In hindsight, do you wish Miami would have spent big on another offensive lineman?

[psfign]

to me, hindsight will be during the season, if not the end of the season. Cant speculate how this will work out based on a handful of practices.

 

[TheWalrus]

Would have much rather had Dietrich - Smith and Anthony Collins for what we paid for Albert. I just don't understand why we signed only one too end starter. Especially when we still have cap money.

Exactly. I was in favor of signing both over Albert. And also Zane Beadles, like hoops mentioned. The folly of spending big on one OL -- which really doesn't improve the line as a whole -- should be pretty clear right now. But some people seem to prefer to blame providence.

What's really too bad is it ended up being impossible to sign Alex Mack away from Cleveland (and moving Pouncey to guard with the long term plan to move on from him). It would have been worth a shot, though.

 

[WVDolphan]

No. I wish we had done what I said and spent small amounts on 4 competent cornfed.

If you believe the tweets from camp, it seems Colledge is our 2nd best corn stalk right now. He was one of the guys I said to sign. You can get competent NFL veterans to play OL at reasonable prices. I would not have minded one ridiculous contract like Albert received if they had gone out and signed a few other reasonably priced vets who we know can play in the NFL. If they had done that we would not have had to use valuable early round picks on cornfed. My plan was to sign four competent veterans and then draft 3 corn stalks in the later rounds of the draft. If any of the drafted players beat out the vets you signed, then by all means let them start. You have to figure that at least one of them would have been good enough to keep on the roster as a backup, but we may have drafted 3 guys who could develop and start together in a year or two. In the meantime you signed 4 guys you know that can start and you had guys like Garner as veterans to back them up.

Instead the Phins invested heavily while only guaranteeing themselves two spots being locked down. It was only after Pouncey was injured that they went out and signed Colledge. They spent huge money and had LT and C as guaranteed NFL starters in those spots. Then when Pouncey went down they had LT and LG locked down with solid vets. On top of that they invested a 1st and 3rd round pick on players who are complete question marks as to whether or not they are competent NFL starters. In fact the 3rd round pick is looking like a project.

So huge money on a LT, 1st round pick, 3rd round pick, and it seems we have 3 spots on the OL that are complete question marks.

Veldeer, Colledge, another G, and a decent RT would have barely cost more than Albert did. If they had done that they also would not have needed to reach for a rookie RT with a first round draft pick. We could have added more playmakers than just the kid from LSU.

 

[Gonzo]

to me, hindsight will be during the season, if not the end of the season. Cant speculate how this will work out based on a handful of practices.

Isn't that exactly what speculation is? People aren't just going off of a couple of practices. They are also considering the players' history, the fact that they haven't worked together before, the implementation of a new system, a lack of depth, early injury issues, and the fact that we are going against some of the top DLs in the league. As for positives, Benton is a good coach and Albert is a good LT when healthy.

 

[hoops]

it's too late now but miami had plenty of money this offseason to invest in 2 veteran free agent worst case stop gap plug and play guys...the albert contract whatever it shouldn't have deterred miami from signing another free agent to start during the early stages...it says a lot to me at least when the 2nd most consistent oline player in your camp you just signed off the street not even 2 weeks ago pretty much...that shouldn't happen when teams had that kind of money we had...i have no idea why they didnt even overspend a little for a zane beadles...

i will never understand that...the contract was not in any way over the top there...could have absorbed it easy...if not him some other savvy veteran who could give us some time to develop guys...

 

[psfign]

Isn't that exactly what speculation is? People aren't just going off of a couple of practices. They are also considering the players' history, the fact that they haven't worked together before, the implementation of a new system, a lack of depth, early injury issues, and the fact that we are going against some of the top DLs in the league. As for positives, Benton is a good coach and Albert is a good LT when healthy.

yup...poor wording on my part...per usual lol

 

[Mogwai]

Hell, no. Throwing more big money or more high draft picks at the position is ridiculous overkill. We just need to hit on the choices we do make which demands we have a competent organization for a change. Also I completely object to building around pouncey who is a continuous trainwreck.

I still have faith in the oline despite pouncey, who was a mistake from the beginning, and if we can fill that hope then we'll be fine.

 

[So Be]

Aside from not agreeing on Albert, I wanted one more quality OG, Asamoah/ Beadles to go with Smith and what we had. I thought we could wait to see how James did before adding a vet late if needed. We did not bring in the OL FA options. If you recall, Hickey was signing who he brought in. The reason was money, as the team knew how much it would take to sign them, and were not willing to go with what current value was. I believe that was a mistake.

Colledge was a cheap late option, and don't know if we would have even added him if not for Pouncey. Not sure what Hickey and Philbin were thinking to save money for next year but, have to think Tannehill will be feeling their choices THIS YEAR. I don't get it.

 

[hoops]

always makes me laugh when people say don't spend money or high picks on the oline...always...

it's a wonder teams draft em as high as they do or pay left tackles $110 mil 8 year extensions 2 years before their rookie contracts run out like big d just did

 

[Awsi Dooger]

Some days I miss short putts. Like last Friday I missed a 5 foot birdie putt and 3 foot birdie putt within 6 holes. Luckily I made the 2 foot birdie in between. Most days I don't miss short putts. Finding competent offensive linemen shouldn't be this difficult. Do we have the yips?

I didn't want Albert last year. So I guess that means I didn't want him this year. That money could have been used to tear down the stadium.

As j-off-her-doll and Walrus and Digital have emphasized, it's all about the choices. Evaluation yips. Last year Dallas Thomas wasn't even on my radar entering the draft, considering so many other intriguing options like Brian Schwenke. This year I wanted to avoid Billy Turner, after watching him be spun around in the Senior Bowl practices. Our aspirations had to be higher and more logical than Billy Turner. I swear these small college guys can receive bizarre benefit of a doubt. They need to thank the world for happy adjustment. As j-off-her-doll pointed out, Trai Turner was still sitting there. Maybe not sitting so much as eating. He's had weight issues but in terms of wide body pancake production at a high collegiate level the other Turner stood out. Very young.

Thomas and Turner are appropriately T&T. I view them as the Turnstile Twins. When they get beat it's quick and spectacular.

I don't mind Ju'Waun James. But there's a fairly basic problem with Ju'Waun James: If you patch a roster weakness at #19 with Ju'Waun James you are essentially volunteering for all the sharp teams in the league to take another step beyond you in terms of overall talent level.

I also wanted Seantrel Henderson. What was his crime, other than leaving millions on the table due to college underachieving? You're supposed to take advantage of that, not run away from it. He was there to be had in the 7th round. Now he's starting at left tackle for the Bills, last I checked, although I believe it's short term while Cordy Glenn is ill. Henderson is in their plans at right tackle.

Relying on free agency strikes me as too much of an ask. I'm happy with two finds per year. Otherwise you've got to combine sharp evaluation along with value bidding and successful courtship amidst plenty of suitors. That's a parlay. Nobody in our front office for more than a decade strikes me as being high enough caliber to pull that off. Much easier to pluck a few guys in the draft when they are wide eyed and stuck.

 

[PhinFan1968]

What is so funny is that I was called a hater and a troll for saying how bad our OL was going to be just a month ago. Everyone kept saying how we had made all of these major upgrades to our OL and they were going to be so much better than last year. And I kept saying I didn't see how it was goinig to be better and might be worse. I got killed for saying such things. I must be a dolphin hater. Now more people are seeing what I was seeing a couple months ago.

Before the Pouncey injury, I wasn't really concerned. However, we're where we are, and the left side seems shored up, but the other three are kinda scary. But I don't see that whatever they decide to go with for those spots possibly being any worse than last year's debacle. If they're even at par with last year's right side, the O line is still an improvement, especially once Pouncey gets back, which I believe will be week 4.

The scheme should improve their effectiveness a notch all by itself.

 

[Spesh]

-What I think we should have done

Of the top 4 free agents I believe we picked the worst option. Does Albert help this team? Absolutely. That goes without saying. But we very easily could have done better. Age, cost/value, talent, durability…he was second or third on the list of available players in every category.

I believe there is a direct correlation between our lack of success and the amount of resources we’ve dumped into our offensive line during Jeff Ireland’s tenure. Every pick we spent on lineman was a pick we did not spend on someone who could score a touchdown. Every dollar we spent on guards and centers was a dollar we did not spend on someone who could prevent touchdowns. With this crop of free agents I believed we could fix the problem for years to come. Instead, it appears that we will have to revisit this issue again in a season or two. We are spinning the tires when we could be moving forward. Even if Albert is the best player, which I disagree with, will he be the best player 3 years from now? I sincerely doubt that.

Before free agency officially began I wanted Jared Veldheer, as I felt his deal would bring the greatest value. Though I thought Monroe was the best tackle on the market, but I felt Veldheer would come considerably cheaper while still providing a very solid level of production, production that would far outplayed whatever contract we handed him. Hindsight being what it is, Monroe was easily the best choice. I believe he will be more productive then Albert in both the short term and long term.

-What I think should happen (draft)

My draft philosophy has been “best player available so long as it makes logical sense.” The attached idea to my “rule” is value. I worship value. It’s not enough to get a good player with a high pick, I truly believe what makes a general manager great is understanding they can get the same player later in the draft.

Just like I wouldn’t draft a kicker in the first round, it doesn’t make logical sense to draft a right tackle or guard that high. I wouldn’t get great value in return for that pick. As well, I understand that any lineman that is available at 19 probably wouldn’t be a solution at left tackle, even down the road.

This particular draft has more than a few players with impact potential. I’ve personally fallen in love with a handful of the receivers in this class. I’d draft Sammy Watkins, Odell Beckham, Mike Evans, Eric Ebron, Kelvin Benjamin, and Marqise Lee over any lineman not named Jake Matthews or Greg Robinson.

In the divide between want and realism, the player I’d like us to land with the 19[SUP]th[/SUP] pick is Odell Beckham...

Conclusion

Everyone wants our line fixed. I doubt anyone who watched any of our games last season came to the conclusion that it played in any sort of acceptable fashion. The key disagreement concerns how we fix it. For myself, I believe the best way of using our resources is by avoiding tackles high in the draft. I still believe in our team’s spoken philosophy when it comes to the draft. Despite the moves we’ve already made, this team can still find considerable success if we make shrewd moves in the immediate future.

http://www.finheaven.com/showthread.php?353726-The-Offensive-Tackle-Mythology-Index&highlight=

As far as our needs go, I’m a firm believer in filling needs in free agency and using the draft to get the best player available so long as he makes logical sense. I believe there are solutions are right tackle available in free agency who could be just as good as a player we’d have to spend a high draft pick on. Eric Winston comes to mind and as the President of the NFLPA he’d bring an element of professionalism to a locker room that has seen conflict of late. Even if he were merely competent and not exceptional I believe that is more than enough to get by with. There simply isn’t too drastic of a difference between the best right tackle in the NFL and the 12th best right tackle in the NFL. That same difference in receivers is much starker...

Conclusion

Everyone wants our line fixed. No one who witnessed the way it’s played the last few years should find the results acceptable. But we have the chance to fix the line as well and improving the team in areas that directly affect the scoreboard. Investing in a receiver or even a tight end would be in keeping with the investments made by other, often more successful, teams. Competent lineman who could fill the holes on our roster could be available later in the draft. If they aren’t then we can always turn back to free agency. The talented prospects of this receiving class are not as easily acquirable.

http://www.finheaven.com/showthread.php?354215-The-Wide-Receiver-Mythology-Index&highlight=

So yeah, not exactly hindsight.

Jared Veldheer and, say, Jon Asamoah(although i too preferred Beadles) > Branden Albert and Cortland Finnegan. Cost comes out to about the same, yet our line looks significantly better(and seeing as how Finnegan is a bust signing, our corner position is no worse for wear). Eric Winston(whom the Seahawks signed after the draft) is only a year removed from a good season and only 2 years removed from the season that landed him a high paying contract with the Chiefs. Bringing him in for a veteran minimum and having him play in another Houston style blocking scheme would have been vastly superior to over-drafting yet another tackle. Worst case scenario? He plays like a struggling rookie and we move on at the end of the year. As it is, we have that level of play while missing out on some great prospects in the first round.

As i repeated over and over(and over and over and etc, etc, etc) before the draft: simply filling needs isnt enough, its about using our limited resources to the best of our abilities. Yet again, we spent the entire offseason looking at last year instead of next season. And lo and behold, here we are, in the same exact spot we've been in since 2009. As such, i fully expect our final record to be similar to that seasons.

I would have applauded bringing in another 2 or 3 vets in free agency while grabbing the best players available in the draft. Oh well.

 

[hoops]

Before the Pouncey injury, I wasn't really concerned. However, we're where we are, and the left side seems shored up, but the other three are kinda scary. But I don't see that whatever they decide to go with for those spots possibly being any worse than last year's debacle. If they're even at par with last year's right side, the O line is still an improvement, especially once Pouncey gets back, which I believe will be week 4.

The scheme should improve their effectiveness a notch all by itself.

that's what i'm holding out hopes on...