Espn Doesn't Like Miami Offensive Line

[.....]

I think we have depth and are at least as good as last year probably better. We need a great oline coach and RT to improve his pocket awareness that would help tons.

This again? I thought that argument was put to rest 2 years ago.

 

[NoblePhin]

This board knows 2000% times more than people who get paid to cover the fins

 

[Digital]

ANY BS supposed insight "reporting" attributed to E S P N (i.e., New England Sports Propaganda Network) is... well just consider the SOURCE.

ROFL! That is a gem BigNastyFish, well done! And so true.

 

[clownfish]

Pouncey was the most overrated sack of crap we’ve ever had. Every time he got hurt the line played substantially BETTER than when he was in. He is a terrible player and an even more terrible person. Good riddance.

Dude had a head bob just before he snapped it. Defenses were privy to it. Good riddance.

 

[dirkey]

My first question would be - who cares? Some bloke wrote an article about a perceived weakness. He might be right, might be wrong. We don't know yet. And as I say, who really cares?

Second question - for those who are up in arms, what exactly have the dolphins done in recent memory to deserve the respect that you feel ESPN should be bequeathing upon the franchise?

 

[Digital]

Hey, I have hope for our OL, and yes, that ESPN article was weak. What they should have said was that Josh Sitton was replacing Pouncey's salary and role of major talent and leader along the interior OL, but they didn't. Yes, Kilgore is replacing the position of center.

There is legitimate debate whether Jesse Davis or Ted Larsen will start at RG, but me personally, I am a fan of Jesse Davis there. Pre-injury, Larsen looked OK, and he has gone on record as saying RG is his best position. So, the Ted Larsen comment, while not really untrue, may be misleading, as even if Larsen starts he will likely be better than most RG play the Dolphins have seen since Tannehill arrived. And personally, Jesse Davis has provided probably our best RG play during that time and only looks to be ascending to better play. And, Kilgore graded out far better than Pouncey last year, at least according to some graders like PFF. He's not a star, and he's not super-durable, but he looks to be an improvement over Pouncey as a player and as a dependable linemate.

Tunsil at LT is something we expect to improve. As a rookie, he played better. Moving back to his natural LT spot, perhaps fueled by his lack of competition after Brandon Albert left, Tunsil was not as good as expected ... at all. But, everyone expects improved play this year, so hopefully we get it. The talent is off the charts, so hopefully his pride kicks in this offseason and he brings his A game this year. New leader in the locker room, Sitton, and culling so many players, including Pouncey, should help Tunsil motivate.

While I'm not really a fan, Ju'Wuan James had a solid year last year. Once again weak at run blocking, he had a good year as a pass protector for a RT. When healthy, he has the ability to be a solid pass protector.

All of that said ... there honestly is a lot of good reason to doubt the Dolphins OL.

Since Tannehill entered the league, the Dolphins OL has consistently performed poorly, consistently underperformed, consistently had a lot of injury turmoil, and consistently been the weakest position group on the team. So, projecting them to be bad seems pretty reasonable. I hope they're good and prove everyone wrong ... but it's more hope than confidence that they will.

But it's true, the Dolphins active fan base is one of the smaller ones in the NFL, and we haven't had much success in years. I cannot think of any 3 year period of sustained success in a long time. So yeah, the "New England Sports Propaganda Network" as BigNastyFish calls them, will continue to disrespect us until we have consistent years of sustained success ... and our fanbase bandwagon swells to epic proportions to fuel their click-driven editorial drivel.

 

[MiamiDolfan85]

3 new starters on the line...not so crazy to assume we're at least questionable along the line.

 

[DolfanDaveInMI]

Going into training camp, our starting linebacker group has two rookies (one snap on special teams doesn't count, Raekwon) and Kiko Fukushimalonso.

You mean to tell me our offensive line is in more trouble than that?

 

[BSQ]

ESPN has been living on it's reputation for years. The level of reporting on this Dolphin article is awful. It's lazy and irresponsible to not do the research on an assigned project and to draw conclusions and unfairly criticize is even worse. I give the article a D-.

 

[Birdmond]

They’re older in the middle than I’d like but I’d wager this will be the best OL we’ve had in years. I’m guessing next years draft will be corn fed on both sides of the ball.

 

[finmann]

Don't be to hasty to criticize ESPN on this particular topic boys, until we see this Oline play a game I am willing to accept the point of view that it is still an area of need for this team.