Miami Dolphins rookie Olivier Vernon impressing the veterans

[FinAtic8480]

DAVIE – Olivier Vernon's fists were filled with the jersey being worn by arguably the NFL's best offensive tackle.
The small shoving among linemen was more of a territorial warning from four-time Pro Bowler Jake Long. One play earlier, Vernon had slipped inside his Miami Dolphins' teammate escaping a block that could have prevented a sack of quarterback David Garrard.
Vernon's speed, technique and strength as a rookie defensive end have caught the attention of many veteran teammates eager to see what the former University of Miami star can become in the NFL

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/sfl-olivier-vernon-080312,0,4526846.story

Lamar Miller & Olivier Vernon are having perhaps the best camps of the Dolphins rookies.

 

[j-off-her-doll]

I love this bit:

"In pass rushing, you always have to win every one-on-one," Vernon said. "That's what Coach Rogers stresses. I try to do it as much as I can."

It's not a realistic goal, but it feels realistic enough to keep the players working toward it.

 

[NJPHINFAN79]

Love that our third and fourth round picks are stepping up already, I feel confident that Martin will be able to plug in and be solid. So if Tannehill when he gets his chance is successful this can go down as a very very solid and core building draft for the future. I excited with what's going on in Miami for the first time in quite a while...

 

[hoops]

hand use to get off blocks...something that koa misi could never do against nfl tackles...once he was blocked it was over...absolutely no ability to disengage and get to the qb

 

[fishfanmiami]

Artis Hicks, a Dolphins' guard, remembered preparing for the Miami's defense last year as a member of the Cleveland Browns. The emphasis was stepping up their game for the Dolphins' defensive line.
"Now that I'm here and I see what these guys really can do, man I'm glad I'm playing with them," Hicks said. "...(Vernon's) nice, man. This guy can move. And him with Cameron Wake opposite each other, they're gonna put a lot of pressure on the outside pocket. And when that quarterback goes to step up, guess what. You've got (Randy) Starks and big Paul (Soliai) in the middle pushing backwards, so that pocket's gonna collapse on a lot of quarterbacks this year."

Good stuff. Vernon was always in the other teams backfield at the U.
He only had 6 sacks his best year but tons of QB pressures and tackles for losses.
He always caught my eye because his number was 35.
Glad to see It seems to be translating well to his pro game. .

 

[Frank Milewski]

Great post. If he's doing good against Jake Long, he will do great against most tackles in the NFL.

 

[MiamiDolphin618]

Lets hope he can make an impact this year. Learning from Jake has to be beneficial

 

[Irishfinfan1]

This guy could really define how good our D is this year. We must have guys other than Wake that can rush the QB and if Vernon, Odrick and Starks can do that our pass D could be reasonably good this year.