It appears that Chad Ochocinco has officially signed with the team he grew up cheering for as a kid. He grew up in Miami and even when he was having his difficulties with the Bengals organization and wanted out, he told Miami to “come get me”.
Reports are that Chad has signed an incentive-based package that could take him into the millions. The contract will be for one year, which gives Miami the chance to evaluate him for the season to determine if they want him to stay after the season – provided he makes the roster, that is. His outgoing personality will also attract more viewers to the HBO Hard Knocks series that is scheduled to focus on the Dolphins. No kidding!
Chad has lots to bring to the table for Miami (see: HBO Hard Knocks). First of all, is he really done? Major media sources love to create stories to bring a player down to pad their television ratings. Was Randy Moss not portrayed as dead and absolutely useless with little to no chance of ever being the same, according to major media before he went to New England? Apparently the Randy Moss that could no longer play and his career was written off, took his talents to Foxborough and broke the NFL record for receiving touchdowns in a season, formerly held by Jerry Rice with 22. Moss posted 23 receiving touchdowns in his first season with the Patriots. He let his actions speak louder than any reporters’ negative words and fed each and every doubter a giant piece of humble pie along the way. But does Chad have the ability to keep his trap shut?
Here’s my take; Chad still has a couple of tricks up his sleeve, and hopefully some dominant celebrations left in him. By all accounts, he is still in great shape, does not drink, and the fans love him. Chad plays video games online with his fans and has been known to post on Twitter his whereabouts for dinner and offer to buy any fans dinner who meet him there. Being such a master self-marketer, Chad will help bring back some of the Miami faithful who have all but given up on their team. I think playing for his childhood favourite, the Dolphins, Chad will garner a pretty decent season. I don’t expect him to post numbers like Moss did, or will do again. Moss, to be clear, will not be record-breaking, but rather “game-breaking” with Alex Smith tossing the pigskin. But then again, he is Randy Moss, so who knows what will happen.
Chad will get the job done in South Beach for several reasons. First, the Dolphins are basically playing a bunch of slot receivers without Ocho in the lineup. An argument can be made that Hartline is not a slot receiver, but in my opinion he isn’t a pure wide-out like Chad is either, and besides, Hartline has a body suited for inside play.
Now if you line up the Dolphins’ offensive playmakers here is what you’ve got;
- Reggie Bush – just had his best season of his career
- Anthony Fasano – a TE that I believe was underused and overlooked. He always comes up clutch over the middle and in the end zone
- Davone Bess – one of the better slot receivers around, and although last year was not as good as the prior season for Bess, he is money on 3rd-and-short
If new head coach Joe Philbin has some creativity set for Reggie Bush, and a couple of high percentage plays to the slot receiver and TE with his West Coast system, Chad could find himself getting that extra second to make his break or have a safety drawn-in.
A short-drop West Coast system that is effective will draw the safety’s closer to the line of scrimmage and if Reggie can get going again, defenses must take an extra second and be weary of the run, screen, or play-action. It is the play-action where Chad has the chance to explode, although whether Miami has a quarterback who can get him the ball is yet to be seen. I believe Matt Moore, however, is the man to do it. He had a good finish to last season, and when in panic he throws it up to his best wide-out to make a play. This was obvious with Steve Smith in Carolina and Brandon Marshall’s increased production after Chad Henne got injured.
Nobody knows what is really going to happen, but one bad season is not enough for me to write a guy off. Chad previously stated he was planning on changing his name back to Chad Johnson and has a chance to do that without the previous repercussions since Nike has taken over the jerseys for the NFL and have not previously made Ochocinco jerseys on his new team. On another note, there is currently a player in Miami wearing 85, so Chad, if he keeps his name, may have to shell out more cash to get that jersey number then it would cost him to change his name back.
We’ll see what happens in the future, but after Brandon Marshall’s departure earlier this year, I think Chad has a spot available to him – all he has to do is show up the way Chad can. Do I think Ocho is the man to take this franchise back to victory road? A resounding “no”! The Dolphins have a lot of issues and are in a beast of a conference. However, what he can, and likely will, do, is bring fans back to the stadium (whatever its name is this week) He is the personality they need, the one the owner wants, and the wide-out who might just help Miami pull of at least six wins, which might seem like a long-shot given what they are up against this year.
… and that is the Last Word.
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