Nugget In a Prisco Article | Page 2 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Nugget In a Prisco Article

Originally posted by KBISBACK
Speed rushers rarely play on the left side of the defensive line, which is the side the right tackle is up against. You don't have to pass block like a left tackle to play right tackle, plus most of the time, the tight end is lined up on the right side.
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I know that, but a team that has a pair of good pass rushing DEs (you know, like US...for God's sake, sign Ogun!) could exploit that. Fortunately, there aren't many of those. Tennessee would have been one of those teams, but now Kearse is gone.

I'm not arguing against picking Andrews, rather, I'm one of his biggest backers. Just pointing out that he's got potential deficiencies at RT and at RG.
 
I believe Tennessee was planning on moving Kevin Carter to DT even before they let Kearse sign elsewhere.

The thing you have to understand about Shawn Andrews is he's got the feet for the tackle position. In fact, it wouldn't be a terribly big surprise if he could switch to left tackle somewhere down the road because he's THAT talented. This is a guy who just toys with college defensive ends and didn't even really have to work on his technique in college. That will not work in the pros, but its indicative of his immense talent level. He's bigger and stronger (though not faster) than Robert Gallery. He's a better run blocker than Gallery.

The drawback is his attitude and weight issues. By attitude I mean that he didn't have to work all that hard in college to get where he was at talent-wise, so coaches and scouts wonder if he'd be willing to do that in the pros, and also there are still serious questions about him missing the Independance Bowl. I know if you ask Saints Greg (who interviewed him) or some of his supporters like Boomer, they will all tell you yes the polyps were that serious he wasn't even allowed to fly on an airplane thats why he didn't travel with the team for the game. They'll also defend his weight gain saying polyps are a pretty serious problem and the prednisone does make you retain water. But scouts and coaches are not as likely to explain away some of these questions so easily and that is why they may be apprehensive about investing a top 10 or top 15 pick in him...probably rightfully so.

Personally I look at the fact that he's hired personal trainer and even more importantly his own chef, and says he'll keep both in the pros, plus the fact he's lost like 60 pounds in the last two months, and I think this is a guy that realizes he's got to work hard to get paid and he will work hard when he gets into the pros. I think he was just so immensely talented in college he didn't need to really work at it.
 
Mike Mayock , NFL Network draft analyst says that Andrews is the best drive blocker he has seen coming out of colege for a number of years. He expreses concerns re his weight , but says if he gets down to a good weight for him , sub 345 I would guess? , he could eventually play LT .

I think it is 50/50 that he is there at #20 and if he is Miami will be dancing in their war room .....
 
The left side of the OL will be very solid. I don't really think it will be the stronger of the two however....

OT S. Andrews or OG J. Smiley will be just fine at RG IMO. An upgrade over OG T. Perry that's for certain. Perry was average at best, and these two rookies are pure maulers....

At RT, It looks like it will be G. Randall. I'm very happy about that. This guy has the needed experience, and the size to hold down that side this year. Util D. McIntosh is fully recovered, he's a fine replacement for the departed T. Wade IMO. He's a lot cheaper as well...

When it's all said and done, I think this will finally be the season where we see the Phinz OL as a strength. There's youth everywhere on it, and they are a hungry group of guys....

I think Rick did a very respectable job upgrading the OL this off-season so far. He's brought in very solid additions, and it will be a very interesting battle that unfolds during TC. I can't wait to see these guys go at it!!!....

PHINZ RULE!!!:pirate:
 
BTW almost all right tackles have problems with speed rushers, including the departed Todd Wade, and the guy we targeted John Tait. Its inherent in the kind of player teams generally look for at the position.

If they DIDN'T have problems with speed rushers and they were a supreme pass protector, they would be moved to the left side because that is the most important position on the offensive line.

This talk about Andrews at guard...I don't like it. I think he could be a great guard its just I view the guard position as basically a dime a dozen as far as road grating man-plows go. Great tackles are hard to come by and I've come to view the position as a lot, and I do mean a lot, more important to BOTH the passing game and the running game, than either guard position. Over these past 4 or 5 years is when I came to this conclusion. The value to the passing game is obvious. But when I look around the league, and looked at our own OL and running game situations the past 5 years or so, I just noticed that when you have a good tandem of tackles, the running game naturally follows. You should have seen the differences in Ricky's numbers from when Mark Dixon was in the game at LT and when Marcus Spriggs was in the game. Also there was a pronounced difference from 2000 where we had Richmond Webb still playing at a pretty high level for us, along with uber-rookie Todd Wade on the other side, to when we had Spencer Folau and Wade blocking the fringes in 2001.

This year the raw and undeveloped Wade Smith was tossed into the fire and lets face it, he looked raw and undeveloped and was a real weakness, and look how our running game suffered. Don't give me that "I think Wade Smith looked really good for a rookie!" stuff. We're talking absolute terms, not relative. He may have looked ALRIGHT for a rookie but in absolute terms he was probably the worst starting LT in the NFL. Its not his fault. Not even super high pick Jordan Gross was tossed into playing LT in his rookie year. No other team in the NFL had a rookie playing LT. We were IDIOTS to not grab some insurance policies in case Dixon got hurt as he always does....why do you think we've gone tackle crazy so far in FA grabbing McIntosh, St Clair, and now Randall?

Anyway the point is in our own experience when we've got a good SET of tackles, we run well. When we've got only ONE good tackle, we don't. In my experience it looks similar in the rest of the NFL. Find a good productive RB, and I'd be willing to bet more likely than not he's got a good set of tackles blocking for him.
 
So are you saying that Wade Smith caused the horrible guard play last year and which translated into HORRIBLE play by Todd Wade? So all the problems was because of Wade Smith last year?
 
lmao....this has to be the first time Priscos said anything good bout the Fins. Also one of the rare times hes right about us, IMO. Wade is really a reason for optimism this year, hes gonna be a good one.
 
Originally posted by ckparrothead
...No other team in the NFL had a rookie playing LT...
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Not to be a smartass, because as far as Andrews goes, you and I are on the same page bigtime, but Kwame Harris started for the Niners as a rookie LT for most of last season as well.
 
I watched 15 Dolphins games last year, and I didn't see Smith's problem with power. I saw Dwight Freeny make him his Biatch with his speed. What did the 240lb DE get 4 sacks and 2 fumbles forced? He was lost later in the season against NE with blitzing LBs and safeties. His foot work on pass blocking seemed to be his biggest problem. He would get killed at the snap, and not even touch the rushing DE if he had any speed at all. The run blocking is a little harder to gauge unless you get the coaches tapes, but he probably could use more power in that aspect of his game. I don't care what Dave or Pete has to say LT and RG are the biggest question marks on this team right now.
 
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