Dolphins Building The Offensive Line

[TrinidadDolfan]

Much salivating on the Forum for fans wanting to get much needed help on the OL through drafting this year. Many even hoping for a guard with our #13 pick.

The hated Pats have done it right and it’s obvious to us when we see Brady sitting back there, going through his progressions while we struggle to break through his OL. Year in year out.

Let’s take a look at the Pats OL, and where they were drafted:

Left tackle - 7th round
Left Guard - 3rd round
Center - Undrafted
Right Guard - 4th round
Right Tackle - 5th round

The lesson here is that these big boys with talent exist all over the draft, often way way down. Teams have to a) identify them, and b) coach them up and put them in a situation where they are held accountable by the entire organization, from the QB on down. My feeling is that the Pats excel in, not drafting, but coaching.

Personally, I like using higher draft picks on the skill positions, and training up the maulers who have the size to fight.

Having said that, toss the 13th pick if possible for more ammo in 2020.

 

[Csonked Out]

Much salivating on the Forum for fans wanting to get much needed help on the OL through drafting this year. Many even hoping for a guard with our #13 pick.

The hated Pats have done it right and it’s obvious to us when we see Brady sitting back there, going through his progressions while we struggle to break through his OL. Year in year out.

Let’s take a look at the Pats OL, and where they were drafted:

Left tackle - 7th round
Left Guard - 3rd round
Center - Undrafted
Right Guard - 4th round
Right Tackle - 5th round

The lesson here is that these big boys with talent exist all over the draft, often way way down. Teams have to a) identify them, and b) coach them up and put them in a situation where they are held accountable by the entire organization, from the QB on down. My feeling is that the Pats excel in, not drafting, but coaching.

Personally, I like using higher draft picks on the skill positions, and training up the maulers who have the size to fight.

Having said that, toss the 13th pick if possible for more ammo in 2020.

New England may have the best offensive line coach in the history of football. They had to actually talk him out of retirement a few years ago because it was going horribly for them after he left.

That being said, we wont have that no matter who we hire. Outside of LA and New England, most playoffs teams today heavily invest in the offensive line through top end talent in the draft and that is probably what we will do as well.

I like your theory but for most teams it's just not practical. I would have no problem though trading our pick back to the end of the first round this year as the draft is very deep in the trenches.

 

[datruth55]

Dolphins haven't been able to draft a starting OL outside of the 1st round in a long time. I suppose John Jerry was the last and I think he was a 3rd round pick and he was never that good.

The main problem with the Dolphins is item "a" in your post. Identifying OL that can play. No amount of coaching was going to make Dallas Thomas an adequate OG. The fact that they tried him at OT only shows the coaching wasn't good either but the issue is the guy should have never been drafted in the first place. Many of the scouts that have been responsible for identifying these OL have been here for 10+ years and yet we expect them to all of a sudden get better at their job. Not going to happen. The scouting has to get better. I know Grier hired a guy from Buffalo but really, this whole front office needs a gut job. We need at least 4 or 5 new faces in their cause the current scouts have been awful.

 

[TrinidadDolfan]

Dolphins haven't been able to draft a starting OL outside of the 1st round in a long time. I suppose John Jerry was the last and I think he was a 3rd round pick and he was never that good.

The main problem with the Dolphins is item "a" in your post. Identifying OL that can play. No amount of coaching was going to make Dallas Thomas an adequate OG. The fact that they tried him at OT only shows the coaching wasn't good either but the issue is the guy should have never been drafted in the first place. Many of the scouts that have been responsible for identifying these OL have been here for 10+ years and yet we expect them to all of a sudden get better at their job. Not going to happen. The scouting has to get better. I know Grier hired a guy from Buffalo but really, this whole front office needs a gut job. We need at least 4 or 5 new faces in their cause the current scouts have been awful.

.
Agreed.

Scouting HAS to get better.
Pick the right people...BUT, you gotta coach them up. Shitty OL coaches get exposed quickly when they are made to excel with mediocre talent. Like Sporano was

 

[BobDole]

The Dolphins have been poor at both identifying and coaching up talent across the board but the Oline has stuck out for years as being a unit clearly holding the team back. I agree with your approach (common sense ... save the high picks for the true needle movers) but have no faith in the team's ability to both find the right player for the system at decent value and giving him the tools he needs to succeed ... because it doesn't happen. They can't even do it consistently in the 1st round ... why would I think they could do it in the 5th?

Going away from a finesse scheme will help. I can't stand watching soft play in the trenches. Seeing people clamor to re-sign James after watching him get man handled for half the season wouldn't happen if the fanbase wasn't so desperate that mediocre is viewed as plenty good enough. That's how you end up with 7 years of Ryan Tannehill.

 

[Dolphins81]

.
Agreed.

Scouting HAS to get better.
Pick the right people...BUT, you gotta coach them up. ****ty OL coaches get exposed quickly when they are made to excel with mediocre talent. Like Sporano was

Scouting does need to get a lot better. Dallas Thomas probably wasn’t on anyones board except ours. Then look at drafting Harris in the 1st. Again, we were probably the only team that would have been willing to take him on the first day.

I wouldn’t mind trading back this draft for a later 1st and another 2nd or 3rd.

 

[cuzinvinny]

Much salivating on the Forum for fans wanting to get much needed help on the OL through drafting this year. Many even hoping for a guard with our #13 pick.

The hated Pats have done it right and it’s obvious to us when we see Brady sitting back there, going through his progressions while we struggle to break through his OL. Year in year out.

Let’s take a look at the Pats OL, and where they were drafted:

Left tackle - 7th round
Left Guard - 3rd round
Center - Undrafted
Right Guard - 4th round
Right Tackle - 5th round

The lesson here is that these big boys with talent exist all over the draft, often way way down. Teams have to a) identify them, and b) coach them up and put them in a situation where they are held accountable by the entire organization, from the QB on down. My feeling is that the Pats excel in, not drafting, but coaching.

Personally, I like using higher draft picks on the skill positions, and training up the maulers who have the size to fight.

Having said that, toss the 13th pick if possible for more ammo in 2020.

Think you may have misrepresented the point that a lot of All those fans were necessarily talking about in getting even necessarily a majority through the draft or even the #1 pick.

Now if the right player were there, IMO it's logical to understand that for that rare one of a kind talent like last years G, Quenton Nelson...he be in the thought process. The point was more to emphasize the importance and need to actually see the OL as an area of real critical need to upgrade and Not necessarily just through the draft. But in FA too with the added understanding that age also must be a consideration...

And think you hit the nail on the head with the Pats knowing what they want and how to achieve it with their OL and we need that coaching talent too, since Just getting our organization to realize the need seemed to be a major obstacle, the previous 2 decades...

 

[Jay131866]

I'd prefer a new pro bowl C if we were going that direction early in the draft, over a G. I don't mind keeping Sitton another year at LG if we have to.

My gut tells me at this point we will be going DL heavy early in the draft, but we will have to see how FA goes.

 

[cuzinvinny]

I'd prefer a new pro bowl C if we were going that direction early in the draft, over a G. I don't mind keeping Sitton another year at LG if we have to.

My gut tells me at this point we will be going DL heavy early in the draft, but we will have to see how FA goes.

This draft seems to have a nice amount of DL quality wise better than OL especially at the top.

Logical to think we'd be DL with #1 or QB if the chips fall correctly. Or possibly the LB, Devon White if he fell...JMO

PS. would Love a quality C....

 

[lurking]

The last 2 to 3 years we’ve been told by many pundits in here that the line was fine and it was the quarterbacks fault for the lines play. We were told we just need a new quarterback and everything will be fine. The ones that have been saying we need to fix the offense of line get it.

 

[superphin]

Despite having one of the worst OL in the league year in and year out since 2012 we've only drafted 7 OL. The Patriots who have a superior line have drafted 10 OL in the same span. To build the OL we must invest picks in the OL. There was a thread that said we need to draft a QB every year until we hit well, with as bad the OL is we should be drafting 2 OL every year until we have solid starters and some depth.

 

[ChrisEAS]

having overpriced players means nothing if you don't win. Having said that, the Saints have one of the highest paid OL's in the league, and they are doing great. The Pats have one of the lowest paid, and are doing great.

The final 4 teams in the NFL are all offensive teams. Their defenses aren't all that great, minus the Rams. Its clear that offense is the direction that the NFL is headed in, no longer defense.

We just need two guards. Tunsil, James, and Brendel/Swanson at C are fine.

 

[Jay131866]

This draft seems to have a nice amount of DL quality wise better than OL especially at the top.

Logical to think we'd be DL with #1 or QB if the chips fall correctly. Or possibly the LB, Devon White if he fell...JMO

PS. would Love a quality C....

We really need 3-4 new DL, and at the very least 1 new OL (preferably C), and thats if we re-sign James. James will be interesting, he's too inconsistent for my liking, but we can't afford to open up another hole on the line. I would prob re-sign him at this point, and try to draft/sign an elite C this offseason. We can prob survive another season w poor G play I suppose (it's been 20 yrs, whats another season???).

 

[cuzinvinny]

Despite having one of the worst OL in the league year in and year out since 2012 we've only drafted 7 OL. The Patriots who have a superior line have drafted 10 OL in the same span. To build the OL we must invest picks in the OL. There was a thread that said we need to draft a QB every year until we hit well, with as bad the OL is we should be drafting 2 OL every year until we have solid starters and some depth.

Been gripping about OL upgrade for years and a useless fight with pretty much all the previous FO's seemingly to capable of ignoring. Also hear in here this OL draft and QB as if the two were incapable of upgrading at the same time. (again understanding it's not an overnight process)...

You upgrade the OL with not just draft but younger (due to our developmental stage) FA too. If a QB of exception is also there I'd think that should be on the scale of grab his azz too. You know, striking while the iron is hot and it shouldn't be an either or, or just looking at the draft...but more pouncing when that quality is available...

 

[j-off-her-doll]

This reminds me of a mistake I made a few years ago. In looking at the Seahawks secondary, I said, 'Gee, they got Richard Sherman in the 5th and Byron Maxwell in the 6th, and they have one of the best Pass D's of all time. Why would anyone draft a CB in the 1st or 2nd Round?' Some teams will be able to identify talent at particular positions that fit their scheme and excel without having to invest premium picks. The Packers were also very good at this with regard to OL.

If you can do it, great! It's obviously an advantage. But, if you can't, OL is not a position where you compromise. You need high-quality players there - just like CB.