Justin Smiley | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Justin Smiley

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westcoastfan8

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I just stopped by to see what how you evaluate the play of Justin Smiley so far this year.

He was very good his first two years in SF but Nolan/Turner changed the style of play and he wasn't the kind of guard they wanted. He was a first-class guy who never complained though he was treated poorly by Nolan.

Your thoughts...
 
I dont know much about Smiley in SF, but what I do know about San Fran is, Nolan is just a bad HC, if they dont finish .500 Im sure he will be fired, San Fran has minimal talent, and the talent they do have, they do not know how to utilize. If he thinkks wearing suits to the games will get him wins, he better start wearing warm ups
 
dolpns13 said:
I dont know much about Smiley in SF, but what I do know about San Fran is, Nolan is just a bad HC, if they dont finish .500 Im sure he will be fired, San Fran has minimal talent, and the talent they do have, they do not know how to utilize. If he thinkks wearing suits to the games will get him wins, he better start wearing warm ups
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Nolan is just way over his head. He will likely be shown the door during the bye week.

Smiley was a very good pulling guard in SF. He was also an above average pass protector. After two years, there were a lot of folks who ranked him one of the best young guards in the league.

The problem came with Nolan. Nolan wanted a power running game with big bull-dozer type OL. Norv Turner went along with that scheme as well. Unfortunately for Smiley, while he is decent as a power blocker, that was not his strength. Therefore, though he put on about 10 pounds, he still wasn't the kind of guy Nolan wanted. Add to that the fact that 49er management does not believe in paying big money to guards, he was expendable.

Too bad. I liked the guy. If he is used to his strength, he can be a very good player.
 
He is happy to be here as far as I can tell. I was at the game this sunday vs the chargers. After the last run play Pennington started celebrating twirling his towel around in the air getting the crowd excited and Smiley came out of the pile of bodys with his little swagger walk nodding his head at the crowd, like saying "Yeah we got this one".
 
He is playing great, and was instrumental in a couple of the Wildcat touchdowns as a pulling guard. He does very well in that capacity. He hasn't given up any sacks that I can remember and has been pretty good at the point of attack.

People on this site mostly ***** about folks not pulling their weight or under-performing...so if you don't see him mentioned much, it is only because he is doing well....Thanks for the new guard for the next decade...
 
he was great imo....Long is lucky to have him next to him...he can pull and he's been pulling on the wildcat just about everytime and doing a fine job

Ozzy rules!!
 
Smiley is doing a very good job. He was a hell of a player at Alabama.
 
He's an active gaurd. He does better when he mentally feels like he's fooling somone..Pulling....Sliceing.....You can see it in his play if you pay attention to OGs.
 
I'd like to echo what everyone else has said in that he has been a very good player and an excellent person. One thing I'd add is that in Miami he is considered a veteran along with Vernon Carey, and Justin has embraced that role and been a hugely positive influence on our very young offensive line. He leads with his mouth and backs it up by his example. Vernon Carey, our only other true veteran starter, also has taken a leadership role. With Carey at RT and Smiley at LG we have the type of leadership we need.

I think everyone understands that Smiley is best suited to be a RG pulling left to Jake Long's side, but he selflessly has embraced the role of LG to help out Jake with the pass blocking end of it. While this doesn't really showcase Smiley, some of Jake's unquestionable success is attributable to the steady veteran playing next to him every game, every practice, and every day off the field. I was excited about adding Justin Smiley the player, but now I'm extremely pleased with Justin Smiley as both a player and team leader.
 
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