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Dolphins seem content to let a No. 1 receiver emerge
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Before last season, after last season, before free agency and before the draft, there was a hue and cry: The Dolphins need a No. 1 receiver.
For a franchise with a rich history of having that position lit up by a star, it has been a constant drumbeat among fans, media members who cover the team, even national media types.
During the Don Shula era, who can forget Paul Warfield? The Marks, Clayton and Duper? Nat Moore? O.J. McDuffie?
But now the Dolphins are far removed from a clear-cut No. 1: Ted Ginn may be the closest thing, but No. 1s are go-to guys in the red zone. And that’s not Ginn, not yet and maybe never.
But you can count quarterback Chad Pennington among those who’s comfortable with the receivers the Dolphins line up. Pennington said: "I think our coaching staff does a great job of using all of our talents within the group that we have. Because of our experience of our coaching staff offensively and how good they are at that, I think that it is less important [to have a No. 1 receiver]. These guys are doing a great job of looking at all of our guys and seeing what they do well and putting them in the position to do something to make a play. It makes us more versatile. You have no idea on who is going to get the football. You can’t point to one or two guys that are going to catch most of the footballs. It comes out of every personnel group, every formation and so I think it is nice as a quarterback to have all of those options and to take what the defense gives you."
The league is basically divided between teams who have a No. 1 and teams who don’t and then profess they don’t need one.
The New York Giants either strongly believe just as Team Parcells does, or both are whistling by the graveyard when it comes to challenging for a title.
Take a look at Jason Cole’s Q&A with Giants General Manager Jerry Reese at Yahoo.com. Reese's bottom line: The Giants, he says, don’t have a No. 1, but “we have very capable wide receivers we can win games with.”
That ultimately is what matters. That the Dolphins may or may not have an easily identifiable go-to receiver doesn’t matter yet. And they seem intent and content with developing free agents and later-round choices.
The developmental bent serves two purposes: It puts the receivers in a merit situation. Make the plays and you’ll get more - more plays, more catches, more touchdowns, more money. It also allows the Dolphins to keep from having to pay huge money for the position, although Ginn does have the rookie first-round dollars that the previous regime spent on him. And it keeps the receivers from yammering in the media about how much more money they want for making plays: Anquan Boldin, Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens are only the latest bad boys at the position who cause as much trouble to team chemistry in the media as they do on the playing field for opponents.
That said: If the Dolphins are to play in February, they’ll have to have a go-to receiver in the red zone. Oddly enough, improvement in the scoring zone is the area that coach Tony Sparano spoke of his disappointment about after the mandatory minicamp last weekend. “[The red zone area] is one of the things that we will go back at. The red area is an area that no one in this league can take for granted. You never feel comfortable down there and you never feel like you got enough.”
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