Why OLine is the most important position on offense

[KyPhinfan13]

First, I agree that you need quality skill position players. They'll win a game for you with an exciting play and they put fans in the stands. However, any successful team needs a quality offensive line. Here's why: If the o-line can control the LOS, it takes so much pressure off the rest of the entire team. The QB has time to look down field, the RB usually runs into a LB or DB first instead of a 350 lb. DT, the WR have time to get open. 3rd and shorts are converted more times than not, controlling the time of possession (a very important statistic IMO) and more importantly keeping the defense fresh. Look at the Chiefs last year, their offensive line was IMO, one of the best in the league. They did what they wanted to on offense and believe it or not, Priest Holmes could not do what he did behind Miami's OL. This is a team who scored basically at will, and besides Tony Gonzalez, their best receiver was Kennison? Another example is Denver. A few years ago they seemed that they could do no wrong drafting a RB. Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson...all looked like the next Emmitt Smith. I think Davis was a tremendous talent but those other guys were average at best IMO. Why didn't Denver get much for Gary when they traded him? What has he done in Detroit besides make them a favorite to draft a RB in the 1st round this year. Why is Mike Anderson playing FB? With his stats, he should have been traded for a couple of first round picks. The offensive line is the reason.

I agree that you need a strong defense and I'm all for it. However, spending all those draft picks on Ricky and getting AJ for next years 2nd will be for nothing if there isn't someone up there blocking for them. David Boston and Chris Chambers....that pair is near the top of the league in talent at wideout. But defenses will be able to double up on both of them forcing the Phins to dink and dunk passes to Konrad and Williams because they could consistantly create QB pressure with rushing only 4 or 5 guys.

Sorry for such a long post, but I'm tired of hearing that we still need to spend our first rounder on anything but an o-lineman. Yes, it could still happen--the Phins have surprised all of us on more than one occasion with their selections in the early rounds of the draft. I have been impressed with Spielman (sp?) so far and I think he'll make the right decision and draft Andrews or one of the other talented OLinemen.

 

[caneproud117]

You neglected to mention Portis, who Denver recieved the best DB in the NFL and a second round pick for. I don't disagree that Denver's line is good, but you don't really know if it's the line or the running back until the back gets a shot behind another oline.

 

[ckparrothead]

With Denver, it could be Mike Shanahan's offense. I mean that OL has had changing personnel for a while and this year they had Ephraim Salaam at LT who I liken to Spencer Folau at LT. The OL coach has changed too through the years.

 

[phinphan13]

In Denver its a zone blocking scheme that is very successful I am suprised more teams do not use it. It requires quicker lineman than the typical girth. The line makes the RB in the NFL, Emitt Smith is proof of that. KYphinfan, I agree that our top priority should w/o a doubt be OL, OL wins games. Its fundamental that the OL be in place or the rest does not matter.

 

[KyPhinfan13]

Look at Drew Bledsoe, when he has time to throw--there's hardly anyone better. Put just a little pressure on him, he shuts down.....Then the entire offense stuggles.....

 

[DeDolfan]

Originally posted by KyPhinfan13
First, I agree that you need quality skill position players. They'll win a game for you with an exciting play and they put fans in the stands. However, any successful team needs a quality offensive line. Here's why: If the o-line can control the LOS, it takes so much pressure off the rest of the entire team. The QB has time to look down field, the RB usually runs into a LB or DB first instead of a 350 lb. DT, the WR have time to get open. 3rd and shorts are converted more times than not, controlling the time of possession (a very important statistic IMO) and more importantly keeping the defense fresh. Look at the Chiefs last year, their offensive line was IMO, one of the best in the league. They did what they wanted to on offense and believe it or not, Priest Holmes could not do what he did behind Miami's OL. This is a team who scored basically at will, and besides Tony Gonzalez, their best receiver was Kennison? Another example is Denver. A few years ago they seemed that they could do no wrong drafting a RB. Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson...all looked like the next Emmitt Smith. I think Davis was a tremendous talent but those other guys were average at best IMO. Why didn't Denver get much for Gary when they traded him? What has he done in Detroit besides make them a favorite to draft a RB in the 1st round this year. Why is Mike Anderson playing FB? With his stats, he should have been traded for a couple of first round picks. The offensive line is the reason.

I agree that you need a strong defense and I'm all for it. However, spending all those draft picks on Ricky and getting AJ for next years 2nd will be for nothing if there isn't someone up there blocking for them. David Boston and Chris Chambers....that pair is near the top of the league in talent at wideout. But defenses will be able to double up on both of them forcing the Phins to dink and dunk passes to Konrad and Williams because they could consistantly create QB pressure with rushing only 4 or 5 guys.

Sorry for such a long post, but I'm tired of hearing that we still need to spend our first rounder on anything but an o-lineman. Yes, it could still happen--the Phins have surprised all of us on more than one occasion with their selections in the early rounds of the draft. I have been impressed with Spielman (sp?) so far and I think he'll make the right decision and draft Andrews or one of the other talented OLinemen.

no argument from me. 100% agree !!

 

[DeDolfan]

Originally posted by ckparrothead
With Denver, it could be Mike Shanahan's offense. I mean that OL has had changing personnel for a while and this year they had Ephraim Salaam at LT who I liken to Spencer Folau at LT. The OL coach has changed too through the years.

Even so, CK, Denver never really got a sniff at winning the SB even WITH Elway til they got a decent OL. Then what happens next is they go back to back and ELWAY gets MVP! That's the kind of schidt that gets my goat alot !! :D :D

 

[Danny]

I think is a combination of things. You need a good o-line and you need the skill players too.And you need a good passing game so the DB's will back off in order to run the ball. Of course back in the 70's we had it all. Little, Kooch and Langer up front, then Larry Z and Morris and Griese to trow the ball to Warfield. Those were the days.

Ozzy rules!!

 

[Dolfan954]

Originally posted by KyPhinfan13
First, I agree that you need quality skill position players. They'll win a game for you with an exciting play and they put fans in the stands. However, any successful team needs a quality offensive line. Here's why: If the o-line can control the LOS, it takes so much pressure off the rest of the entire team. The QB has time to look down field, the RB usually runs into a LB or DB first instead of a 350 lb. DT, the WR have time to get open. 3rd and shorts are converted more times than not, controlling the time of possession (a very important statistic IMO) and more importantly keeping the defense fresh. Look at the Chiefs last year, their offensive line was IMO, one of the best in the league. They did what they wanted to on offense and believe it or not, Priest Holmes could not do what he did behind Miami's OL. This is a team who scored basically at will, and besides Tony Gonzalez, their best receiver was Kennison? Another example is Denver. A few years ago they seemed that they could do no wrong drafting a RB. Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson...all looked like the next Emmitt Smith. I think Davis was a tremendous talent but those other guys were average at best IMO. Why didn't Denver get much for Gary when they traded him? What has he done in Detroit besides make them a favorite to draft a RB in the 1st round this year. Why is Mike Anderson playing FB? With his stats, he should have been traded for a couple of first round picks. The offensive line is the reason.

I agree that you need a strong defense and I'm all for it. However, spending all those draft picks on Ricky and getting AJ for next years 2nd will be for nothing if there isn't someone up there blocking for them. David Boston and Chris Chambers....that pair is near the top of the league in talent at wideout. But defenses will be able to double up on both of them forcing the Phins to dink and dunk passes to Konrad and Williams because they could consistantly create QB pressure with rushing only 4 or 5 guys.

Sorry for such a long post, but I'm tired of hearing that we still need to spend our first rounder on anything but an o-lineman. Yes, it could still happen--the Phins have surprised all of us on more than one occasion with their selections in the early rounds of the draft. I have been impressed with Spielman (sp?) so far and I think he'll make the right decision and draft Andrews or one of the other talented OLinemen.

Excellent post. Everything you said is true.

 

[DeDolfan]

I ALREADY said that !!! well, sort of :D :D :D :D

 

[KyPhinfan13]

Thanks guys for your support!:D I just get frustrated that some people actually believe that we need more play makers on offense. With all the skill players we have, you might as well call us the Miami Globetrotters.

If I was RS, knowing now that Andrews has a history of back trouble, I'd lean more towards trading down. I don't have the draft value chart memorized, but I think our 1st rounder would surely be worth a high to mid 2nd and 3rd round choice. It would be great to pick up 2 OL prospects like Smiley or Grove and another G/T.

If the docs say that Andrews' back is not an issue (although I'd be getting another team's doctors to check him out since our docs missed Mac's injury) I'd take him at 20 in a heartbeat. I like the idea of Ricky following Konrad with Andrews busting through the Pats D-Line like a freaking tank!

 

[Deus Ex Dolphin]

We need more playmakers on offense!!!





Okay, just so I'm CLEAR on this... the Pats just won another Super Bowl BECAUSE they have a dominant OL?

Or was it because of having a "good enough" OL, combined with skill position players? Mainly Brady at QB really.

Things just aren't as simple in the NFL as getting the best OL and you will win. It is important, but the COMBINATION of OL and skill postions (and defense) is what wins championships.

With better play at QB ( is that YOU Feeley?) and an AVERAGE RG and RT I think we become a playoff caliber team. I really do.

Even with more time to throw, Jay can't make many deep passes and makes poor decisions about where to throw. Let me explain it this way. Which do you want? Jay and Ricky behind a great OL or Brett Farve and Ricky behind an average OL?

Can the talent of Brett make up for the average talent on the OL? Can his deep passing keep the D honest and away from trying to stack the line so Ricky can run?

Or does an great OL let us run the ball with Ricky, even with a stacked line? Does the extra second or two help Jay throw deep and accurately?

I contend that the Pats won with a good-average OL, but with Brady being talented enough at QB to make the difference. The combination of OL and skill postion. I think QB can make more of a difference than having a great player at any ONE position on the OL.

Conclusion? Get a good QB, and we can win with a good-average OL. That might be Feeley, but I'd take Rivers if he falls, THEN worry about the OL.

 

[DeDolfan]

Originally posted by Deus Ex Dolphin
We need more playmakers on offense!!!





Okay, just so I'm CLEAR on this... the Pats just won another Super Bowl BECAUSE they have a dominant OL?

apparently, they were dominate enough! if you have a good line, it helps make youir average playmakers pretty damn good alot of times. Brady is not particularly a "dominant" QB. He's is just a good average type that just excels in his system.

 

[Phinzone]

Problem is, we don't have a QB that can make the plays when given time..or didn't, hopefuly feeley pans out, but it's a gamble.

Here's where we sit as I see it. We have 2 needs now...OL and QB.

We just added a lot of youth and potential on our OL this year. Are they the best? Probably not, and probably won't be. They COULD be as bad as last year, but I can deffinetly see 3-4 solid starters coming out of htis OL. James, Smith, and Mac. IF we sign Randall, he could be a guard or a tackle when need be, and solid at both, Mckinney has potential, and so does St. Clair who was an all pro center in college.

You'll get no argument from me that the OL position is VERY important, but consider this....

we just added a bunch of depth, young, hungry linemen from the FA and didn't use a single draft pick. On the other hand, we added a young potential QB for a 2nd round pick....

Here's where I'm going with this....next year, there will be high profile linemen released into the FA, as well as the draft. And we'll have another first round pick next year. This years draft is VERY shallow in linemen. Any other year, Andrews is the 3rd 4th, maybe even a bit lower OL in the draft. Meaning, if we hold out on drafting OL for a year, we might get a better value, and or talent with next years first.

If the OL busts this year, we have a great shot of fixing it next year in the FA. It was a long shot to release 4 players this year, and replace them with legitimate starting talent. We're going to have holes after doing something like that, and as I see it we do have weak spots, and will end up having a hole. However, a hole or two can be patched up in the FA next year, we did it htis year with Mac and James. And we could even draft OL next year and expect him to start.

But what if our QB flops? We're in a place right now where we actually have an option of drafting a QB. There are needs, but there's risks at every position. THe problem with going into this season with our current QB lineup, is if it flops it will take a LONG time to fix it. If we draft a QB this year (move up, nab Rivers or Roth) they MIGHT be ready to go next year if Feeley is really struggeling, or maybe even late season if we're out of the race. At worst, it's 2 years down the road.

However, if we don't draft one and Feeley is a flop we're doomed to either Stick with Jay, Scour the FA for horrifically over priced, over aged QB's, or draft a QB and wait an extra year to groom him. In the meantime, we're still going to have to look to patch up the OL, and start thinking about our aging defense.

See the dilemma? We have potential at OL AND QB right now, the problem with going OL in this draft is if the QB flops, we're out a QB for a couple of seasons while we try to find a replacement. SOmething that's proving very difficult as we haven't had a legitimate replacement since Marino retired.

 

[Superself]

I agree, OL is where it all starts.

This team is built around Ricky Williams. We go as far as he will take us. However he needs help from those big dudes up front. We can't wait a year or two to patch stuff up. Ricky isn't getting any younger.
We don't know what may or may not be available as far as QBs next year. I'm sure some QBs will switch teams next year and may even be successful with their new team....but to sit here and say that there won't be any QBs availalble in a trade or through free agency...well I just don't believe that.