All indications were pointing to Clinton Portis brining his talents back to South Beach where he played his college career.

The Dolphins just cut Kory Sheets and reportedly worked out Portis this morning. Instead, a curveball was in order, which always seems to be the case with this regime.

The Dolphins have officially signed Larry Johnson. The same Larry Johnson that combined for 3,539 yards and 37 touchdowns in only two seasons from 2005-2006.

Okay, so not exactly the same guy. Same person, yes. But not the same running back.

Johnson is now 31, hasn’t played a full 16-game season since 2006, his last decent year was 2008 (874 rushing yards, 5 TD’s), and he only carried the ball twice for five yards in two appearances last season for the Redskins.

All things considered, I would have preferred Clinton Portis, who is nearly two years younger and probably has a little more left in the tank.

But I’m not going to complain too much here with Johnson. The Dolphins needed another capable workhorse as insurance for Daniel Thomas and Reggie Bush. The former is still a question mark as a rookie and the latter is injury prone.

Who knows if Larry Johnson can still be a capable workhorse at his age, but if he can somehow find fresh legs he’ll be a nice addition in Miami.

If not, he won’t make the team. Simply put, this is a low-risk, high-reward signing for the Dolphins.

According to Jeff Darlington of the Miami Herald and really Kory Sheets’ twitter account considering he tweeted “Goodbye Miami” before the announcement was made, the Dolphins have decided to part ways with the former Purdue Boilermaker.

Sheets was passed up on the depth chart by Nic Grigsby last week in practice after he struggled to make any plays in Atlanta. 

The Dolphins gave Sheets the nod over Grigsby against the Panthers, though, receiving eight carries to Grigsby’s three. Now it looks like they were simply giving him one final chance to make an impression.

Sheets is a letdown to some degree considering many thought he could potentially push to be Daniel Thomas’ compliment in the offseason.


Those fans and even media members in some cases, were probably getting a little ahead of themselves when you take into account Sheets went undrafted for a reason.

At any rate, it will be interesting to see whether or not the Dolphins add another back. They currently only have four on the roster, but that’s how many I expect they will keep when final cuts are made considering Daniel Thomas is still a big question mark and who knows if Reggie Bush can hold up for an entire season. 

UPDATE: According to Pro Football Talk, the Dolphins worked out former Miami Hurricane runnning back Clinton Portis this morning. If signed, Portis would provide the Dolphins a capable workhorse in case Daniel Thomas doesn't pan out or Reggie Bush is unable to stay healthy. 

Yesterday, we reported that Omar Kelly of the Sun Sentinel claimed defensive end Philip Merling is on the trading block. Kelly hinted that a tight end is a strong candidate for the compensation Miami will be looking for.

Currently, Anthony Fasano is the only tight end with any real game-day experience. Fasano has proved to be a nice piece in the offense, but more and more offenses around the league have two tight end sets and strong depth at the position. I think it would be wise if Miami followed suit. Many people will argue that the Dolphins drafted Charles Clay to fill that role. A valid point. However, Clay has been used mainly as a fullback so far in the preseason.

That being said, let’s not exaggerate here and say that the Dolphins should go after Winslow or Witten or whoever because Merling isn’t giving you that. Merling can probably get Miami a 5th/6th round draft pick in return or possibly a depth tight end or player.

Having a little tight end crush myself, I wanted to look into the possible number two tight ends Miami could possibly pursue.

I am in no way suggesting the Dolphins will pursue these guys, but it’s a couple of names to think about.

Evan Moore (Cle) – Last year Moore hauled in 322 yards and a TD and is 6-6 250 pounds. Moore posses the size and skill set that allow him to contribute in any offense. Watson is the number one tight end in Cleveland, but the Browns are high on Moore. 

 

Dante Rosario (Den) – We already know Denver is in the market for a defensive lineman, so a deal with the Broncos might be the easiest one to pull off. Rosario is 6-4 and has flashed that he can be a contributor in the passing game. Rosario had 313 yards two years ago along with two touchdowns and 264 yards last year. no comments

Omar Kelly said on WQAM radio that the Dolphins have put defensive end Philip Merling on the trading block and are in the market for a solid number two tight end.

With all the defensive line depth on this team, trading Merling would be a wise move. Tight End depth is definitely an area I would like to see improved. Two tight end sets have become very popular in the NFL and the Dolphins can use some TE depth with Charles Clay predominantly lining up as a FB.

Adam Schefter on WQAM's Sid Rosenberg’s show said that the Jags could cut or quietly shop Garrard if Gabbert takes over. Shefty also mentioned that Dolphins might be interested.

Personally, I don’t see this happening. Chad Henne will be the starting QB in Miami. While I think Garrard might be an upgrade, at this point of the preseason, the Dolphins are better off with Henne.

The Oakland Raiders selected Terrell Pryor in the 3rd round of the supplemental draft.



Side note: A phins fan you want to follow on twitter is @Robi2184. As far as knowledgeable fans go, this guy is high up there and knows his stuff. Good breaking alerts on all Dolphins' news!   

R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Respect is one thing the Miami Dolphins aren't getting much of these days. Despite brining in a new offensive coordinator, the human pinball Reggie Bush and having a pretty decent draft this offseason, NFL “experts,” one after another, have decided to load the hate down on the Dolphins.

This morning on ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike in the morning, the two Mike’s projected a nasty 3-13 record for the Dolphins this year.

ESPN once again took a chance to rip on the Dolphins in the preseason power rankings, putting the Dolphins at the bottom of the barrel at 24th overall

NFL.com “experts” had the Dolphins ranked at #21, while their generated fan rankings had them #22.

The Bleacher Report is the most optimistic on the Dolphins, ranking them at #20 in their power rankings. CBS was close to being as generous, putting them at #21. On the other hand, Yahoo was the harshest slotting Miami at #26 on their list.

Clearly, as the late Rodney Dangerfield once said, “I get no respect." That is probably exactly how the Dolphins feel right now.

I have no doubt all the haters will be posted all throughout the locker room and that Tony will only use the hate as motivation to try and get this team to the playoffs.

Last year’s motivational saying for the team was Feed the Wolf. This year the Wolf will be starving to prove that the Miami Dolphins can compete.