Pauline: Fins seem "locked" in on Lamp at 22

[Pandarilla]

Nobody ever brings up that Lamp suffered a high ankle sprain at the draft bowl thingy.

That's one of the most lingering injuries ever. I just don't know. I've seen him get crossed over pretty readily, only to recover with his strength in one arm (Voch Lombardi YouTube). Cam Robinson would be a devastating power guard but he's a plodder when it comes to cutting off the second level.

I'm pretty sure Gase will know what kind of guard he wants. Maybe a more nimble guy like Feeney is more appropriate. I'm just a little skeptical about Lamp, and I'm all about bolstering that offensive line.

 

[Digital]

My conflicted view of our situation looks like this. We needed a RT, and would have hit a home run with Zack Martin. Instead, we reached for a mediocre RT in Ju'Wuan James. He hasn't been terrible, but he hasn't been good, and he definitely hasn't been up to his draft status. THAT was the bad pick ... not horrible, but it was a bad pick. There is still hope for him as he started to show flashes at the end of the season with the new blocking techniques. But, that is why we still need someone like Lamp.

I am conflicted, because smart drafting suggests that we grab the pass rushers while they are available. If Wake retires or gets injured, we will need two. So, if we can get one in round 1 and in round 2, that's probably the smart thing to do, even if it means passing over a great guard prospect that would hugely improve our offense.

Now if we draft Lamp, that's not a bad thing. He instantly helps Ajayi and Tannehill. He instantly helps the offense string together long drives, keeping the defense more rested and off the field. He instantly helps us be able to kill off games when we get the lead. But, without pass rushers our defense will be very hard pressed to get stops outside of field goal range. Good teams will dominate us and we'll be at the mercy of bad QB's messing up to keep us in games.

 

[jim1]

My conflicted view of our situation looks like this. We needed a RT, and would have hit a home run with Zack Martin. Instead, we reached for a mediocre RT in Ju'Wuan James. He hasn't been terrible, but he hasn't been good, and he definitely hasn't been up to his draft status. THAT was the bad pick ... not horrible, but it was a bad pick. There is still hope for him as he started to show flashes at the end of the season with the new blocking techniques. But, that is why we still need someone like Lamp.

I am conflicted, because smart drafting suggests that we grab the pass rushers while they are available. If Wake retires or gets injured, we will need two. So, if we can get one in round 1 and in round 2, that's probably the smart thing to do, even if it means passing over a great guard prospect that would hugely improve our offense.

Now if we draft Lamp, that's not a bad thing. He instantly helps Ajayi and Tannehill. He instantly helps the offense string together long drives, keeping the defense more rested and off the field. He instantly helps us be able to kill off games when we get the lead. But, without pass rushers our defense will be very hard pressed to get stops outside of field goal range. Good teams will dominate us and we'll be at the mercy of bad QB's messing up to keep us in games.

Dallas drafted Martin at #16 before we had a chance to get him, I think that we would have taken him over James if we had the choice. Lamp can play Guard or Tackle (forget the short arms nonsense, his arms are almost the exact same length as perennial Pro Bowler and future Hall of Famer Joe Thomas) and probably Center as well. Pat Elfein also fits , plays Center and Guard, we need insurance for both Pouncey (hip injury) and James (bloated contract in 2018 for an average player). Both Lamp and Elfein make sense- Lamp is as close to a sure thing as you're going to get, Elfein is a multi-positional safe bet and a good player and let's face it- for the last 20 years this organization can't really draft outside of the 1st round or coach OL worth a damn. Might as well fix the OL problem and draft defense the rest of the way, very deep defensive draft as we all know. For later rounds Jessamen Dunker, jermaine Eluemunor and especially Ben Braden could be good value picks later in the draft if we pass on Lamp and Elfein.

 

[DPhinz_DPhinz]

My conflicted view of our situation looks like this. We needed a RT, and would have hit a home run with Zack Martin. Instead, we reached for a mediocre RT in Ju'Wuan James. He hasn't been terrible, but he hasn't been good, and he definitely hasn't been up to his draft status. THAT was the bad pick ... not horrible, but it was a bad pick. There is still hope for him as he started to show flashes at the end of the season with the new blocking techniques. But, that is why we still need someone like Lamp.

I am conflicted, because smart drafting suggests that we grab the pass rushers while they are available. If Wake retires or gets injured, we will need two. So, if we can get one in round 1 and in round 2, that's probably the smart thing to do, even if it means passing over a great guard prospect that would hugely improve our offense.

Now if we draft Lamp, that's not a bad thing. He instantly helps Ajayi and Tannehill. He instantly helps the offense string together long drives, keeping the defense more rested and off the field. He instantly helps us be able to kill off games when we get the lead. But, without pass rushers our defense will be very hard pressed to get stops outside of field goal range. Good teams will dominate us and we'll be at the mercy of bad QB's messing up to keep us in games.

I'm not as down on James as you seem to be. There are worse options, like drafting a rookie and hoping for the best.

 

[Michael Scott]

Omar was just on 560 and said the same. Though, interesting enough, he says that if Njoku is there at 22 the Dolphins take him. He says that Grier is screaming BPA regardless of need. Don't know how I feel about that. He said the only defensive player they take over Lamp or Njoku is Barnett.

Not the first we've heard of the Dolphins love for Njoku. I mean, I feel like our offense would be close to unstoppable if healthy but man the defense.....

 

[Michael Scott]

I'm not as down on James as you seem to be. There are worse options, like drafting a rookie and hoping for the best.

Same. I'm good with James. I think he's a solid right tackle right now and he's only going into year four. He can and probably will get better. The line overall just has to stay healthy. I think Fasano will help big time in double tight end sets compared to all the H-Back types we had on the field last season.

 

[ChambersWI]

random thought but every mock has this picture of Lamp

 

[Danny]

Omar was just on 560 and said the same. Though, interesting enough, he says that if Njoku is there at 22 the Dolphins take him. He says that Grier is screaming BPA regardless of need. Don't know how I feel about that. He said the only defensive player they take over Lamp or Njoku is Barnett.

Not the first we've heard of the Dolphins love for Njoku. I mean, I feel like our offense would be close to unstoppable if healthy but man the defense.....

If omar said that then expect the complete opposite

Ozzy rules!!

---------- Post added at 01:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:49 PM ----------

Omar was just on 560 and said the same. Though, interesting enough, he says that if Njoku is there at 22 the Dolphins take him. He says that Grier is screaming BPA regardless of need. Don't know how I feel about that. He said the only defensive player they take over Lamp or Njoku is Barnett.

Not the first we've heard of the Dolphins love for Njoku. I mean, I feel like our offense would be close to unstoppable if healthy but man the defense.....

If omar said that then expect the complete opposite

Ozzy rules!!

 

[Eesti]

Considering it's almost May and Mike Pouncey is still walking with a cane... What kind of football shape is he going to be in when he has not been able to work out all off-season? Even if he was 100%, he cannot be depended on...

It doesn't have to be Lamp even though some say he can play center but they need to get a versatile OL who can also play center.....and they need to do it no later than round 2.

It was a terrible year to depend on the draft to find quality offensive linemen. Even Cleveland was smart enough to do it in FA with Tretter and Zeitler and they already have Bitonio and Joe Thomas.

All they had to do was sign a quality guard in 2016 or 2017 and we could have gone defense with every pick this year.

2016: Brandon Brooks, Jeff Allen
2017: Leary, etc

This is the thinnest OL draft in a long time.

 

[Gonzo]

Remember even a few years ago when a poster would even sneeze in the direction of a guard everyone would make 400,000 "cornfed" jokes? How times have changed.

I'd still rather go defense than cornfed, but if we're going to go cornfed, at least don't reach like we have in the past. Regardless, this team isn't going to do **** until it decides to address the defense.

 

[Danny]

Considering it's almost May and Mike Pouncey is still walking with a cane... What kind of football shape is he going to be in when he has not been able to work out all off-season? Even if he was 100%, he cannot be depended on...

It doesn't have to be Lamp even though some say he can play center but they need to get a versatile OL who can also play center.....and they need to do it no later than round 2.

It was a terrible year to depend on the draft to find quality offensive linemen. Even Cleveland was smart enough to do it in FA with Tretter and Zeitler and they already have Bitonio and Joe Thomas.

All they had to do was sign a quality guard in 2016 or 2017 and we could have gone defense with every pick this year.

2016: Brandon Brooks, Jeff Allen
2017: Leary, etc

This is the thinnest OL draft in a long time.

I just have to laugh every time someone says that our o-line will be much better this year with a healthy Pouncey........I guess they're talking about the 3 games he'll be healthy for? You want the 5 starters to practice together but we already know that he won't be practicing much. Counting on him is yet another big mistake by our FO. I want a pass rusher at 22 but we need to draft a guard at 54 and we need to draft another one later on too. This team will only go as far as the oline takes us and I'm very nervous about it. This has to be his last year with us.

Ozzy rules!!

 

[tay0365]

Why not!!!