A number of people are worried about how Miami is going to approach the rebuilding of the offensive line. I get the impression that, hindsight being what it is, Hudson Houck quite clearly thinks two things;
1. That he has 1 iron certainty on his OL – Vernon Carey - but that in Rex Hadnot and LJ Shelton, he has two further players that he knows can start from week 1 alongside one another. I think in an ideal world, Cameron and Houck would rather Hadnot and Lonnie battle it out to play alongside Carey on the right side, with the loser, probably Hadnot, giving valuable back up at OC and RG.
2. That those comments by Nick Saban in his resignation press address about Anthony Alabi may be closer to the truth than we know. Whether or not he’s a star in the making is irrelevant and frankly we don't need a 'star' per se at LT. What we need is a guy who’s going to be able to lock down that spot, protect the QB on a consistent basis and clear lanes for Brown and Williams.
Why do I think this? Well in a very quiet FA market for tackles, Miami made no efforts to re-sign Damion McIntosh who, whilst getting overpaid in Kansas City, could certainly do a job on the left side and played under both Cameron and Houck in San Diego. They also made, despite rumours to the contrary, no effort to bring Luke Petigout in and the interest in Steinbach was as a LG and not a LT, unlike at least two teams who had Steinbach pegged for visits had he left Cleveland without a contract. And lest we forget that Wannstedt and Spielman tried to trade up for him to get him to play LT when he came out. Whilst we've shown interest in Levi Brown, it seems as though we're either pulling a very good smokescreen, or we'd rather draft a guy who we can develop further be it in technique or in the weight room – or someone that has the versatility to play inside or out, such as Aaron Sears, who we've a strong interest in.
If that's the case and Alabi really is ready to go – and we've now heard it from multiple places - I think that our draft plan with regards the offensive line will follow a similar strategy to the one that Mike McCarthy, Joe Philbin and James Campen took in Green Bay a year ago. Campen had worked with an OL in 2005 that saw Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera depart and watched as 2nd to last pick overall, G William Whitticker came in and start at for 14 games and saw Scott Wells step in at OC for an oft injured Mike Flanagan. Then in 2006, the Pack took Daryn Colledge in R2, Jason Spitz in 3 and Tony Moll in 5. Colledge, who I was an unabashed fan of, was a LT at Boise State, a tough, aggressive athletic player, and subsequently started 15 of 16 games at LG next to Chad Clifton and made All Rookie. Spitz, a hard working, versatile center from Louisville came in, switched to RG and started 13 games and Moll, a raw tackle from Nevada with good feet and athleticism started 5 games for Mark Tauscher at RT and 4 more inside at both G spots.
Why do I bring up Green Bay? Well in part because of the fact that they brought in three rookies and not only got 37 starts out of them but also got solid, non-rookie like play, protecting a QB whose mobility has lessened. But also because Packers GM Ted Thompson and Miami GM Randy Mueller are friends. Thompson replaced Mueller in Seattle as Vice-President of Football Operations and their friendship goes back many years. You can bet that in Indianapolis, if not before, Mueller and indeed Ron Labadie would have discussed with Thompson how they hit on all three and the work that Philbin and Campen did with those guys.
But also because during his time in San Diego as offensive co-ordinator, Cam Cameron oversaw LaDanian Tomlinson run for 1683 yards, in 2002, 1645 in 2003, 1335 in 2004, 1462 in 2005 and 1815 last year, making a total of 7940 yards in that short period. And he did it without future Hall of Famers up front. He did it with players like Jason Ball, now out of football, UDFA Cory Lekkerkerkker, 7th rounder Shane Olivea, 6th rounder Jeremey Clary, 5th rounder Wesley Britt, 3rd rounder Leander Jordan, UDFA Kris Dielman, 6th rounder Wes Sims, 7th rounder Scott Mruczkowski, Nick Hardwick, a rather obscure 3rd rounder, whose selection drew derision from some quarters , 7th rounder Jimmy Martin, Kelvin Garmon, an undrafted free agent, Courtney Van Buren, a 3rd rounder from tiny Arkansas Pine-Bluff and 6th rounder Matt Anderle. Of course, Tomlinson is a special, special player and he needs little introduction to run to daylight, but that DL doesn't block itself. Houck and Cameron transformed one of the worst OL's in the league into one of the best. With 5 new starters on the line in 2005, San Diego ranked 10th on total offense and 6th in rushing and has averaged less than 25 sacks since 2002. They are consistently solid in all departments.
And they did this in the main with late round picks. With undrafted free agents, by taking chances on guys they were passionate about, who they felt could do a job within a system.
Let's look specifically at the picks during the Houck tenure on the OL. There were 6 in total, 4 tackles, a center and a guard. Tonio Fonoti was the first in R2 in 2002. He perfectly fits that Houck mould with his size and undoubted athleticism. But as a 2nd round pick, he has less of the mark of HH, simply because he wasn't one of those late round gems that he fell for. Such as Matt Anderle, who went in the 6th round that year out of Minnesota. He was an archetypal Houck project; 6'6 and 327 pounds, athletic, versatile and raw, being a former DT. The following year they took Van Buren, again an athletic talent at 6'5 and 350lbs and another converted defensive lineman. Then in 2004, Hardwick was drafted out of Purdue – a former DT – in round 3, followed by two more Houck types in 7, Olivea and Miami T Carlos Joseph. Olivea, at 6'3 and 312 with great feet and Joseph, 6'6 and 342 had the explosion that Houck likes.
So whilst I expect us to look at the bigger name guards in rounds 2 and 3 – the aforementioned Sears, Andy Alleman - a guy we've had plenty of contact with both in Indianapolis and at the Zips pro day - Samson Satele, Justin Blalock, Josh Beekman, etc. - I also think that names such as the very strong and hugely athletic Dane Uperesa (6'5, 331) of Hawaii who we interviewed in Indianapolis, Cameron Stephenson of Rutgers, (6'5, 307, a former DL), TCU's Herbert Taylor, who doesn't have the size, but possesses the raw athleticism), Gabe Hall (6'4, 303 and hugely athletic) of Texas Tech, Brandon Frye of Virginia Tech, (6'5, 303 and a former defensive end), Chris Denman of Fresno State, (6'6, 305, converted end), Drew Mormino, a center from Central Michigan, Kurt Quarterman of Louisville, (6'5, 348), Jake Kuresa, (6'4, 335, converted DT), of BYU, Derrick Markray of Bowling Green, (6'5, 354) and John Simonitis of Pitt, (6'5, 315 and a former DT), will be the sorts of players that we’ll have an interest in, in rounds 4-7 and beyond.
Looking back at our utter inactivity during FA with regards the OL, I can only think that Houck and Cameron feel totally comfortable with the youth policy on the roster – lest we not forget Joe Toledo and especially the well thought of Notre Dame 6th rounder Dan Stevenson, who was on the Pats PS last year and who Dante Scarnaccia was disappointed to lose – and their targets in the draft who I’m sure they are looking at with a view to making a very early impact, just as they've done before in San Diego and just as Mueller’s friend Ted Thompson did a year ago in Green Bay.
In an over inflated market at the top end and a very mediocre one elsewhere, it's a plan that could blow up in their faces, but which follows perfectly the style with which the first few months of the Cameron/Mueller regime have shown.
So fear not. I think we’ll be just fine.
1. That he has 1 iron certainty on his OL – Vernon Carey - but that in Rex Hadnot and LJ Shelton, he has two further players that he knows can start from week 1 alongside one another. I think in an ideal world, Cameron and Houck would rather Hadnot and Lonnie battle it out to play alongside Carey on the right side, with the loser, probably Hadnot, giving valuable back up at OC and RG.
2. That those comments by Nick Saban in his resignation press address about Anthony Alabi may be closer to the truth than we know. Whether or not he’s a star in the making is irrelevant and frankly we don't need a 'star' per se at LT. What we need is a guy who’s going to be able to lock down that spot, protect the QB on a consistent basis and clear lanes for Brown and Williams.
Why do I think this? Well in a very quiet FA market for tackles, Miami made no efforts to re-sign Damion McIntosh who, whilst getting overpaid in Kansas City, could certainly do a job on the left side and played under both Cameron and Houck in San Diego. They also made, despite rumours to the contrary, no effort to bring Luke Petigout in and the interest in Steinbach was as a LG and not a LT, unlike at least two teams who had Steinbach pegged for visits had he left Cleveland without a contract. And lest we forget that Wannstedt and Spielman tried to trade up for him to get him to play LT when he came out. Whilst we've shown interest in Levi Brown, it seems as though we're either pulling a very good smokescreen, or we'd rather draft a guy who we can develop further be it in technique or in the weight room – or someone that has the versatility to play inside or out, such as Aaron Sears, who we've a strong interest in.
If that's the case and Alabi really is ready to go – and we've now heard it from multiple places - I think that our draft plan with regards the offensive line will follow a similar strategy to the one that Mike McCarthy, Joe Philbin and James Campen took in Green Bay a year ago. Campen had worked with an OL in 2005 that saw Mike Wahle and Marco Rivera depart and watched as 2nd to last pick overall, G William Whitticker came in and start at for 14 games and saw Scott Wells step in at OC for an oft injured Mike Flanagan. Then in 2006, the Pack took Daryn Colledge in R2, Jason Spitz in 3 and Tony Moll in 5. Colledge, who I was an unabashed fan of, was a LT at Boise State, a tough, aggressive athletic player, and subsequently started 15 of 16 games at LG next to Chad Clifton and made All Rookie. Spitz, a hard working, versatile center from Louisville came in, switched to RG and started 13 games and Moll, a raw tackle from Nevada with good feet and athleticism started 5 games for Mark Tauscher at RT and 4 more inside at both G spots.
Why do I bring up Green Bay? Well in part because of the fact that they brought in three rookies and not only got 37 starts out of them but also got solid, non-rookie like play, protecting a QB whose mobility has lessened. But also because Packers GM Ted Thompson and Miami GM Randy Mueller are friends. Thompson replaced Mueller in Seattle as Vice-President of Football Operations and their friendship goes back many years. You can bet that in Indianapolis, if not before, Mueller and indeed Ron Labadie would have discussed with Thompson how they hit on all three and the work that Philbin and Campen did with those guys.
But also because during his time in San Diego as offensive co-ordinator, Cam Cameron oversaw LaDanian Tomlinson run for 1683 yards, in 2002, 1645 in 2003, 1335 in 2004, 1462 in 2005 and 1815 last year, making a total of 7940 yards in that short period. And he did it without future Hall of Famers up front. He did it with players like Jason Ball, now out of football, UDFA Cory Lekkerkerkker, 7th rounder Shane Olivea, 6th rounder Jeremey Clary, 5th rounder Wesley Britt, 3rd rounder Leander Jordan, UDFA Kris Dielman, 6th rounder Wes Sims, 7th rounder Scott Mruczkowski, Nick Hardwick, a rather obscure 3rd rounder, whose selection drew derision from some quarters , 7th rounder Jimmy Martin, Kelvin Garmon, an undrafted free agent, Courtney Van Buren, a 3rd rounder from tiny Arkansas Pine-Bluff and 6th rounder Matt Anderle. Of course, Tomlinson is a special, special player and he needs little introduction to run to daylight, but that DL doesn't block itself. Houck and Cameron transformed one of the worst OL's in the league into one of the best. With 5 new starters on the line in 2005, San Diego ranked 10th on total offense and 6th in rushing and has averaged less than 25 sacks since 2002. They are consistently solid in all departments.
And they did this in the main with late round picks. With undrafted free agents, by taking chances on guys they were passionate about, who they felt could do a job within a system.
Let's look specifically at the picks during the Houck tenure on the OL. There were 6 in total, 4 tackles, a center and a guard. Tonio Fonoti was the first in R2 in 2002. He perfectly fits that Houck mould with his size and undoubted athleticism. But as a 2nd round pick, he has less of the mark of HH, simply because he wasn't one of those late round gems that he fell for. Such as Matt Anderle, who went in the 6th round that year out of Minnesota. He was an archetypal Houck project; 6'6 and 327 pounds, athletic, versatile and raw, being a former DT. The following year they took Van Buren, again an athletic talent at 6'5 and 350lbs and another converted defensive lineman. Then in 2004, Hardwick was drafted out of Purdue – a former DT – in round 3, followed by two more Houck types in 7, Olivea and Miami T Carlos Joseph. Olivea, at 6'3 and 312 with great feet and Joseph, 6'6 and 342 had the explosion that Houck likes.
So whilst I expect us to look at the bigger name guards in rounds 2 and 3 – the aforementioned Sears, Andy Alleman - a guy we've had plenty of contact with both in Indianapolis and at the Zips pro day - Samson Satele, Justin Blalock, Josh Beekman, etc. - I also think that names such as the very strong and hugely athletic Dane Uperesa (6'5, 331) of Hawaii who we interviewed in Indianapolis, Cameron Stephenson of Rutgers, (6'5, 307, a former DL), TCU's Herbert Taylor, who doesn't have the size, but possesses the raw athleticism), Gabe Hall (6'4, 303 and hugely athletic) of Texas Tech, Brandon Frye of Virginia Tech, (6'5, 303 and a former defensive end), Chris Denman of Fresno State, (6'6, 305, converted end), Drew Mormino, a center from Central Michigan, Kurt Quarterman of Louisville, (6'5, 348), Jake Kuresa, (6'4, 335, converted DT), of BYU, Derrick Markray of Bowling Green, (6'5, 354) and John Simonitis of Pitt, (6'5, 315 and a former DT), will be the sorts of players that we’ll have an interest in, in rounds 4-7 and beyond.
Looking back at our utter inactivity during FA with regards the OL, I can only think that Houck and Cameron feel totally comfortable with the youth policy on the roster – lest we not forget Joe Toledo and especially the well thought of Notre Dame 6th rounder Dan Stevenson, who was on the Pats PS last year and who Dante Scarnaccia was disappointed to lose – and their targets in the draft who I’m sure they are looking at with a view to making a very early impact, just as they've done before in San Diego and just as Mueller’s friend Ted Thompson did a year ago in Green Bay.
In an over inflated market at the top end and a very mediocre one elsewhere, it's a plan that could blow up in their faces, but which follows perfectly the style with which the first few months of the Cameron/Mueller regime have shown.
So fear not. I think we’ll be just fine.
