Agree with the angle you are coming from and of course, you never want to rush anything with respect to building something that should/could last.
However, and it's an interesting point about the Dolphins making decisions based on what AFC East Teams do - so if I may, I'd like to expand on this with a slightly different angle but on the same topic :)
I did put it out there last year in the lead up to the draft/free agency - that I felt from an OL standpoint the more important need to get right were the Guard spots but that they had to get a particular type of Guard - to specifically combat two things - 1. The Bills interior, and 2. The Jets interior - both of whom are very strong and have done a good job in dominating Miami.
To have any success in this league means getting to the playoffs and giving yourself a chance - to do that, you MUST have success in your own division. The Patriots are the pinnacle and for some reason, we actually tend to have a good shot at taking one game off them each year. So - the focus absolutely needs to be going 4 and 0 against the Jets and the Bills - you do that, you give yourself a chance at 5-1 in this division, meaning 4 more wins out of 10 games and you're knocking on the door - going .500 in those 10 games and confidence is high. You start getting to that level then momentum, confidence, crowd involvement, general positivity really do start to come into it in a big way.
Ok - Back to the Guards.
We've seen it time and again - the age old adage still applies in this pass happy modern game - if you can run the a ball, not just when you want to but when you have to - you have a great shot of success. And if you can not control the middle, you're are just not going to be able to run the ball when you have to.
So against these two DL interiors of the Bills and the Jets, you need G's than can maul and move in the run game and as this is a passing league - in the passing blocking game, success looks like - no pressure up the middle, period! Do this, you do two things - You give your QB a chance to,
1 - SEE IT, with better passing lanes as the O Tackles flush the outside pressure wide while the Guards stymie the middle with no penetration, and
2. step into the throw and deliver the ball with confidence - as there are no interior OL getting pushed into the QB or DT's getting some penetration to get their hands up to block - how much do both of these situations sound familiar to Dolphins fans ? When allowed to step into the throw, Tannehill is actually very impressive - when he has to stay on his heals, and snap/short arm the throw with an open body/narrow and near parallel stance to the LOS - then it's pretty bad, as it would be for any QB who gets that level/volume of penetration right up the middle.
Now I know some of you may throw out - The Zone Blocking Scheme requires superior movement etc. And to a degree I would support that statement. However, There are a number of ways to run the Zone scheme and really, what are you asking your Guards to do. COMBO Block - either with the Centre, and then to the 2nd level, straight to the 2nd level if the front dictates, or step and reach to Combo with the O Tackle - who releases and the Guard stays on the Combo'd, outside gap defender. Sometimes folks can over complicate blocking schemes, when the simplest solution is often the best - see occam's razor... hmmm, did I really go there? :)
At this level - all these guys have the ability to move, what it comes down to is;
1. Footwork - do they have the ability to get the footwork right and be consistent with their placement time and time again - not as easy as you'd think and I call any of you who attend games in person to go early and watch the OL [of any team] warm up with their seemingly nonathletic, duck like warm ups - it will tell you a lot about the value and importance of footwork.
2. Do they understand the scheme - i.e. are they looking behind themselves to see where the back is going or are the staying on their 'track' even if a defender has scrapped over the top - don't go chasing the backs of a defender - continue working your track to secure the cut back if the guard is in the 2nd level. It becomes the responsibility of the Running Back to see the Scraping and potentially over pursuing defense early enough to take advance of the natural cutback lanes, which a smart Guard who has stayed on track can and usually will be in great position to deal with the cut back lane - Key message for the backs - if color crosses your face, go for the cut back - if color doesn't cross your face you stay on track with the play - the same, to a degree goes for OL concept understanding.
3. Have they got a natural understanding and ability to perform the combo blocks at a high level and 'feel' their way off the block when the timing is right to allow the second OL to take over - this is a talent/skill set in itself.
SO - my point is, you don't always need superior move athletes at Guard to have success in the Zone scheme - what you really need is a full understanding of your key opponents [which isn't always the number 1 opponent], and what that means for the personnel you counter attack with.
Really keen to see that nasty, physical, strong - skill set from Turner - give him a shot and let's go. So hopefully it's just one Guard spot left to solve - sort it out to the level of dominating the two key targets of the Jets and the Bills and I really do believe that the offensive production and success of the team would be very very different [positively] to what we have seen for the past few years.
So - for those scouts or college experts amongst you - anyone fit that mold that I can go back and have a look at?
Thanks for reading if you got this far :)
