Dolphins To Sign Aaf Ol Michael Dunn

[Charlie Rivers]

More than a dozen AAF players have agreed to terms with NFL teams and several others have workouts scheduled.

There is NFL quality talent in the AAF. (I'm not saying that this latest signing has quality NFL potential though.) AAF has players with, in my view, NFL potential: Garrett Gilbert of the Orlando Apollos comes to mind. He would be a fair to good quality backup QB in the NFL. Other AAF players that make the grade could be...

• Jamar Summers, CB, Birmingham Iron
• Nick Rose, K, San Antonio Commanders
• Rashad Ross, WR, Arizona Hotshots
• DeMarquis Gates, LB, Memphis Express

 

[RockyMtnPhinfan]

Right guard for Birmingham Iron......in case you want to watch his play for them. #67

 

[SCLSU Mud Dogs]

My nephew can recite that movie like it was his first language.

Sadly I have yet to watch it. But I might have to.

 

[SF Dolphin Fan]

Hahahahaha, good one. Well it's a shot in the dark for sure, but who knows, it wouldn't be the first time an OL came from nowhere and was good. Fingers crossed. I like that we seem to be adopting the Patriots OL philosophy of churning through lots of prospects until we find ones that work. Much better than the Dolphins philosophy of picking the same few players and continuing to hope they eventually develop.

I think a lot of it comes down to coaching, something that has been lacking on the offensive line in Miami for quite some time. I remember back in the 70's, players like Larry Little and Bob Keuchenberg were hardly stars when the Dolphins brought them in.

 

[Gonzo]

and at 24...much younger the Asiata...I'm pretty sure Asiata was a freshman when he turned 24.

Asiata is 26. When Asiata turned 4, he was twice Dunn’s age. Old af.

 

[Digital]

I think a lot of it comes down to coaching, something that has been lacking on the offensive line in Miami for quite some time. I remember back in the 70's, players like Larry Little and Bob Keuchenberg were hardly stars when the Dolphins brought them in.

Great point! I've been hoping for a good OL coach for many years, but honestly, the last good OL coach we had was head coach Tony Sparano. He wasn't a good head coach, but he did understand the OL and how to build a decent one. If only he hadn't thrown Jake Long to the wolves with one arm when he wasn't anywhere close to being healed. Who knows how Jake's career might have played out.

Regardless, free agency does not reward developing players like the old system. Today it's about finding people who can perform NOW. We developed guys like Charles Clay and Olivier Vernon, and nothing good came of it. They left in free agency for sums we couldn't afford to pay. We wasted tons of time and effort on non-blossoming OL with potential like Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner. I much prefer the Patriots approach to OL of churning through lots of prospects until we find one that works. It's hard finding hidden gems, and we've proven pretty conclusively that our scouts can't really find many of them, with Jesse Davis being our best success story and even he has plenty of detractors. If precision tactics don't work, I'm fully on-board with looking at more candidates to improve our OL.

And your point is well taken, if we are fortunate enough to have landed a good OL coach, this approach is probably going to yield good results.