are you ok with our center ?

[NLude33]

According to the OFFICIAL MIAMI DOLPHINS SITE, Seth is the back-up center, behind Tim Ruddy.

I for one am excited to finally see him starting where we drafted for. I will watch him closely in the pre-season. I think he'll be ok.

Who are our other options at center? I know St.Clair played some in St.Louis. Do we have anyone else to play there?

St. Clair played center in St. Louis? :confused:

I don't think he did, I think St. Louis drafted him as a center, and he kind of moved around between gaurd and tackle. He started at RT the year they won the super bowl.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[VManis]

St. Clair was an All American Center at BC. St. Louis drafted him and moved him outside becuase of his athletism. He was marginal at RT but that's partially due to the fact that during his NFL career he hasn't been allowed to concentrate on any one position (SL also had him backing up almost every other position on the OL). IMO if he was allowed to concentrate at either guard or center he could be above average. That's why I hope Carey wins the RT position early allowing SC to focus on guard. In any case he should prove to be an above average back-up at the center position.

Seth has also never concetrated on the center position. Physically he is superior to the aging Rudy but never picked up the line calls properly. With all of the offseason to concentrate on the calls he should be better off.

 

[Ohiophinphan]

A couple of comments.

The FO was NOT content with the OLine last year! That's why they dumped 60% of it(Nails, Ruddy, and Perry) and let 20% (Wade) walk away with a bloated contract from Houston. They simply couldn't do anything about it last year. They made some guesses, Dixon will get well, Nails will be able to come back, etc. that didn't work and were stuck for the season. The changes made this year in Free Agency, James, St. Clair, and McIntosh as well as the draft, Carey, Hadnut, and Pape, tell us the front office is doing what they can to fix the problem.

Now back to the question of the thread, center. McKinney is an unknown to the fans and yes, he does represent a guess and a wish by the staff but that's the way sports goes especially football in the free agency era. What is our depth? Long term, I would expect St. Clair would be moved to center where he had a similar, stellar college career to McKinney. Short term, if St. Clair is playing RT you could see Billy Ray Yates or Rex Hadnut snapping the ball. Both will be getting a chance in camp to see if they deserve roster spots. If the injury bug strikes then Ruddy is still out there but I would hope that would be a last, last, last resort.

Best case scenario for our Oline would be, imo, Smith, James, McKinney, Jerman, & Carey winning their spots and starting with McIntosh backing up both tackles and St. Clair backing up the three interior line spots. That would be my dream line-up, not just for this year but for four or five years out, which would be grand!

 

[catapano]

A couple of comments.

The FO was NOT content with the OLine last year! That's why they dumped 60% of it(Nails, Ruddy, and Perry) and let 20% (Wade) walk away with a bloated contract from Houston. They simply couldn't do anything about it last year. They made some guesses, Dixon will get well, Nails will be able to come back, etc. that didn't work and were stuck for the season. The changes made this year in Free Agency, James, St. Clair, and McIntosh as well as the draft, Carey, Hadnut, and Pape, tell us the front office is doing what they can to fix the problem.

Now back to the question of the thread, center. McKinney is an unknown to the fans and yes, he does represent a guess and a wish by the staff but that's the way sports goes especially football in the free agency era. What is our depth? Long term, I would expect St. Clair would be moved to center where he had a similar, stellar college career to McKinney. Short term, if St. Clair is playing RT you could see Billy Ray Yates or Rex Hadnut snapping the ball. Both will be getting a chance in camp to see if they deserve roster spots. If the injury bug strikes then Ruddy is still out there but I would hope that would be a last, last, last resort.

Best case scenario for our Oline would be, imo, Smith, James, McKinney, Jerman, & Carey winning their spots and starting with McIntosh backing up both tackles and St. Clair backing up the three interior line spots. That would be my dream line-up, not just for this year but for four or five years out, which would be grand!

i agree good post

 

[GMP-AGAIN]

If the Front Office feels the OL is good enough as we are, why should we worry?

Yep we shouldn't worry. The front office, a few years ago, passed on Kevin Mawae and kept Ruddy, who was already showing signs of not even being as good as Dellenback. Same front office that kept giving us such a great offensive line in the last six years or so!.....HOWEVER....

To tell the truth, I'm excited about McKinney. I hope he turns out to be a ProBowler and he's young and can play the position for a number of years. I'm pulling for him all the way and am optimistic he can be the center the Fins have needed for years and years.

 

[Da 'Fins]

i am a little worried about seth and not trying to sign a vet to this squad, is anyone else a bit concerned also who will be the five starters in september

I don't think there's any real basis for this. The guy is much tougher and meaner than Ruddy. He performed better in blocking (especially with the run), imo, than Ruddy did last year.

As others have noted, with a full training camp as the starter, he'll be fine.

He may not be great his first year, but he will be a very solid center. He'll certainly be an upgrade over Ruddy.

Having spoken to him a couple of times, I know it was difficult for him to be put in and pulled out. Now that he's being put in as the "man," I think you'll see him work even harder and I think he'll rise to the occasion.

It might be good to have a backup veteran, but St. Clair (as another has noted) was a center before and could come in and play as well as anyone we would get in free agency (at this point in the game), if Seth were injured.

 

[catapano]

Guess what?..average is still better than Ruddy. That's all I'm saying. Can we agree that he'll be better than Ruddy?

here in miami average is the last word we want to hear we have had way to many average years as we all know average wont get you to the superbowl!

 

[Jimi]

Good post. I agree. The longer the line works together we'll do fine and they'll improve. Seth will be OK at center. I'm not worried about that position. I worry more about QB and LB.

Wut LB concerns do u have?I believe the Fins adressed the depth problem in the draft. And our starters are all solid(with one being better then solid)