Yes, and before the O-line stunk it up he attempted to pay Jake Long $9 million a year and tried to trade for Branden Albert. You dont think that he would have snagged Albert for no draft compensation and paid him what he tried to pay Long? Especially since Ireland already agreed to Albert's contract demands once before?
http://tracking.si.com/2013/04/22/branden-albert-dolphins-trade-contract-demands-chiefs/
Jeff Ireland had more invested in keeping Tannehill upright then Dennis Hickey does. After all, Ireland picked Tannehill, not Hickey. Ireland, after giving Hartline an extension and signing Wallace, felt our offense was set except for the offensive line. Ireland's philosophy dictated drafting lineman high and skill position(other than corner) late in the draft.
Yes, Ireland would have spent hard in free agency. He would have nabbed Albert and probably have spent upwards of $30 million on a guard. But he also would have gone after a right tackle in the draft, especially after being burned with Colombo and Clabo via free agency. Recall, Ireland brought in 2 centers in free agency, when those didnt work he drafted Pouncey in the top half of the first round.
We should invest what the most successful teams in the league invest in their offensive line. Blindside protectors should be grabbed relatively high(and even thats debatable). But once you have that down? Second day selections and use coaching to compensate(roll outs and rb blocking). Second round picks being the highest they should go, and thats only after either 1) having a established nucleus of talent or 2) the player is significantly better then anyone else available at that pick. Why? Because for every investment we make in the line, we dont make an investment in the rest of the team. We could have the best line in the history of the NFL, but it wont matter when our defense is being gouged and our receivers are giving up on plays, dropping passes, and falling on the dirt anytime someone gets within a few feet of them. Just like we should never take a kicker or punter with top selections, we should have understood the value of the position.
This "spending hard on the line" philosophy hasnt worked. Ireland proved that. Just as he would have proven again had he stayed. Now Hickey followed his example and smart money says it ends in the exact same way. After all, just because we made a big investment in the position doesnt mean it was the right one.
WOW, just wow, post of the year. I totally agree. You have to invest in OL but reaching in the first round is not where the value is. Had this been a weak draft, and Martin or one of the other top tackles would have fallen to us I wouldn't even mind using a 1st on one, but in a draft this deep, and with the 4 2nd tier tackles so close in talent level, it made no sense to draft one in the 1st. There was a 100% chance that one of the four would have been there in the 2nd, and to be honest I think we got the worst of the bunch. Mark it down Moses will be the best all around player at the NFL level.
Personally I thought Ireland was great at many things GMs are responsible for, but he was horrible at drafting. Therefore I had no problem with finding a new one. But I said before he left that change for the sake of change is never a good thing. We had to find an IMPROVEMENT before making a change. To date I see no improvement in drafting players and some decline in free agency. But what I find most discouraging is that we are no longer the one getting the best end of the deals. Ireland made one of the best deals in the franchise history last year moving up in the first, did he get the right player, time will tell, but the point is he always got the best end of the trades. Hickey got roasted in his moving around. We lost nearly 50 pts in draft value, which equals losing a mid 4th rd pick with nothing in return. That isn't including all the value he could have picked up by not reaching for James in the first.
And I got a news break for some of ya. If you would have rated our OL this time last year vs the OL this year, right now, last year's was considerably better ON PAPER.
CENTER: Pouncey vs Pouncey. Last year he had no ties to bullygate like he does this year and was looked at as a top 5 center in the league. This year he has warts, and is in the coaches doghouse. But lets call it a wash, although a case could be made that last years version was better.
TACKLE: Martin & Clabo, vs Albert and James. Again we are not looking at this from today's view but rather how we ranked them this time last year. Clabo was a probowl tackle coming in that was the perfect fit. He played in this system and was thought to be the answer at RT, Martin was a PERCIEVED 1st rd talent, taken in the 2nd rd, with a year under his belt who came on to play better at the end of the previous season. He was moving back to his original position. Everyone knew he was going to be the weak link but no one could have predicted the melt down. This year we have another probowl tackle coming in who seems like the perfect fit. I admit Albert is a better prospect than even what we THOUGHT Clabo would be but make no mistakes, Albert had his best year last year in a contract year, and has stayed healthy all year just one time in his career. James is a rookie with a 2nd rd grade taken in the 1st. Rated very close to where Martin was when he came out. There WILL be many bumps playing a rookie RT. Even great prospects like the two taken early last year had many bumps and James is no where near there ability.
Conclusion, Albert is better, MUCH better than what we expected out of Martin. Albert an (8 out of scale 1-10), Martin a 3 out of scale 1-10). But Clabo was PERCIEVED to be much better than a rookie. Clabo a (7 out of scale 1-10), while James is a 4 maybe even 5 out of 10. Add last years tackles together and you get a (3+7=10 out of 20), and this year (8+4/5=12/13). So the tackles are better this year but not by the margin most would think.
Guards. Last year this time we had Jerry and Rich. Rich had seemed to have his anger problems under control, there was even a ESPN piece about it. He seemed the model citizen, and his play was never the issue. A very solid guard, (7 out of scale 1-10). Jerry was many people's punching bag because of his high draft status and his weight problems but he always graded out in the top half of the league on the field. Lets call him a 6 out of 10, although he was probably rated higher by most other teams. This year we have ?? Shelly maybe, as our best OG. He was ranked as the 61st out of 65 starting guards in pass blocking last year. He was a bad, very bad starting guard last year. He is a good run blocker but is at best a backup. If he is our starting OG we are in trouble, but by the looks of things he is the best we got (3 out of scale 1-10). Dallas Thomas is even worse although I have high hopes for him. But if last year is any indication, and since that is all we can really go on I have to give him a (2 out of 10). Turner is another option but he is a tackle trying to learn guard and got killed when facing better competition. He is at best a 2 yr project. As for Brenner and Garner I can't see ranking either of them higher than a 3 out of 10, although at this point I see Brenner and Garner as the best two guards on the roster. That means our two backups from last year are our best two options at guard. There is no way we have upgraded EITHER guard position from this time last year, and that is disappointing.
Conclusion: Last year 7+6=13, this year 3+3=6
Overall last year tackles 10, guards 13, center wash = 23
Overall this year tackles 13, guards 6, center wash = 20
Although bullygate happened and the guards were removed, and Clabo was not up to speed til mid season and Martin was horrible and then gone, the point is there was no way to predict those things. The moves on paper to put together the OL by Philbin and Ireland had us a OL that was probably slightly better than what we have this year. No one can tell the future and maybe some of these guys pan out but as of right now we should be no more optimistic about our OL than we were this time last year.
Now FLAME AWAY. This should ruffle some feathers.
