Is Building The Offensive Line The Biggest Priority?

[ANUFan]

Well I can speak to the Patriots OL, so that's what I'll address first. One thing the Patriots do often is trade down and accumulate lots of draft picks. They draft a LOT of OL, and then sometimes trade for OL as well, so they're shuttling a lot of guys through. While they may not put a lot of emphasis in high round draft picks this current team, they're definitely investing in their OL with many, many, many draft picks. Also, guys like Isaiah Wynne is a high draft pick, and before him there were plenty of high picks like Nate Solder, Logan Mankins, etc.

Also, their system is built around Tom Brady, so they make sure they get guys who can pass protect reliably, then run lots of quick short patterns so Tom can get the ball out before the pass rush can bother him. Brady is a hyper-precise passer, so the ball is almost always exactly on target, so if the WR's are quick enough and run precise enough routes, they're almost always open for short gains. This minimizes what is asked of the OL. Then, with such an effective short passing game, they have Gronkowski who is virtually uncoverable--too big for DB's, too fast for LB's, too wide and long (6'7 with long arms and wide shoulders) for anyone to cover 1v1, and so big and strong he's hard to take down. So the passing game is a lot easier for the Patriot OL. Then, because the defenses can't get pressure on Brady, they drop lots back into coverage, which works, so then the OL runs the ball against 5 and 6 man boxes, which is easy for just about any OL.

While it looks like the Patriots OL is doing a great job, the reality is that the OL isn't being asked to do much, and the strength of that system is, obviously, Brady and Gronk. So they do spend lots of resources finding good OL in the middle rounds, and they do draft OL high from time to time … but they don't miss on their high round OL very often. Maybe Flores could bring their OL scouts with him. And if we're really lucky, Scarnnechia.

I'm not going to address the Patriots defense, but I will say that everyone agrees that Belichick is a defensive genius. He has been getting the most out of his defensive players for his entire career. Guys like Kyle Van Noy blossom under Belichick. Young stars like Stephone Marbury fulfill their high potential under Belichick. He constantly gets great safeties, like McCourty. His LB's execute at a high level. While I'd love to attribute the Patriot defensive production to Flores, my gut tells me that Belichick has been doing this for many years, and we're hoping Flores figured out how it all fits together, because the past Belichick coaching tree suggests that Belichick does not share the secret sauce.

For the Dolphins to build a top defense, I think we already have most of the secondary pieces with Fitzpatrick at FS, Jones at SS, Howard at CB1, and McCain at Nickel (CB3). All we really need is one more cornerback to handle CB2. But, for those guys to really shine, we need a pass rush, and IMHO, we do not have the talent on this roster to do that for the next 5 years. I'm guessing we phase out Cam Wake and release Robert Quinn and William Hayes. Unfortunately, Andre Branch and Charles Harris are not the answers, so it's just a matter of time for those two as well. We need edge pressure, so I'm expecting us to draft edge rushers who can play both upright (3 man front) and with their hand in the dirt (4 man front).

The Patriots may be able to do it unconventionally, but I'm not confident in us being able to duplicate that.

Wow! This was a really nice write-up and explains perfectly the Patriots system. I'm alway amazed when people think Brady routinely is throwing intermediate and deep passes the entire game. I scratch my head even more when defense play expecting that attack. When in reality Brady and the Pats offense is heavily dink and dunk and then hit you over the top.

Great break down!

 

[Digital]

Wow! This was a really nice write-up and explains perfectly the Patriots system. I'm alway amazed when people thing Brady routinely is throwing intermediate and deep passes the entire game. I'm scratch my head even more when defense play expecting that attack. When in reality Brady and the Pats offense is heavily dink and dunk and then hit you over the top.

Great break down!

Thanks! You're spot on about Brady and the Patriots. Every coach says they take what the defense gives them, but few can recognize it, read and react to the changes, and execute it. Brady can. The main reason the Rams were so good at stifling the Patriots offense in the Super Bowl was that Wade Phillips lined up one way, and then switched what he was doing as the ball was snapped. That is very hard to do, but he got his guys to pull it off flawlessly. So Brady comes up to the line of scrimmage, the defense's head phones are now not working so the coach cannot audible--it now needs to be the players who adjust. Brady reads the defense at the line of scrimmage, calls/audibles and runs his play. But right about when the ball is snapped, they were giving man to man looks and then smoothly shifting into a zone, with unbelievable execution. So now Brady is no longer throwing to wide open receivers. While the throws are still where they need to be, now there is also a DB challenging the WR, leading to one INT and many PBU's and incomplete passes. It was a thing of beauty, and like when the Carolina Panthers lost the Super Bowl, that Rams defense deserved to win.

But, when you look back at that Patriots Falcons Super Bowl, the Falcons had essentially accomplished the same thing, but did so by using a smothering man to man that completely clamped down on the short routes, taking away Brady's bread and butter dink and dunks. They were up 28-0 using that strategy … but like fools, they changed into a prevent defense, which often only prevents winning. The defense was built for speed, which means it couldn't deal with power or endurance. So, the Patriots applied their death by a thousand cuts and wore out those fast defenders to the point they could no longer apply tight coverage even if they wanted to do so. They let the Patriots back in the game, and lost because of it. Fortunately, Wade Phillips didn't do that, and essentially stuffed the Patriots offense right up until the end of the game when they were forced to gamble because the Rams offense was putrid without Todd Gurley.

It was sad to see, but we all know that Ndamakong Suh and company deserved that ring … but Jared Letto….errrrrrr Jared Goff, failed miserably.