Dolphin spin

From today's Sun-Sentinel-

DAVIE · In theory, Dolphins coach Nick Saban had the right idea.

Saban recognized that the safety position has become so important that he selected Jason Allen in the first round of April's draft. The Dolphins expected Allen to make an immediate impact and potentially evolve into a safety with Pro Bowl honors, which is the kind of player each of the past six Super Bowl winners had in their secondaries.

While that hasn't happened, Allen shares some common ground with one of those standouts.

Like Allen, Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu played only on special teams early in his rookie season. It wasn't until almost midway through the 2003 season that Polamalu began receiving snaps in nickel and dime situations, the way Allen has the past two games.

Allen admits that handling all of the position's responsibilities can be overwhelming, especially considering he split time between safety and cornerback during his college career at Tennessee. Missing the first 10 days of training camp in a contract holdout also set Allen back.

"You have to have a lot of discipline and be in the right spot at all times," Allen said. "You've got to be the chief of the secondary because you make the calls and checks and run things. You've got a lot more to take in [than college].

"In college, you've got football and class. You kind of have college here as well because you do so much studying. It's like a graduate program."

Allen apparently is a long way from becoming an NFL standout. That isn't lost on Saban, whose hopes of playing Allen early were tempered by not wanting to expose a raw player on a veteran defense that already has allowed six scoring passes of 20-plus yards.

Comparing Allen to Polamalu at this point is a joke. Jason Allen may still develop, but your guess is as good as mine at the moment. Allen could be just another Dolphin Draft bust in the defensive backfield.

If you draft a player in the first round you're hoping to see the player start almost immediately(With the exception of QBs). Allen is still only playing special teams. The Dolphins need so much help at present, can they afford to be patient in hoping that Allen develops into the player he was projected to be? I guess the team has little choice. Some how I think Miami has just made their latest personnel blunder. There has been a long line of them in the last 10 years for the Dolphins. Jamar Fletcher, Eddie Moore, Two 1st round draft picks traded for Ricky Williams, John Avery and more.

Have the Dolphins become the Bengals of the 00's?

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