http://nfltraderumors.co/report-dolphins-sign-veteran-c-samson-satele/ Remind me again, doesn't ZBS require good run blocking from the center?
Dolphins sign C Samson Satele just had this as a pop up on my iPad from ESPN, waived OG Samuel Longo for him https://twitter.com/miamidolphins/status/495713446936068096
the competition at RG just got fierce with turner, thomas and smith, i would give colledge some competition and put smith over at LG
Correct. But we didn't have a starting center at all, and he can fill in until Pouncey comes back, at which point we have one of the best backup centers in the league. Finally somebody does something intelligent.
Surprised it took this long. Good move. Should be able to help hold the spot down until Pouncey gets back...
Look at this way .All offensive plays start with a center snap.Even though thats all he can do we will be ahead of the game .
At least we can make sure the ball is getting to Tannehill. Other than that, Satele doesn't provide much.
@flasportsbuzz: Dolphins discussed contract with Satele 10 days ago but he decided to wait to see if they would offer better deal,which they did and he took
If anything else, kudos to Dennis Hickey for making the move. At the very least he's bringing in guys who've played at least some at the NFL level to round out the O-line with Satele and even Tony Hills to a degree. I feel like in the past it would have been sink or swim with what we had.
this is truely the darkest timeline. I like the move, but I wonder how much can be attributed to the job security of Hickey and Philbin. Even so, Hickey has brought in more offensive lineman that fit scheme in one year than Ireland did in 2.
Satele is generally an under-powered C who moves well. So simplistically he can get run over by a big NT so you'd probably need to double team play side on our inside zone runs. But he's better than many at picking up blocks against smaller quicker guys. He's also decent at pulling and at locating and blocking players on the second level (like a MLB). He struggled last year in the run game which I heard dropped his PFF rank to #31, but the year before that he was rated as the #16 C by PFF (for those who believe in their ratings). Both years in Indy he was in a zone blocking system (it was a man/power system in Miami when he was last here).
I'm good with it, I rather have a guy that has experience snapping the football than have Smith Garner or who ever else they were trying to convert to center... He may not be good but other than Pouncey he's easily the best option to start the season.