Good question.
OFFENSIVE LINE THOUGHTS:
I was very unhappy that the Dolphins did not draft a left tackle. However, the Dolphins have been quietly and steadily revamped the rest of the OL, and have moved Carey to LT in hopes that he can become the anchor over there.Besides the new veterans, lets take a look at what else the Phins have done:
CENTER: Not only did they draft Satele and Mormino, two guys that could potentially play center and guard, but they also picked up Tala Esera as a rookie free agent and added Jonathan Ingram, C, from the Kansas City Chiefs. Jonathan Ingram was a backup for the Chiefs who have traditionally had one of the better O-Lines in the league. He has good size and quickness and could push Hadnot for the starting Center position. Apparently Ingram has been starting with the first team at Center and is doing a good job. So, the Phins look like they have added a potential starters and some depth to the Center spot with versatile guys that can also play guard.
GUARD: As mentioned above, and as everyone knows, they drafted Satele and also signed Esera. But that’s not all they’ve done. The Phins went out and signed Guard Chris Liwienski. Chris Liwienski was a starter for the Vikings when CP was putting up good numbers and, despite what some proclaim, their OL were not slouches during his tenure. He was probably our best OL picked up outside the draft and could likely start at one of the guard positions on opening day. He’s not a pro-bowl player but he’s pretty rock solid, technically sound, and doesn’t get beat too often. This was a great pickup.
TACKLE: Now, back to the tackle spot. While they didn't draft a tackle, they did sign Marion Dukes, RT, and Julius Wilson, RT. Dukes was the starting RT for the Clemson Tigers. Wilson was a three year starter for UAB before being hurt his senior year. Both of these guys probably project as backups but you never know. In a surprise move, as you mentioned, they shifted Carey to LT and Shelton to RT. However, IMO, this is a big risk as Carey struggled at LT early in his Dolphins career and Shelton’s play at LT was disastrous. They have Toledo and Alibi as backups for the tackle spots but both guys have struggled with injuries. To help out, they brought in veteran Mike Rosenthal. He was a starter for both the Giants and Vikings but, like Toledo and Alibi, he has also had the injury bug. The bottom line is this: the Phins really made no significant additions to the tackle spot and are hedging their bets that Carey can develop into a LT.
Overall, it looks like they’ve done an excellent job addressing the OL, except for the tackle spot. They could have really hit a home run by adding a proven tackle.
If Alibi can get healthy this is how I can see our opening day OL shaking out:
LT – Vernon Carey
LG – Chris Liwienski
C - Jonathan Ingram
RG –Rex Hadnot
LG – Anthony Alibi (Hopefully) or Shelton
Welcome aboard and GO PHINS~!
