Hunt and Kindley | Page 4 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Hunt and Kindley

Kyndig said:
or he might just be the thousandth player to take his place in a long line of yet another failed Miami Dolphins offensive linemen the past two decades. He hasn’t shown very many reasons for optimism has he? He’s certainly shown lots of tape where he looks like a turnstile though sadly.

having said that, I’m not as down in the 2019 draft as the poster who we are replying to, but Dieter looks like dookie so far. Having said that, Oline men drafted in 2020 look like a homerun so far. Especially if Robert Hunt plays well this weekend. Excited to see that.
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Which was the first thing I said. :)

But writing off rookies--particularly when the team has what it thinks is his replacement--wouldn't be uncommon amongst NFL fans.
 
rickd13 said:
Disastrous. A top 15 defensive tackle that doesn't effect the other team's passing game and is an average player at best right now, a trade of a second round pick for Josh Rosen, a third round draft pick on an offensive lineman (Dieter) who most scouts felt was a fifth round pick or later who is barely serviceable as a backup, and a reach on a horrible prospect who shouldn't even have been drafted ( Isaiah Prince ). Van Ginkel, Myles Gaskins, and Chandler Cox were three of their last four picks of the draft and they are all just "jags" that could easily be replaced and the sad thing is they turned out to be better picks than the first three picks. So, go ahead and defend Chris Grier and fool yourself into believing that 2019 wasn't a disaster little Scotty.
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Spot on, Grier is viewed as masterful for his trades, pairing down the roster, etc... but who keeps whiffing on these picks? The trades are former 1st, 2nd rounders getting back pennies on the dollar. This roster still has no elite talent and just because we have a **** ton of picks means nothing. This guy just isn’t it.
 
Vaark said:
Davis, Hunt or whomever, someone competent is gonna have to protect southpaw Tua's blindside sooner than later.
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Yes. That is why we play Tua when that issue is solved. Not because we have a loss in a game.
 
Digital said:
IMHO, that is entirely possible. I think the way it may have worked might have been something like this. They had a board of prospects and certain targets. In round 1 they had hoped one of the top echelon of LT targets might be available, but the last one was drafted before our 2nd pick in round 1, so we went with Austin Jackson--who looks like a great pick! Then they wanted to get another good OL at any position in the 2nd round, and had targeted the Michigan C/G, who was drafted before our pick as were all of the 2nd/3rd tier OL prospects, so by the time the Hunt pick arrived, he was their highest rated player and they saw versatility to play RG or RT--both of which were positions of need eventually, and offering versatility every NFL line needs.

I think you're spot on about Kindley though. From what I can gather, they thought at least one of their targets would be available in rounds 1 and 2, but other NFL teams valued those guys more than the Dolphins staff expected so they chose their fallback options according to their board rankings. Solomon Kindley they expected to go a round earlier, so they hadn't really targeted him, but when he was still available, they jumped at the chance to get him in much the same way we did when Xavien Howard was available in his draft. While the other two picks were pre-gamed to be OL picks, I think the Kindley pick was viewed as one of opportunity.

Since we have had such a tremendous and obvious need along the OL and have had this need for a long time, I don't think they were too concerned with overlap. Every year we have multiple OL injured and need a minimum of 7 OL and coverage at both exterior OT and interior C/G. These were merely gifted athletes with potential as football players. Austin Jackson was the youngest OL in the draft but had been rated as the #1 OL prospect in his high school class so he offered dynamite potential. Robert Hunt was a physical beast with overpowering strength, plus size and wingspan, and potential value because his production (low level and very little pass pro tape) was at the lowest level (in NFL terms) so he might drop in the draft, while having top tier potential athletically. A rebuilding team is an ideal development spot for a guy who just needs to learn to play football. Solomon Kindley represented the opposite of Robert Hunt, because Kindley had proven competent at the highest collegiate level (SEC for multiple years), also had dominant power (for a guard), and already possessed the technique needed to succeed in the NFL. His only real drawbacks were a soft body and the dreaded "slow feet" label that caused him to drop on most teams' boards.

Solomon Kindley's experience, technique, and production at Georgia were major reasons why I predicted he would be the OL to watch instead of Robert Hunt. I also predicted Austin Jackson would start, but that was because we simply had nobody else. Jackson has exceeded even my rookie expectations and proven to be the gem of our draft! As for Kindley, he is showing the sort of production one might expect from an exemplary SEC player who had proven production across multiple years. Robert Hunt is not a bust ... he is an investment. When you draft a raw athlete without the technique or experience against top competition, and ask him to jump waaaaaaay up to NFL competition, you need to allow enough time for him to develop and step up in competition. That happens over years, not overnight, so we need to cut him some slack as he learns.
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Excellent Read. Agreed 100% . we might see Hunt this Sunday Jackson went down :(
 
gofins60 said:
I don't believe it's just a coincidence that Grier hires outside guys for the Front Office, and in just one off-season the o-line (with 4 out of 5 new starters) is no longer a trainwreck but is actually decent, even with 2 rookies starting. During the 2019 season, the roster was being gutted in order to rebuild, so Flores and Company just went with the o-linemen from Gase's team. We all saw how completely useless that o-line was. For a while, Gase had three 1st round picks anchoring his line (Tunsil, Pouncey, and James), yet IMO that line was inferior to this current line which is still a work-in-progress!

Miami's o-line has been below-average or worse during the past decade, even with 1st round picks and a constant stream of Free Agents. New Assistant GM Marvin Allen, like Flores, was a long-time employee of the Patriots. New England has always been able to plug-and-play various draft picks and Free Agents on their o-line and still get competent play. Reggie McKenzie has had some success working for several teams, so maybe now Miami finally has people who can recognize and evaluate o-linemen. The jury's still out on how good this new regime is overall at drafting and scouting Free Agent talent, but an improved o-line in one off-season is a good start!
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We also changed o line coaches last year halfway through training camp, iirc. Having better talent (which comes from more competent talent evaluators, for sure) definitely helps, but maybe the coaching is better as well now that he’s had some time on this coaching staff. Even with all that talent it’s pretty rare to see 2 rookies and 4 new starters out of 5 spots look as good as they have this early in the season.
 
rickd13 said:
So those are the standards to hold Grier to? How about, compare his drafts to the better front office's in the league. :rolleyes:
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Point out which dynasty you would compare them to. Wolfe, Bethard and Casserly are retired? You can be more current if you’d like. LOL
 
Etuoo33 said:
Point out which dynasty you would compare them to. Wolfe, Bethard and Casserly are retired? You can be more current if you’d like. LOL
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How about any franchise that hasn't been as bad as Miami has been for the past 5 years.
 
Smokedogg1973 said:
I still think Hunt is better suited at guard over tackle. I actually see Hunt and Kindley as their long term guards and they will draft someone else to be the RT.
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Hunt is thought by a good amount of experts to be possiblely a special player at guard, but if Hunt can learn to be much better in space on the outside, he could also eventually become really good at tackle.

Hunt is a powerfully build big guy, but he also is quite athletic, so believing he might eventually with some work become just as good on the outside is not that crazy.

If it wasn't for what we already know about Flowers and playing tackle, I would have no problem seeing Hunt inside on the left, and putting Flowers take a shot at tackle on the right.

His problem will never be, being overpowered on the outside, so if he learns to how to move around and shadow the defensive players better on the outside, once he gets his hand on them (not holding though), it will more times then not be over...Crossing my fingers Hunt can succeed at tackle.
 
tay0365 said:
Hunt is thought by a good amount of experts to be possiblely a special player at guard, but if Hunt can learn to be much better in space on the outside, he could also eventually become really good at tackle.

Hunt is a powerfully build big guy, but he also is quite athletic, so believing he might eventually with some work become just as good on the outside is not that crazy.

If it wasn't for what we already know about Flowers and playing tackle, I would have no problem seeing Hunt inside on the left, and putting Flowers take a shot at tackle on the right.

His problem will never be, being overpowered on the outside, so if he learns to how to move around and shadow the defensive players better on the outside, once he gets his hand on them (not holding though), it will more times then not be over...Crossing my fingers Hunt can succeed at tackle.
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As I said elsewhere, whether he settles in at OT or OG, that's one less hole to fill
 
i didnt see hunt on every play but thought he was decent. maybe a bit slow and out of shape but easily improvable.
 
I can’t wait for reports of his play in isolation, it would be so huge if this dude can play at a high level.. and I will eat some serious crow too.
 
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