A question someone posted in the Mortenson chat wrap:

[DolphinDevil28]

Fraser (Toronto): Mort, with the addition of Ronnie Brown and another year under A.J. Feeley's belt, will Miami's offence be any good or is the oline going to cripple their production?

Chris Mortensen: (12:19 PM ET ) Well, the Phins O-line got its greatest boost when Saban hired Hudson Houck away from the Chargers. Do I expect this offense to be sensational? Absolutely not. But I do believe that O-Coordinator Scott Linehen will find a way to move the ball and certainly be more productive than they were a year ago. Ronnie Brown was a really good pick up.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=7993

 

[Oboy]

That is definitely the million dollar question. ONLY time will tell. Most on these boards are hopeful that Houck can create some magic and have this online solid. If this online can block at least to league AVERAGE ability we will have a decent year.

 

[fishfan34]

Why does everyone consider it "magic" that Hudson has created if this offensive line improves? Granted, they were not good the past couple of years, but, KB gave us all the information we needed to know in another thread. This line has never been "coached". They've been talked to, but never had any individual coaching. They are getting individual weight training, being taught how to use their strength and weight, to explode from their legs through their hips. They had NO plan of attack or direction under Wise. The basically were told, go block the guy in front of you and don't let him beat you. KB even told us the only one on one work they received was from veteran players who would stay after practice to work with them. I truly believe each of these lineman have talent, it just needs to be tapped into, and a GOOD line coach can do that, must less TWO!!! We have TWO good line coaches in Houck and the coach they got from USC. They will get an entire mini-camp, training camp, and preseason worth of work from a great offensive line coach. This guy turned a 7th round pick last year in San Diego, into a very good player. I have alot of faith in this offensive line this year, give them a few games to get their cohesivness together and I think it could be the strength of our team next to the RB's. Now, let's get one more WR that can come in and produce, and I think A.J. Feeley is given the opportunity to succeed with tools around him, unlike last year, and Scott Linehan has himself a heck of an offense to work with.

 

[Agua]

Why does everyone consider it "magic" that Hudson has created if this offensive line improves? Granted, they were not good the past couple of years, but, KB gave us all the information we needed to know in another thread. This line has never been "coached". They've been talked to, but never had any individual coaching. They are getting individual weight training, being taught how to use their strength and weight, to explode from their legs through their hips. They had NO plan of attack or direction under Wise. The basically were told, go block the guy in front of you and don't let him beat you. KB even told us the only one on one work they received was from veteran players who would stay after practice to work with them. I truly believe each of these lineman have talent, it just needs to be tapped into, and a GOOD line coach can do that, must less TWO!!! We have TWO good line coaches in Houck and the coach they got from USC. They will get an entire mini-camp, training camp, and preseason worth of work from a great offensive line coach. This guy turned a 7th round pick last year in San Diego, into a very good player. I have alot of faith in this offensive line this year, give them a few games to get their cohesivness together and I think it could be the strength of our team next to the RB's. Now, let's get one more WR that can come in and produce, and I think A.J. Feeley is given the opportunity to succeed with tools around him, unlike last year, and Scott Linehan has himself a heck of an offense to work with.

Amen.

 

[Justasportsfan]

Does Mort really know what he's talking about?

 

[CrunchTime]

It is obvious to me that Saban does not respect Wanny and his cohorts abilities to coach the OL or QBs.

He has made very few changes in those positions which were considered major weaknesses last year.

If he improves the play of those two positions he will be viewed a hero by many.

 

[feelthepain]

Chris Mortensen: (12:19 PM ET ) Well, the Phins O-line got its greatest boost when Saban hired Hudson Houck away from the Chargers. Do I expect this offense to be sensational? Absolutely not. But I do believe that O-Coordinator Scott Linehen will find a way to move the ball and certainly be more productive than they were a year ago. Ronnie Brown was a really good pick up.

If you had asked Mort that same question at the begining of last year about SD, I'm sure the answer would have been the same. Yet they win 12 games and should have gone deeper into the playoffs. I't too hard to predict what will happen. I think once again the fact that the O side of the ball was poorly coached with Ricky quiting, and the weather and DW all that had a big impact on confidence and understanding and being on the same page as a unit. We won't have all those problems this year. I think we would have been a good O without the addition of R.Brown...am I happy we now have him?? As happy as a pig in the mud. We have a lot of weapons on O including the line. I just wish the reporters would do some real reporting and stop reporting what everyone else is reporting.

 

[fishfan34]

It is obvious to me that Saban does not respect Wanny and his cohorts abilities to coach the OL or QBs.

He has made very few changes in those positions which were considered major weaknesses last year.

If he improves the play of those two positions he will be viewed a hero by many.

Exactly, this offensive line has looked like a joke the past two seasons. They have been absolutely embarrassed in some instances. If Nick Saban and Hudson Houck truly looked at all the film that i'm sure they broke down, and felt it was based on talent, they certainly would have more of an effort to change some players, not just the coaching/offensive philosophy. We did bring in Cook and McDougle, and I think that was for depth as much as anything.