I think the initial Depth chart will look something like this:


LT ... Albert, Branden ...T ...6-5 ...316 ...29 ...7 ...Virginia

LG ... Smith, Shelley... G......6-4 ...312 ...26 ...5 ...Colorado State
........Thomas, Dallas ..G/T ..6-5 ...306 ...24... 2 ...Tennessee

C ... Pouncey, Mike ...C ...6-5 ...303... 24... 4 ...Florida
........Brenner, Sam ....C ...6-2 ...310 ...24 ... 2 ...Utah

RG ... Garner, Nate ....G ...6-7 ...325 ...29 ...7 ...Arkansas
..........Turner, Billy ...OL ...6-4 ...315 ...22 ... R ...North Dakota St.

RT ...James, Ja'Wuan ...T ...6-6 ...318 ...21 ... R ...Tennessee
........Fox, Jason............T ...6-6 ...314 ...26 ... 5 ...Miami (Fla.)

Jim B Wrote:


thanks for posting that. Much improved, but I would still like to see another FA if one is available. I really hope these picks pan out. I know its not an option but we sure could use Ritchie Incognito.

GO DOLPHINS!!!!

Turner is going to be the LT understudy probably, and if he learns a few things..he is projected to ascend to possible pro-bowl levels in due time. Hope so. The line is looking much better as a result of this draft.

Remember the last laugh might be on Pouncey when the Aaron Hernandez case progresses and the gun running charge might come about.

Last laugh on Pouncy? Its us that will be screwed blue and Tattooed my friend.

GO DOLPHINS!!!!

On paper it's a decent mix of talent and experience, and I'm very optimistic that it will come together well. In fact, if the talent has been evaluated well enough, then there's more than enough talent to field a good starting OL.

I also think that Moreno is an incredibly important part of the equation. His blocking and pass-catching abilities should really help Tannehill in the pocket.

Finally, irrespective of the OL, Tannehill probably needs to get more and more comfortable with pressure in general. Philbin's offense as Rodgers ran it in Green Bay had him dealing with pressure and a relatively high number of sacks year in and year out. I don't think it's as much because of any OL or QB deficiency as it is the basic design of the offense. Plenty of basically interchangeable route runners going into pattern putting a lot of pressure on the LBs and secondary...sacrificing QB protection from the TE (a lot) and RB (relatively often). I'm not saying 58 or the amount of non-sack pressure he was under last year was acceptable, but we shouldn't be too surprised at around 40 sacks. Even with a new OC. Tannehill was sacked every 11 attempts, and Foles every 10 attempts.

I should also say that I think this is the right thing vs. the Sparano/Henne/max-protect model. I don't think you can expect to win much in this league when your QB is basically immobile...you keep a very good TE (Fasano) in to block far too often...and you routinely send just 2 WR into pattern. Some form of that might work if you have Manning or Brady (and the refs overlooking holding). We have a smart, mobile QB who should be a very good fit for an offensive design that has shown to work well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2014 10:43PM by tsstamper.

tsstamper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Finally, irrespective of the OL, Tannehill
> probably needs to get more and more comfortable
> with pressure in general. Philbin's offense as
> Rodgers ran it in Green Bay had him dealing with
> pressure and a relatively high number of sacks
> year in and year out.

That depends on our new OC and how HE sets up the offense. I doubt Philbin will be micromanaging him.

We shoulda taken the center from USC who was higher rated than turner can also play guard and gives us flexibility with pouncy

________________________________________________________
The beatings will continue until morale improves.

Pouncy is not going anywhere. He just needs to grow the "F" up. He is probably pissed and I'd hate to be on the other side of him this coming season. Kind of wish we could have Iggy back for the same reason. Just one more season. But He is black toast.

GO DOLPHINS!!!!

One of these guys could crack the lineup just as Sam Brennen did last year. I, for one, am thankful this entire unit was finally shaken up and rid of most of the Irish underachievers.

Utah State center Tyler Larsen

Larsen, who is 6-foot-4, 317 pounds, was rated the seventh best center in the 2014 NFL draft. Following a knee injury in 2009 he played 51 consecutive games over the next four years. His brother Cody Larsen is a defensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens.

Arkansas offensive tackle David Hurd

Hurd is 6-foot-6, 308 pounds, has played both tackle positions for the Razorback. He's a multi-year starter who bench pressed 225 pounds 22 times.

Southeastern Louisiana offensive tackle Gasten Gabriel

Gabriel is a 6-foot-4, 319 pound offensive lineman Gabriel, who earned second-team All-SLC honors in 2012. He's a multi-year starter for his small school program.

Arizona State offensive lineman Evan Finkenberg

Finkenberg's 41 consecutive starts were tied for the second-most among all Pac-12 players in 2013. He's 6-foot-4, 298 pounds, and played both left tackle and right guard, ending his career as Arizona State's starting left tackle.

New Mexico State offensive lineman Davonte Wallace

Wallace, who is 6-foot-3, 308 pounds, was a four-year starting left tackle for the Aggies, but is expected to move inside to guard. He bench pressed 225 pounds 27 times at his Pro Day, and reportedly ran a 5.37 40-time.

Yep we will have two starters from that crowd. RG and RT.

In my view -- based on the franchises history -- they all SUCK until proven otherwise.

How can we possibly trust Phlimflam & Co. after the absolute ineptitude (in terms of talent acquisition and development) on the OL.

Investing in roster frauds like Josh Samuda and Will Yeatman is more than sufficient evidence to deduce Phlimflam is certifiably incompetent as an OL coach -- which is supposedly his area of strength...

Very, very sad testimony...

So now we're supposed to trust him to build us a great OL????


That's insanity.

I hate philBUM too.

Sickofit+1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I hate philBUM too.


Hate is a very unhealthy term. You realize its just a game right?

GO DOLPHINS!!!!

Thats a heavy line. Everyone is over 300 pounds.

300 is pretty average in NFL today. You don't see many ol in the 200s

________________________________________________________
The beatings will continue until morale improves.

berkeley223 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 300 is pretty average in NFL today. You don't see
> many ol in the 200s


I remember the broncos OLnot too long ago not been too heavy...They dominated too..


Looks like we are trying to build a OL like in the good ol dallas days..

double post.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2014 04:19AM by samsam3738.

Here are the issues on the line as I see them....

I read an article this morning about how Turner will play LG and Smith will play RG. The problem with that is that Shelley Smith plays LG better than he plays RG and Turner excelled at RG at the Senior Bowl.

The down side is that we would end up with two rookies playing next to each other. That's ok if you have Richmond Webb and Keith Sims but normally not ideal.

If they go the way of the article, we would have all rookies playing next to a veteran. That I can understand. AND Smith is a road grader in the running game and that guy typically is on the right side.

This all assuming our 3rd round draft pick can win a job. We haven't had the best of luck with 3rd round linemen...which leads me to my next subject....Dallas Thomas.

Sometimes these kids need a year to get stronger and get used to the NFL. I hope that is the case for Thomas. I still have hope for him to compete for a starting spot. I just have no idea where that will be, at the moment.

In any case, we look better on paper. No glaring holes anyway.

LT Branden Albert,
LG Billy Turner, Dallas Thomas
C Mike Pouncey
RG Shelley Smith
RT Ja James

I would be surprised if anyone other than Pouncey and Thomas make the final 53 from 2013.

I do think we will be able to run the ball pretty well this year.

One of my problems with Philbin, Joe Football was that in my opinion, he didn't play rookies at all.

Should rookies start, only on rare occasions, like when I was sitting in the L.A. Coliseum in the second week of the year and a team took out the quarterback that had led them to the SuperBowl and put in the guy they had drafted the year before from the University of Pittsburgh, and that guy went on to crash all of the passing records of the NFL.

But hey, I don't expect that to happen all the time.

But Philbin would not even play rookies in garbage time, just to see what they could do.

Like I said before, he had 22 ASSISTANT coaching jobs before he ever became a HEAD coach and that was with us, the Miami Dolphins and maybe, just my theory, he feels that everybody has to wait it out behind the first guys like he did.

I dunno. Dion Sims makes a spectacular touchdown catch early in the season and we see little of him afterwards. We saw little of Dion Jordan.

I just dunno.

I can understand why he didn't play the rookies. All of them missed substantial time due to injuries and we had veteran players step up.

I don't recall much "garbage time" as most games were pretty close.

He played Jamar Taylor at the end of the year but his play showed why he didn't get more playing time over the vets. Patterson and Carroll exceeded all expectations and made it pretty difficult for a young player to earn a full time spot, even though DP was oft injured. Carroll had a hell of a year as a backup who received much playing time.

Jordan was also injured and struggled in the run game. I really didn't expect him to beat out Wake and as we all know, Vernon stepped way up last year. I think the mistake there was not playing him a OLB when Wheeler stunk to high heaven.

Will Davis was simply not ready to play. Most of our games were pretty close as well as our contention for the playoffs. He was instinctive in camp but was to green to get much time.

I believe the main mistake with any of the rookies was how they handled Dallas Thomas. He played musical chairs all year. They should have put him at guard and left him there. First he was LT then LG then RG then RT...It was ridiculous. Combine that with the fact that he was just not ready to play and his entire season was shot. He did get a chance when all the crap went down and he was just not ready. He was outperformed by an UFA. I don't think he had enough strength as a rookie. Not an uncommon problem.

I agree with J. Football, plus Philbin HAS played rookies before, RT17 his 1st year and Sam Brenner (as an UDRFA) last year. Hopefully last years class steps up as well as a few guys in this years class.

dolphaholic Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I agree with J. Football, plus Philbin HAS played
> rookies before, RT17 his 1st year and Sam Brenner
> (as an UDRFA) last year. Hopefully last years
> class steps up as well as a few guys in this years
> class.


you heard that chren?

Oh, you're just trying to start trouble SamSam, you evil ole devil you.

What about Bryant McKinnie ? I thought he still had some Gas left in the tank and the whole line played better as soon as he arrived. 1 yr contract will give the rookies veteran experience and a shoulder to lean on . Did he sign elsewhere? if not The Dolphins should be on him. He was a beacon of light in a otherwise dark dark hole of last season.

GO DOLPHINS!!!!

We definitely improved the line AFTER bullygate.

Of course, to see what conclusion that led me to last year, scroll back to that time and read.

Or don't and just guess.

but McKinnie is a left tackle

JoeFootball Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> but McKinnie is a left tackle


True, but he did say he'd be willing to play RT.

I'd have no problems signing him to a 1yr deal. To back up both ot spots. That way Turner can focus on LG.