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Dolphins Interested in Signing OT Sebastian Vollmer

Here's a top-notch analysis on Vollmer. Too early yet?

Sebastian Vollmer: Right Tackle, New England Patriots

Since the Patriots were one of the teams I covered this year, I got to see a lot of Sebastian Vollmer. Clearly I’m a big fan of his, as I’ve raved about his play a couple of times this year. He’s a good run blocker, though not a truly dominating one (like a Joe Staley). He's also a top-flight pass protector, particularly for a right tackle.

What makes Vollmer such an effective pass blocker is maintaining proper body leverage and being effective with his hands. By proper body leverage, I mean where he keeps his body in relation to the quarterback and the pass rusher. He’ll change up his pass set throughout games (jump setting, vertical setting, 45 degree setting, and quick sets that turn into aggressive sets), but he always has great leverage on the defender. He rarely engages without his outside foot splitting the defender right down the middle, which is exactly where you want to be in pass protection. (For diagrams or further in depth analysis go here or here).

J.J. Cooper's "Under Pressure" charting marked Vollmer as responsible for 3.5 sacks this year. I can think of 1.5 or possible 2.5 (depending on crediting) that Vollmer gave up to Cameron Wake his first week back from a back injury. He looked stiff and immobile and frankly like a different guy that game.

That back injury is my only real concern with Vollmer. The good news is that he got healthier later in the season and played well through the postseason. That means his back isn’t totally shot, and that he can manage it even if it gets bad on him midseason. The bad news is that he’s been dealing with back injuries since college (it’s the reason he fell out of the first round) and big guys with bad backs are a historically dicey situation. He only missed one game this year, but he missed 11 in 2011.

That being said, without having any actual medical information, I can only go by what I see. And from what I see in Vollmer is a 28-year-old tackle who got banged up in the middle of the season but then got healthy enough to play like the best right tackle in football in the postseason. I’d be willing to spend big money on him.
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http://www.footballoutsiders.com/word-muth/2013/word-muth-free-agent-tackles-part-i

If you look at the article you'll also find Muth's take on Andre Smith. Pretty consistent with what Salguero said, so yeah, Vollmer looks like the guy we need.
 
Now that Long’s big-money contract is in place, Sebastian Vollmer is in the next tier of tackles set to sign.

It’s fair to expect Vollmer to decide soon whether he will return to the Patriots or sign elsewhere.

Vollmer would like to remain with the Pats, but he would have to take less money to do so. It’s unclear where the negotiations stand, but the feeling is Vollmer can get more money with another team, assuming he passes the medical check.

If the Patriots are comfortable with Cannon as the starter, they will let Vollmer walk. If they aren’t and Vollmer leaves anyway, the Pats could zero in on veteran Eric Winston, who carries a cheaper price tag.
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http://bostonherald.com/sports/patr...riots/2013/03/table_set_for_sebastian_vollmer
 
I firmly believe this should be priority #1 right now, and I'd go as far as saying this is borderline necessity. I'm not saying break the bank on him, but give him more than what NE will and don't let him say no.

Again, as I've said previously, you always want as many holes plugged as possible pre-draft. This would not only plug a hole, but actually be an upgrade to Long. There are too many good football players at positions of need to have to spend another high pick on a lineman.

I wonder if $7 or $8 mil a year will get him in a Dolphins uniform.
 
Vollmer is reported to have a one year offer by the Patriots, the Dolphins are said to be very interested but like Long has red flags. Vollmer could be waiting for Andre Smith to sign who is represented CAA the same agency the represents Vollmer.
 
The Dolphins aren't a complete team until they adequately address the DE, OT and CB positions with significant starters. Until they do that, even with the additions they've made, I think they're destined to be a losing or maybe .500 team.
 
ckparrothead said:
The Dolphins aren't a complete team until they adequately address the DE, OT and CB positions with significant starters. Until they do that, even with the additions they've made, I think they're destined to be a losing or maybe .500 team.
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To that list I would also add another fast, talented WR. We are one injury to Wallace away from being a slower WR corps than last year. Gibson w. his 4.6 is slower than any 3rd WR that played last year, if Hartline and Bess are counted 1 and 2. AND worse, Miami sent the only playmaker out of last year's offense to Detroit, without so much as a speck of interest...

Mostly good moves so far in FA but no one should be getting ****y.

We have a long way to go before we are a high level team. Key holes to fill that so far are empty.

LD
 
I would disagree with that. There are other things I can think of if we're going beyond DE/OT/CB.

The Dolphins won 7 games last year with a WRs unit that consisted of Hartline, Bess and....and....nobody. So even if Wallace gets hurt (knock on wood) you've got Hartline, Bess and Gibson. I have my issues with Gibson as he's a development clog, but he's still better than what the Dolphins had behind Hartline and Bess a year ago. With a year of development Rishard Matthews might even be better than Gibson. My nits with the Dolphins' WR unit have to do with the structuring and resource allocation. They've got plenty of talent there to get by, now.

But the Dolphins have CURRENTLY improved the offense at the direct expense of a worsened defense. We haven't seen everything they're going to do yet. But going from a CB unit that had Sean Smith on it a year ago to one that tries to roll with Dimitri Patterson, Richard Marshall, Nolan Carroll and perhaps a rookie, has taken a position that was already a weakness and made it a bigger weakness. They've lost Tony McDaniel, who wasn't exactly great, but he did play a key role over the years in their nickel defensive lines. Is Kheeston Randall a proper replacement? We don't know.

And then you have the issue with the linebackers unit. I like Phil Wheeler. I somewhat like Dannell Ellerbe though I'm not sure I'm as comfortable with him as I am Wheeler. I don't necessarily buy this stuff about them being so much better because they're better blitzers. Wheeler is and always has been a good blitzer going back to college. Ellerbe is a small guy, and though he's agile and quick twitch, when linemen get their hands on him he's done. More disturbing, he can be picked up by backfield protectors pretty consistently. His blitz success has been more predicated on scheme and disguise. And it's not all that big a deal to me. The variance in blitz skill at the position isn't huge or impactful, to me. You don't replace Karlos Dansby and Kevin Burnett with Dannell Ellerbe and Phil Wheeler because of blitzing ability. Just not a smart way to go about your business. On the bright side, I think both Wheeler and Ellerbe look good against the run and they should be able to stop that pretty well.

The question to me is, did they get better in pass coverage? Dannell Ellerbe is physical in coverage but also raw and in zone he's a little prone to looking like "oh my god what am I doing way out here in space what the hell is going on where's the ball". I have it on good authority that Dean Pees protected him schematically in pass coverage. I know that he tends to look bad in my eyes when he's got to flip his hips and defend the seam in man coverage. Wheeler I think I like a little better in coverage...but he's replacing a guy in Kevin Burnett who also was good in coverage so what's the net difference here?

Overall you make a linebacker switch like this and you've inserted risk...upside risk and downside risk. You're taking two guys you've never coached before who haven't played in your scheme before and you're hoping they're as good or better than two guys that you've coached, you know what they're going to give you, and what they gave you was pretty good. It's a risk.

Worst of all you maintain the same weaknesses...weakness at defensive end, weakness at corner, weakness at free safety. In this league when you're not getting better, you're getting worse.
 
The Dolphins are actively, and aggressively in the offensive line market. Signing Nate Garner was just one piece of the puzzle. Miami's still in play for Eric Winston, and it appears the Dolphins have expressed some level of interest in Sebastian Vollmer, but at the right price. Vollmer, who I'm told has some back issues, is being punked by the Patriots. While trading a second-round pick for Branden Albert is an option, giving up money and the draft pick (likely a second-rounder) for a good, but not elite left tackle doesn't sound like Ireland.
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http://t.co/Uljaa0Pi5J
 
I am OK with signing him as a LT and let him play there until Martin is good enough to play LT. Offer him a 2 or 3 year contract. NE may have trouble paying him LT salary. Offer him part of the Long money for 2 or 3 years.

Then we can draft rhodes/Trufant or Warmack/Cooper or Warner/Jordan in the first round. We need to get this LT issue done before the draft.
 
ckparrothead said:
I would disagree with that. There are other things I can think of if we're going beyond DE/OT/CB.

The Dolphins won 7 games last year with a WRs unit that consisted of Hartline, Bess and....and....nobody. So even if Wallace gets hurt (knock on wood) you've got Hartline, Bess and Gibson. I have my issues with Gibson as he's a development clog, but he's still better than what the Dolphins had behind Hartline and Bess a year ago. With a year of development Rishard Matthews might even be better than Gibson. My nits with the Dolphins' WR unit have to do with the structuring and resource allocation. They've got plenty of talent there to get by, now.

But the Dolphins have CURRENTLY improved the offense at the direct expense of a worsened defense. We haven't seen everything they're going to do yet. But going from a CB unit that had Sean Smith on it a year ago to one that tries to roll with Dimitri Patterson, Richard Marshall, Nolan Carroll and perhaps a rookie, has taken a position that was already a weakness and made it a bigger weakness. They've lost Tony McDaniel, who wasn't exactly great, but he did play a key role over the years in their nickel defensive lines. Is Kheeston Randall a proper replacement? We don't know.

And then you have the issue with the linebackers unit. I like Phil Wheeler. I somewhat like Dannell Ellerbe though I'm not sure I'm as comfortable with him as I am Wheeler. I don't necessarily buy this stuff about them being so much better because they're better blitzers. Wheeler is and always has been a good blitzer going back to college. Ellerbe is a small guy, and though he's agile and quick twitch, when linemen get their hands on him he's done. More disturbing, he can be picked up by backfield protectors pretty consistently. His blitz success has been more predicated on scheme and disguise. And it's not all that big a deal to me. The variance in blitz skill at the position isn't huge or impactful, to me. You don't replace Karlos Dansby and Kevin Burnett with Dannell Ellerbe and Phil Wheeler because of blitzing ability. Just not a smart way to go about your business. On the bright side, I think both Wheeler and Ellerbe look good against the run and they should be able to stop that pretty well.

The question to me is, did they get better in pass coverage? Dannell Ellerbe is physical in coverage but also raw and in zone he's a little prone to looking like "oh my god what am I doing way out here in space what the hell is going on where's the ball". I have it on good authority that Dean Pees protected him schematically in pass coverage. I know that he tends to look bad in my eyes when he's got to flip his hips and defend the seam in man coverage. Wheeler I think I like a little better in coverage...but he's replacing a guy in Kevin Burnett who also was good in coverage so what's the net difference here?

Overall you make a linebacker switch like this and you've inserted risk...upside risk and downside risk. You're taking two guys you've never coached before who haven't played in your scheme before and you're hoping they're as good or better than two guys that you've coached, you know what they're going to give you, and what they gave you was pretty good. It's a risk.

Worst of all you maintain the same weaknesses...weakness at defensive end, weakness at corner, weakness at free safety. In this league when you're not getting better, you're getting worse.
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Nice summation CK -- and general agreement. Just a few responses:

1. I don't disagree that Hartline, Bess and Gibson may be better than Hartline, Bess and _________ last year. However, my point is that Hartline, Bess and Gibson will be slower than what we had last year [last year's number threes were not as slow as Gibson], hence all the issues with the constricted field will remain. So, unless they improve the WR corps with skill and talent beyond Wallace, without him, the offense is going to struggle almost as badly as last year -- perhaps more. Because it will NOT have Bush, even though it will have Keller. So it's even worse than you stated, imo: You say that they have currently improved the offense at the expense of the defense. No question. But if Wallace goes down, and there is no addition of real skill at WR, then the offense is potentially worse also.

2. The LBs. Agreement here that there is a risk -- upside is greater but downside is also greater. However, imo that is a risk that Miami has NOT been willing to take in the past, and paid the price in continual mediocrity... so I'm giving some credit here, knowing that the rent for Dansby and Burnett [to lesser degree] was coming due next year. I would have been glad to go into this year with Dansby and Burnett, IF they added key parts to the DL, specifically DE, and also added key CBs who can well play the zone D and run well. Imo, Dansby got better closer to the goal line. He played some of his best ball in the redzone. Where I had questions with him was outside the redzone, in space, and in blitzing. He often seemed to be one step behind a big play, but close enough to the action to make a difference. Ellerbe and Wheeler, on the other hand, both seem more quick twitch and side to side than Dansby/Burnett. I grant your reservations on both players -- not only being coached by new coaches, but also in the synergy of playing together as a unit. The first half of the season may be their worst half because of this. But if by playoff time they are there, it's going to be a long-term good, imo. Honestly, this move makes more sense if next year is the Super Bowl year, and this year is a playoff year.

It's funny. If it had been up to me to improve the D this year, I would have left the LB corps mostly the same, only added some LB talent from the draft, while bolstering CB with FA and draft, high level pass-rushing DE in FA and/or draft, plus adding a S. The front office sees it differently, obviously. For some reason -- and next year's salary cap cannot be the only reason -- they decided to gamble on greatness at the one position on D that apparently needed the least help this year. I admit that it's CURIOUS. Because they've NEVER treated WR position this way, across the board. They do the exact opposite: take mostly plodding, low risk, low ceiling WRs and seem to be overly happy about it. Same could be said for other positions: lower ceiling and lower floor players are just fine... but if they treat DE this way and CB this way [not good to great players there, but kinda-good to meh players] we are gonna be worse on D. With the potential for much worse.

I agree that the highest needs on this team are what you state but I would definitely add WR. Apart from Wallace, it's "not bad." And we know that in this league, at skill positions, not bad is pretty had, in crunch time against high level teams.

Good stuff and thanks!

LD
 
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