Miami Dolphins patch together o-line with cast of misfits | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Miami Dolphins patch together o-line with cast of misfits

DKphin

DKphin

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The Dolphins’ offensive line has survived despite several key injuries. (Getty Images)

Sam Young knew there was a chance the Dolphins would want him back, and he stayed close.
Just up the street, actually.
Young was one of the final cuts at the end of the preseason and kept himself in shape at nearby Bommarito Performance Systems while he waited for Miami or any other team to call. He was in there for four hours every morning, then spent the rest of his day reading, taking some of the housework off his wife’s to-do list and waiting for his phone to chirp.
"I had to do a lot more laundry,” he said. “My wife works from home, and I think she liked having me around. We had a very good time, but I think we were both happy when I was able to get back to work.
You’ve gotta take it upon yourself to stay ready, because you could get the call and have to play in a game right away.
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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports...ine-with-cast-misfits/z13xiCWfVdkOfB5fBydgKN/
 
lets wait and see if the patch holds.
 
I thought Sam Young played fairly well given the circumstancs. He had a rough few first snaps but after he settled in he kept Tannehills' blindside fairly clean.
 
Misfits is derogatory and really doesn't describe this group.
Reading the entire article it seems everyone on the O-line (starters and backups) have injury issues.
 
Nice article, Jason. Congrats on your continued success. :brewskis:
 
Yea, I agree with the poster from earlier that I thought Sam Young was adequate. Particularly on those last 2 drives. Urbik and particuarly Steen were getting blown up more often then I'd like, but Young seemed to be the best of the 3.
 
"Mike Pouncey (out long-term with a hip issue)"

Did I miss something? I thought Pouncey was week to week.
 
jlfin said:
Misfits is derogatory and really doesn't describe this group.
Reading the entire article it seems everyone on the O-line (starters and backups) have injury issues.
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Misfit is not derogatory. It simply means you're different than those around you. I'm a Christian and considered a misfit, depending on who's around me.

Ozzy rules!!
 
I can relate to Sam. My wife works from home and I was out of work from May to Oct. I got stuck w all the laundry too. I hope these guys can play better than they did for 55 minutes last week. Be great if we can develop good backup depth w guys like Young and Steen by them getting some starts and playing well.
 
The other part of the patch is the excellent blocking done by Dion Sims. He gets little recognition on here, but Dion does his job with a minimum of fuss and he's part of the O-line improvement.
 
Ajayi running style will motivate any lineman we throw out there, his play is contagious and makes our misfits play like studs..
 
spiketex said:
The other part of the patch is the excellent blocking done by Dion Sims. He gets little recognition on here, but Dion does his job with a minimum of fuss and he's part of the O-line improvement.
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Very true, the blocking TE never gets credit in the NFL from fans.
 
Offensive line vs the Rams

Here's a few looks at this misfit cast in action against the LA Rams.

I'm leaving out the details of the play chart (series, down and distance, personnel, etc.) to focus specifically on the line. There's certain terminology I use that just comes from watching so much damn tape that you eventually need to develop some sort of jargon to separate and categorize it all in an efficient way. I'll explain where necessary but like all football terminology it varies and carries different names depending on the coach. What I describe is simply what I have picked up along the way.

One of the more difficult aspects of pass protection is the pickup of stunts, twists, etc. On this play there are two stunts. One the left side of the line we see an "Ex" call (Tackle & End stunt with End going first). On the right side of the line we see a "Tex" call (Tackle & End stunt with the Tackle going first). Both are picked up very well by the line. For the EX call, LT (Tunsil) drives the DE inside for the switch as the RG (Urbik) passes the looping DT to the outside and is accepted by Tunsil. For the Tex call, Bushrod drives the DT to the outside as James passes the looping DE inside as C (Steen) accepts him and the continue for the a double block. Tannehill helps by feeling the outside pressure, shortening his drop, and stepping up in the pocket.
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We often run using a zone blocking scheme (ZBS) so this caught my eye. It's a classic power run play: Counter - this one with a TE (Grey) lead. The right side of the line (C, RG, RT) here blocks down and the backside Guard (Urbik) pulls, the TE follows and Ajayi jab steps towards the backside of the play to coincide with Tannehill to try and make the defense bit on the slight misdirection. Wasn't overly effective as the defense flows well to the ball and SS TJ McDonald makes a nice stop for only a 1 yard gain, but it's a change-up for us nonetheless.
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We always hear about offensive holding and how it occurs on just about every play, but what about defensive holding? And what does it look like?

Here we are back to a ZBS run vs 8 men in the box and a unique DL alignment of 0 tech NT (directly over the Center) and two 4i techs (inside shoulder of offensive tackle). The play yields 4 yards but would have gone for a very large gain had it not been for defensive holding. It's an outside zone run which will have two Duece blocks at the POA. LT (James) and LG (Bushrod) combo block the playside 4i tech DT. Once the block is established and Bushrod has control, James climbs to the 2nd level to block the SLB. The other Duece block is where the defensive holding occurs. The C (Steen) and LG (Urbik) combo block the NT and like the previous Deuce block explained, once Urbik gains control, Steen will climb to the 2nd level to block the MLB. Only problem is that the NT is blatantly holding Steen from reaching the 2nd level to get to the MLB. Lo and behold guess who makes the tackle on Ajayi? That's right the MLB. Watch closely as the NT grabs and holds Steen preventing him from carrying out his assignment.
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Just some random fun stuff I thought I'd toss out there concerning some of the new faces we're seeing up front for our Miami Dolphins.
 
One of the more difficult aspects of pass protection is the pickup of stunts, twists, etc. On this play there are two stunts. One the left side of the line we see an "Ex" call (Tackle & End stunt with End going first). On the right side of the line we see a "Tex" call (Tackle & End stunt with the Tackle going first). Both are picked up very well by the line. For the EX call, LT (Tunsil) drives the DE inside for the switch as the RG (Urbik) passes the looping DT to the outside and is accepted by Tunsil. For the Tex call, Bushrod drives the DT to the outside as James passes the looping DE inside as C (Steen) accepts him and the continue for the a double block. Tannehill helps by feeling the outside pressure, shortening his drop, and stepping up in the pocket.
Click to expand...

Like the way you point this out, oline depth can be as good as they want at blocking but the stunts and blitz packages in today's NFL require chemistry that just won't be up to par on as the starters.

This is why even the studs at guard in the draft have problems in the NFL. And why IMO, when pouncey and Albert came back our oline did so much better. They had the experience to see the stunts coming which depth guys and rooks generally don't.

I also think this is part of the reaosn why the offense throughout games is so basic and quick. I think Gase doesn't fully trust the oline, and doesn't want it to make a game changing mistake, so he waits until later in the game to open up the offense, allowing the oline to see what the defense is doing earlier in the game and get used to it, and also allowing the defense to get worn down.

It puts a lot of pressure on the offense late to execute but I the way that rams game went, IMO was planned by the coach. Keep it close, open it up late and put the pressure on the offense to execute.

I have no idea if this is true or not, but it is starting to seem that way.
 
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