Greg,
I recently read your article on the tackle tandem of
Damion McIntosh and Vernon Carey. I was a little bit
disturbed by a comment that you tossed in there about
Carey not being quick enough to deal with opposing
edge rushers.
I was wondering where you came up with that
observation and whether you came up with the
conclusion from actually watching game film or whether
it is something you have heard from within the Miami
Dolphins' coaching circle.
Because I am here to tell you, after having done
extensive film analysis on the Dolphins offensive line
through 5 preseason games and 1 regular season game,
that Vernon Carey has played about as stellar as
humanly possible, from a pass protection standpoint.
From a run blocking standpoint, anyone that has done
extensive film study of Carey in college and in the
pros will tell you that he has never been a true
dogger in run blocking, he has always been a technique
man. Which makes it all that much more sad what
happened last season with Tony Wise basically not even
showing up to coach the line any more on technique.
I'll let you in on something. Vernon Carey went up
against Alex Brown, Reggie Hayward, James Harrison
(right OLB for the Steelers 3-4) and Kimo Von
Oelhoffen (right defensive end, Steelers 3-4) as a
left tackle this preseason. Here's what shows up on
the stat sheet for those four players. 0. No sacks.
No tackles. As a right tackle, Vernon Carey went up
against Greg Spires, Patrick Kerney, and now Ebenezer
Ekuban. Greg Spires had one solo tackle on a running
back for a 2 yard gain, an assisted tackle on a 9 yard
gain by a running back, and solo tackle on a pass
caught by Heath Evans. Patrick Kerney was erased from
the stat sheet during his limited playing time.
Ebenezer Ekuban had one assisted tackle on a 14 yard
pass to Randy McMichael. All in all, through 5
preseason games and 1 regular season game, Carey's
primary blocking assignment has gotten 0 sacks on him,
and made only 1 solo tackle on a running back within 5
yards of the line of scrimmage.
I personally did play-by-play film study of Vernon
Carey on his three starts at left tackle and found
that he broke down against Alex Brown twice. One
time, nobody saw because it was a 3 step drop and the
pass was completed on a slant pattern. The second
time was the play everyone remembers, where Alex Brown
beat Carey to the outside, managing to get his paw on
Feeley's bicep just before Feeley got sacked by Brian
Urlacher. Just because Madden laid the blame for that
sack on Carey, does not make it so. Feeley stepped up
in the pocket before he even saw Brown, and Brown was
only just barely able to slap Feeley's bicep with his
paw before Carey literally smashed him into the dirt.
Feeley should have seen the blitz coming in from
Urlacher and gotten rid of the ball, but did not.
Reggie Hayward, by the way, who had 10.5 sacks last
year, never even sniffed the quarterback in pass rush
and got pancaked by Carey numerous times, as did Alex
Brown. Against the Steelers, again Carey had no pass
rush breakdowns, only breakdowns in run blocking.
Quite frankly, I find it disturbing that you would
come up with the conclusion that Vernon Carey is not
quick enough to deal with edge rushers from watching
one play just because John Madden incorrectly laid the
blame of a sack at the feet of Vernon Carey. If you
tried watching Jonathon Ogden face Dwight Freeney on
Sunday night, you would conclude that Ogden is not
quick enough to deal with edge rushers either. But,
as Aristotle says, excellence is not an act, it is a
habit.
The myth about Vernon Carey is that he's a strong guy
who is not quick and therefore suited for right
tackle. He is actually a better left tackle than
right tackle, and left tackle is where you will see
him have a brighter future in the NFL. There is a
reason Hudson Houck immediately moved the guy to left
tackle after doing film study of Carey. He is not the
quickest guy in the world, but he is very, very
disciplined, powerful, with a long reach, and more
than adequate foot quickness. What he lacks in pure
quickness (say, 40 time? a meaningless stat for
offensive linemen...) he more than makes up for with
disciplined, quick footwork, a long reach, a swivel
head, and powerful punches. Unfortunately, in run
blocking Carey does not look like the heat-seeking
missile that coaches want to see out of run blockers.
He doesn't show real urgency, but he does fill his
assignments because above all, the guy is a
technician.
So why was Carey moved to right tackle? Stockar
McDougle. In the 3 games that Stockar started at
right tackle, aside from the NUMEROUS and
well-documented penalties, Stockar's primary blocking
assignments amassed 2 sacks and 6 solo tackles of
Miami running backs within 5 yards of the line of
scrimmage (actually average of less than 2 yards per
solo tackle). Damion McIntosh was originally bought
by Spielman to play right tackle, that is where he was
set to move...until Spielman (who often got it wrong
far more often than right, unfortunately) realized
AFTER they all signed on the dotted line that McIntosh
was injured. Damion was more of a run blocking
specialist with pass protection limitations in San
Diego under Hudson Houck. His profile fit right
tackle more than left. With the injury left any hopes
of making Damion the replacement for Todd Wade. Also,
Damion is not an ambidextrous guy, and Hudson Houck
may not believe he is even capable of switching from
left to right. He was kept at left to compete with
Vernon Carey, to ensure that we didn't allow our
wishes to get the better of our judgement like we did
with Wade Smith.
So you've got a guy looking like he could be an elite
pass protecting left tackle for years to come, who has
a lot of experience playing right tackle. You have a
guy at right tackle who is just stinking up the joint,
and you have a guy at backup left tackle who has never
played right, and might not even be able to make the
switch successfully. Damion McIntosh, meanwhile, had
quietly had a very good camp and preseason. So, why
would you move McIntosh to right tackle? You don't.
That's not what a good coach does. What is important
is to have a good tackle tandem.
I would implore you to do more research next time
before you make a blanket statement such as "The
reason for the switch was apparent early on. Carey,
while very strong, isn't quick enough to deal with the
opposing edge rushers."
Dolphin fans rely on the media to give them ACCURATE
appraisals and evaluations, when given, because the
vast majority of fans do not have the ability or
willingness to study and recognize what they are
seeing during games the way coaches do.
Thanks,
Chris Kouffman
PS. Here are some analyses of Carey that I posted on
FinHeaven.
http://www.finheaven.com/boardvb2/showthread.php?t=90971
http://www.finheaven.com/boardvb2/showthread.php?t=90351
http://www.finheaven.com/boardvb2/showthread.php?t=92703
