Wade Smith's Lack of Intensity and other replacements in the O Line

[Austin Tatious]

It's a no-brainer that Smith is going to be benched. The front office severely over-estimated him. To play on the O-Line, you better have some intensity and toughness. Smith has neither. Apparently, he doesn't have much pride either. He cannot pass block and he is completely useless in the running game.

Now, I'd see if replacing him makes the O-Line better. If not, I'd get Hadnot and Carey into the mix too. It is imperative that Hadnot and Carey develop this year and not just waste the year.

LT McIntosh
LG James
C McKinney
RG Hadnot
RT Carey

I'm hoping that just replacing Smith will do wonders for the O-Line. If not, slowly work Hadnot and Carey in. My sense is that Hadnot and Carey can run-block but they are liabilities in the passing game. Hopefully they are learning and developing in practice. I see Whitley and St Clair as decent backups but Hadnot and Carey have much greater potential. Hadnot is brutally strong, which should translate to the running game.

That group should be able to run the ball.

 

[Shouright]

Great points, and this is the line I want to see too. Right now the line is a bunch of doormats. We need guys out there who at least have the right ATTITUDE. Maybe this was Smith's way of saying, "I'm in over my head -- you'd be better off with McIntosh."

 

[Canadianfishfan]

wade was the weakest link last year.. and he's the only guy DW kept... pathetic...

 

[KB21]

I have my doubts that Carey and Hadnot are learning much in practice. Based on what I've seen, it looks to me like the coaches are doing very little coaching in practice when it comes to the OL.

Personnel changes along the front won't make a big difference. The biggest problem right now lies in the scheme. The linemen don't know what they are supposed to be doing. When you have guys coming through completely unblocked, that is a scheme problem. Wade Smith should be benched because he was getting beat straight up. A bigger problem appears to be the scheme, or lack thereof.

 

[DoLpHiNz34]

Our oline is a mirror image of our head coach.

 

[Shouright]

I have my doubts that Carey and Hadnot are learning much in practice. Based on what I've seen, it looks to me like the coaches are doing very little coaching in practice when it comes to the OL.

Personnel changes along the front won't make a big difference. The biggest problem right now lies in the scheme. The linemen don't know what they are supposed to be doing. When you have guys coming through completely unblocked, that is a scheme problem. Wade Smith should be benched because he was getting beat straight up. A bigger problem appears to be the scheme, or lack thereof.

Good points. And with Hadnot and Carey out there we may look even MORE lost. If we were gonna try to make it with 4 new O linemen, we should've hired Alex Gibbs instead of letting him get away to Atlanta. You better have the best coach in the league at the position if you're gonna have that much turnover at that position in ONE year.

 

[Dphins4me]

wade was the weakest link last year.. and he's the only guy DW kept... pathetic...

No he was not.

 

[Crisdeman]

No he was not.

He was the only starter retained. James, McKinney, Whitley and St Clair all were either backups or on other teams last year.

 

[volk]

No he was not.

Yes, he was. Look to the Colt's game last year if you need confirmation. Wade Smith played mediocre to terrible, and has shown absolutely no improvement, and possibly, some regression.

 

[BLITZKRIEG]

The LT position is a huge problem right now, and the middle of the OL looks weak too....

LT W. Smith - This guy is lost. He's worse now than he was a year ago. :shakeno:

LG J. James - Not as good as I expected. His presence hasn't made any differnce in running the ball that's for sure....

C S. McKinney - Am I the only one who things he's too small to play Center???...Am I the only one who thinks Ruddy should be re-signed ASAP!!!

RG T. Whitely - Where did he come from. One day he's almost off the depth chart, and the next he's our starting RG?? He's horrible!!!...Hey Ricky, still have T. Perry's phone number???...It might be a wise idea to give him a ring. :D

RT J. St. Clair - Everyone bashes this guy, but he played well IMO. He's the only guy I can't really criticize right now. He's playing hard, and I hope he continues to do so....

I was saying it will be around week 4-5 before we start to see improvement on offense, but after last night night, I'm not as sure. This could take awhile, and changes may be on the way yet again....

PHINZ RULE!!! :evil:

 

[Dphins4me]

Yes, he was. Look to the Colt's game last year if you need confirmation. Wade Smith played mediocre to terrible, and has shown absolutely no improvement, and possibly, some regression.

So because he had a bad game against Freeney then that makes him the worse for the whole year?

Smith play two poor games last year. Both against All-Pro DE. Other than that he was the most solid OLman they had.

Now you are correct he has shown no improvement this year and may have even regressed. I blame the coaches for this. Smith has the talent. The coaches need to get it out of him.

Besides why do you people expect a raw LT not to struggle? In reality Smith should still be on the sidelines learning how to play LT instead of actually playing it. Its tough on the job training. Also its not like Justin Smith is a piece of crap player either.

 

[PerfectFinz72]

So because he had a bad game against Freeney then that makes him the worse for the whole year?

Smith play two poor games last year. Both against All-Pro DE. Other than that he was the most solid OLman they had.

Now you are correct he has shown no improvement this year and may have even regressed. I blame the coaches for this. Smith has the talent. The coaches need to get it out of him.

Besides why do you people expect a raw LT not to struggle? In reality Smith should still be on the sidelines learning how to play LT instead of actually playing it. Its tough on the job training. Also its not like Justin Smith is a piece of crap player either.

I disagree. While the coaching is to blame somewhat, some guys just don't have it. And no matter how hard you try, you can't make players be something they're not.

Now, where the coaching staff is to blame is not realizing this in pre-season and finding anyone to be a suitable replacement.

Everyone is so quick to blame the coaching, but it's NOT always the coaching. Sometimes, but not always.

 

[volk]

So because he had a bad game against Freeney then that makes him the worse for the whole year?

Smith play two poor games last year. Both against All-Pro DE. Other than that he was the most solid OLman they had.
QUOTE]


Having watched every game last year, his struggles were only glaringly bad in those two games...the rest of the season he achieved mediocrity at best. He was hardly what I would refer to as the "best OLman" they had, unless mediocrity=solid.

 

[Dphins4me]

I disagree. While the coaching is to blame somewhat, some guys just don't have it. And no matter how hard you try, you can't make players be something they're not.

Now, where the coaching staff is to blame is not realizing this in pre-season and finding anyone to be a suitable replacement.

Everyone is so quick to blame the coaching, but it's NOT always the coaching. Sometimes, but not always.

If it were just Smith, then you might be correct. However its not just Smith. Its Jeno, McKinney, Whitney, St. Clair.

Also Smith play horrible last night, but so did every other lineman. However Smith is the only one getting slammed and he was going up against the Bengals best DL in Justin Smith and is still very young and learning.

Its the coaching.

 

[phunwin]

So because he had a bad game against Freeney then that makes him the worse for the whole year?

Smith play two poor games last year. Both against All-Pro DE. Other than that he was the most solid OLman they had.

Now you are correct he has shown no improvement this year and may have even regressed. I blame the coaches for this. Smith has the talent. The coaches need to get it out of him.

Besides why do you people expect a raw LT not to struggle? In reality Smith should still be on the sidelines learning how to play LT instead of actually playing it. Its tough on the job training. Also its not like Justin Smith is a piece of crap player either.

The coaching staff was partly responsible for the Freeney game; leaving a rookie all alone against an All-Pro DE is usually a disaster. Wannstedt, Turner and Wise flatly refused to leave a FB or TE over there to either chip Freeney or help with the double-team. Smith played poorly in that game, but the coaching staff failed to recognize his obvious limitations and instead threw him to the wolves.

But as a second-year pro, against Justin Smith, who is a good, but hardly All-Pro level pass rusher? Wade should have been able to do at least a competent job on his own. No such luck; he was terrible. At this point, he is clearly (to me) a worse player than he was at the end of the 2003 season.

McIntosh should absolutely be in the lineup next week, if he's healthy and up to speed with the playbook. Otherwise, Feeley and Gordon are going to get killed.