The Phinsider: SB Nation's Miami Dolphins blog

Now under center: The Phinatic from SB Nation's Miami Dolphins blog, The Phinsider.

tommasse: How will the Dolphins offense change transitioning from Daunte Culpepper to Trent Green

Phinatic: Actually, I think the change in quarterback was more of an effect of the transition in offensive philosophy rather than the cause of it.  The new offensive philosophy stems from having an the offensive-minded Cam Cameron as head coach, rather than the defensive-minded Nick Saban with help from the terrible offensive coordinator, Mike Mularkey.

So what are the actual differences in offenses?  Cameron comes to Miami bringing his version of the "Air Coryell" offense.  Of course, Don Coryell was the great offensive-minded head coach of the St. Louis Cardinals ('73-'77), then with more success as the head coach of San Diego for 9 seasons.  He really revolutionized the passing game.

So what Dolphin fans and opponents will see is more "spread" sets, more passes to the tight ends, more shots downfield, and more passes to the running backs.  What you need in a quarterback is one who is smart, can read defenses quickly, make quick decisions, and get the ball out quickly.  This explains why Cameron felt so strongly on bringing in Green and showing Daunte the door.  Daunte has always been criticized for his inability to effectively read defenses.  He's more of a one-read and run QB, which is why he'll be running out of Miami, bum knee and all, sometime soon.

Update [2007-6-15 17:24:2 by tommasse]:
My 2 cents again. Culpepper certainly wasn't the answer, but I don't know how high are my expectations of Green. He's hardly been the same since that awful concussion at the hands (make that the helmet of Cincinnati) and his playoff performance in January didn't show him making quick, or good, decisions.

Nick Saban was evidently the Rick Pitino of the NFL (not sure he's even as good as Pete Carroll), so Cameron's system will be key. Now it's a matter of whether he has the rest of the personnel to build consistency. The deep holes and late-season comebacks are no way to run an NFL team. For Green, I worry about the offensive line and his apparent fragility. Either way, he's an upgrade from Culpepper.

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