What to Watch for in OTAs
Over the next 2 weeks the Miami Dolphins with hold three sets of Organized Team Activities, which unfortunately will not be open to the public, but will have some media coverage. Even though these practices are not mandatory, most of the players will be present.Even though the public can not take a first glimpse at their upcoming 2014 Miami Dolphins, the media will be granted some access, so fans will get some feed back regardless. Football gambling fans do not put too much weight into OTA’s, however there are a few things to look for.
The first and foremost is to see who is present and who is not, and whoever is not present, is there a possibility that they are going to hold out because of contract issues.
The next biggest thing to look for is who is healthy. The Phins had a lot of players banged up by the end of last season, so it will be very interesting to see who appears to have recovered from their injuries, and who is on schedule to be fit for the season.
Lastly, who appears to not be recovering according to plan. One position that sticks out the most in regards to injuries is the wide receiver position, where Brian Hartline, Brandon Gibson, Armon Binns, and Rishard Matthews were all suffering from injuries. My guess is one of these players is not progressing the way the team had hoped, and that is why the Phins drafted 2 wide receivers. The OTAs could be football gambling fans first chance to see which of these receivers is not on schedule to be healthy enough to return for the upcoming season.
During OTAs we get an initial glimpse at who seems to be in shape, and who seems to not be in shape. This is very telling because if anyone looks to be in shape, then we know that they have been actually working hard this off-season on their own, which proves that they are motivated to become a better player. The same thing can not be said about players who come into OTAs out of shape and over weight. This obviously reflects badly on the player and displays that they are not as determined and motivated as we had hoped they would be. Don’t get me wrong, a player that is out of shape now does not mean he is going to be a bad football player during the season, however it does give a good glimpse of the overall character of the team. Do we have a team of players that worked hard this off-season on their own, because they desire to become better, or do we have a bunch of players that only work hard when they are told to, and are happy with just collecting a paycheck. Bottom line is the best teams in this league are hungry to win, and work very hard to give themselves an added advantage to be successful. Hopefully the Dolphins players are coming into the season with a hungry attitude.
