RT still out there....

[Travis34]

Yeah, my general perception was that when Eich got beat on the outside, he basically did most things right but got beat physically. Coaching isn't going to fix that. But with AJ, he so often looked lost, he'd be out of position, have horrible hand placement, etc. Coaching can potentially fix that. It's not a given. He may not be smart enough or just never get it, but usually time and good coaching can get most to at least understand what they're supposed to do.

I do think that AJ is physically skilled enough. I want to say his RAS score tested in the elite range. That first year he wasn't bad. Not good but he was better in pass pro than Eich. It was clear he had the feet to get to spots that Eich didn't. AJ mostly lacked strength that first year. That wasn't surprising given the surgery and age. And reality is that most OL come in a bit under powered. That's why I never understood why they moved him to G. While good feet are valuable for pulling, you primarily want guys who can win in a phone booth. You want guys who are powerful enough to withstand bull rushing DTs/NTs and move those DTs/NTs to create run lanes with leverage and strength. Those aren't AJ's strengths. What made AJ a potentially elite prospect was that he had the feet at his size to match those speedy NFL DEs/LBs and RBs. You just had to teach him to get to the right spot, develop his strength to anchor there and teach him proper hand usage.

I thought last year's OL moves were too often nonsensical. Flowers, Davis AJ, Eich (and not drafting Creed Humphrey). It seemed to me that so many of the moves were the obviously wrong ones. I felt better when the new OL coaches started announcing changes that at least made sense to me.

Totally agree with all this

 

[Travis34]

I am pretty comfortable with the projected starting 5, and with Dieter as primary interior backup. Jones and Kindley can fight it out for the 4th guard spot. Little or Coleman might step up to be reliable backups at tackle but agree it wouldn't hurt to push them with one more serviceable veteran who has experience and a track record of availability. Not expecting any of the rookie linemen to make the roster.

I think so too, welcome to the forum!!

 

[Travis34]

IMO C is the most important position on the OL and trait-wise Williams is a natural C. Unless he can't snap there's no reason to believe that he won't be just as good if not better at C than G. And obviously, I would prefer to lock down the more important position with a great player. I don't see William's move to C as much of a risk or cause for concern.

I also think Eich is a natural G. I love his potential there. IMO it's much higher than it could ever be at T. I also am very comfortable bracketing the young G with vets on either side of him. That will ease his transition and help his long-term development. It makes our left side very strong.

The one thing I still expect to be added is a vet swing T. I like AJ at RT. And if the left side is strong it's easier to provide help as needed to the RT. My bigger concern is injury at either T spot. Injuries are always a concern and Armstead is coming off of one himself. I would prefer a guy who could swing to either side rather than a dedicated RT. Eich should not be an option to move to T as he's a horrid fit there in the NFL. I like Diesch's potential at T, but he's still a rookie. Unless he looks incredible in the preseason, I wouldn't feel comfortable with him as our only back-up plan at T. There are a few other guys with potential at T but realistically they are all what I would call long shots.

I don't think there's any reason to hurry here though. I don't see any "must have" swing T options out there. I suspect there may even be some surprise (better) options out there as teams cut down their rosters. And it gives us time to see Diesch or another surprises or alternatively if AJ is a disaster or we have some injuries. So while I anticipate the potential addition of a swing T for improved depth, I don't see any reason that it has to (or should) happen immediately.

Fingers crossed, Coleman, with good coaching, from out of nowhere becomes a serviceable swing tackle

 

[Austin Tatious]

Biggest question marks for Miami. (1) Can Austin Jackson improve with better coaching and a move to RT? He doesn’t seem to get off the snap quickly inside at guard. He’s strong and athletic but just got beat off the snap too often. (2) Can Connor Williams handle snaps at center? (3) Can Liam Eichenberg move laterally well enough at LG?

Our three biggest question marks in terms of personnel are all on the O line. I think the Dolphins will let these three situations play out rather than sign veteran stopgaps.

We’ve got a lot of promise but our ultimate upside may be determined by these three points.

 

[Kyndig]

Rated by who ? Would have to think the Rated was as a Guard... not looked at as Center (never played in NFL)
Fact, solid starting GUARD.... Center ? " So if he snapping the ball chances are that won't be a problem ", sounds very Dolphin Fan wishing, lacking fact to base evaluation either way.

To many "IF's" in your post for me to be comfortable with, a center the last several years needed and ignored.
IF snapping the ball won't be a problem, And wups its a unknown problem in question. You do know he never played center in the NFL.
IF he picks up the nuances, should be an upgrade, sadly just being in the right place almost makes him a upgrade. Oh more stuff to deal with at center besides who to block and staying on sides.

Yes, we will need to see it on the field, we acquired a talented LG and passed on center now moving that LG to Center and hoping to also fill the LG..... IF IF IF screw that get a upgrade Vet. center and stop all this IF If crap. We can do that !

We have a good LG Williams let him play his NFL position, Its really shouldn't be that difficult to understand...
But the Dolphins and OL has been a head scratching predicament for decades. Hope if finally will change, Armst. and Williams a great start don't screw it up, finish what has been started. cause a piss poor OL will screw up Everything.....not to even bring up backups which will also be needed at some point.

Just a seat filler in the Rock and I know it...mind blowing if the staff doesn't....... incredibly mind blowing..

Look, all I was saying was that PFF rated him as one of the top rated NFL Guards last season, like top 5 when he wasn’t penalized with his one weakness being that he jumped off sides too much. Other than that, he was a top rated interior Olineman. My point was if he’s snapping the ball, then him jumping off sides probably won’t happen very much if at all since he’s the one snaping the damn ball, that’s all I was saying.

Clearly, the Coaching staff chose him over Dieter, and Center is a critical position, so we’ll have to see how he does, but we have who we have and there is no point in jumping to any conclusions until you see how these guys play together.

Personally, I’m a lot less worried about center than I am about Right tackle, and left guard, as Eichenberg didn’t show me anything last year either other than he was out of his depth, and Austin Jackson was a dumpster fire, so those two positions concern me a lot more than center..

 

[Goonies]

I don’t know how McD and staff look at Austin Jackson film from last season and conclude he’ll be our RT. He’s a liability. I understand new staff wants to give him a chance and find out if coaching can help but I’ve seen enough. I’ll be watching him very closely during preseason.

 

[cuzinvinny]

Look, all I was saying was that PFF rated him as one of the top rated NFL Guards last season, like top 5 when he wasn’t penalized with his one weakness being that he jumped off sides too much. Other than that, he was a top rated interior Olineman. My point was if he’s snapping the ball, then him jumping off sides probably won’t happen very much if at all since he’s the one snaping the damn ball, that’s all I was saying.

Clearly, the Coaching staff chose him over Dieter, and Center is a critical position, so we’ll have to see how he does, but we have who we have and there is no point in jumping to any conclusions until you see how these guys play together.

Personally, I’m a lot less worried about center than I am about Right tackle, and left guard, as Eichenberg didn’t show me anything last year either other than he was out of his depth, and Austin Jackson was a dumpster fire, so those two positions concern me a lot more than center..

Just see a lot of so called insights used to further ones convictions on a one sided view of being pro Dolphin to convince. Maybe not expressing the whole implications...
Not to dwell on off sides issues and more the point of a proven quality guard now possibly being moved to center were he's had little to no success or play in the NFL, leaving us needing now to fill the LG spot dosen't make sense to me. Now as you said the coaching staff is making the calls and they know a hell of a lot more than I will ever know but then so did the coaching staff of the last 2 decades...

Another point seemed missed, IMO, concerning the center is he has a hell of a lot more crap running through his head he's responsible for and one of the reasons Dieter is not a given. Point, those neaunces that you speak of so as a matter of fact are important and critical qualities to why a center is a good center. Blocking is part of the quality and true a big part but so is leadership and calling needed info for the whole OL.

I'm more worried about center but RT close behind. I want a solid wall in front of my QB whoever he is. Hoping the TE and now FB and RB could help the RT... Though would like to see a solid FULL OL..

 

[PhinFan1968]

Just see a lot of so called insights used to further ones convictions on a one sided view of being pro Dolphin to convince. Maybe not expressing the whole implications...
Not to dwell on off sides issues and more the point of a proven quality guard now possibly being moved to center were he's had little to no success or play in the NFL, leaving us needing now to fill the LG spot dosen't make sense to me. Now as you said the coaching staff is making the calls and they know a hell of a lot more than I will ever know but then so did the coaching staff of the last 2 decades...

Another point seemed missed, IMO, concerning the center is he has a hell of a lot more crap running through his head he's responsible for and one of the reasons Dieter is not a given. Point, those neaunces that you speak of so as a matter of fact are important and critical qualities to why a center is a good center. Blocking is part of the quality and true a big part but so is leadership and calling needed info for the whole OL.

I'm more worried about center but RT close behind. I want a solid wall in front of my QB whoever he is. Hoping the TE and now FB and RB could help the RT... Though would like to see a solid FULL OL..

I had the same concerns. The one thing that gives me expectations they’ll still be a serviceable line is the OC (completely turned around the Chargers OL) and new OL coach. Last year, the second they announced who the OL coaches would be for 2021, a dark shadow filled the room. Tad brighter these days.

 

[cuzinvinny]

I had the same concerns. The one thing that gives me expectations they’ll still be a serviceable line is the OC (completely turned around the Chargers OL) and new OL coach. Last year, the second they announced who the OL coaches would be for 2021, a dark shadow filled the room. Tad brighter these days.

Unless the OC's can play the position on the field, IMO we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
All this talk of coaching being the savior is well and good and might be right on, but for me a proven quality OL man who's shown reliability has it over most everything else.

Really don't care about what another team does or did in which that finding raised the standards on anything is grounds to back up a potentially shown mediocre aspect of a team doing the same thing. You can most likely find justification for almost anything. We see it in here all the time usually as the last resort.

We have the ability to not depend of such trivia this year and should pounce on improvement for the friggin OL,
Our weakest area IMO and a area that can justifiably ruin our whole season, it's just to important to mess with..

 

[PhinFan1968]

Unless the OC's can play the position on the field, IMO we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
All this talk of coaching being the savior is well and good and might be right on, but for me a proven quality OL man who's shown reliability has it over most everything else.

Really don't care about what another team does or did in which that finding raised the standards on anything is grounds to back up a potentially shown mediocre aspect of a team doing the same thing. You can most likely find justification for almost anything. We see it in here all the time usually as the last resort.

We have the ability to not depend of such trivia this year and should pounce on improvement for the friggin OL,
Our weakest area IMO and a area that can justifiably ruin our whole season, it's just to important to mess with..

Its not about what another team did…it’s about what our new coach did. I put a lot on coaches…yes they need the players/talent, but try to find a dynasty that doesn’t have marquee coaching. Matters quite a lot.

 

[cuzinvinny]

Its not about what another team did…it’s about what our new coach did. I put a lot on coaches…yes they need the players/talent, but try to find a dynasty that doesn’t have marquee coaching. Matters quite a lot.

Coaches, ya it does matter a lot but thats a whole other topic.

Looks like we upgraded the coaches, great, now give them the best opportunity to establish the best OL they can.
Lets see now, Armstead vs Jackson, who do you think can do the best job with an outstanding coach to draw from.
Eirch. or Williams who do you think can be a more successful guard with a mediocre to great OC ?

Its good to put a lot on coaches but they are not out there opening holes stopping the best DL guys in the world from killing our QB, or giving him more time to do his thing...Not putting it all on the OC. We got the dough finish the OL atleast IMO a center...

 

[Etuoo33]

I think that Williams has been in the league long enough to be a leader, and that moving him to center might just take of the offsides problem. Perhaps a very smart move. I worry about Eich at LG at 290#s, being bullied there. Jackson is always a concern anywhere but has the potential to be serviceable at RT, and having the coaching staff's attention and (maybe) confidence so as not to have brought in a veteran at that position tells me that they think he'll work out there. Training camp will tell the tale on all three since they will be playing against a formidable DL. Last year in against the Bears in TC we got dominated every frigging day, so the was a sign of things to come there. At this point I have no choice but to think that this coaching staff knows something we don't about the OL since it is the key to their whole offensive philosophy. BTW hindsight is 20/20 for the armchair's out there. Woulda, shoulda, coulda, sounds like we didn't.

 

[rafael]

I don't worry about Eich being bullied at G. He has very good technique. He is great at squaring up. He has a good punch. He has good power. He just too easy to run around when he's on the edge. Being at G eliminates much of that concern.

I am curious to see what guys like Andries, Coleman, Diesch and Little can do at T. I'm not projecting any of these guys to be the definite answer or anything. I haven't seen enough of most of them to have an opinion (except Diesch, I see him as a very good fit, with excellent athleticsm and good technique. He may need a year to improve his strength and adjust to the NFL. I'm not ready to say he should be relied on to fill the swing T role this year, but I am optimistic about his long-term future). But they all have intriguing athleticism. I think there is potential there. I could easily believe that good coaching could find some gems from that group.