Alfie Dogs

       Listen, I get a hard on for steadily available players. I feel that the skill set of rock solid consistency is just as rare as the special individual talent. I would argue that the talent to be a touch stone reliable player is in its own way a manifestation of elite athleticism. Obviously, I am eluding to Jerome Baker who in his 5 year career HAS NEVER MISSED A GAME. Furthermore, he has lead the Miami Dolphins in combined tackles every year of his career except last year, where the teams leading tackler broke the NFL record for tackles at his position (DT Chris Wilkins). I realize that all of this may seem as circumstantial evidence of what I feel is a grossly underrated, or dare I say, disrespected talent. So, I would like to present some historical perspective. Baker the Tackler When you focus on the top 50 tackles in Miami Dolphins history, Jerome Bakers career influence might surprise you. For Example: Jerome Baker is 5th all time in Dolphin...

In the historical realm of team sports, there have been many great athletic phenoms, but only a chosen few create their own gravitational pull. The gravitational athlete is a unicorn that generates uncommon attention because of their unique and individual skill set. In my opinion, the three greatest gravitational players I have ever seen are, Lionel Messi, Tyreek Hill & Carli Lloyd.   Lionel Messi  Lionel Messi with his diminutive stature isn’t your classical athletic phenom. However, his dominance over the ball, his precision passing, and his elite vision creates a nightmare scenario for opposing defenses. Lionel Messi is the ultimate team soccer player, because the attention that he generates opens up the game for all of his teammates. Furthermore, his game translates as he ages because it is predicated on precision, and balance, and not elite athleticism. Lionel Messi is a marvel when you consider how he may be the greatest soccer player of all time while not possessing...

The nature of evaluating NFL defenses influence on the final tally is a theoretical exercise of quantifying infinite variables. In 2017 The Washington Post wrote an article where they quantified a sack as the equivalent of 1.75 points. The conclusions of their advanced analytical study is difficult to argue against.  Yes, if we where to only look at total sacks as an individual stat in relationship with scoring outcomes then 1.75 seems reasonably accurate. However, if you expand your calculations to include turnovers and points directly related to a QB sack, then the point influence changes drastically.  In my deep dive of the relationship between sacks and scoring outcomes I am of the opinion that a sack is worth on avg. 3 points. Exhibit A Miami vs Buffalo Wild Card Game 2023 Final Score: Bills 34 - Dolphins 31  Statistically the Bills won almost EVERY team stat. However Miami won in TWO very influential stats, Sacks and Turnovers; both teams registered two int's but th...