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 Entering this season a lot of us were holding out hope that DE Phillip Merling would finally show why he was the first pick in the 2nd round in 2008. OK, most of us consider him to be a first round pick as he was the 32nd player selected in the draft as the Patriots lost their first round pick that year due to cheating (hence, Cheatriots), but officially he was the Dolphins pick in the 2nd round. Yep, that last sentence is a good example of a run-on sentence.
Merling did not play poorly in his rookie season, but it was clear that Kendall Langford, who was selected in the 3rd round that year, was the better player coming out of the gate. In his second season Merling did not show a lot of improvement and there were rumors the past month that he was becoming a disappointment to Parcells and Sparano. This was said following several training camps where he was elevated as the starter and rookie first round pick Jared Odrick came in during passing situations. In the final month of the 2009 season, when the Dolphins needed their players to take an extra step forward to make the playoffs in a very competitive AFC East, Langford was the one to step his game up ... not Merling. In the last four games of 2009, Langford had 14 tackles, 1 assist, and 1 sack ... which was close to his production the previous 12 games. Merling had 7 tackles and 1 assist. Even though Langford took more snaps, he earned them by his play on the field and what he did in practice during the week. None of us fans complained too much about Merling until we found out that the Trifecta were disappointed in him. Typical of us fans. Sure, we were not too happy about the rumors that he hit his pregnant girlfriend, but we were still waiting on the final word on that. Unfortunately, it was revealed this week that Merling tore his Achilles at a recent Dolphins practice and will be out for the season. Even though Merling has had a terrible offseason, I am disappointed that we lost him for the season. I am still hopeful that he can be the defensive lineman that Parcells and Ireland had hoped he would be when they drafted him. I am not too convinced that the rumors of him being on the bubble are all too true. My thoughts are that his personal life had him distracted and he did not have the training camp that the Dolphins had hoped he'd have. Perhaps his work ethic has not been Parcells-like when compared to other players. Since he did not improve in his 2nd season, and the Dolphins were planning on moving Randy Starks to DT, they draft Odrick in the first round. I think the stories of the Trifecta's disappointment in him was leaked out to the press to help motivate him to get him to that next level. Now, those are just my thoughts on it. According to Pro Football Focus, Merling did not have a very bad year last year when compared to other 3-4 defensive ends. Clearly it was not good enough and the Dolphins need more from him. 
So, with all that said, we all need to move forward and hope that Phillip Merling can get his things in order. An advantage is that the Dolphins do not have his personal life distracting the team in the locker room. Immediately following the Merling injury the Dolphins signed Marques Douglas to a 2-year, $2.5 million contract to fill in at defensive end. The Jets were considering bringing him back after he signed with them last year, but the Dolphins Dolphins quickly moved on him after the injury to Merling was announced. What can he bring to the Dolphins at age 33? He will be good in run support, but will more than likely be pulled out during passing situations. ESPN predicts .... As a starter, he has the potential to provide 60-plus tackles and a handful of sacks in the Miami defense.
He also has a very good locker room presence, so, the Dolphins have added another leader to this team. Hopefully the team will not have too many Chiefs and not enough Indians, eh? A big advantage of this signing is that he is a Nolan disciple. He played under Dolphins defensive coordinator Mike Nolan's Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers defenses. The fact that the Dolphins quickly signed him was probably due to some prodding from Nolan himself. 
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