http://www.sportsmedia101.com/miami...stephen-ross-tipping-his-2014-nfl-draft-card/ I really hope this is a smoke screen, but if it isn't, who do you see the Dolphins targeting at RT, and where would the player probably go?? Is there a free agent left that can play a decent RT? Drafting RT maybe a foregone conclusion but you would have thought in the tradition of NFL BS that they would have at least tried to get some people to believe that Dallas Thomas was the future at RT.
How do we know Dallas Thomas isn't the future at that position? He was all SEC, maybe he found the transition more challenging. We're just gonna write him off after 1 year and pretty much no playing time? Hmmmm. Disagree. It's too early to decide. I'd like to think that with a new line coach we can see some upskilling and a large increase in playing time and quality.
Do we? Ross isn't exactly known for his discretion. It wouldn't be the first time that something he has said or done that never should have been made public, was indeed made public. Smokescreen? Yah, Like I said, I hope so, but perhaps Ross is just doing his buffoon thing again; or maybe the situation IS just so obvious that, what the hay....might as well just say it. I really hope they don't assume Zach Martin will be there for them at 19 because the Ravens have OL needs as well. I prefer a prolific leader and impact player with the first round pick. I'm undecided on who I like the most for RT as far as value in this draft, and I don't want to trade up, I would much rather trade down and take advantage of this incredibly deep draft. My wild guess for an effective draft at the OT position would be Joel Bitonio in the late 2nd after a trade down and Wesley Johnson after trading down in the 5th.
No need to smokescreen when its a 'Duh'. No FA RT's worth a damn left. That leaves trade or draft. Just a matter of who and whether its a first, 2nd round tackle. There are a few options for RT guys going into the mid 2nd. Look for an athletic guy and that's probably a good bet. And Thomas is probably headed to guard where most had him pegged for at draft.
A Player that played RT ? Or more likely, a Tackle to play on the right side ? Ross is just trying to quiet the people wondering who will play that position. Ideally you draft a LT that can play on the right side.... for now. Albert is not a long term fix, we'll soon be looking for another premium Tackle. Taking a guy like Zack Martin who projects as a RT or guard would be a need pick for sure.
Let's draft a guy who likely wasn't good enough to play at LT in college. Then tell everyone about it in advance. Clown shoes. Really hoping this is a smoke screen.
Even if they draft a RT, they likely will still need to sign a FA IMO. At this point my best guess is McKinnie.
Because the coaching staff has already decided that he's strictly a guard, per a Barry Jackson article. McKinnie has stated he does not want to play right tackle and is looking for a left tackle job.
That's odd because late last season there was an article (by Omar IIRC) that stated the reason Dallas wasn't seeing the field was that the coaching staff viewed him as a tackle and didn't want to stunt his development. He's recently come out and said he willing to switch http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...ckinnie-says-hes-willing-to-play-right-tackle
Sign Wharton, draft a tackle in the second round unless a tackle is BPA at 19, and we're set. Don't pass on talent like Ebron, Evans, etc for a tackle... please don't do that...
Supposedly he said he's willing to: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/20...-mckinnie-miami-dolphins-profootballfocus-com Either way, I'm sure his preference is to play LT. But I doubt he will get the opportunity to be a starting LT.
The problem is that you're trusting Omar. Philbin was asked this morning about Dallas Thomas at tackle and Philbin steered the discussion back to Thomas at guard. Barry Jackson had a column in early February stating that Thomas didn't see the field because of work ethic, not because he was rostered as a tackle. That's news to me, thanks.
I don't know what the Dallas Thomas bull**** is about. Rookie player looking bad and not seeing much playing time shouldn't really prompt a meltdown or a race to the bottom on how ridiculous you can get about his prospects as a player.
Were going to draft a. Qb. Bill o'brien. I'm doubling down on Dallas Thomas..I thought he was solid in college, and I'm I'm thinking his torn labrum surgery affected a lot of stuff.
In theory I absolutely agree with you. But those people who pretty strongly disliked Dallas Thomas in college will naturally feel emboldened about that considering how bad he was as a rookie, to the point where practice squad UDFA Sam Brenner was brought up to the roster to play a spot Dallas Thomas had played a lot in college.
What did you think about him coming out of Tennessee? I had him graded as a third rounder, looked like he was mobile and could anchor well in pss pro?
If the Dolphins are in for a right tackle then I think in general they're going to want to hold off from the position in the 1st round. The problem is that the guys they would be looking at there are all going to be converts and NFL history is littered with guys who were viewed to be "safe" because hey if the guy doesn't quite have the feet to be a left tackle he's probably a good right tackle or left guard. I remember going all the way back to Kenyatta Walker with the Bucs in 2001, he was a left tackle at Florida and the Bucs took at #14 and moved him to right tackle and he sucked there and complained the whole way that he felt like a fish out of water flipping sides like that. Jonathan Martin never felt comfortable at right tackle and his play quality proved it. He was no more viable a right tackle than he was a left tackle. Luke Joeckel and Eric Fisher flipped to right tackle as rookies after being career left tackles and they really struggled despite their top billing. Lane Johnson was better than them. Is it a coincidence that half of Johnson's college career was at right tackle? You tell me. Justin Pugh was a career left tackle and he looked best of all of them, yet was drafted at the tail end of the 1st round. I think that whole situation really exemplifies the risk that you insert into the equation when you're talking about position switches. If I were tempted to eat that risk in the 1st round it would have to be guys who show truly unique qualities like Taylor Lewan and Greg Robinson. If one of them fell to 19 overall for whatever reason, I think the risk is mitigated a little bit by their overall talent level. After all if you managed to get one of those you would believe him to be eventually taking over for the 30 year old Branden Albert when you decide he's not worth keeping around anymore. Jake Matthews also kind of goes without saying, and like Lane Johnson he was playing right tackle as recently as 2012. Otherwise I think we're looking at going for a right tackle lower in the draft because you're not getting best player available value by taking one at 19 overall. The least risky player you could go for in that regard is probably JaWuan James. He's huge, very strong, good athlete, played right tackle the whole time at Tennessee and was truly excellent. Go watch his game versus Tennessee. Dee Ford is being evaluated as a 1st rounder or close enough to one and JaWuan James shut him down. He also made Michael Sam look like a UDFA. I wanted to see James going up against Clowney some but unfortunately South Carolina never moved him to that side even though I'd seen them do it in other games. Clowney was having way too much fun going up against Antonio Richardson to end up wanting to deal with JaWuan James. After that you're looking at riskier plays like Morgan Moses, Billy Turner and yes, Zack Martin. These guys are risks but they are also very talented. Cyrus Kouandjio is in a similar boat but with additional medical risk attached to him. Seantrel Henderson is in a similar boat as Kouandjio but as a character risk. Cameron Fleming is a guy that I like about as much as them. He played right tackle at Stanford, but also played some left tackle earlier. Joel Bitonio is brought up some but in addition to being a risk moving over to that side I question whether he's fit for it period. He is physically weak and I don't know that I see him having the power to play a right tackle position. I need to get a better feel for Jack Mewhort and Michael Schofield. I've eliminated them from my board as left tackles but they could be right tackles. Same with Tiny Richardson and Justin Britt.
Unless he shows a great deal more than he did in his rookie season, I don't even see Thomas being on the roster when the season begins. He seemed completely overwhelmed as an NFL player last season. The fact the coaching staff started an undrafted rookie offensive lineman late in the season, while Thomas remained on the bench or the inactive list, shows that Thomas has a long way to go to even be part of this team in 2014.
I did not like him at all and I definitely didn't have him as high as the 3rd round. I'll just quote myself: I didn't have him on my targets board which means he wasn't in the top 150 or so players for me and that means he's at best a 5th or 6th rounder, with about a 0% chance that I ever end up taking him even in the 5th or 6th or 7th rounds because I know for a fact that there will be a lot of my top 150 players still available by the time we get into those rounds.
There has never been a football player, like Paul Soliai for example, who showed nothing during his rookie year and turned out to be a good player.
Paul Soliai is a better example than you think. Who here recalls that Miami signed Soliai's old nose tackle teammate at Utah Steven Fifita, who went undrafted, and ended up playing him at defensive tackle in 2007 ahead of Soliai? Of course to be fair, Fifita was a 2nd year pro, not a rookie. Personally yeah I think it looks hella bad for Dallas Thomas that the Dolphins drafted him in the 3rd round, signed a UDFA off the street and kept him on the practice squad, and then when terrible circumstances required that they need someone to step up at left guard they preferred to bring the UDFA up from the practice squad to the regular roster and have him step into the role. That looks awful when you consider that left guard was Dallas Thomas primary spot at the end of his college career. Doesn't help that he looked awful in preseason. (and in college)
Have to retract the bit about Morgan Moses being a risky projection at right tackle. He played right tackle until 2013 as Oday Aboushi manned the left tackle spot. I've watched his game film at right tackle and he looked just as monstrous and powerful as he did at left tackle if not more so. It may even be his more natural position. In fact I'd watch for him to be taken at #19 overall. I'd definitely get behind Morgan Moses at #19 overall before Zack Martin. It's hard to watch Moses on tape and not wonder what his dimensions are. The guy has gorilla arms and this naturally HUGE body. It's like watching something out of a Syfy/Fantasy movie. And it's just as hard to get around that monstrous frame as you'd imagine it to be. Heard he recently ran like a 5.05 at his pro day. According to Alex Dunlap he has a bigger wingspan than Kevin Love and Blake Griffin. Yikes.
Yes, there are others who agree. http://www.drafttek.com/2014-NFL-Mock-Draft-Round1.asp Count me in as well, although I would still rather get him after a trade down. Too bad he pulled his hamstring at his pro day, he really needed to improve his shuttle and three cone. Those combine numbers tarnish his resume. He has good wingspan and arm length but the freak award in that department clearly goes to Cornelius "Luke" Lucas with 36.75 inch arm length. Too bad he is injured as well and couldn't work out. What a monster.