Barry over at the Herald has posted some info about the roster. I thought it would be worth posting some threads to discuss the Dolphins roster at the various positions.
This is the OL thread.
Here's what Barry shared (THIS LINK for the full article):
"The Dolphins have conveyed to center Ted Karras — an impending unrestricted free agent - that they would like him back next season, according to a team source.
But the team has not yet made an offer, and this initial expression of interest doesn’t necessarily assure his return.
Karras, 28, was an upgrade over Daniel Kilgore in his first season with the Dolphins.
He allowed only two sacks and showed leadership and high character that earned praise from Dolphins people. He’s smart, reliable, selfless and durable. Pro Football Focus rated him 20th overall among all qualifying centers.
Though the Dolphins have $35 million in cap space and can create more, that money can go quickly and Miami likely will be generally judicious aside from perhaps one splashy signing, possibly a receiver.
So the sense here is that if Karras is willing to take a deal along the lines of what he played for last season ($3 million), he has a very good chance of returning. Perhaps Miami can find a way to give him more. It’s also certainly possible that another team could outbid the Dolphins.
If it doesn’t work out with Karras, there are four other starting free agent centers also set to hit free agency:
Green Bay’s Corey Linsley, Kansas City’s Austin Reiter, New England’s David Andrews and Atlanta’s Alex Mack.
As for other offensive linemen: Even though Jesse Davis lost his starting job for three late-season games (before starting the final two amid an injury to Solomon Kindley), neither party is looking to move on.
Davis, a team-first guy but honest in interviews, made clear in a Zoom session with reporters that he prefers to start. Nevertheless, he will accept any role asked of him and will not ask for a trade.
The Dolphins have left the impression they will allow Davis to compete for a starting job in 2021. And if he doesn’t win one, the team values him greatly because of his ability to capably play multiple positions.
Davis will earn $3.1 million in base salary each of the next two seasons as part of a three-year, $15 million extension signed in 2019.
Meanwhile, a decision is pending on whether Miami will try to re-sign unrestricted backup free agent offensive tackle Julien Davenport, who played just 53 snaps on offense in 2020.
Kudos to Dolphins guard Kindley for paying for 66 laptop computers and autographed T-shirts for elementary and high school students in Jacksonville. He distributed 22 of those computers at his alma mater, Raines High.
Kindley started all 13 of his Dolphins appearances last season, bucking the trend for third-day Dolphins offensive line selections.
The Dolphins have drafted 12 offensive linemen in the fourth or fifth rounds during the past 30 years, and Kindley already has started more games than all but one other of those 12. Chris Gray, a fifth-rounder in 1993, started 23 games for Miami before moving onto Seattle."
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Linsley is one of the guys that I think the Dolphins should seriously consider targeting. Expensive but probably worth it.
I am iffy on Ted. It seems like Barry Jackson is alluding to the idea that the Dolphins sorta wanna go year-to-year with him. I am completely fine with that arrangement, but I suspect that he is looking for more security which is the antithesis of my desire to bring him back. I would bring him back with the hopes of finding his replacement in the draft, so we don't have to bring him back in 2022. -
Center is the General. It's not a position to be changing people out. You need consistency and a smart guy. While he was middle of he road at PFF 20, isn't that what people have been saying for years - to no have all these expensive O Line guys but have decent middle of the road players who don't break the bank? Adding Sewell could help the O Line with moving a capable current starter into a backup roll for depth. Somethin we haven't had in a long time. I also think that the rookies will gel more this year after getting a full campaign in and then having another full off-season. They may have been hitting the wall a little at the end of the 17 game grind.
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From the little I saw this year, the dolphins line seemed to have difficulty in the middle, but specifically with stunts, loops, delays...
I like the idea of picking up a RT in round 2, and allowing Hunt to move inside. If we're able to get a center in round 3 our line would be young, deep and talented for the duration of Tua's first contract. Having a #20 ranked center is okay but obviously could be improved upon. -
I really like Creed Humphrey from Okla, former wrestler with a mean streak. But agree with your assessment of taking a OT in round 2.
Outside of Tuas development, I'm most interested in seeing how our young OL develops. We need those 3 rookie OL to make major strides.Striking likes this. -
I am definitely with you on a few things. I do think that the youngsters would will play better as a unit and that center is the general. I 100% would also love consistency at the line - but not for consistency's sake.
I think Linsley would be expensive but solid for the foreseeable future. I am pretty vocal on this board about not overpaying, and I think the problem that Miami has traditionally faced is that we pay top money for average to good talent. I see Linsley as paying top money for top talent.
You seem to be in favor of resigning Karras. What kind of deal would you be looking at, and what would you your walk away price?Irishman likes this. -
Right now he's being paid as the 36th most expensive guy at 3mill. Mike Pouncey is making 8.5mill at the 25 slot. Around 6mill - 7mill would be ok I guess - I'm not a cap guy so don't pummel me.
Do you think his play improves with another top guy in the mix with someone like Sewell (potentially living up to the hype of course) and the youngsters improving their play? Does he move from really average to above average?Irishman likes this. -
Okay, that seems reasonable to me. I do think that overall Sewell would make a big improvement on the line itself. I think that you would probably see Karras's play elevate more by stronger guard play. My thought process is that if you are having trouble with your man guards are next to you at the line and can help make up for your shortcomings. I think Sewell, for the most part, would not be able to help with your assignment. Side note - I think Sewell is incredibly with his footwork and is a fantastic when moving to set up runs, so there could be instances where he does help out (just not all the time).
I think Flowers was consistently our best guard. -
There's no way I'm crying if we pick Sewell at #3. Not a playmaker but somebody that can help us all get rid of any excuses on offense for at least 5 years.
mlb1399 likes this. -
I’d have no problem if we went that direction and then targeted Bateman, Toney or Moore later.OwesOwn614 likes this.
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I think fundamentally they need to find guys who can help them out with some of the central conflicts to their offensive philosophy. They want big, powerful people movers, and they want to spread defenses out and leverage their power against sub packages... but both of those things serve to limit the run concepts they can use. You don't have necessarily have the athleticism to do much outside zone, you don't really have the guy who can pull or trap, or get in front of screens, etc. You can make up for some of that with FB/H-Backs, but if you're going very spread-oriented you're pulling those guys out of the box too.
IMO if they're spending resources it needs to be on guys w/ power but aren't sacrificing mobility. You can't build a line entirely of those guys, but it's the kind of thing where a single guy might go a long way to adding stuff to the playbook.
I've got mixed feelings going with Sewell at #3... but the guy absolutely will add plays to your playbook. -
Do you think Jackson could make a smooth transition to the right side? I would guess that would also permanently kick Hunt inside where he, Kindley and Flowers would battle for the two spots?
OL is such a tough call - on the one hand, we could potentially stand to upgrade. On the other, we just put some serious draft capital into it last year during a funky year with no real offseason, is it worth spending MORE high level capital to keep tinkering vs. letting guys gel? -
I don't want to mess with Robert Hunt. He looks like he might be successful at Guard, but I think even if he's just "good enough" as a pass protector at RT you roll with that because there's simply a greater opportunity for generating big plays in the run game @OT than there is @OG.
I think I'd rather try Jackson on the interior somewhere and groom him to replace Flowers.texanphinatic likes this.