Seattle Seahawks drafted a guard in the first round in 2011. Won the Superbowl in 2013.

 

Consider the Patriots spent all of $1.54 million in cap space on their three interior linemen last season as they won the Super Bowl.

lol
NE plays Chess

 

Your post vexes me.

- Are you pointing out how little money that is, to say guard isn't important?

OR

- Are you saying they thought it was so important that they used all their available money on the positions?

OR

- Are you saying that's why they won the SB?

 

how little they spent on guards

 

They also got players to make the other positions stronger too. It would not surprise me if Lamp is the pick. I sure don't want to pass on a lock of a good player for a possible fit at another.

With that being said I believe Lamp is drafted before 22.

 

Lamp has the potential to be more than just a Guard though.

Consider this too... James' contract is due, unless we pick up the 5th year option which is pricey. So, if you do draft Lamp, and he plays Guard this year, the cost savings is there to kick him out to tackle on the right side if need be I'd think, and if they think he can play there. That's a big cost savings, but then you're back to Guard hunting again next year, of course. There's ways around this assuming you think he can handle RT. Given his athletic ability, I don't see why not.

I mean, if you have a gaping hole at LG, C (potentially), and RG, why wouldn't you consider him? It'd be crazy not to. Especially with a player of his caliber, given our struggles to find guys to play along the interior OL. It makes a lot of sense. I get that there's "better" players available, I get the whole BPA approach, but you have to factor in the need also IMO.

That being said, I too think Lamp could be gone before 22 anyways, likely because someone is going to vision him as an LT of the future, not just a Guard. Just this morning on Sirius, Greg McElroy was doing his mock draft, he had Denver taking Boles, but said they could also consider Lamp because he played LT in college and he believed he could do it in the NFL too. So, the thought is there that this guy is in for far more than a career at G. He then had us actually taking Lamp at 22.

I find it a bit funny though, everyone likes to complain about the struggles of our OL, and how terrible our interior looks right now, especially with Pouncey up in the air, yet everybody also wants to complain about addressing it with a top talent. I don't quite get that. Sure, you can get a Guard later in the draft, but given our track record on that lately, is that really the best plan? Plus, you can easily say we need two G's. Not just one.

I get that there's more explosive players, at more "impact" positions that would be more exciting, I think people are just getting too hung up on calling him a Guard, and saying it's too high. If you only project him as a guard, then yeah, maybe it is. If you project him as more, and he fills a huge immediate need that's going to play starting minutes right away, I've got no problem with it.

I think some people are going to be surprised when some of their "favorites" go well before people think they will. I'm including Lamp in that bunch. I doubt he's going to be there when we pick. Especially in a draft that's pretty deep at other positions of need, but not so deep on the OL.

For the record, I'm not saying pick him. I'd rather have a defender at S/LB/DE, but I just don't think this would be the end of the world either. I'd be ok with it, depending on who's left on the board.

 

As good as he was at T in college, projections at T in the NFL are sketchy, he has plenty of talent, but very short arms and that is a real problem at T in the NFL, so far from a guarantee he can play RT, never mind be as good as James.

I think he could be a great pulling LG, he's not a road grader G, but is rife with talent so that doesn't bother me, he would immediately upgrade the Oline, but there are only so many eggs in the basket and we need to make scrambled eggs for everyone.

Imo, S, TE and G should not be on the docket in the 1st round, we acquired a starting S and 2 TE's already, and we can't continue to put so much resources on the Oline, especially on a position that is mainly an after the 1st round position.

If you are sound at the T's, you don't need great G's, and this draft has plenty of good potential at G later and we are in DIRE need of talent on the other side of the ball.

If we drafted him I'd be excited to see how good he can get pulling for Jayjay, but my hopes of us stopping anyone would diminish, running teams are not "outscoring" teams, they win with run and D.

Nice long 7 min drives are good, but if you're giving up 3 min drives it negates that.

 

i would take a look a Halpin from WKU for possible center too. His 35 bench reps at pro day would have been best at combine. He is a solid player.

I like Lamp on several levels, known to be a great team leader, high quality person, and no risk kind of pick.

 

you nailed it. it is safe. not sexy, but look, will be effective. can step in day 1 and help. it isn't our biggest hole, but if it helps our offense stay on the field, that helps the run defense too.

 

Man, if the Pouncey situation ain't gonna work out, we may have to go heavy on OL early. we need net a positive number, always negative or back to 0, meaning we lose Pouncey and gain Lamp. Never both.

 

good stuff here on Lamp

 

yep only go this route if we get stuck...this should be the fall back plan...trade out of possible...if not and no edge top 25 value there take lamp

 

I firmly believe that adults need to know what they are good at and what they are bad at. The Miami Dolphins simply cannot find guard talent late. We are just not good at it. Taking the obvious choice may very well be best

Are we going to miss out on some top notch defensive talent? Yup.

Ultimately, the future of the team rests on the shoulders of Ryan Tannehill and Jay Ajayi, and for that reason, I am content with the move.

 

He did play at Western Kentucky

 

I really like Forrest Lamp. That being said, the Phins should wait til day 2 to select a guard (unless out of all other options in the first). Barry Jackson reported Dorian Johnson visited. Besides Dorian Johnson; Dan Feeney, Dion Dawkins, Taylor Moton, etc. all on the second day.

 

Yeah really. Comparing him to an SEC guy and two Big Ten guys is gonna skew things a little.

 

not sure what your point is. They had the 6th rated offensive line and were ranked 25 in the nation. Not mention the number of players they currently have in the NFL, and 2 soon to be added.

They played Alabama and Vandy last year and he graded out well in both games. Also graded out well against LSU the year before.

Even the SEC teams don't play all pro DE's every week.

 

PFF grades on a cumulative scale. Competition is very important. Even though he did grade out well against Alabama and Vandy, he still has an overall lower competitive level than the other players on that list.

 

I have no desire to see an offensive player drafted until at least the 3rd day of the draft. The picks in the first three rounds all need to be on defense.
To me the offense has enough talent on it to be successful if they have a defense that is just middle of the pack. Unfortunately this defense has been one of the worst defenses in the league over the past few years.

 

If you look around the entire league, you will see that there are very few teams with solid offensive lines. The fact is, there just haven't been a lot of top tier offensive linemen coming out of college in recent years.

 

I don't give a sh.it if they draft a pink and blue Poca-dotted elephant as long as the bastard makes plays for the team.

You keep adding players that make plays and you'll be just fine. :up:

 

And Pouncey may never playou this year...how stupid are we going to feel if Pouncey, who is currently on crutches, can't play? If Lamp is there, we need to think long and hard.

 

The problem with taking a Guard early is that you can also find gems at guard late. Plus, you're then stuck spending 1st round $ on a Guard, and if that guard turns out to be as good as you hoped you then are stuck paying him $10+MM a year to retain when he becomes a FA like Hutchinson, Zeitler, Osemele, etc. Spending 10% of your cap on a Guard is bad news

 

Where did you get that he might not play?

 

In an ideal world we could fill our interior O-Line like the Patriots have done. In their five super bowl wins I think they have had a undrafted pair of guards in two of their five Super Bowl wins, one undrafted and one mid round guard in their first two Super Bowl wins, and in their most recent Super Bowl win they had a pair of day three guards.

So yes, a lot of champions don't always have guards picked in the first round, I looked at most of the recent Super Bowl winners of the last decade and their guards were either day two, day three or undrafted. The only first round player I came across was James Carpenter with the Seattle Seahawks. So perhaps you are right that we shouldn't use our first round pick on a guard, but at the same time, if Lamp can do for us what Zack Martin has for the Cowboys, then he could be a very worthwhile draft pick because it could help our quarterback and running game.

 

He is (was) on crutches because he had a stem cell injection. Everything we know points to him being healthy come the beginning of the season.

 

The more I think about the draft the more I find myself leaning away from Lamp. He's never been my first choice, but I always said that I'd be OK if they took him at #22.

Yes, we need an OG x2. However, if you look at this draft there are OL who can be had in ~3-4 round that would be immediate impacts on this team. If the Dolphins decide to go offense with their 1st pick, it should be for one of the top TE's.

However, I'm still hoping for Peppers to be there.

 

ESPN's mock draft last night had Lamp going before Miami picked, anyway, which made me want Lamp more.
I think we'd be lucky to get Lamp, as he's a better guard than any of the other position guys are at their particular position, in terms of guys available at 22.
At 22, we're getting a lower ranked LB, DE, CB, etc than Lamp as a guard. Cross your fingers and hope we can get Lamp, IMO.

 

I doubt the Dolphins will take Lamp at #22 and if they do, they made a mistake, IMO.

 

Just because Lamp is the first or second rated guard doesn't make him a better prospect than the 3rd or 4th rated DE.

 

"we can't continue to put so much resources on the Oline, especially on a position that is mainly an after the 1st round position."
Offensive line, for the Miami Dolphins, is CRUCIAL to our team's success. It's like the gatekeeper to be able to get our best assets into productivity. We're wasting our strengths if this weakness is choking off our use of these weapons.

 

"Just because Lamp is the first or second rated guard doesn't make him a better prospect than the 3rd or 4th rated DE."

I know, but I think we're looking at the 6th or 7th best DE when we draft.

Also, outside of the top 3, the other DEs will be situational, whereas a good guard effects most plays.

 

Let's be honest, We can't afford to only get 1 on 3rd & 2, or get 2 on 3rd & 3. We've had Way too many drives short-circuit because of the inability to cash in a vital short 3rd down. It's SO frustrating! You have to be able to run when the defense knows it's coming Some of the time. We Have to be able to send the TE into a pattern instead of having to protect the OL too often. We need Help on the offensive line or we're just wasting the best part of our roster.

 

I'm not saying you don't have a valid point, but stopping other teams is arguably more crucial to nearly any teams success.

 

It's possible that, Harris, Barnett, taco, Takk, Willis, and Hall will be there in some combo at 22. Now, of course it depends on where you rank them, but most "experts" have those guys anywhere from the 3rd to 7th best DE's.

And Obi and Peppers are in the 3-5 place for S.

Reddick, Watt, Davis, and Williams may ALL be there at 22 and they're top 1-5 OLB in the draft.

Foster, Zach, McMillian, could all very well be available at 22 and they're probably the top 3 ILB's.

The list goes on for top 5 at their position who will be available at 22.

 

most of the experts are saying Lamp IS one of the best players in the draft. In other words if he were a DE, or LB he would be in the top 10, There are reasons those DE that fall to us do, there are questions about each of them otherwise they would not fall to us. That concerns me. I would rather take a higher % "known" player.

 

I have no problem with Lamp, only the logic in post #30.