Could our O-line be undervalued?

[Conuficus]

Just thinking about how our O-line has 3 starters under the age of 27. At the moment the only starter on the line that has more than 4 years of experience is Shelton. We could have the makings of a very underrated line. Ronnie Brown has averaged over 4 ypc, and our sacks allowed dropped dramatically after the switch at QB. There are 3 guys from that line that will be starters this year so there is some continuity there. Obviously we still have issues at LG but seeing the way James played the position the last two years, it wouldn't take much to see an upgrade there. And Carey has to play well.

We might be just about there as far as the line goes, any thoughts?

 

[jason8er]

Just thinking about how our O-line has 3 starters under the age of 27. At the moment the only starter on the line that has more than 4 years of experience is Shelton. We could have the makings of a very underrated line. Ronnie Brown has averaged over 4 ypc, and our sacks allowed dropped dramatically after the switch at QB. There are 3 guys from that line that will be starters this year so there is some continuity there. Obviously we still have issues at LG but seeing the way James played the position the last two years, it wouldn't take much to see an upgrade there. And Carey has to play well.

We might be just about there as far as the line goes, any thoughts?

The O-line is still a huge "what if", as all 5 starters will be new at their positions (except from Hadnot in 2005). Hopefully it all pans out.

 

[dlockz]

Just thinking about how our O-line has 3 starters under the age of 27. At the moment the only starter on the line that has more than 4 years of experience is Shelton. We could have the makings of a very underrated line. Ronnie Brown has averaged over 4 ypc, and our sacks allowed dropped dramatically after the switch at QB. There are 3 guys from that line that will be starters this year so there is some continuity there. Obviously we still have issues at LG but seeing the way James played the position the last two years, it wouldn't take much to see an upgrade there. And Carey has to play well.

We might be just about there as far as the line goes, any thoughts?

hard to say since we just shifted our whole oline again. Last time we did that wasd 2004 and it was not pretty. I think carey is easily our best lineman but we took him from a position he excelled at to a position he has never had a chance to excel at and has no history of excellance at. hadnot played pretty well at guard before but needs to improve. Shelton a disaster at LT and good at G was moved to his less familiar position of RT. Satale is a rookie so right now you can speculate he is the next Jesse sapalu or the next Seth mcKinny.
The other guard at this moment is a mess although Liewinski has been a decent overachiever before. We basically have no experienced depth. Toledo and Alabi have about 1 full game of experience between them. Neither one has proven anything on the field. Rosenthal is purely depth although has experience, if forced to start things could get ugly. Our guard backup is morimino right now, who has alot of chances with so few bodies in front. I hope Julius wilson and Elsra show they should have been drafted which would help. I personally think we will have alot of groing pains on the line but the potential is there in some places for the long run. Rome was not built in a day.

 

[BillsFanInPeace]

Your oline may be underrated but right now they are a Big ?

I mean no offense but your Best Lineman is playing a position he could not handle as a rookie. I mean I am not hating he might be able to now. But I think you would be wrong if you did not have worries about your Oline

 

[Winbaby#23]

Your oline may be underrated but right now they are a Big ?

I mean no offense but your Best Lineman is playing a position he could not handle as a rookie. I mean I am not hating he might be able to now. But I think you would be wrong if you did not have worries about your Oline

Yeah I agree. but the bills oline is just as big or bigger ?? mark

 

[Conuficus]

I'm not saying we have great line, but I think we are better than we have been made out to be. I can't help but wonder how much of our shuffling had to do with the Sabanator sticking his hands in early and often. The other thing I have faith in is that i can't remember a time over the last 3-4 years where we have had this many starting positions accounted for this early.

 

[pilotfish]

Obviously, the OL is a huge unknown. However, I'm hoping that with a passing game that will place a premium on 3-step drops and quick decisions, our pass blocking schemes will be more straightforward. Also, I'm thinking that if the pass rushers have to contend with a quicker set-up, they'll tend to utilize more bull-rush technique. If we have the third and long, obvious passing situations, it seems likely we would max protect and help with the outside speed rushers. Additionally, if we pass more to the RBs in the flat and on screens, the DL will have to respect that.

A good offensive game plan will hopefully hide some of our flaws and give our line time to get comfortable with new positions and each other.

 

[Crypt Keeper]

Your oline may be underrated but right now they are a Big ?

I mean no offense but your Best Lineman is playing a position he could not handle as a rookie. I mean I am not hating he might be able to now. But I think you would be wrong if you did not have worries about your Oline

Stop basing Carey's future performance on what he did as a rookie(three years ago). Carey was a stud at RT, and if the best oline coach in the business(Houck) thinks he can do it, then I have no real worries.

 

[Kyndig]

Your oline may be underrated but right now they are a Big ?

I mean no offense but your Best Lineman is playing a position he could not handle as a rookie. I mean I am not hating he might be able to now. But I think you would be wrong if you did not have worries about your Oline

everyone knows our oline is a big ?

How's you feeling about your defense? You guys have your own problems and worries....

 

[3Ply Stagliano]

Jeez people, lighten up a bit please. Don't get all uppity if a fan of another team says the Phins are anything other than brilliant. It's nothing personal (And yes, I'm aware the same could be said of any responses and therefore the futility of my point).

Anyway, the O-Line couldn't possibly be anything other than undervalued the way it gets lambasted here. I'm not saying it's a good line but, other than giving up a loss every play, it couldn't be as bad as the constant slatings it gets. Still, it ain't great, yet.

 

[BlueFin]

Your oline may be underrated but right now they are a Big ?

I mean no offense but your Best Lineman is playing a position he could not handle as a rookie. I mean I am not hating he might be able to now. But I think you would be wrong if you did not have worries about your Oline

Get your facts straight if your going to go to another teams fan site and dump on the team, Carey did not fail as a LT, McIntosh couldn't play anywhere else and McDougall flopped as a RT, so he was moved.

 

[miamiron]

We might be just about there as far as the line goes, any thoughts?

We are NOT there yet with regards to this offensive line

 

[finsrclowns]

Just thinking about how our O-line has 3 starters under the age of 27. At the moment the only starter on the line that has more than 4 years of experience is Shelton. We could have the makings of a very underrated line.

By this logic you should go with 5 rookies and then you'd really be underrated.

 

[DolphinsFan23]

One guy who Coach Houck needs to make sure he has much improved blocking skills by the time the season starts is our new tight end David Martin. He needs to get better at his blocking or opposing defenses might key on him. They'll watch game film of us and they'll find any weak links in our blocking and make adjustments to take advantage of it ... kind of like a general does in a Civil War battle or something.

I understand Martin is a pretty good receiver but he still needs to be a good blocker. The defenses need to respect the blocking capabilities of both Martin and Peele. We don't want them thinking that Martin = pass play, Peele = running play, etc. David knows he needs to work on his blocking in training camp ... he said so in this video.

http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/team/roster/playerBio.asp?docid=27301

Hopefully, Mularkey can get him up to Antonio Gates type levels. David has an ex NFL head coach and OC as his tight ends coach. Mularkey even played as a tight end in the Pros for 9 years. Can't beat that. I bet Mularkey will surprise us and have Martin playing better than people think. Cam made Gates into a star with the Chargers. Maybe he can do the same thing with Martin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Mularkey

 

[Kinzua]

Get your facts straight if your going to go to another teams fan site and dump on the team, Carey did not fail as a LT, McIntosh couldn't play anywhere else and McDougall flopped as a RT, so he was moved.

Saying that "McIntosh couldn't play anywhere else and McDougall flopped as a RT, so he was moved" is so much bull manure. Failed RTs never move to LT (except with southpaw QBs) but failed LTs frequently make good/decent guards and sometimes good RTs.

LT is a much more important position on the line than RT, and is about the hardest position to fill. It also requires a much different skill set than RT, namely better athleticism and quicker feet combined with more strength. With a right handed QB, the LT is key to preventing the DE from coming around the outside and blindsiding the QB. If you have a guy who can play LT, you play him there, not RT -- unless you have a left handed QB, which Miami hasn't had and doesn't have.

It's no big deal that Carey wasn't ready to play LT as a rookie since he was a guard in college. He was learning a new position and a much different, more complex, and faster game as a rookie. Most rookie offensive linemen don't start their first year, even those taken in the first round.

The question is, does Carey have the physical attributes to be a good LT? If he does, he'll make the transition quickly (ala Jason Peters for the Bills who moved from RT to LT during the 2006 bye week, and became a dominating force there almost from the beginning). If he doesn't, then the Fins are in big doodoo.