all the money and resources Ireland has dedicated to this line and it still sucks...how sad.

 

I'm hesitant to even ask how PFF rated Donald Thomas. Reading the answer might require the use of a barf bag.

 

I thought Mike Pouncey kinda quit during the end of the season. He got tossed around by Wilfork in New England.

 

Martin with a 22 banger, if we sign Long, I would move him to guard.

 

I wonder how much of a difference this season would have been if we had made a better offer to Eric Winston (+15.9) instead of Martin posting a -22.

 

I've seen a few people now suggest moving Martin to guard. I don't get that. At all.

I think his biggest weakness currently is his strength. He's already struggling against smaller DEs and OLBs, and people want to move him inside against interior linemen? How's he going to fare against Vince Wilfork? Not well I'd imagine. This theory needs to quietly disappear. More quietly than Zach Thomas at SS.

 

at this point Ro, your right, the theory does not have much weight or thought behind it, it's simply a reaction to having no confidence in him at right tackle.

 

I think he's Miami's left tackle moving forward unless they end up signing someone like Ryan Clady or Jermon Bushrod in free agency. I tend to doubt Jake Long's going to want to come back for what Miami's going to offer him. I'd rather keep him at left tackle and see if he can improve his strength. It's his natural position, and hopefully he can learn from his rookie year. He's certainly got the brains to do so, just needs to get stronger.

 

I'd much rather keep him at Right Tackle. From what I saw, he seemed to be coming around at the position (I could be wrong). But I wouldn't hold my breath for him as a Left Tackle.

 

If he's your RT, who's at left? I'd hope the answer isn't Jake Long for $10M per. Ryan Clady, yeah, I could understand that, but that's robbing Peter to pay Paul almost. Who plays left tackle if not Martin? That'd be my worry.

 

I'd much rather pay Long than have Martin play at LT at this moment. Say what you will about Long's injuries, but he's shown elite play as an LT. Martin.... not so much.

 

I like PFF and I understand that Martin struggled at times, but I'm just not going to get down on him yet. I think Long will be re-signed, so I'm not worried about Martin in that position.

But forget PFF for a second and recall that in the preseason Martin didn't even look like he could play in high school. I think he came a long way, tbh. He just wasn't ready. Let him have an offseason of training. And I simply refuse to believe he was as bad or worse than Colombo

 

You think his problems are strictly strength related?, which become anchor related, balance related?, these are the things that he struggles with, so maybe you have a good point, I need to be more patient, I saw they same things in college so he's got to prove that he can really improve in one year.

 

To each his own I suppose. Long's been injured too often for me to want to pay him what he wants. If you can get him to agree to an incentive-laden deal, then I'd pull the trigger, but leave yourself an out if he continues to be hampered by injuries.

I'd say that if you're going to shell out that much money - that $10M Long wants for a tackle, it'd better be for Ryan Clady. Even then, I still wouldn't want to pay that much for a tackle.

 

I think the anchoring and balance problems were more prevalent when he played RT. Obviously, Aldon Smith at him alive most of that SF game, but Aldon Smith does that to just about everyone. I think with more strength, he can improve his punch and keep defenders from getting in close to him, which IMO, is where he really struggled. If he can use his arm length the way Jake Long does, he'll be alright. But the main part is getting stronger so he can use that punch to keep defenders at a distance to use his arms.