Here's one of the bigger reasons I voted against Tyler Linderbaum (who I love) and in favor of Charles Cross.
Miami will get use out of Cross's special abilities.
I cannot be confident that Miami will get use out of Linderbaum's special abilities.
If you have Tyler Linderbaum, that represents quite the opportunity for running one of those Shanahan-esque systems that use a lot of outside zone. Slimm pointed it out in another thread. You see Linderbaum get ahead of a 4-technique on an outside zone play, that's a special skill...in a system which puts a lot of responsibility on the swing. But if you don't run one of those systems, it seems wasted.
Mike Pouncey was here from 2011 to 2017 and the offensive line continued to be bad every single year. But he was a good player with unique skills that often went to waste because they didn't really make consistent use of them.
I look at this line and the two tackles are not just the worst tackle tandem in the NFL, they're the worst tackle tandem I've ever seen in Miami, if not...ever. Whether it's Austin Jackson and Jesse Davis or it's Liam Eichenberg and Jesse Davis, it's the worst I've ever seen.
But oddly, whether it was Michael Deiter (who looked surprisingly good, IMO), Greg Mancz, or Austin Reiter, the center spot has looked competent all year. Part of that is very likely because Miami doesn't run a system that requires the center to do very difficult things. But even if they got Tyler Linderbaum, something tells me things wouldn't change. They'd just have a better player in a spot where they didn't ask him to do very difficult things.
But at least with Charles Cross, you could be confident that guy will mirror and box edge players about as well as I've seen a guy coming out of college, and I don't care what system you run, that translates in the NFL. It might be some time before you get enough meat on Cross's bones to have him realize his full potential, but you'd be getting a competent player in the meantime, at a spot where you currently have gross incompetence.