Anthony Steen doing 'whatever's best for the team' in Miami Dolphins' offensive line

[Travis34]

Well those weren't some inspiring clips sons... however, I recall your thread on him from months ago.... I'm just holding out hope for average enough

 

[Sons Of Shula]

Well those weren't some inspiring clips sons... however, I recall your thread on him from months ago.... I'm just holding out hope for average enough

Those notes were based on his performances from Arizona and Tampa. This was the first time I've gotten around to watching him in Chicago. Only a game and half in so far (played only the 2nd half vs GB), but it's not pretty.

Had some solid run and pass sets vs Minn and though nothing stood out in an overwhelmingly positive sense there were a good handful of errors and missed blocks.

 

[Digital]

Good post...

You can't really take the Albert dead money as a comparable factor for Larsens IMO simply because it has just as much effect on Tunsil and unexpectedly getting him last year, and moving him to his natural position. We'd be keeping Albert this year if we didn't get Tunsil last year. Larsens was a smart business move as well as from a personnel/talent standpoint when you consider his durability/consistency and in relation to his salary. So Larsens vs Albert is not really a fair judgement in terms of considering the dead money, I look at the Larsens and Albert moves in separate vacuums and consider both good decisions.

And in respect to what I bolded - we couldn't do anything about the center position. I take that back - we could have drafted a prospect at center in a late round but that would have been basically the only way to reasonably address the center position this year. We were not in a position to make any move for Pouncey this year in any way, so they basically had to leave that position alone. If you consider that, we did address both guard positions reasonably - adding Larsens who will do just fine and adding a prospect guard in Asiata.

Those weren't glamorous moves, nor was the Bushrod resign, but they were reasonable moves and pragmatic in my opinion.

There are those among us who think Larsen was actually brought in because they were uncertain about Pouncey ... not really to compete at guard. When we signed Larsen the main thing he said about himself was that he has versatility to play all 3 interior positions including center. He knows he may be asked to start at center.

 

[Sons Of Shula]

There are those among us who think Larsen was actually brought in because they were uncertain about Pouncey ... not really to compete at guard. When we signed Larsen the main thing he said about himself was that he has versatility to play all 3 interior positions including center. He knows he may be asked to start at center.

Not saying Steen is the answer but Larsen isn't athletic enough to warrant playing Center IMO.

The depth chart for the interior 3 are nothing more jumbled scrabble tiles on a place card for the time being. Bushrod is the main name I don't want to see scribbled in the starting lineup, but Larsen and Asiata aren't necessarily fit for the zone run game either.

 

[Pandarilla]

Chapter oooonnne,
We drafted Lar-uh-mee

Chapter two
I think I fell in love with you

You said you'd fix Pouncey in the middle of chapter 3

But you were up to your old tricks
in chapters four, five and six

Aaand, I'm giving Steen a longer look,
Everyday, everyday, everyday I write the books

 

[Dajesus]

I agree building through FA isn't sustainable. Just ask the Redskins of old. But we're talking about 2 positions here. 2 positions that have derailed seasons for years. 2 positions that are among the easiest fixes on the entire team. It should've happened by sheer chance by now.

How many high draft picks you feel like wasting for 2 positions a drunk baby could fix in free agency? How many seasons of watching the QB get killed before someone decides that approach isn't working?

It's cool, we can always revisit this conversation around this time next year. No urgency necessary. It's not like the QB had a scary knee injury or anything ...

Branden Albert let Campbell end Ryan's season, maybe that's why he is in Jacksonville.

I love the idea of curbing the convo till a later date. It's just funny to me we haven't seen these guys line up yet, but fans here have Pouncey out for the season, and our guards being matadors. The fact is in his first season under Gase Ryan got sacked 17x less than than his best season prior. Let's just wait till August before we freak out.

 

[nick1]

Not saying Steen is the answer but Larsen isn't athletic enough to warrant playing Center IMO.

The depth chart for the interior 3 are nothing more jumbled scrabble tiles on a place card for the time being. Bushrod is the main name I don't want to see scribbled in the starting lineup, but Larsen and Asiata aren't necessarily fit for the zone run game either.

Good stuff on larsen . Would Mangold help?

 

[BobDole]

Branden Albert let Campbell end Ryan's season, maybe that's why he is in Jacksonville.

I love the idea of curbing the convo till a later date. It's just funny to me we haven't seen these guys line up yet, but fans here have Pouncey out for the season, and our guards being matadors. The fact is in his first season under Gase Ryan got sacked 17x less than than his best season prior. Let's just wait till August before we freak out.

When was the last time there was consistency at guard? Name names, please. What's funny is every season this happens and by the time football is almost upon us people forget the last 20 years.

I'm not freaking out. Cool with waiting til August. I just don't expect the same lame approach to fix a problem that's existed as long as many on this board have been alive.

I agree that better head coaching will help, although I don't have a ton of faith in Foerster. I also agree that on paper that group is marginally better. But I'm not gonna consider the problem fixed until it's actually fixed.

 

[Eesti]

The time to sign interior linemen was 2016, IMO. I was hoping for it then and our biggest move was Bushrod. We could have had our choice of a couple of very good linemen who went under $7M. The good news (albeit slight) is that we are getting out of being handcuffed by injury prone linemen. Albert is gone and Pouncey is next. You just can't continually depend on these type of players and expect different results year after year. I hope the trend doesn't continue with Tunsil.

The last time we had a good guard....Incognito, who was a train wreck as a person. Wouldn't mind having him today but he had to go through what he did to even being playing now. He would have derailed if not, IMO. Not the type of leader you wanted in the locker room.

 

[phinasota]

I'm worried about our OL. I have a low amount of faith in Bushrod's run blocking, low faith in Larsen in general, and am increasingly worried about Pouncey's health. At best we can describe James' play as a mixed bag.

Tunsil is the only one I'm confident about. I have hope for Asiata, but depending on a 5th round rookie to save an OL doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

We should have spent some money on at least one interior OL in free agency. I said it last year. I said it at the beginning, middle and end of this off-season. And I continue to be both amazed and frustrated in our inability to properly address this problem. Fingers crossed.

Hopefully we sign mangold or someone else after the teams trim the rosters. Not like there's gonna be much out there though at this point.

 

[BobDole]

Hopefully we sign mangold or someone else after the teams trim the rosters. Not like there's gonna be much out there though at this point.

I think they're considering that unit good to go for next season. I don't see Mangold taking a backup role with backup money. There will be some cuts that make sense for us but I'd be surprised if the FO pulls the trigger. We'll see but I'm not crossing my fingers.

 

[phazer]

Maybe Tanenbaum can convince mangold

 

[JakeemThe Dream]

Thanks, but I figured it might be PFF. I wouldn't get your hopes up based on their crap analysis. Larsen will hopefully remain unnoticeable and that's probably the best case scenario we can hope to get from him.

Ya unless one of us Fin Fans have done massive research on Larsen, he really is what we call JAG.

Come week 1, I hope Mccoy isn't throwing Larsen around. (Very Likely)

Like SOS said..He doesn't have to be a stud like Martin but going unnoticed would be a huge for us.

I would love to see Steen have a legitimate chance at starting.

I thought he filled in pretty well.

I'm hoping with Tunsil and Pouncey (please football god) on both sides of Larsen he can become more than what he is now..

PHINS UP!!

 

[Sons Of Shula]

It's just funny to me we haven't seen these guys line up yet, but fans here have Pouncey out for the season, and our guards being matadors. The fact is in his first season under Gase Ryan got sacked 17x less than than his best season prior.

A better balance in run/pass ratio and playcalling was a major factor that led to that more than the line itself. We were one of the leaders in the NFL in screen plays as w were 2nd in the league for the highest amount of screens used.

Here's a thread on that subject: http://finheaven.com/threads/we-are-a-terrible-screen-pass-team.339662/

 

[Dajesus]

A better balance in run/pass ratio and playcalling was a major factor that led to that more than the line itself. We were one of the leaders in the NFL in screen plays as w were 2nd in the league for the highest amount of screens used.

Here's a thread on that subject: http://finheaven.com/threads/we-are-a-terrible-screen-pass-team.339662/

Great so the coach saw the talent on the team and utilized to the best of his ability, and the result was 13 sacks in the final 11 games, Tannehill being sacked the least amount in his career, and playoff spot. That has been my exact point this entire thread. If he can get the group he had last year to produce those numbers I think he can do it with this group as well. The fewest sacks in Ryan's career + his highest ypa in his career, oh the most yards from a RB in 10+ years, in year one as coach, and its safe to say most players get better as they get more familiar with the scheme.