O-linemen in free agency & the draft | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

O-linemen in free agency & the draft

finsfan4life

finsfan4life

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If we're going to run a zone blocking scheme, we need to pick up smaller, more athletic linemen. Heavy linemen like Geoff Schwartz probably aren't going to be a great fit for that. In free agency, I say we need to look for the under the radar guys like Eben Britton or Shelley Smith to fill out our line. Thoughts?
 
IMHO, we need a LT. That guy needs to be an exceptional pass protector. The reason is that we pass more than we run and we are more effective as a passing team. Tannehill took WAY too many hits last year. That needs to be fixed since Ireland let Jake Long walk after hearing all the naysayers tell us how bad he was. Then we saw first hand how poor BAD really is.

As for the ZBS, that really effects run blocking not pass blocking. Essentially, pass blocking schemes aren't all that different, and it's more about leverage, long levers, and chemistry amongst the OL. That takes time. Passing twists and getting an initial shove on a guy before passing him off to the next blocker are things that require players who know one another. IMHO, get a veteran LT, draft 4 friggin OL with our top 4 picks, and try to play a rookie at LG and RT, and let the rest learn as we use veteran LT, RG, and Pouncey at C. Then a couple years down the road we will be well on our way to building a solid OL for the next decade so Tannehill doesn't have to constantly put up with poor pass protection.

Yes, we need a running game. If we're committed to the ZBS, fine, get some guys who can play that system, but they dang sure better be able to open some holes, because I'm tired of weaklings with quick feet pretending to be OL. If we open the holes I'm confident Miller can be a productive RB and break some nice long chunk runs. Then Tannehill can use his excellent play-action-fakes to help create chunk yardage in the passing game as well. BUT, I don't want to be here a year from now still unable to answer questions like "where's the beef?" Get us some OL that are big, nasty, and move people.
 
This is what I posted in VIP. They don't necessarily all fit (Britton, Slauson, Wharton, Schwartz) but most should.

Offensive linemen:
LT Brandon Albert, KC (too rich for me)
LT Jared Veldheer, OAK (fan)
LT Eugene Monroe, BAL (talented but expensive)
RG/RT Geoff Schwartz, KC (fan)
LT Michael Oher, BAL (overrated)
LT Anthony Collins, CIN (big fan)
RT Zach Strief, NO (top tier RT)
OT Ryan Harris, HOU (depth)
OT Eben Britton, CHI (depth)
OL Roger Saffold, STL (playing well at guard, can play both tackle spots)
RG Jon Asamoah, KC (could get a discount due to down year)
OG Chad Rinehart, SD
OG Matt Slauson, CHI (having breakout season)
G/C Evan Dietrich-Smith, GB (experience in ZBS, working at C in GB)
LG Travelle Wharton, CAR (talented, experienced pure LG, might be more of a fit for a power scheme)

We need to retool the O-line, the sky is blue, water’s wet, etc. I think we get one top tier guy, another starter level guy and another depth guy who can compete for a spot. And we haven’t even talked about the draft yet..right now if I drew it up I’d stay away from the guys who are going to command 8-10 annually and make smart investments, strengthening our line without overcommitting to it. I’ve been backing Schwartz as well as Collins over the last while and one of them would be a quality fit, Schwartz is criminally underrated and can play both tackle and guard. Right now I’d bring on Veldheer/Collins to protect the blindside. Then bring in a Asamoah/Saffold/Dietrich-Smith to man a guard spot. Then consider bringing on a reserve tackle or guard who can compete for the starting job.
 
finsfan4life said:
If we're going to run a zone blocking scheme, we need to pick up smaller, more athletic linemen. Heavy linemen like Geoff Schwartz probably aren't going to be a great fit for that. In free agency, I say we need to look for the under the radar guys like Eben Britton or Shelley Smith to fill out our line. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Isn't Shelley Smith the woman that works at ESPN? We had one female oline man and it didn't work out lol
 
We need big oline players that can move. The smaller oline will get smashed. Cornfed with ballet slippers
 
FearTheBeard said:
This is what I posted in VIP. They don't necessarily all fit (Britton, Slauson, Wharton, Schwartz) but most should.

Offensive linemen:
LT Brandon Albert, KC (too rich for me)
LT Jared Veldheer, OAK (fan)
LT Eugene Monroe, BAL (talented but expensive)
RG/RT Geoff Schwartz, KC (fan)
LT Michael Oher, BAL (overrated)
LT Anthony Collins, CIN (big fan)
RT Zach Strief, NO (top tier RT)
OT Ryan Harris, HOU (depth)
OT Eben Britton, CHI (depth)
OL Roger Saffold, STL (playing well at guard, can play both tackle spots)
RG Jon Asamoah, KC (could get a discount due to down year)
OG Chad Rinehart, SD
OG Matt Slauson, CHI (having breakout season)
G/C Evan Dietrich-Smith, GB (experience in ZBS, working at C in GB)
LG Travelle Wharton, CAR (talented, experienced pure LG, might be more of a fit for a power scheme)

We need to retool the O-line, the sky is blue, water’s wet, etc. I think we get one top tier guy, another starter level guy and another depth guy who can compete for a spot. And we haven’t even talked about the draft yet..right now if I drew it up I’d stay away from the guys who are going to command 8-10 annually and make smart investments, strengthening our line without overcommitting to it. I’ve been backing Schwartz as well as Collins over the last while and one of them would be a quality fit, Schwartz is criminally underrated and can play both tackle and guard. Right now I’d bring on Veldheer/Collins to protect the blindside. Then bring in a Asamoah/Saffold/Dietrich-Smith to man a guard spot. Then consider bringing on a reserve tackle or guard who can compete for the starting job.
Click to expand...

I'm impressed with your vast knowledge. Thanks for the comprehensive list.
I work off the assumption that Incognito and Martin are gone and that we will need both Free Agent acquisitions and high draft picks invested to find talent. It will be interesting to see if Philbin and Lazor are on the same page re the O-line system to be implemented. I get the impression that Lazor would have some good learnings from what Chip Kelly implemented in Philadelphia. For the effort expended in trying to upgrade the O-line over a long period of time, Ireland was consistently bad. Hopefully, the new GM will have more skill in identifying talent in this area. In fact it is interesting to note that both Philbin and Sherman had hands-on O-line coaching experience early in their careers. So you would think we could make progress, but if anything Miami went backwards.
I still wonder how much of an effect Incognito had on the whole O-line team chemistry. Martin in hindsight was a mistake, but the fact that Jake Long departed when comparable money was offered in Miami makes me still conclude that there were probably significant issues even before the blow-up occurred. Think about it. Jake was a Michigan guy and Steven Ross has given the university over $200M for their Business School and Athletics program. Jake married a very beautiful up market lady. He probably has over $40M in net wealth if he was sensible with his investments and then he elects to leave the beauty and warmth of South Florida to go to St Louis, Missouri for roughly the same money as was offered here. It doesn't make sense! My hunch is still that Incognito was such a strong personality capable of behaving badly and Jake knew it. It was just easier to leave, than put up with it.
The probable departure of Incognito, Martin and McKinnie, means that we should not be cheap in trying to find a strong leader for the O-line locker room. If Brandon Albert has great leadership attributes, then spend some money to get a strong leader. Pouncey's great friendship with Hernandez still scares the hell out of me. It may be more important to find the right O-line leader, than any other position on the team.
 
Make Albert a priority. Draft the best o-lineman available at #19 be it Guard or Tackle. Nail dowm Slausen or Smith to play Guard. I think that would fix things. Then it would look like: Albert, Slausen, Pouncey, Rookie Guard or Jerry, Brenner, Thomas, maybe Clabo if #19 is a Guard. 2nd round, the best Tackle on the board to supplant Clabo. Keep Garner for depth. The final piece to vastly improve offense is a big, bruising RB who hits the hole with authority, has great vision and patience and knows how to finish runs by punishing the defense and falls forward after contact. He also has to be a great pass blocker. Our version of Frank Gore, Marshawn Lynch, Jamaal Charles, MJD etc. We'd be 10 times more lethal on offense.
 
Joba-nator said:
Isn't Shelley Smith the woman that works at ESPN? We had one female oline man and it didn't work out lol
Click to expand...

Lol, yes. This Shelley Smith played for the Rams though.

Good discussion so far. I definitely think we need to do our best to sign Albert. I don't think Monroe or Veldheer will be available, and I'm not a huge fan of guys like Oher and Saffold. I've said it before, but I really don't want to have to go into the draft needing to draft a tackle in the first round. Albert would lock down the left side, and a guy like Eben Britton or even a re-signed Tyson Clabo could lock down the right side.

As far as guards go, I feel like we could get some quality guys in the 2nd half of free agency. Guys like Jon Asamoah and Wade Smith may be available after guys like Evan Dietrich-Smith and Geoff Schwartz sign early. We could go into the draft looking at quality linemen, but not necessarily needing to draft a guard or a tackle in the first round.
 
Jon Asamoah would probably be a reasonably priced pickup, and one that might fall off
people's radar. He ran a 5.07 40 at the combine, so stands to reason he's reasonably
athletic.

I'm all for drafting an OLT if there is one that we're not reaching for, as I still think we
need playmakers more than OL

ETA; Rich Ohrnberger might be worth bringing in.
 
We have to get Albert or Veldheer for LT. Draft the best available offensive lineman with our first pick. We also need versatility back there as I feel like the depth has been poor so we need another veteran backup (a guy like Kevin Boothe) that's capable of playing a few different positions, as well.
 
Veldheer has said he is a raider for life, and Oakland has no intentions of letting him go so forget about him.
 
if you land a LT in FA, our focus should be on Zach Martin if you want a sound technician with good movement. Then you can get someone like linder or the ND St kid.

Strief is a guy we could land since Graham will dictate alot of NO FA moves/nonmoves. I am still not opposed to keeping Clabo for cheap as long as you get someone like above mentioned to take his place.

Looking for Stud G's myself once LT position nailed down.
 
I honestly think we are going to be looking for 2 starters either in FA and/or in the top 3 rounds of the draft. I think this regimen has Thomas penciled in as RT, but could be moved into RG if he looks as bad as he did last preseason on the edge. I also think Brenner has a place at LG with added strength this off-season. With Pouncy at C and Garner to compete at every spot, that leaves two spots for LT and RG/RT, which I think Garner could win one of the RT/RG spots.

I say use $ on a top LT and take 2 best available OL in rounds 2-4. This gives us depth and competition going into training camp. This also frees us up in the draft to not be committed to one position, take best player at any position except DE and QB. I am even fine with OL in the 1st if value is there. I would be very content if this is how we were set up heading into training camp.
 
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