Upgrade or Downgrade: Making the Call on Dolphins' Major Offseason Additions
The Miami Dolphins had a busy start to their offseason, signing quite a few high profile players while also making a couple of big cap-clearing youth-oriented trades.
This leads to plenty of offseason additions, but the Dolphins didn't have nearly as many as you'd think.
In fact, not counting Kenny Stills (acquired via trade), this is their spotrac page detailing their free-agent signings. You'll notice that only five of the names (as of the publishing of this piece) are players who were not Miami Dolphins last year.
In contrast, the Dolphins either released, traded or refused to (or failed to) re-sign eight players from last year's roster.
Many of the players signed by Miami were bought in to replace the released players. Today we're going to analyze whether the additions were upgrades or downgrades at the position.
LB Spencer Paysinger: Downgrade
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I had a hard time deciding whether this was an upgrade or a downgrade.
The linebacker lost this offseason being compared to the new Dolphins signee Spencer Paysinger to isn't Philip Wheeler or Dannell Ellerbe, but instead Jason Trusnik, who signed with the Carolina Panthers on March 31.
Trusnik was a jack-of-all-trades as a linebacker, but he really shined as a special teams player. You could see this in the games Trusnik played at linebacker for Miami, as he was graded at 3.1 overall by Pro Football Focus, yet when he wasn't on the field on special teams, the unit struggled greatly.
Paysinger, who was signed on April 2, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, does bring some versatility as he played each linebacker position for the Giants, and like Trusnik, was a special teams ace.
Paysinger hopes to start for the Dolphins, stating "Every linebacker that plays in the NFL wants to be a starter at some point. For me, it was about having an opportunity."
Based on past performances, this is a downgrade as Trusnik has better numbers than Paysinger. However, it should be noted that Paysinger is four years younger, and the Dolphins might be valuing his youth more than they did Trusnik's experience, which is a solid way to go.
CB Brice McCain: Upgrade
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Brice McCain was brought to Miami not to be a starter, but to replace their longtime nickelback and chronic tackle-whiffer and flag magnet Jimmy Wilson.
Already we see an upgrade.
McCain has specialized in playing nickelback (good when you're a football player, not when you're a band), and in doing so has eight interceptions (three returned for touchdowns) and 39 tackles for his career.
Last season, per Pro Football Focus, McCain allowed quarterbacks a rating of 76.7 when thrown at him, while Wilson allowed a rating of 108.0.
Simple math tells you this is an upgrade in a position that is becoming more important in the NFL today.
WR Kenny Stills: Upgrade
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This was another debatable one; in fact, I've changed my position on this at least three times while writing the piece.
When you only look at the box scores, going from Mike Wallace to Kenny Stills is a downgrade. It's difficult to replace 67 catches for 862 yards and 10 touchdowns.
It should be noted that I was firmly in the camp of keeping Wallace despite whatever problems he might have had with the team. When the Stills trade was announced, the idea of pairing the two receivers up on the outside despite their rather similar skill set was exciting.
With that being said, as much as it might have been preferable for the Dolphins to have kept Wallace and given him and Ryan Tannehill (and whoever else he might have had issues with) another chance to patch things up, there were problems.
The chemistry between the two was horrid at the start and only got worse, Wallace never tried to track down passes thrown to him (and, no, Tannehill wasn't exactly Dan Marino either), and Wallace did have plenty of drops in his two years in Miami.
Oh, and let's not forget that contract.
So why is Stills an upgrade? Much like Wallace he's a speed threat, however, he's more likely to track down passes and make the catch. Somehow when Stills was traded to the Dolphins, his long completions were written off as being the product of Drew Brees, yet Brees isn't exactly known for his arm strength (he is more accurate, though).
Then there's the previously mentioned issues Wallace had with his quarterback. Once again, not really casting blame on one guy over the other, but it does help sometimes to split a tandem up if it's not working, while also acknowledging that sometimes a pairing between two players doesn't work regardless of the talent level of both players.
Throw in the age difference and you have the Dolphins replacing a temperamental, older and more expensive receiver with someone who could do his job and has shown to do it better. Stills has had catches of 69, 46 and 45 yards while Wallace's best in 2014 was 50 with no other catch going over 40.
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TE Jordan Cameron: Downgrade
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I'm well aware that Miami's original plan was to pair Jordan Cameron with Charles Clay.
That didn't happen since Clay wound up getting overpaid by the Buffalo Bills, so instead the two players will be compared and contrasted.
In this light, this is a downgrade for the Dolphins.
Now, just because it's a downgrade doesn't mean it wasn't a good move. The Dolphins would've been idiots to match Buffalo's offer for Clay, and Cameron is more of a red-zone threat than Clay, in addition to being more athletic.
Between the 20s, though, Clay has been better than Cameron. He was one of Ryan Tannehill's most trusted targets in the last two years, and it will be difficult to replace 58 catches for 605 yards.
Again to reiterate: while it's tough to replace Clay, it's the route you have to go when another team is willing to grossly overpay said player like he was the second-coming of Tony Gonzalez and Rob Gronkowski.
Cameron could replace Clay, the problem with him is concussions. He missed six games last season due to concussions and their complications and is looked at as a major health risk due to said concussions.
This was not an issue with Clay, which is why he's making the big bucks in Buffalo while Cameron is settling for a two-year "prove it" deal.
For overall production and durability this is a downgrade, but Cameron does have a bigger upside, especially in the red zone.
DT Ndamukong Suh: Upgrade
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I could very simply explain that when you sign the best interior defensive lineman, you're making an upgrade.
However, it's not like Ndamukong Suh is replacing bad players. He's actually replacing two pretty good players in Jared Odrick and Randy Starks.
In comparison to Odrick, the upgrade is in run defense. Odrick was decent against the run, grading out at 1.0 on Pro Football Focus in that category.
Suh graded out at 19.6. That's not a typo.
While Odrick was sublime against the pass, that was an upgrade too, as he graded out at 7.3, while Suh graded out at 17.0.
Again, Suh's number is not a typo.
Now let's compare Starks, who was a decent 4.9 in pass rush but an abhorrent minus-9.5 against the run.
Overall, the grades stack up with Starks getting a minus-1.1, Odrick grading out at 9.0, and Suh grading out at 31.4.
That's a pretty big upgrade, and with the emergence of A.J. Francis and Anthony Johnson, the Dolphins have to be feeling great about a defensive line that lost two very good and very important players, yet still managed to make a massive upgrade to the position.
Statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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