Who Pushes the Needle the Most?

[NorthernFin]

No doubt we build a team from the line, but the point is Marino our franchise QB made the Phins who they were even with the glaring needs the Dolphins faced at that time. In other words, his greatness masked or deficiencies.
Cutler CANNOT do the things Marino did even with Webb, Sims, Stephenson, etc.
A franchise QB makes all the difference in the world.

Put any franchise QB behind that line and you can cover for no running game and a porous defense. But I fully agree that Cutler behind that line would not come close to what Marino did. I would LOVE to put Tannehill behind a line like that though. Throwing to Stills, Landry & Parker .... He could hit 5000 yards.

Build the line first.

 

[Lionstone]

How many SB winners didn't have a great OL?

Some did not have great offensive lines. None of the past Super Bowl winners had a struggling and below average offensive line.

 

[royalshank]

All I was pointing out, was that we were not a shoo-in every year when Dan was playing.

Understood and agreed though I think we only had 1 losing season in there at 6-10. So at least we were competing for a shot until the end of the year almost every year. Been so painful.

 

[DolfanDuBbZ~]

You need the guys up front who can allow the qb to operate. I'm not a Tannehill fanboy, but I understand for the team to be successful.... everything starts inside.

 

[roy_miami]

The Eagles should be the least surprising "story" of the season. Last season they had a top 10 rushing attack and top 10 defense, all they were missing was the passing attack.

What the Jags are doing nobody saw coming.

In both cases the coaching/front office had a great impact, but imo one is sustainable and one is not. It was like when Bruce Arians took the league by storm, it was obvious he was a good coach, but it was also obvious, at least to me, that it would fizzle out if he didn't get a great young QB. The good news for the Jags is I think both Marrone and Coughlin are smart enough to know that they need to improve on Bortles. I mean Marrone had proven that if he doesn't like his QB situation he'll just quit (a bit like Saban).

So coaching is important, defense is important, talent is important, but the QB is the most important ingredient.

 

[fansinceGWilson]

The one thing with Miami is that we can all clearly see strengths and weakness for the team. We know the offensive line is among the worst in the NFL as an example.

My question, though, is what would push the needle the most for the Dolphins moving forward? Would it be a franchise type running back, a dominant pass rusher or simply a competent offensive lineman or two? Something else?

This is not just about the draft, but free agency and potential trades.

By analogy, what is most important in making dinner rolls? Flour, milk, or yeast?
We've all seen elite QBs get far fewer wins with a couple of linemen down. We've seen what an elite QB (Marino) CAN'T do when the D is poor. We've seen a new HC come in and get FAR more from essentially the same roster. We've seen how GB does when Rodgers is out. To me, the correct answer is good coaching, good D, good OL, and top 10 QB. Missing any one of those significantly reduces the chance of consistent playoff teams.

 

[Trade Viper]

Well, if you have a horrible coach, and an even worse front office, then you can't even move the needle. Bad drafts and free agent signings can put a team underwater financially, then they have to either keep an unqualified player or take the salary hit, which then leads to limitation under the salary cap, in turn leads to limited choices in drafting and free agency, and so on like an endless Hysteresis loop, and the only way to stop it, is by shutting it down and starting over. So, it all starts with the Front office and Head Coach.

Remember Brad Johnson, Joe Flacco, Jim McMahon, all were not great QB's but the teams won on D. The coaches and front offices put those Ds together.

That having been said, Coach Logan stated the obvious last week, "it all starts in the trenches", put Tom Brady behind this line, he would no doubt do better than Cutlery, but SuperBowl, no way.

The Ever Toilet Bowl Bound VIPER