the offensive line

When a reporter said coach Tony Sparano had to feel happy about New England's trade of defensive end Richard Seymour to Oakland from a division competition standpoint, Sparano smiled, laughed and gave a light fist pump.

:sidelol:

That is pretty much it. Oline is going to be the make or break. If Grove can, by himself, block Wilford + Jenkins then our running game goes to the next level.

I actually like Grove and he does whatever it takes to make a block. If he doesn't make a run block it doesn't seem to be from lack of effort from what little I have seen of him.

REALLY excited about the Oline.

I think the offensive line will be playing pretty well this season. According to Sparano, the offensive line is not too far from what he is looking for so we should be fine. I am just excited to get this season started.

I think the OL flashed some great play and some bad play this preseason. I think they have the talent to be a dominant line but I doubt they will look that way right out of the gate. It will probably take a good half a season or more for them to get consistent. That being said I do think they should be pretty well against ATL. I'm hoping that we can really wear them down and impose our will in the 4th qtr.

I agree that we need to make sure that our O-Line gets the job done to have a successful season. Most people are talking about the Running game, but I really think they need to get the job done in pass protection. If we can come out again this year and make our passing game a threat, that is what is really going to help our running game.

I see it the other way around, people aren't afraid of our passing game, and they stack the box against our run game. Until the OL opens holes and provides lanes for running in our standard offense, I don't see teams backing off. To me, the running game opens up the passing game routes. But in reality it just has to likely be a good balance. Last season our OL didn't ever really gel due to injuries, they need to do it quick this year if we are to succeed. JMHO.

I think our O-line has quite aways to go before we are running the ball like we should be able to.
To date, Jake Grove especially has not lived up to expectations.

We should fare pretty well against ATL if only because we seriously out-weigh them and they have very little depth across the front. That being said, if its linebackers and not defensive backs taking down our RB's, our line is not doing its job.

We cant expect them to be great from the get because of how much they get paid collectively, lines become great because of how well they play together, the cohesion takes time, we must be patient with them if we want greatness, which is something that we have'nt had in a long time, iam willing to be patient for that chance. the individual potential is there.

four games into the season
& we need to win two of the four
if they are not dominant by game five, we are going nowhere in 2009
I think they will make a step up in game one
& begin their ascent thereafter :up:

I wouldn't say they have to be dominant by game 5. They just have to be decent. Our line was decent last year and it got us the division and playoffs. We have a harder schedule this season but we should also have a better D, particularly early on.

Last year we started slowly and had a decent result b/c the team came together for the second half. If we just get an extra win or two in the first half of the season then we'll be ahead of last year's pace.

begins in the trenches

"the 23rd wrote:

begins in the trenches

really?

"rafael wrote:

I wouldn't say they have to be dominant by game 5. They just have to be decent. Our line was decent last year and it got us the division and playoffs. We have a harder schedule this season but we should also have a better D, particularly early on.

Last year we started slowly and had a decent result b/c the team came together for the second half. If we just get an extra win or two in the first half of the season then we'll be ahead of last year's pace.

We also SEEM to have more depth this year. With that tough schedule having quality depth is going to be very key.

I hope the O line does take it to the next level.It's been too long since we had a dominating line.

"firedan wrote:

I hope the O line does take it to the next level.It's been too long since we had a dominating line.

This I strongly agree with.

With the return of Donald Thomas, Jake Long being a year removed from Rookie Status, I think the front line is pretty talented. I also think those waiting behind the front are very capable of filling in when needed. Pray to god its not like it was last year, and if they do fill in, it is for a couple plays, maybe a 1/4 or 1/2....maybe a game..but hope its nothing more than that.

The Dolphins have a big offensive line and a huge TE in Haynos and they are still developing cohesion and chemistry. If they play physical they are bound to wear down some defensive lines they face. If you take a big physical line and add a big physical running back like Brown and Williams it will create headaches for opposing defenses.
Good and great offensive lines grow and develop as they play together. At least we finally have an offensive line to be excited about and to look forward to watching them play.

Who started the nick name---

The Orca 5....?

I like it...Ive read it quite a bunch..but I have no idea where it started...

Well, I have a bit of a different take on the Oline, most phinfans see the Oline and say "Ahh..dominant running game" which would make sense except for:

8 men in the box beat 5 men on the Oline everytime, the Ravens demonstrated that quite well twice last season, what will change this season is Grove will understand his blocking assignments and make line calls for pass protection something Satele had trouble with last season.

Grove imho, was brought in to help the passing game...NFL in the 2000's the pass can be used to set up the run which is something we could not do last season as no one respected our passing game.

And I'm aware of the KC Joyner stat of 5 ypc behind Grove in Oakland last season, but to me Satele was screwing the pooch on the line calls and showed poor awareness of his area of responsibility.

Basically Ray Lewis slipped/blitzed by Satele during the playoff game and Samson never saw him go past him...

"padre31 wrote:

Well, I have a bit of a different take on the Oline, most phinfans see the Oline and say "Ahh..dominant running game" which would make sense except for:

8 men in the box beat 5 men on the Oline everytime, the Ravens demonstrated that quite well twice last season, what will change this season is Grove will understand his blocking assignments and make line calls for pass protection something Satele had trouble with last season.

Grove imho, was brought in to help the passing game...NFL in the 2000's the pass can be used to set up the run which is something we could not do last season as no one respected our passing game.

And I'm aware of the KC Joyner stat of 5 ypc behind Grove in Oakland last season, but to me Satele was screwing the pooch on the line calls and showed poor awareness of his area of responsibility.

Basically Ray Lewis slipped/blitzed by Satele during the playoff game and Samson never saw him go past him...

I can't go along with that at all. Grove was brought in to give us a better inside run game. That is where Samson was lacking, more so than pass pro.

"padre31 wrote:

Well, I have a bit of a different take on the Oline, most phinfans see the Oline and say "Ahh..dominant running game" which would make sense except for:

8 men in the box beat 5 men on the Oline everytime, the Ravens demonstrated that quite well twice last season, what will change this season is Grove will understand his blocking assignments and make line calls for pass protection something Satele had trouble with last season.

Grove imho, was brought in to help the passing game...NFL in the 2000's the pass can be used to set up the run which is something we could not do last season as no one respected our passing game.

And I'm aware of the KC Joyner stat of 5 ypc behind Grove in Oakland last season, but to me Satele was screwing the pooch on the line calls and showed poor awareness of his area of responsibility.

Basically Ray Lewis slipped/blitzed by Satele during the playoff game and Samson never saw him go past him...

thats interesting, whatta ya seein brother...when sparano speaks about leverage, i take it your interpreting it by the ability to keep nose tackles out of chads face so he can pass thru the interior?..

I think its something to keep an eye out for...

Without a doubt, as the OL goes, so goes our success this year. Last year, with the OL mediocre at best, we won several games we should/could have lost easily. This year, IF the OL gels and becomes the ground swelling force we foresee, it could be magical. But I am still the pessimist since we haven't seen it yet...I realize it's only preseason and the games didn't count and the starters didn't play the entire game and all that, but they've underperformed so far in the TC...hopefully it'll be different from here on out...

Last year, I'll chalk up our lack of interior running game due to the fact that we had 2 backup guards and a center that was never known whatsoever for run blocking.

This preseason, I'll chalk up to preseason.

But come the regular season we had better see some push from the OL inside. We have a full strength line with all veterans outside of D. Thomas. There's no more excuses come Sunday.

And I won't be making bold prediction on their success until I see something.

"djphinfan wrote:

thats interesting, whatta ya seein brother...when sparano speaks about leverage, i take it your interpreting it by the ability to keep nose tackles out of chads face so he can pass thru the interior?..

I think its something to keep an eye out for...

That is partially what I think Dj, plus Sparano is no dummy, the good teams on the Schedule know how to stuff the run, the last real power running team that could run the ball no matter what was those great Broncos teams, and they had Elway and Sharpe to burn the D if they played 8 men in the box.

We will have to pass to set up the run against the better teams, offtackle dives behind Long with Polite running lead blocker will only work so long dj.

"MrClean wrote:

I can't go along with that at all. Grove was brought in to give us a better inside run game. That is where Samson was lacking, more so than pass pro.

Samson Allowed 4 sacks last season, I believe that was the worst among our starting offensive linemen and 29th worst in the NFL

Only three centers were worse, Justin Harwig, Casey Rabach and Dan Koppen.

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