Rastak
01-21-2007, 11:23 AM
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-hyde21jan21,0,876011.column?coll=sfla-sports-front
HYDE: Culpepper is Cameron's top issue
Published January 21, 2007
What to do with Daunte Culpepper is the No. 1 issue facing Cam Cameron by such a wide margin you could stretch the English Channel between it and what comes next. That might be clear and obvious. What remains foggier is exactly what the Culpepper issue involves.
Publicly, everyone keeps pointing at Culpepper's surgically repaired knee last season to explain his problems at quarterback. Privately, as it turns out, Nick Saban felt the knee was fine and the real problem was further north on the anatomy chart, a Dolphins source says.
Saban wondered more about Culpepper's head. It wasn't just the decisions that Culpepper made on the field, holding the ball too long, taking a ridiculous number of sacks and unable to run an admittedly sagging offense before heading to the bench.
It was Prima Daunte stuff off the field, too. Not showing up at the Dolphins' news conference to announce his trade (Culpepper had promised the first interview to ESPN). Not studying defenses enough (which led to him holding the ball in confusion). Not adjusting at all to a lost step from surgery or age (which led to more confusion in the pocket).
Saban, remember, said for the first few weeks of the season that the knee wasn't a problem and Culpepper had to adapt his game some. That's how Saban really felt. But he changed his tune when Culpepper went on the shelf, either giving in to the groundswell about his knee or giving Culpepper a face-saving way out.
So this is where the Cameron Era starts and it's a doozy of an inheritance. The issue is simple: Do you cut Culpepper or keep him?
It's why Cameron was hired. Quarterbacks are his specialty. Developing Drew Brees and Philip Rivers in San Diego is what separated him from the other Dolphins candidates.
Jimmy Johnson, Dave Wannstedt and Saban all sunk to some degree with the Dolphins because of quarterbacks (in Jimmy's case because he and Dan Marino couldn't agree how the position should be run). So Cameron has to get this one right from the start.
One thing not in question is the salary cap. The Dolphins actually would save $1.3 million on next year's cap by releasing him, the Sun-Sentinel's Alex Marvez has reported.
So here are the questions: Is Culpepper's problem his knee or his head? Or is it his head because he was stressing about his knee? And will he work harder this year with a quarterback-intensive coach? Can a healthy Culpepper run Cameron's offense that has won with classical drop-back passers like Brees and Rivers?
Do you cut him and risk him winning somewhere else? Can you risk having him on the roster if you're not sure he's capable of starting?
And if not Culpepper, who?
The Dolphins' No. 9 pick would have given Matt Leinart or Jay Cutler last year. This year, there are only two franchise-type quarterbacks being discussed and both are expected to be gone by then.
Watch Cleo Lemon in all this. It seems a reach, considering Lemon played just six quarters to finish last season.
But Cameron coached Lemon in San Diego. And asked if Lemon could be a starter in Friday's news conference, Cameron talked him up in an interesting way.
"He has been a starter," Cameron said, noting the last game of this lost season. "Cleo Lemon, I'm pretty sure, unless someone breaks the record this year, was the first player we had [in San Diego] to go three consecutive years and never miss a workout.
"That tells you about Cleo Lemon because I think that's the first and most important thing a quarterback has to be -- the hardest worker in your organization."
Kudos to Lemon. And perhaps a message to Culpepper? When asked about Culpepper and the quarterback situation, Cameron didn't exactly give a full-body embrace.
"That's been my background, as you know, working with quarterbacks," he began. "I was a quarterback in college. There's no one formula for solving a quarterback situation. I will tell you this: I have tremendous respect for what Daunte Culpepper has done in the National Football League."
Respect is a good thing. Trust is a bigger one. What Cameron has to get right, what will define his era for better or worse, is whether Cameron trusts Culpepper enough to marry their football futures.
Dave Hyde can be reached at dhyde@sun-sentinel.com[/quote]
HYDE: Culpepper is Cameron's top issue
Published January 21, 2007
What to do with Daunte Culpepper is the No. 1 issue facing Cam Cameron by such a wide margin you could stretch the English Channel between it and what comes next. That might be clear and obvious. What remains foggier is exactly what the Culpepper issue involves.
Publicly, everyone keeps pointing at Culpepper's surgically repaired knee last season to explain his problems at quarterback. Privately, as it turns out, Nick Saban felt the knee was fine and the real problem was further north on the anatomy chart, a Dolphins source says.
Saban wondered more about Culpepper's head. It wasn't just the decisions that Culpepper made on the field, holding the ball too long, taking a ridiculous number of sacks and unable to run an admittedly sagging offense before heading to the bench.
It was Prima Daunte stuff off the field, too. Not showing up at the Dolphins' news conference to announce his trade (Culpepper had promised the first interview to ESPN). Not studying defenses enough (which led to him holding the ball in confusion). Not adjusting at all to a lost step from surgery or age (which led to more confusion in the pocket).
Saban, remember, said for the first few weeks of the season that the knee wasn't a problem and Culpepper had to adapt his game some. That's how Saban really felt. But he changed his tune when Culpepper went on the shelf, either giving in to the groundswell about his knee or giving Culpepper a face-saving way out.
So this is where the Cameron Era starts and it's a doozy of an inheritance. The issue is simple: Do you cut Culpepper or keep him?
It's why Cameron was hired. Quarterbacks are his specialty. Developing Drew Brees and Philip Rivers in San Diego is what separated him from the other Dolphins candidates.
Jimmy Johnson, Dave Wannstedt and Saban all sunk to some degree with the Dolphins because of quarterbacks (in Jimmy's case because he and Dan Marino couldn't agree how the position should be run). So Cameron has to get this one right from the start.
One thing not in question is the salary cap. The Dolphins actually would save $1.3 million on next year's cap by releasing him, the Sun-Sentinel's Alex Marvez has reported.
So here are the questions: Is Culpepper's problem his knee or his head? Or is it his head because he was stressing about his knee? And will he work harder this year with a quarterback-intensive coach? Can a healthy Culpepper run Cameron's offense that has won with classical drop-back passers like Brees and Rivers?
Do you cut him and risk him winning somewhere else? Can you risk having him on the roster if you're not sure he's capable of starting?
And if not Culpepper, who?
The Dolphins' No. 9 pick would have given Matt Leinart or Jay Cutler last year. This year, there are only two franchise-type quarterbacks being discussed and both are expected to be gone by then.
Watch Cleo Lemon in all this. It seems a reach, considering Lemon played just six quarters to finish last season.
But Cameron coached Lemon in San Diego. And asked if Lemon could be a starter in Friday's news conference, Cameron talked him up in an interesting way.
"He has been a starter," Cameron said, noting the last game of this lost season. "Cleo Lemon, I'm pretty sure, unless someone breaks the record this year, was the first player we had [in San Diego] to go three consecutive years and never miss a workout.
"That tells you about Cleo Lemon because I think that's the first and most important thing a quarterback has to be -- the hardest worker in your organization."
Kudos to Lemon. And perhaps a message to Culpepper? When asked about Culpepper and the quarterback situation, Cameron didn't exactly give a full-body embrace.
"That's been my background, as you know, working with quarterbacks," he began. "I was a quarterback in college. There's no one formula for solving a quarterback situation. I will tell you this: I have tremendous respect for what Daunte Culpepper has done in the National Football League."
Respect is a good thing. Trust is a bigger one. What Cameron has to get right, what will define his era for better or worse, is whether Cameron trusts Culpepper enough to marry their football futures.
Dave Hyde can be reached at dhyde@sun-sentinel.com[/quote]