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Colledge flying under the radar

Daytona Fin

Daytona Fin

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The Dolphins offensive line has attracted a lot of attention since the start of training camp, and pretty much every player has taken his turn in the spotlight.

There’s been a lot of conversation about Branden Albert, the Pro Bowl newcomer at left tackle; about Ja’Wuan James, the rookie first-round pick starting at right tackle; about center Samson Satele, the veteran filling in nicely during the absence of Mike Pouncey; about Shelley Smith going from guard to center and back to right guard; about Dallas Thomasgetting bumped from the starting lineup and then getting another chance after Smith was sidelined with a knee injury.

In the midst of all this, Daryn Colledge has pretty much stayed under the radar, quietly but effectively doing the job at left guard.

Even though he was out of the NFL as late as June 30, it shouldn’t be considered a great surprise that Colledge has solidified that position because that’s what he’s done since he entered the NFL all the way back in 2006.

“I looked at it a lot of ways this offseason,” Colledge said after practice Wednesday. “I was 32 years old going into this offseason, I knew who I was, I know how many starts I’ve had, I knew what kind of productive player I can be. Like I told a lot of people before, this league is built on young guys.

“I had a feeling I was probably going to be maybe one of the later guys grabbed if I wasn’t grabbed in that first week. I was going to be the guy that they said, hey, we can grab him, we can put him in and he can play and start for us and we know what to expect out of him. But they need to spend as much time as they can developing young talent and getting those guys ready because eventually, whether it be after this year or whatever, they’re going to push me aside and these young guys are going to have to come up and play and be the future of this organization.”
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It has been, really, a remarkable construction job along the offensive line after the problems of last season.

Colledge happened to be one of the last pieces added, but he brought impressive credentials to South Florida.

Remember that Colledge started every game at left guard for the Arizona Cardinals the past three seasons and every game the previous three seasons for the Green Bay Packers, with whom he spent his first five years in the NFL.

Head Coach Joe Philbin was in Green Bay during Colledge’s time there, first as his offensive line coach and then as his offensive coordinator. And the guy Philbin is coaching these days is pretty much the same guy he coached back then.
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Colledge’s streak is 30 games longer than the second-longest active streaks among guards, which belongs to Justin Blalock of the Atlanta Falcons.

The streak is something that is of great significance to Colledge.

“That’s the deal, it’s always meant something to me,” Colledge said. “You become conscious of it the first time you get on the field. You want to be a guy when you come in this league that people can rely on and you continually play. I’ve always wanted to be guy that the coaches could look at and say, all right, we know he’s going to be ready to go for us every Sunday. That’s been my goal since I got in the league and I continue to try to do that here in my ninth year.”

The biggest test to Colledge’s streak came last season when he sustained a fractured leg on the second day of training camp with the Arizona Cardinals.

Colledge was forced to miss Arizona’s preseason opener in 2013, but he was back in the lineup the following week and was ready to go at the start of the regular season, even though the injury clearly affected his play.
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“I feel like I am playing at a physically better level in the first couple of weeks than I did last year, just fighting the leg injury that I did and trying to have that heal,” he said. “I don’t feel like the strength was there, but again I’m still trying to get comfortable in the system just like everybody else. I feel like each week that we’re communicating better and we’re allowing ourselves to play faster. I think that we’ve still got some room for improvement, which I think is exciting because I think this offense is starting to do some really good things.”
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http://www.miamidolphins.com/news/a...he-Radar/5fdeca94-07d5-44e5-952c-30ca57bec625
 
In another thread it was said LG was the weak link.

People will say anything to help out their own bias.
 
I'm glad we had him to shore up injury impact, but he's really not that good. Still hope to see Turner in there before too long.

He seems like a great guy and can provide a little veteran leadership to the unit, but he's what he is...a consistent below average guard, that can reasonably be relied upon to not embarrass himself too much. Not knocking the guy...it just is what it is.
 
According to Football Outsiders,* Miami has the best run blocking line in the NFL (middle of the pack in pass protection). They rank the left side of our line higher than the right side of our line, but the reason for the #1 overall ranking is that we have top 7 run-blocking grades at left-end, middle, and right-end.

I also think Colledge has been real solid in pass pro -- definitely not where we've had our problems there. So yeah, Hickey looks like a genius there.


* Football Outsiders occasionally has some really weird evaluations, but hey.
 
Has Nate Garner even played this year ? I say that as a good thing. He's usually the last resort at every OL position.
The fact he has not seen the field much means we have upgraded. Turner is the one I want to see more of. Him playing beside Pouncy should mean 3 yards a carry straight up the gut any time we need it in short yardage or goal line.
 
When healthy move Pouncey to RG, where he played at UF, and we'll be roaring to go.
 
He'd be sick at RG. Satele is better at playing C than any of our guards are at playing guard. Satele+Pouncey > Pouncey + any guard.
 
Pouncey is a c and since he took every snap at that position this week in practice.

Re. The op I dont rate any of our guards to be honest
 
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When I watch him during the game, he does just enough to accomplish the goal. Many of his blocks in the running game open a hole with a seal block. He seems like a smart veteran that is successful but not as athletic as he use to be. I am fine with him, and I have no interest in seeing Turner.
 
On most o-lines you do not need all of the players to be an all-pro, but being consistent and serviceable (along with excellent play from other positions) is typically good enough. The issue this team had int he past was they only had one guy (Pouncey) who was consistently good. Now they have three...
 
ConvenientTruth said:
On most o-lines you do not need all of the players to be an all-pro, but being consistent and serviceable (along with excellent play from other positions) is typically good enough. The issue this team had int he past was they only had one guy (Pouncey) who was consistently good. Now they have three...
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This. :up:
 
I hate to see them move Satele to the bench. Pouncey is an All-Pro type Center who should play once he is 100%. That being said, Satele should be given every opportunity to stay somewhere in the lineup. He has earned it.
 
Ireland picks up aging vets nobody else wants and we quickly figure out why nobody else wanted them.

Hickey picks up aging vets and they look like good value, aka decent cornfeds, at the very least.

Coincidence?
 
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