Do we have enough depth at the D-line and Linebacker postion?? | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Do we have enough depth at the D-line and Linebacker postion??

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dolphindew

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Are we really going to rely on no experienced players at D-line or LB or are we gonna wait until the June 1 cuts? Who do we pick up or Can our young guys do the Job??? I look forward to the responses!!!!!!
 
Dline wise i thought we had david bowens, zgonina and jay williams for depth? Lb's depth is pretty young and inexperienced though.
 
Just thinking if T-Bo is as heavy as reports say and he cant go the whole season, and if there is some injury to our linebackers < which it seems someone gets hurt and out a season or 1/2 season every year. Do we have the players to step in and contribute without losing games. If or O comes around which I think it will with our new 0-line additions and if Feeley and DB can get on the same page as everyone else, I think we can be playoff contenders , but if we have a few injuries at D-line/Lb can we still be successful?
 
What's "enough"????

We have Zgonina and Romero at DT. Z is solid, a former starter on a SB team. Romero has shown promise in prior camps and would likely be able to go in a rotation especially since we put DE's into the DT spots on 3rd down.

At DE we have D. Bowens, Williams, and Grigsby. If the season were to start today, D. Bowens would likely start and then move inside with Williams on third down and Grigsby would line up at LDE for the pass rush. There is also talk about this Tony Brown fellow being a guy who could be an inside rusher on the passing downs and D. Bowens staying outside.

In the days of the salary cap this is about as much D-line as anyone can have.

If/When Wale comes back the D-line becomes VERY deep.

As to LB, the depth is all very young, inexperianced, and mostly made up of special teamers. Is Jenkins ready to go at LB? Will Moore be able to answer the bell this season? If those answers are "yes" then we are OK at LB, depth wise. If either is a "no" then we are thin. If both are "no's" we are desperate.

This along with WR is an area I think RS will moniter the waiver wires 6/1 very closely to see if additions can be made.
 
I really don't like the lb depth.

We're solid along the Dline IMO.
 
I like our depth at D line. I think D-Bowens and JAy Williams are excellent backups, and could start on some teams. As far as DT we have Zgoninia. At LB we have Zac Seau, and Greenwood and Moore. That isn't too bad, and we have yet to see how our young LB's pan out. I think depth has been a problem in the past, Dave and Rick did a good job at provinding depth in Free agency and the draft. We have a lot more depth at the CB position. Madison and Surtain start. Backups- Reggie Howard and Will Poole. The Oline has been completly redone, and We have two solid receivers in Chambers and Boston. If the Coaches and Players can put it together then we should suprise a lot of people.
 
I'm more concerned about our WR depth because after Chambers and Boston (if he gets his act together) we don't really have a lot.

Simmons, Newson, Tolver and Thompson all produce in TC but not on the field.

I'm also a little concerned by our Oline depth. They way I see it our starting Oline will include Smith, James, McKinney, Carey and a right guard.

Our depth: St Clair, Whitley (poss starter), McIntosh, Jerman (poss starter), Yates (poss starter), Pape (poss starter), Hadnot.

There's 11 guys there. Of the backups I would only consider 2 as vets. McIntosh is injured and St Clair is crap. The youth is good but we need a little experience. Remember we have a sophomore and a rookie as our starting tackles.
 
I would like to see a veteran LB brought in to compete for the 4th LB spot, but otherwise, we're not in bad shape. Between Tony Bua, Corey Jenkins and Eddie Moore (if he ever gets healthy, which is looking less likely by the day), someone should emerge as a solid 4th LB.

Along the DL, we're fine at DE: Taylor, Ogunleye, J.Williams, D.Bowens. Zgonina as the 3rd DT is fine.

Like finsnchips, I'm much more concerned about WR and OL.
 
Romero has shown promise in prior camps and would likely be able to go in a rotation especially since we put DE's into the DT spots on 3rd down
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Romero's a piece of crap. If you're ever stuck playing him for more than two plays in a row, you're in trouble.

Tim Bowens is very fat and its going to be hard for him to get back in shape and that will affect his durability if he doesn't get his weight down soon. But, the FL sun should help him do that. Still, our DT rotation has 3 viable NFL players, with two of them maybe not even being starting every-down caliber anymore (Zgonina and overweight Bowens). Hopefully with a solid rotation we can cover up those weaknesses. There is another problem though. We lost Rob Burnett to retirement, and did not replace him. Grigsby was on the roster last season, never cracked into the rotation but he was on the roster. Burnett was regularly rotated in, at DE and mostly passrushing DT. His role wasn't big, but it was still a role, and now its being filled by a no-name like Otis Grigsby. I like how people say they "like his potential" when they haven't even seen him play...haven't seen him get a sack, in practice or in preseason, etc. He's got a nice frame, really looks a lot like JT the way his frame is, but so far, thats all we know he has. Rob Burnett was a proven veteran passrushing presence.

I'm not going to lie, we have a small problem of depth along the DL, because we have one roster spot yet to be filled to my knowledge (Burnett) and we have two guys who, as things stand, should make it into the rotation on a regular basis (given Bowens' and Zgonina's age, weight problems, and Burnett's absence) and we don't know if those two guys can be responsible to hold down their positions when they do play.

Thats being fair. Those guys (Romero y Grigsby) have to show us that they can handle the load. I expect we'll be scanning the waiver wire June 1st.
 
I disagree with that, When Zgonina came in for Bowens he had extensive playing timeiiiiiii and was playing most downs. He look dominant on the Field and for those 3 games that he started we did not allow a single 100 yard rusher.
 
I think the D-Line is fine........much better if Ogun signs, but even without him it is good. I am way more concerned about LB. But only because our non-starters are very inexperienced. I wouldn't mind seeing a vet signed after the June 1 cuts ot fight for a 4th or 5th LB spot. We are one injury away from havinga very raw rookie out there, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. but it is cause for a little concern.
 
and for those 3 games that he started we did not allow a single 100 yard rusher.
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Allowing a 100 yard rusher is something I do not expect this defense to do very often. One in a season is too many, the way we're built. But once again, Zgonina is old, he's like 34. You don't know when he'll lose it, and he's only part-time quality as it is. With Bowens having trouble with his weight and Burnett not here to passrush from the DT spot, our 4th DT is going to have a bigger role than in recent memory and right now that bigger role belongs to some guy named Dario Romero...and yes, I know about as much about his CFL tenure as anyone else here, yet I call him "some guy named Dario Romero" He's training camp fodder...not meant to hold down a roster spot. It would have been nice to draft someone for that 4th DT spot, or if we could have gotten Tommy Kelly as a UDFA.
 
think the D-Line is fine........much better if Ogun signs, but even without him it is good
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Without Ogunleye this defensive line is in serious trouble. David Bowens and Jay Williams rotating means Williams can't be moved inside to DT as often as you'd like, which means more playing time for Romero....and neither D-Bo or J-Wil are viable NFL starters.
 
ckparrothead said:
Allowing a 100 yard rusher is something I do not expect this defense to do very often. One in a season is too many, the way we're built. But once again, Zgonina is old, he's like 34. You don't know when he'll lose it, and he's only part-time quality as it is. With Bowens having trouble with his weight and Burnett not here to passrush from the DT spot, our 4th DT is going to have a bigger role than in recent memory and right now that bigger role belongs to some guy named Dario Romero...and yes, I know about as much about his CFL tenure as anyone else here, yet I call him "some guy named Dario Romero" He's training camp fodder...not meant to hold down a roster spot. It would have been nice to draft someone for that 4th DT spot, or if we could have gotten Tommy Kelly as a UDFA.
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I get your point, Certaintly he is old but he's in great shape? Haven't you seen him. Most of his weight is muscle and he has kept his weight rather lean in the past. I don't know nothing about Romero. He is on the bottom of the depth chart.
 
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