Guard: The Dolphins, who have been somewhat reluctant to spend much at guard in the past, now realize they will need to do what it takes to upgrade at one, if not both, guard spots. They believe they need better guard play to compete with the formidable defensive tackles in the AFC East, and a bunch of other teams. The Dolphins believe Dallas Thomas played a bit better than Billy Turner but thought both were inconsistent. Pro Football Focus rated Turner 65th of 79 qualifying guards this season and Thomas 78th. http://miamiherald.typepad.com/spor...lphins-heat-marlins-canes-panthers-notes.html -- Wow, then Billy Turner must really suck at Guard, and suck hard, if he's viewed as worse than the galactically incompetent Dallas Thomas. Meanwhile, Trai Turner headed to the Pro Bowl, starting... Take Billy Turner and move him back to OT where he belongs. Look at OT Jason Spriggs and OG Joshua Garnett in the draft. Pray that Jamil Douglas develops, take out the trash with Dallas Thomas. And if Laremy Tunsil is there at #8 they should jump on him like a grenade, move Ja'Wuan James to Guard until Branden Albert is gone, whatever. Don't pass on that talent, although I am warming up to CB Mackensie Alexander.
Man if we get Kelechi Osemele or Evan Mathis I will be more thrilled than if we won a wildcard game. Draft a OT and we will have the first legitimate offensive line since Sparano's first year. This is my most anticipated offseason since that year
It all depends on scheme. Many guys are scheme diverse, most are not, so throwing names around right now may be a bit premature. Until we know what we're getting in terms of coaches we have some ambiguity with who the targets might be.
So Rich do you think Albert, Pouncey, and James are flexible enough schematically to go either way [man or zone]?.... in essence allowing the guards to determine which scheme we're best suited for? If so, couldn't we then target a pair of matching guards and simply adjust the scheme accordingly?
I think we need to find out what exactly happened to James this year because no wy was that a broken toe. Far too long a recovery time for that. I've looked at what Chicago did on offense and they were similar to us in that they didn't feature a fullback or a bunch of standard formations of 22 personnel. It seemed they wanted to spread teams out, make them put a nickel corner on the field and create matchups. I think they will be fine, I think realistically they are pretty much ideal though James needs to be mobile. IF this is a lingering thing we are legitimately ****ed for one season at least. We must come away with one competitive guard.
Are we limited to continuing with a zone scheme or are we flexible enough to let the guards we bring in determine which way we go [zone vs man]?
Toes are tough injuries, I can attest to that. Lots of weight supported by very little bones down there. I've been pounding the table for two years that we screwed up by not drafting Trai Turner in the 3rd round, very mobile and a perfect fit, Pro Bowl starter this year. This year I'm on the Joshua Garnett bandwagon for our 3rd round Guard, ideally him or get a solid Guard (or two) in FA and leave James at RT. Better James at RG than Dallas Freaking Thomas, though. Billy Turner should clearly be the swing Tackle at this point, imo. Should have been from the start. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyhsCki3neg 1:09
Garnett is the one guy I really want to see us take in the draft. Kid is one mean SOB and a great run blocker.
That's the big question for me. I'm not too sure that I don't take him in the 2nd, depends on how the board falls, we have so many needs. We need a swing Tackle so badly, if Billy Turner goes to OT and we dump Dallas Thomas and load up on Guards, good for us.
As per the OL I looked a bit at OT Shon Coleman from Auburn. Big dude, about 6-6, 310 lbs. I see him as a possible bust at OT but maybe a pretty darned good OG. Has the size, powerful, has a lot of pop to his game, likes to get after it. Seems to have some speed and mobility, but poor reaction time. I could see him getting smoked at OT, but if moved inside he has the strength, power, aggressiveness and mobility for OG in ZBS to get it done. He has the aggressiveness that I think Landon Turner lacks, but just can't mirror and react well enough to play OT in the NFL. At least that's what I see so far. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64vKPczvKgw Also, I'm thinking that maybe we go after Cowboys OG Ronald Leary in FA, I think that he's a FA now, signed a one year contract last year.
Looking more at Shon Coleman, he lunges way too much for my taste at OT, but I can certainly see him at OG in a ZBS. Heck of a run blocker and he can move, just doesn't react well enough for OT. Thomas gone, Turner back at OT and this guy at OG would work for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JwcxyTRGNs