases.

* Mike Sherman sits atop Philbin’s list to become offensive coordinator, but he has a second interview with the Bucs today for their head coaching vacancy. If he doesn’t come, one name to watch is Green Bay receivers coach Edgar Bennett, who has been with the Packers in various roles since 2001. For defensive coordinator, expect Green Bay’s Winston Moss, Darren Perry and Mike Trgovac (Carolina’s defensive coordinator from 2003-08) to get serious looks. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the Dolphins will interview Bengals defensive backs coach Kevin Coyle later this week for the DC job.

* Several sources said they anticipate the Dolphins switching to a 4-3 defense next year, which means they would likely let Paul Soliai walk away in free agency, as he’s a best fit for a 3-4 defense. Kendall Langford (a free agent) and Randy Starks can play tackle, while Cameron Wake and Jared Odrick can play on the ends. Koa Misi, a middle linebacker in his first few years at Utah, would probably play that role in a 4-3, with Karlos Dansby on the strong side and Kevin Burnett on the weak side. I argued with one source that the Dolphins don’t really have the personnel right now to run a 4-3 and would have to make several changes. “They don’t have the personnel to run the 3-4, either,” he countered. Touche.

* While Daboll had, by all accounts, a fantastic season – the Dolphins’ offense was aggressive and put up big chunks of yards, as Stephen Ross wanted – a few players felt Daboll wasn’t always honest with them about playing time, and won’t be sad to see him go.

* In today’s paper, I wrote about rookie quarterbacks not named “Andrew Luck” or “Robert Griffin III.” Here’s how the prospects appear to shape out:

– Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehill is the clear No. 3 quarterback in the draft, but hurt his stock by breaking his foot a couple weeks ago, forcing him to pull out of the Senior Bowl. He was potentially a top-15 pick, and still could be, but probably is now a late-first rounder.

– After Tannehill is a group of five quarterbacks in the second-third round range, who each show a lot of promise but have a significant flaw. Brandon Weeden is probably the best of the group (and best-suited to run the West Coast offense, if that’s what Philbin installs), but he’s 28 years old, and you don’t know if he’s just been beating up on younger competition. Arizona’s Nick Foles has all the physical tools, played in a non-traditional spread offense at Arizona.

San Diego State’s Ryan Lindley is a four-year starter, but only completed 53 percent of passes as a senior. Michigan State’s Kirk Cousins has a cannon for an arm, but makes a lot of bad decisions on the field. Arizona State’s Brock Osweiler threw for 4,000 yards, but started for just one year in college, and his 6-foot-8 frame scares people due to a potential lack of mobility and athleticism.

* Then you have two intriguing quarterbacks who could go anywhere from the third to seventh round – Boise State’s Kellen Moore and Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson.

Moore had a 50-3 record in college, which is hard to ignore – and his three losses were by a combined five points – but he has an uphill battle. He measured at just 5-foot-11 and 191 pounds on Monday, which is really, really small for a quarterback. He also doesn’t have a strong arm. Not the best combination for a quarterback.

But Moore makes up for it with smarts, athleticism and guile.

“Kellen Moore is one of the most anticipatory throwers in the league, and he has to be because he doesn’t have a big arm,” Mike Mayock said.

Wilson is even smaller than Moore – 5-foot-10 and 202 pounds – but has a few more things going for him than Moore. He’s a better athlete – he was once a high-round pick by the Colorado Rockies – proved that he can handle the rigors of professional athletics by becoming a “free agent” last year and learning the Wisconsin offense on the fly, and noted that he had the fourth-biggest offensive line in the country.

“I get depth in my drop, I just have a high quick release, I see through lanes and know where guys are gonna be,” he said Monday.

“Russell Wilson looks like Doug Flutie to me, he really does,” Mayock said. He makes plays, he’s smart, he’s tough.”

* Today’s required reading: This thorough Q&A with Peyton Manning in the Indianapolis Star. Doesn’t sound like he’s ready to retire.

* My favorite event of the week was yesterday – the Senior Bowl weigh-in, when we get to see how badly the college teams inflated the players’ height.

Twenty-seven of the 104 players at the weigh-in magically “shrunk” by more than an inch. The worst offender of this, by far, was Alabama and Nick Saban. DB Dequan Menzie shrunk from 6-foot to 5-10 and a half, TE Brad Smelley dropped from 6-3 to 6-1 and a half, and my favorite, WR Marquis Maze shrunk over two inches, from 5-10 to 5-7 and a half.


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