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Jake Long struggles as challenging season awaits

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Even as Mel Kiper continues to believe the Dolphins made a mistake in picking Jake Long over Matt Ryan, the Dolphins seem pleased they picked the anchor left tackle. That was especially true after Long was a Pro Bowl alternate and earned a trip to the game by starting all 16 games last season.

Well, this preseason Long has had some struggles this preseason. He gave up a sack to Everette Brown during the Carolina game. He lost his footing and his leverage on the dirt infield in the Jacksonville game, allowing the defender he was blocking to tackle Ricky Williams for a loss. Long also yielded a quarterback hurry to Quentin Grove in that game.

Long was also flagged on a false start against Jacksonville and a holding call against Tampa Bay.

And all that comes as talk about Long struggling against speed rushers persists outside the Dolphins organization.

“Jake didn’t give up many plays last year; he didn’t give up many sacks," coach Tony Sparano said Sunday. " So, I don’t know if that was a problem or a perception. But from my end, I felt the guy played pretty well against some pretty good people during the course of the season last year.
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http://miamiherald.typepad.com/dolp...ong-over-matt-ryan-the-dolphins-seemed-v.html
 
He will be fine. He is not on my "worry priority list"...For his couple struggles he does a lot more good.

I am just waiting for a catch out of his TE position in the Wildcat! Ha!
 
I was watching the bears vs broncos game and they brought up a point I never really thought about when they talked to Orlando Pace....I guess he was sayig it's the shorter speed rushers that give him trouble because its farther to bend down to get a hold of them. Some of that was just referring to pace's age, but Im thinking at 6'7'', your not gonna be as light on your feet as someone who's 6'0 and fast....it may always be somewhat of an issue, but it's not like he's been a turnstyle.
 
i'm not worried about Jake Long. he didn't impress me during pre-season yet, but then again, no OLman did. he will be just fine when the season comes along.
 
FinsFan_In_Iraq said:
I was watching the bears vs broncos game and they brought up a point I never really thought about when they talked to Orlando Pace....I guess he was sayig it's the shorter speed rushers that give him trouble because its farther to bend down to get a hold of them. Some of that was just referring to pace's age, but Im thinking at 6'7'', your not gonna be as light on your feet as someone who's 6'0 and fast....it may always be somewhat of an issue, but it's not like he's been a turnstyle.
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That's why being a natural knee bender is so important when evaluating offensive tackles....

You hear that term a lot.....and there's a reason why....

Jake's long arms can help him to an extent in making up for his footwork not being elite....but not always...

If Jake can get his hands on you...umm...you're going to have a bad day...

But if he can't get his hands on you and lock you out....your speed can frustrate him and make him over-compensate...

I compared Jake Long's feet in combine drills to Joe Thomas' feet in combine drills the year before....and I noticed something....
 
For a Dolphins beat writer, Armando sure seems to hate the Dolphins.
 
TedSlimmJr said:
That's why being a natural knee bender is so important when evaluating offensive tackles....

You hear that term a lot.....and there's a reason why....

Jake's long arms can help him to an extent in making up for his footwork not being elite....but not always...

If Jake can get his hands on you...umm...you're going to have a bad day...

But if he can't get his hands on you and lock you out....your speed can frustrate him and make him over-compensate...

I compared Jake Long's feet in combine drills to Joe Thomas' feet in combine drills the year before....and I noticed something....
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oohhh i like the build up and the suspense you're creating with this post.
 
I see no issue here. With the 3 second buzzer in practice our QB's should be used to having the ball already out of the hands prior to standard outside pass rush reaching them.
Chubbs
 
The sky is faling the sky is falling. Remember that earlier this Sporano said that the team was not even close to where they wanted it to be yet and we are a couple years away. Just becuase we had great sucess last year because some things went our way and we played a weaker schedule does not mean that we are guarenteed a winning season this year. I am sure many of us would have been happy "if" the team went 6-10 last year and 9-7 this year. We have high expectations which is great but lets look at reality a little bit too.
 
I'm guessing that Long is not allowed to make any mistakes. That guy from Buffalo - Jason Peters got traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for two draft picks and he got beat by Porter for a safety during the Dolphins-Bills game.

Oh well : NFL = No mistakes allowed
 
It appears that some believe that Long is God...he can just will, that he will never give up a sack or be called for a hold....well he isn't God...he's just a darn good Football player that is human. And as a human he isn't perfect.

Webb gave up sacks...was called for holds during his career...yet he was an all Pro tackle.
 
So JL gave up a sack and slipped in mud and now people are worried. It never ends. And of course Kiper didn't say how we would have protected Ryan's backside. I wonder if Jon Ogden at 6'8" ever got beat by a speed rusher. Or if Shaun Alexander was ever tackled for a loss because Walter Jones lost his footing. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think our Pro Bowl left tackle in his 2nd year will be just fine. Oh, and I forgot to mention, IT'S PRESEASON!!!!!!!!!!
 
I get so sick of the Matt Ryan/Jake Long talk. People act like we had a chance to draft Jesus and instead drafted crap. Jake Long is a very good tackle and I guess the numbers to be considered an elite QB have dropped.

GP YDS TD INT RATING
16 3440 16 11 87.7
Not bad, but certainly not great either. I stand by our pick and am still happy we drafted Long instead.
 
fishypete said:
It appears that some believe that Long is God...he can just will, that he will never give up a sack or be called for a hold....well he isn't God...he's just a darn good Football player that is human. And as a human he isn't perfect.

Webb gave up sacks...was called for holds during his career...yet he was an all Pro tackle.
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Agreed. Actually, this is a wasted discussion. It seems silly to continue to compare Ryan and Long. That decision is over. Clearly, he is not a bust, so let it drop.
 
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