The man wants to play pro ball very badly. His entire conscious life, he's wanted to play pro ball. He'll play it wherever they want him to play it.
Don't tell me, tell Nick Aliotti. I do think it's a bit worrisome when a guy's coach makes a statement like that. It leaves you hoping he's wrong about a player he coached for years. The ignorance of some people on this board is amazing. It's as if I haven't been a big Dion Jordan fan since well before any of you knew who the hell he was. LOL.
If you're not going to don a skirt, get some pompoms then GTFO out of here. This time of year everyone is undefeated and giddy.
Don't guard's make more money? "you never draft a center that high." Where are guard's drafted? Serious questions. IS center more prestigious than guard?
I wouldn't be to sure about that answer. I know some who think Center is the most important position on the line now. In fact, I think Alen1 believes so.
That's fine but we're not talking about that. We're talking about whether a player feels going from C to G is a downgrade. I remember G contracts to be semi-rich. Not sure of any Centers. Remember the Steve Hutchinson poison pill.
Oh, I see. Sorry. I think contract wise, they're pretty similar. Guards are a little richer but Centers are up there.
Turns out the top five guards do make more than the top five centers. After that there isn't that much of a difference. http://www.sportscity.com/nfl-salaries-top-10-salaries-for-offensive-linemen/2012/07/05/
Given all of the shuffling on the line which has reached a point where they're actually experimenting with moving Mike Pouncey over to guard, how long before the Dolphins begin revisiting with Brandon Moore? Still available. Still was pretty good last year. Not quite the most mobile guy for the zone thing but when you're fighting for competence I'm not sure you need to be overly concerned with that. I'd say that if Lance Louis still isn't quite right by next week or so the Dolphins need to take a second look at Brandon. I believe they already flirted with him before.
I'm still not convinced that oline shuffling we've seen the past few days is anything more than contingency planning, in case more injuries happen in the year, instead of not having a starting line figured out. Coach Turner's comments from after practice yesterday, certainly point towards a contingency plan.
One of Pounceys main qualities is his mobility and his ability to clear defenders out beyond the line of scrimmage .A good combination for RBs to run behind. Pouncey was a second-team AP All-America selection at guard as a junior at the University of Florida in 2009 before he moved to center as a senior after his twin brother Maurkice left early for the NFL. One of his negatives is that he has an inconsistant snap causing misshandling of the ball at times. I woudnt mind seeing a permanent switch to G if Samuda can do an adequate job at C.
Considering we have a massive question mark at RG. I don't think the starting line is figured out at all.
I agree with this. I think we'll have a better handle on what the O-line's actually going to look like after the HOF Game. I can see them using that one as an experimental game, and to give the "JV" guys, as Omar calls them, more reps since it is, after all, an extra game. That game against Tampa Bay will be the "real" test, IMO.
The guy that intrigues me is Josh Samuda. I've been intrigued with him ever since I heard the Dolphins signed him as a UDFA and I started doing some digging. I loved his Regional Combine workout tape. I loved his highlight tape. I found other game tapes of Massachussetts and thought he stood up well when transitioning from a highlight reel to just watching him play football every snap of a game. Right away he went to the top of my list along with Jonas Gray and Derrick Shelby for the top UDFA signings that year. Samuda has a pure combination of maneuverability and power that we haven't seen in Miami since Donald Thomas. That should give you a clue that having that pure combination is not exactly the end-all/be-all, because Thomas couldn't make good on his potential here. Donald continues to bounce around the league and even find starting work because of that pure combination, but you obviously need something more than that to be a great lineman. But it does give you a lot of potential if you do 'get it'. This is the guy that if I were the coaches I would like to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. The problem for me is that the coaches don't seem to know what he is. They are all over the board with this guy. He found a niche last year as the backup center which is fine because he has that versatility and you have to train someone at that spot in case Pouncey ever gets hurt. Someone needs to be used to making the line calls and snapping the football. But he was mostly a guard in college and I thought putting him at backup center was mostly just a way to get him on the roster. This off season they've had him also working at right guard and now left guard, and they've also been toying with him as the starting center while Pouncey moves to guard. It's all over the place. There's something about him that makes the coaches say we want to find this guy a spot on the field, but there's also something about him that makes the coaches say we don't know what he is. Either way, he's my favorite option for the 5th lineman spot until/unless I see him in some preseason games and really just come off not liking what I see. At that point I'd steer toward Brandon Moore, or going with whichever player actually did impress me in preseason (be it Lance Louis, Dallas Thomas, Will Yeatman, Nate Garner, etc).
Exactly, since he's out, I think the team is taking this time to experiment and its really nothing more than that.
Worse case scenario with that, you can start him on the PUP list and activate him midseason. It allows him to fully recover AND, if you need it, it gives you someone with starting capability you can bring back without signing someone else midseason.
Well, losing that 30 lbs this offseason should expedite his recovery.. I'd like to see Martin, Richie, Pouncey, Samuda, Clabo, that way you have Martin and Samuda playing next to vets.
Turner talks about him a bit in his latest interview. Says that originally, they didn't think much of him and that he's now a guy they want to make it. Praises him pretty good.
I think that's probably ideal if Lance Louis doesn't make a swift recovery. I'm still intrigued enough by Dallas Thomas to see what he can do at LG.
Me too but I was thinking about at least some contuniuty within the line and not having Dallas learn a whole new position he hasn't played as a rookie.