Armando: Benton honest in discussing tough task

[gafin]

"Call it gel, call it what you will," Benton said Tuesday. "We have to quickly evaluate who's going to be playing where ... exactly ... and how much. And get them together as much as possible because there really is something to the gel thing, communication and one guy knowing what the other guy's is going to do. That's going to be vital for us."

"I think it's a little early but by the end of this week, definitely through the first preseason game, we got cut down some of the competition," Benton said. "Heading into the second one we've got to be down to one or two. And then after that it's got to be we've got to be ready to play opening week."

The Dolphins open the season against a Bill Belichick defense. The second game of the season is against Buffalo, which matches that team's strength (the front seven) against the Dolphins line. That a tough assignment the first two games out of the gate.

Has Benton ever seen a team gel that fast?

"Sure, sure," he said. "I've been around and I've come out thinking we're inexperienced and we've come out hot and faded away as the season goes on. There's just so many factors it's impossible to tell. Obviously, is that an issue? Yes, it is an issue. We've got to get together quickly. Will it be 100 percent refined? No, but we're going to have a heck of a game plan for what we do and they're going to understand it. That's how we've got to approach it week to week and, really, day to day at this point."

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolphins_in_depth/

 

[phinfan33]

I sure hope Benton can work some magic with our OL.

 

[SkapePhin]

Benton has a tough task. I feel for him.

I still can't understand how there are so many people around here that are confident the OL will be better than last year. Even if they aren't worse, there is a good possibility they could be at least equal in ineptitude.

 

[hoops]

i like his attutude but that doesnt add up to much once we start playing for keeps...either these guys can play or they can't...last year we physically lost just about every one on one battle up front especially in situational play

 

[Zounds]

The whole gel/cohesiveness concept is about blocking assignments. I never really felt like missed assignments was a huge problem for us last year. As hoops said above, last year was about being physically overmatched on most instances. I think our line will gel, but it wont matter if we cant physically execute, which is how we failed last year.

 

[Hayden Fox]

I LOVE Benton's honesty and his philosophy. I love the fact that he wants to five the five to roll with and let them play….no Tony Sparano experimenting with this and that well into the preseason.

I hope that Dennis Hickey and Joe Philbin are relying on what Benton is feeling on how to solve this problem.

I am totally impressed with Coach Benton.

 

[Buddy]

i like his attutude but that doesnt add up to much once we start playing for keeps...either these guys can play or they can't...last year we physically lost just about every one on one battle up front especially in situational play

I totally agree with both of you. Our main problem wasn't missed assignments, it was getting manhandled. Seeing our OL get pushed back and thrown around was disgusting. That is my hope for this line, that despite five new starters, they can at least win the majority of individual battles. I am sure there will be breakdowns and missed assignments but just don't get trucked like a water buffalo hitting a pygmy.

The whole gel/cohesiveness concept is about blocking assignments. I never really felt like missed assignments was a huge problem for us last year. As hoops said above, last year was about being physically overmatched on most instances. I think our line will gel, but it wont matter if we cant physically execute, which is how we failed last year.

 

[PhinFan1968]

I totally agree with both of you. Our main problem wasn't missed assignments, it was getting manhandled. Seeing our OL get pushed back and thrown around was disgusting. That is my hope for this line, that despite five new starters, they can at least win the majority of individual battles. I am sure there will be breakdowns and missed assignments but just don't get trucked like a water buffalo hitting a pygmy.

Kinda like Dallas Thomas against the Cowboys in last year's HoF game? That was just absolutely horrible.

 

[Dolphin Dave]

If they don't get him a vet center who has played the position before, Benton is in for a long season.

 

[Digital]

I said it before and I'll say it again. We were fortune to get Benton to coach our OL. Here's hoping he can once again make chicken salad ... because outside of Albert and maybe Colledge, we have a lot of the main ingredient.

Last year we hemorrhaged fiasco. Losing Jake Long, swapping a failure at RT to a starting LT. Letting go of our only decent blocker at TE (Fasano). Counting on John Jerry once again. Clabo under performing until he gets benched. Heck, benching Incognito hen he is our only decent run blocker. And the clear indication of disaster, praising Brenner as a solution.

 

[Phinfan407]

I totally agree with both of you. Our main problem wasn't missed assignments, it was getting manhandled. Seeing our OL get pushed back and thrown around was disgusting. That is my hope for this line, that despite five new starters, they can at least win the majority of individual battles. I am sure there will be breakdowns and missed assignments but just don't get trucked like a water buffalo hitting a pygmy.

Excellent statement, that's why I don't understand fans saying this offensive line is similar to last years. Last year we couldn't move bodies in the run game and our tackles couldn't block man vs. man out on those islands. I think Albert and James are significantly better than what we put on the field last year at the tackle spots. We give up some physicality inside losing Cog and Pouncey but the offensive coordinator and line coach can make up for that with scheme/blocking assignments. If we get the center/qb exchange taken care of we'll be significantly better up front this year... you can quote me on that. At least we have some fighters this year. I was a fan of the Albert trade last year but a lot of ppl on here were in an uproar, but I think that's the difference in us making the playoffs and not.

 

[phinfan40353]

Wouldn't 2 - 0 give a huge shot of confidence into the heart of this team?

Beating the Patriots then Bills... talk about giving credibility to all of the "new" around the organization. Eh, I can dream.

 

[ChambersWI]

Kinda like Dallas Thomas against the Cowboys in last year's HoF game? That was just absolutely horrible.

You know, even going back two years with Jake, I'm somewhat convinced that there was something wrong with the technique Jim Turner was teaching the OL. Even Jack Long was struggling with balance and falling over. I don't know what, but if you count Thomas, that's 4 starting OTs in 2 years (And McKinney had his own issues).

Now the other thing with Dallas Thomas was they thought he was an OT for some reason. Maybe he can eventually become one down the road in a pinch, but nothing about him screamed OT last year. I'm half convinced that everybody involved last year (so that goes from Ireland, to Philbin, to Sherman, to Taylor, to whoever else) banked everything on Josh Samuda and Dallas Thomas being capable of filling on multiple spots on the OL and neither was ready.