insomnia411
The world is yours
I absolutely believe that if we're going to be a serious playoff contender next season, relying more heavily on the run game is a must. I feel this way for a few reasons.
1. Skill Set of the Offensive Line : Since Tannehill has been here, and truthfully for the better part of the last 15 years, our offensive line's inability to keep the quarterback upright has been well documented. While RT17 is still developing and he has been guilty of holding the football for too long, poor pass protection is one of the main reasons why we've been out of January football for the past 2 seasons. With that being said, the run blocking last year was actually pretty damn good.
Last season on only 399 attempts (22nd in the league) we averaged an impressive 4.7 yards per carry, good for 2nd in the league. Beat reporters like Perkins have also anecdotally noted that thus far in camp our o line has fared much better in the run game against our defensive line, while getting mostly dominated by Suh, Wake, Fede and co. in the pass game. Our o line is most definitely more adept at run blocking than pass blocking, and we need to properly game plan to cater to our player's strengths.
2. The Limitations and Development of Ryan Tannehill : When we drafted RT in 2012, I was very unhappy. I wanted Kuechly and a second tier QB like Foles or Wilson later on, but I can gladly say that I was dead wrong and I would not trade Tannehill for anyone in his draft class besides Luck at this point. While I have a ton of faith in Tannehill's ability going forward, he's still relatively inexperienced for a guy at his phase of development, he still has serious problems to work out, and a dominant run game can benefit him the same way it benefits Wilson in Seattle, who is inferior to Tannehill in overall talent.
I'm not going to berate this issue and beat a dead horse on this board, but RT was only 9-41 on passes of more than 20 yards last season... Not good, but as far as I know, Joe Montana wasn't winning super bowls with 50 yard bombs, and the running game will not only take pressure off of RT to complete deep passes, but it will also make it easier to complete those passes off of play action. Obviously, if the defense is respecting the run, more is going to be open down the field.
3. Lamar ****in Miller : Lamar Miller isn't a true "bellcow" runner, and I do hope that he has done a good amount of squats in the off season to get his weight up like he has, but just like Tannehill, he has gotten better every season, he's in a contract year, and I believe he's ready for a sizeable workload carrying the football this season. Again, he isn't the biggest power runner in the league, but he's a threat to take it to the house on every carry, and he has bulked up in the off season. If Miller gets a full workload this season he's a candidate for a 13-1400 yard season with double digit total touchdowns.
4. Depth at Runningback : Lamichael James has by all accounts really come into his own so far in camp, Damien Williams is a guy with a lot of power that the staff likes a lot, and Ajayi is a well rounded runner who I think has a bright future. I think we keep 4 backs, and we are very good at that position.
5. Keep Our Elite Defensive Line Rested : Our D line has the potential to be the very best in a league where a few teams have some scary d lines. In order to get the best out of these guys, particularly so they can pin their ears back and go destroy quarterbacks, we need to give them plenty of rest with a dominant run game and controlling the clock. Sparano ball done right!
We run the ball more and keep up the high YPC, we're gonna be very tough on both sides of the ball.
1. Skill Set of the Offensive Line : Since Tannehill has been here, and truthfully for the better part of the last 15 years, our offensive line's inability to keep the quarterback upright has been well documented. While RT17 is still developing and he has been guilty of holding the football for too long, poor pass protection is one of the main reasons why we've been out of January football for the past 2 seasons. With that being said, the run blocking last year was actually pretty damn good.
Last season on only 399 attempts (22nd in the league) we averaged an impressive 4.7 yards per carry, good for 2nd in the league. Beat reporters like Perkins have also anecdotally noted that thus far in camp our o line has fared much better in the run game against our defensive line, while getting mostly dominated by Suh, Wake, Fede and co. in the pass game. Our o line is most definitely more adept at run blocking than pass blocking, and we need to properly game plan to cater to our player's strengths.
2. The Limitations and Development of Ryan Tannehill : When we drafted RT in 2012, I was very unhappy. I wanted Kuechly and a second tier QB like Foles or Wilson later on, but I can gladly say that I was dead wrong and I would not trade Tannehill for anyone in his draft class besides Luck at this point. While I have a ton of faith in Tannehill's ability going forward, he's still relatively inexperienced for a guy at his phase of development, he still has serious problems to work out, and a dominant run game can benefit him the same way it benefits Wilson in Seattle, who is inferior to Tannehill in overall talent.
I'm not going to berate this issue and beat a dead horse on this board, but RT was only 9-41 on passes of more than 20 yards last season... Not good, but as far as I know, Joe Montana wasn't winning super bowls with 50 yard bombs, and the running game will not only take pressure off of RT to complete deep passes, but it will also make it easier to complete those passes off of play action. Obviously, if the defense is respecting the run, more is going to be open down the field.
3. Lamar ****in Miller : Lamar Miller isn't a true "bellcow" runner, and I do hope that he has done a good amount of squats in the off season to get his weight up like he has, but just like Tannehill, he has gotten better every season, he's in a contract year, and I believe he's ready for a sizeable workload carrying the football this season. Again, he isn't the biggest power runner in the league, but he's a threat to take it to the house on every carry, and he has bulked up in the off season. If Miller gets a full workload this season he's a candidate for a 13-1400 yard season with double digit total touchdowns.
4. Depth at Runningback : Lamichael James has by all accounts really come into his own so far in camp, Damien Williams is a guy with a lot of power that the staff likes a lot, and Ajayi is a well rounded runner who I think has a bright future. I think we keep 4 backs, and we are very good at that position.
5. Keep Our Elite Defensive Line Rested : Our D line has the potential to be the very best in a league where a few teams have some scary d lines. In order to get the best out of these guys, particularly so they can pin their ears back and go destroy quarterbacks, we need to give them plenty of rest with a dominant run game and controlling the clock. Sparano ball done right!
We run the ball more and keep up the high YPC, we're gonna be very tough on both sides of the ball.
