Well yeah, to ever say that a position is "set" means that you can't improve it. And we can definitely improve it. We do still need depth at the tackle position and if Satele is to be traded as the rumors suggest then we would need to look for G/C depth.

 

I'm hoping that a healthy Donald Thomas will make all the difference in the world.

 

We need a decent back-up swing Tackle, and Guard.

That said, we have more money ivested in our O-line than any other NFL team. ANY other NFL team.

We better not draft an O-lineman sooner than the bottom of the second round or later, or I'll just think Tony's got a too-much of a hard-on for O-linemen to be clear about needing balanced talent everywhere on the roster.

I mean he IS a former O-line coach.

 

Iam, just not comfortable with justin smiley, he has'nt won me over yet.

 

he maybe opening the door to a Max Unger pick at 2a or 2b(if still on the board)....add 10/15 lbs.....he's capable of playing all 3 line positions jmho:yes:

 

nothing wrong with having competition and depth on the OL. The more the merrier.
Just hopefully like BPK said atleast not use the 1st 3 picks on one. If it happens oh well i wouldnt be mad at them

 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: If you want to win consistently by running, or passing, the football in the NFL, you have to have a good Offensive Line. Not adequate (thank you Jimmah), nor barely functional (thank you Wannstedt) - but GOOD!!! Capable of deciding to take control of the line of scrimmage and dominate the defense against it - period. That means no matter what play you call, the QB can look downfield, the RB has a hole to run into, and the defense has to rob Peter to pay Paul in either case, and hopefully, you can catch then in transition.

I hope our regime is never satisfied with any aspect of the team, but to me, it all begins up front. Lose that battle on either side of the ball, and you're playing catch-up!

 

We went with a bargain basement offensive line in the past and it just didn't work. Maybe the big difference in this group of coaches and management is that they see the importance of an offensive line and what that means to a team. I would much rather have this group building our offensive line and the team as a whole than anybody we've had here doing it for a long time.

 

Me either. I say if Duke Robinson is there at #25 we get him. That would make our line OUTSTANDING with depth. What if Andre Smith falls to #25? I think one of our first two picks will be a linemen...offense or defense. Ron Bryce(sp?) from BC would look good too.

 

I'm thinking they don't expect him to be, and we as a whole got really ahead of ourselves on him. He very well might just be a backup.

We've got supposedly Bill Parcells saying "Thank God for Donald Thomas", but that is potentially commentary on the fact that we couldn't find the veteran stopgap we wanted, and the alternatives(As were proven), were not good. At that point, we had what? Ike Ndukwe and Shawn Murphy? We picked up guys and had them on the field within a week or two at times during the season, like Alleman, Mathis, Johnson, etc. "Thank God for Donald Thomas" might not mean he's a starter, but he's a backup that wont destroy our ability to run between the tackles.

There's this praise from Jason Ferguson for him, but Ferguson is basically a mouthpiece for the Front Office. It's possible they thought Thomas might respond well to public positive praise from a camp opponent, too.

He might not have impressed you last year, but there's a reason for it. Justin Smiley is a pulling guard. He's good in pass protection, and an average in-line blocker, but there isn't really many better pulling guards.

We didn't run a ton of pull plays last year, not nearly as much as they wanted. Pulling a Guard often means the remaining Center and Guard having man blocking responsibilities 1v1 vs. DTs. That wasn't a winning matchup last year.

These kind of blocks are what Smiley is here for-
http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d80b06d70

 

Smiley was impressive to me atleast, on running plays he was always opening holes and getting to the next level. he needs to step it up in pass blocking however.

btw, Kris Jenkins also said some nice words about Donald Thomas after the first game.

 

While you may be correct, I see us going with either two of the three - ILB, OLB, CB, with our first 2 picks. But if it's a lineman, IMO it would be NT.
I believe we will draft 1-2 more OL, though, but not before day 2. Just my own thinking.

 

Good thought...I am also thinking Jamon Meridith if he last until 2b is a good choice but he seems to be gaining momentum.

 

I'd be a little surprised if we went OL before the 3rd round, unless someone unexpectedly drops. I fully expect a NT by at least round 3. I think they are hoping Brace is there at the later 2nd pick... I wouldn't be surprised with two LBers and CB in the 1st and 2nd rounds...

 

I'd rather see Eben Britton fall to us at 2b, though I do like Meredith.

 

I'm glad Tony's not comfortable with our o-line, neither am I. Two guys coming off injury one of which is injury prone and we sign a guy who we know is injury prone to replace (?) our starting center who played hurt this year yet didn't miss a game? As for backups, excuse me, who do we have that is really good?

Thanks Tony now go get some more line men!!!:lol::wink2::up:

 

I dont care if we draft a stud OL in the first round EVERY YEAR. The ONLY way we are going to get past the Baltimores of this league, is to DOMINATE in the trenches. I am so starved for a return to dominance from our OL. NEVER SETTLE. EVER. Our first two Super Bowl wins were the direct result from dominate OL play. NO ONE COULD STOP OUR RUNNING GAME, and every one knew we were going to run it, almost EVERY DOWN. A return to this would keep the Bradys and Moss's on the sidelines while we eat up the clock. I dont care about pizzazz, give me D O M I N A N C E. KEEP DRAFTING OLINEMEN.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if it were a 2nd round pick. The Dolphins have basically been looking at the who is who of guards(Or guys who can play Guard), in the draft, and alot of them are probably going to be first day guys.

 

Isn't this one of the reasons we have Donald Thomas? He's probably the most fleet-footed of entire line.

 

I agree with you DJ. Something about a guy who usually misses a portion of the year doesn't win me over either.... no matter how good he is. He's not any good on the sidelines. LOL.

I only hope that Grove doesn't turn into another Smiley. If you consider how many games he's missed the past 5 years, we're actually paying him more per healthy game than we would have for Jason Brown. :cry:

I, too, like Meredith. If everyone is healthy, he can push Smiley for a starting LG spot. If anyone goes down, he can fill in all across the line except for Center. Love that versatility. That would suck if we drafted Jamon and he actually pushed Carey out of RT. LOL. Heck, you could even move Carey to LG (if there are still health concerns regarding Justin) with Thomas being the pulling guard and Jamon being the RT. ?????

 

Do you still think we'll get a DT by round 3 since we just signed one from the jags?

 

Amen!

 

Well, we're see what Thomas actually is.

He's probably going to be a DE, not an NT here.

 

That earns some old school rep brother +6 :up:

 

Man that was a thing of beauty. Smiley had wheels gettin across and to the second level. When he turned it's like he was daring someone to get behind him. Love that stuff. :knucks:

Thanks Disgustipate for the link and the explanation of a pulling guard.

 

I agree! Not to toot my own horn here, but that's pretty much the biggest proponent of my Franchiseology piece. Toot Toot. LOL
Doesn't really matter how many times you go to the well, rather only that you get it right ;)
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the word on jamon meredith isn't real good according to pat kirwin , he says he has talked to alot of ol coaches and their not real impressed ,the comment was" he lacks fire." but i agree with most and want a guy that can play multiple pos. unger don't look strong at the point he gets pushed back too much. my guy is andy levitre from oregon st , i know he is only 6'3 and has short arms but he played left tackle this past yr and he is possibly the best guard in the draft.

 

I'd prefer to not have anyone without fire period.
I liked Levite from what I saw. He seemed to have awesome awareness IMO at LG in the Senior Bowl. Not the person to ask on how he fits our scheme though. LOL
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That makes Satele a valuable backup, he can fill in for either player and should do fine.

Herman Johnson is the guy I like early.

 

Give us a sledgehammer of a center and that equation changes pretty fast for us.

 

I'm a huge fan of Herman too. He might be the perfect complement to Donald if Thomas is our pulling guard. I can see him being a Pro Bowl mauler for us. ;) I like his potential more than Duke's.
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I actually crunched the numbers on that before we picked Grove when I was hoping we'd draft Mack.
Excluding the wildcat, Miami had a 2.7 YPC (@76 total yards) in rushes off center against the AFC East. This doesn't include the 2 horrible games verse Baltimore.

With more teams switching to a 3-4, a dominant center will be more demanding. Center will become the next "LT" in a few years....and before you know it, we'll start seeing Franchise Centers. ;)
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Meredith does have a strong punch and experience playing bot OT spots but I am not sure we would look at a swing backup OT as high as the 2nd round.

One Guy I really like is Garrett Reynolds from UNC who Boomer is high on as well. He is a big, strong nasty RT.

Here is a vid on Meredith breaking him down.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb5NWAX-f1s"]YouTube - Jamon Meredith - Draft Video Profile[/ame]


Another guy I think is a later round sleeper for a swing tackle is Sebastian Vollmer.


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnSVRA9HaXw"]YouTube - Sebastian Vollmer - Draft Video Profile[/ame]

 

What if what we have brought in so far is the depth, and the real OL quality is coming in the draft? Sparano is capable of that.

 

He also plays tackle, if he can be coached up there is no substitute for 6'7 360.

Not sure how many folks remember, but when Houston had Warren Moon they spent three 1's on the oline, and they were good for years.

Ditto the KC Chiefs of that era, they always had a powerful Oline and always seemed to win.

That said, it is hard to get a bead on how is going to play were, or even who will still be here in September, it seems like we have a number of players who all do the same job.

 

I think he is on our radar. Boomer said we have met with him two times.

 

Britton is considered a late 1st rounder. The 5th OT in the draft. He won't fall to 44, let alone 56.

 

Not only that, we really dont need to spend any more money on a Tackle to begin with...:wink2: