Not a popular area to deal with, but it's very much an underrated area of concern.
Randy Starks and Tony McDaniel are free agents. Randy Starks had a pretty good year(with a bit of a slump at the end), and Tony McDaniel is pretty well replaceable.
Paul Soliai also should not escape scrutiny. He had a pretty average year for the second year in a row, and performed particularly poorly when he was needed the most vs. elite run blocking lines like the Patriots and 49ers. He is a free agent in 2014, and also needs to be considered for potential replacements.
Moving Jared Odrick to Randy Starks 3-technique position has been quite popular, but runs into an issue with replacing Odrick. You cannot move your typical 250-260 pound edge rusher and have him do the same things that Odrick has been asked to do in the Dolphins defense. Replacing him with a more dynamic pass rusher that also is capable of being a quality edge rusher will take significant resources.
I'm not sure that Defensive Tackle is a position you have to put huge resources in. It's a position that inherently requires rotation, and every year has guys who go fairly cheaply because they are one-dimensional, older, or a combination of those things when they are very much still capable of playing well within their roles.
One name that I find particularly appealing is Mike Devito. He's very much a run defender rather than an overall player, but he's been quite dominant at times and is capable of playing both Soliai and Starks positions.
Richard Seymour at 33 I think is still a quite good player, and will always have a place in my heart for this:
[video=youtube;1tQyh4910wA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tQyh4910wA&t=0m58s[/video]
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We have so many pressing needs to fill. We only have so much cap room and so many picks. Hard to spend a lot of money on a 33 year old DT. Seymour is still going to get a decent sized contract in the FA market. I perfer to keep some cap room myself for 2014 and address WR, OL, CB, Pass Rusher & TE postion... this offseason as best as we can with picks and some of our cap room.
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In comparison to other weaknesses, I'd have to heavily disagree...
If we lose some depth, sure we'll need to acquire some more b/c as you say, the position is a rotational one and you need to keep bodies fresh. But our DTs were hardly holding us back from success IMO. -
Devito is going to cost a good amount of money this offseason, IMO. More than people expect. I wouldn't be surprised if he received a 3 yr/ 15-18 Million deal.
I'd rather go with your option of spending a high resource on an edge rusher/5 technique and push Odrick inside to the 3-technique as you mentioned. This solution, IMO, enhances your defense, while the signing of Seymour or Devito keeps it the same (which isn't such a bad thing).
Not to mention Vernon will be getting more snaps at DE and Odrick will continue to get more snaps at DT. -
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i would just re sign starks [i now its going to cost $6m or so ,and move odrich inside as back up ] but his been our best def lineman over the the last 5 years and his top 5 dt in nfl imo ! ,why should we let players of his type disappear making another hole?? } draft a def end , and maybe sign a antwan barnes type pure pass rusher
mcDaniel never should of made the team with his injuries and salary , his already been replaced last season in my eyes by randall -
move Odrick inside, spend a 4th or 5th rounder on a project DT for depth behind Randall. spend 1st round pick on pass-rushing DE. problem solved with minimal impact on salary cap.
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i like that idea as well although i am not sure how well odrich holds up as a def tackle in 4-3 ,nickel,dime ,run stuffing and pass rusher all year long .
i know he had a lot of snaps in 2012 ! whi!ch prob counter acts my thoughts ?
but we are 1 injury away from being very weak in my eyes at the position, and run on all day ?
forget how much we paid our dt depth this year $15m ? [$4m was wasted on mcDaniel ]i would use that to pay randy`s 2/3rd wages in 2013 -
How many times did we see long runs right up the middle? Especially in the latter part of the season. I do think that the pair of Solai and Starks is a very good one. IMO they need another solid pass rusher that can play opposite of Wake more than another DT. But a case can surely be made for one because teams were just putting a double team on either Solai or Starks and it made for a gaping hole up the middle. Dansby is part to blame for those runs as well though. Being hurt sure did not help but he had his moments of mediocrity as much as anyone on the defense.
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I would try to extend Solia to increase cap space. I would move Odrick inside to create a 3 room rotation. I hope Rhandall will improve. Resign Stark. Have Vernon and Shelby to fight for the spot on the other side, with maybe a draft pick.
I think defensive line should be fine after that. Miami will not be as solid against the run, however they will be better against the pass. They also need to cut down Solia's snaps so he isn't so worn out at the end of the year. That or Solia needs to be in much better shape. -
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I think the problem with Soliai that has sort of fallen under the radar is that he hasn't at all played up to his contract, either when franchised or this year
Here's Paul Soliai's run stopping grades from Pro Football Focus for the past 5 years:
2012: -1.0
2011: +2.8
2010: +12.4
2009: +1.3
2008: +0.3
He's very much someone who has a dominant game or two a season and then isn't particularly good for the rest of it. Meanwhile, you're paying a bunch of money for a guy who can't rush the passer, and then paying what I would regard as a premium for a guy big and strong enough to play a certain style of defense you aren't running anymore. -
I think his numbers correspond with his increase in snaps. He was used too much this year.
However it is true, that you do have a run stuffer who isn't the best at rushing the passer. -
I've come to the conclusion after looking at D-line scenarios that until Soliai is gone, we can't create the line we want, not one that maximizes our talents.
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I don't know if he's being asked to play that ridiculous a workload. Pro Football Focus has him at 54.7% of eligible snaps this year. 2010 he was 53%. There were 40+ guys over 300lbs. in front of him, and more than a handful are 320+ pound guys.
I don't think you have to get rid of him per se, but I think you need to look harder at making him a rotational player and then re-evaluating how much you are willing to pay him when he's a free agent.