19. Antonio Richardson, OT, Tennessee

I'm not sure how Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland has managed to stick around as long as he has, but one of his numerous failures is the pathetic offensive line he has put together in Miami. This inept line let Ryan Tannehill take a pounding in 2013. The Dolphins need to add free agents and draft picks to build up their line. Getting a franchise left tackle is critical.

http://walterfootball.com/draft2014charlie.php

 

If Ogbuehi declares I'd rather have him at LT, better feet and overall athleticism. Richardson is huge though, solidly built and a good athlete.

 

That's the thing with a lot of the OTs in this class- playing LT in college but probably RT in the NFL. Kouandjio, Richardson, Moses, Lewan. The thing is, I'm not opposed to spending a 1st rd pick on a solid RT. If Kouandjio was available at #19 I'd draft him and be happy if he became a stud RT, that's fine.

Tackles I've seen who I think are well suited for LT:

Matthews
Robinson
Obbuehi
Erving
Turner
Hickey
Johnson

But that doesn't mean that I want necessarily, say Erving over Koundjio. Both positions are important, but obviously LTs are more rare.

 

At that size, with that strength and build, he shoud be more dominating. Reminds me a bit in play of Dallas Thomas, not aggressive enough. But he's a hulk, makes Thomas look small. I'd be wary of him in the 1st rd as well, would take Ogbuehi over him hands down.

 

He's ok. I don't see anything particularly compelling about him- a solid RT with some power, decent in pass pro, some quickness issues. Looks kind of like Baby Huey out there to me.

What is it with watching these Tennessee offensive linemen, Dallas Thomas included? It's about as satisfying as eating a plate of tofu.

Richardson certainly looks the part, but my concern would be that he'd end up being a bigger, stronger version of Dallas Thomas. I see an ok pass blocker, decent run blocker who should be so much better at it given how freaking big and solid he is. Where's the aggression? The kind of player that could easily get overdrafted because of his measurables and he's so physically imposing, then underperform. To quote the immortal Joel Buchsbaum, "Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane."

I could see James around the 5th round- the thing is, if Billy Turner is sitting there in rd 5 who do you want, a Billy Turner with all his potential or JaWuan James? I'd probably take Turner. I can see in some ways why you prefer James over Richardson, but again, I just don't see anything particularly compelling about him. Positives and negatives in this clip, but to highlight one of my concerns about James (quickness, reflexes) take a look at him getting beat inside by a spin move at 2:05

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A7yUAN2dZA

James in the 5th round as a potential starter and at least solid depth? Sure, I could go with that. Solid value there, less of a risk than Richardson taken higher, I don't see bust potential in him like with Dallas Thomas. Solid mid round pick.