How sick is the guy? Frankly, I'm tired of McQuistan. He's been decent but he's not making big plays. Among the other woes in the Dolphins offense, they are not running the ball very effectively at all. While Henne is discussed a great deal, the running game does not like nearly as potent and has not been as potent as in the past two years. Part of this may well be due to the aging of Brown and Williams and Brown just not having the burst or power he used to have; but, there also are not many big holes. Quite frankly, and I noted this in another thread, I find that all the incessant tinkering with the O-line to have been a waste of time as the line is no better than it was (and, watching the game Sunday I concentrated mostly on Mr. Carey - who at times was as mobile as rebar in concrete. Of course, I'd have a difficult time shifting a 120 lb gut load hanging over my belt as well - you are making millions Mr. Carey, get rid of the @#$% gut!). The mobility of this line is pretty weak. Watching the Giants OL on Monday night was an eye-opener after watching the Dolphins OL on Sunday. Granted, the Steelers are going to make big plays and have a good D. But, they also lost a big cog in A. Smith and the flaws - regardless of who they are playing - are still present.
He's not sick anymore, the coaching staff is keeping him inactive. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/...-of-big-plays-is-a-concern.html#ixzz13YxXxeLr
it was a big mistake to undo a functioning, elite offensive line & replace the entire interior three positions with back-ups. Sparano should have kept the line together & worked the other pieces in according to need & merit. still wondering why the running game is suffering? everything begins in the trenches. Johnn Jerry the rookie or McQuistan the journeyman make little difference @ this point in the season, six of one, half dozen of the other.
Left Guard: Injury Prone Justin Smiley Center: Injury Prone Jake Grove Right Guard: Injury Prone Donald Thomas. Yeah, that's an all star cast I can get behind... Bottom line is they were great when they were healthy, but not dependable, and a line that is not dependable is worth less than a line that's full of backups. Backups mind you that aren't performing all that far from their former starters in terms of performance. Maybe not in the run game, but for the most part great pass protection.
I dunno how you can harp on Jake Grove and Justin Smiley not being here. They both played very well originally when they got here, but both of them declined kind of badly here. Justin Smiley is riding the pine in Jacksonville after the guy who spelled him during an injury outplayed him. The shoulder injury he suffered here is apparently permanent, to where he's lost serious power but is still able to play. Jake Grove we know less of, but the guy is sitting at home, and hasn't even been contacted by the UFL as far as I know. That's a huge fall from grace, and if we had better local media they'd probably do some bare-minimum investigation on what exactly his problem is, but there is clearly something there.
If the coaching knew that ronnie had lost some of his burst they would also know that they would need to rely more on the passing game. The offensive line we have now is better at pass protection than last year's unit. I suspect the turnover was done not only because of the injury prone nature of last years starters but also because of the lack of game breakers at running back and therefore the added importance of pass blocking for this season
I have to think there is more to it then the coaching staff just keeping him inactive because someone else is better at pass protection. The guy won the starting job for a reason. I wonder if he lost weight during his illness and is trying to get back up to playing weight? There has to be something else to this.
smiley is a backup, and grove and donald thomas arent even good enough to sign with the lions/raiders/browns..... so why does this upset you again?
Talk about the line all you want, the pass blocking this year has been much improved this season. Last season they were much better at run blocking however the pass blocking was sorely lacking. This season they are decent at best at run blocking, however their pass blocking has been close to spectacular. The time that Henne had against Pittsburgh was much improved over last season.
McQuistan stopped playing like a bleeding twat right around the Green Bay game, and he's put together two mediocre (as opposed to very sub-mediocre) performances. The problem is right around that time, Richie Incognito started playing like a bleeding twat. With Sparano talking about the possibility of getting Jerry some reps at other positions so that it's more tempting to have him be active during the games as a backup, I wouldn't be surprised if that was code for, "We might think about over the next few weeks replacing Incognito." That could either be John Jerry who replaces him at Left Guard if he shows in practice he can handle the position better than he did waaaaay back when they tried him there a little in mini camps...or it could be moving McQuistan over and sliding Jerry back in. There's a tweet from Mike Berardino saying "Jerry just shoved Cory Procter back 5 yards with a right hand punch, so right shoulder must be ok." He keeps doing that, he'll get back in the game. Don't worry too much about it.
i'd like to see John Jerry move into Incognito's Guard spot, and Richie take over Center duties from Joe Berger who simply is not powerful enough at Center
"Right shoulder must be ok" Did I miss something here CK. I thought the word on Jerry was he was sick or some darn thing. Sick in his shoulder? Enlighten me please.
Gotcha, Thanks Padre. I guess the whole story would be is he recovered from his "illness" and then banged up his shoulder some.
I do know what correlence Madden has to real life, but I'm sure they ratied John Jerry 95 Run Block Strength for a reason in Madden McQuistan is horrible at run blocking. ...Relax guys just using their ratings system lol
I wrote a few weeks ago Da Fin's, that the lack of athletic ability along our interior line is real bad, and its obvious that its affecting lanes and hesitation amongst the back's.... Maybe the reason why the wildcat was shelvesd as well {which is ridiculous imo, but another story} I do see them getting better as a unit though, and expect a jump in their production as a whole...The steeler game was a pretty impressive performance overall..
Nothing wrong with John Jerry other then recovering from a pretty bad medical problem that is really no ones business. The guy lost some weight and has to get back into the swing of things. Doubt you ever see Jerry at LG as his pass blocking is abysmal at best. IMO, There is little to no difference from Jerry to McQuistan if you actually watch the games. Jerry got his shorts eaten in the Minn game and his play in the Buffalo game was far less then stellar. The weakest part of this Oline is from Berger all the way out to Carey. The main pass rushes have been coming left and up the middle and until now, Incognito and Long have been good. Berger is definately a question mark on pass protection as is Jerry and McQuistan. Carey actually has not been playing to bad, IMO but add him being alongside, Jerry/Mcquistan and them being alongside Berger then yeah, its not running on all cylinders.
Good observations, thanks. I've been in and out on the board for several weeks - barely able to be on for part of one or two days a week. Super busy fall.
Really would love to see a new RT with Carey inside at LG next year. LT- Long LG- Carey C- Incognito RG- Jerry RT- Carimi
Just rookie errors. Problem I see is Berger, gives no help, on either side, on the double teams or plain ol misses his assignment when out in space. Jerry is not garbage but at this point, not better then McQuistan.
As far as pass blocking is concerned... The LG is supposed to be lean, athletic and quick, since the best pass rushers tend to come from that side of the line especially against 3/4 defenses, the LG has to be able to pick up blitzing LBs coming from the leftside. The RG is supposed to be bigger and stronger, usually takes on the task of helping to double team the big noseguard against 3/4s or another DT against 4/3s. They also have look out for big middle Lbs who may also be blitzing. As a LG Incognito is not nimble or quick enough to take on pass rushers from the left side, but he is big and strong enough(not to mention wide enough) to perhaps replace Berger as our center to take on blocking the middle, as long as he doesn't screw up hiking the ball. Incognito has the power but not the agility required to be on the left side but would do well as a C or RG. As a RG McQuistan is big enough but does not have the strength to hold up as our RG. Jerry is an ideal RG but has to stay healthy. He is big, strong, and just agile enough to hold his own. As far as run blocking is concerned, the interior of the offensive line has been a big problem in terms of getting a push. Its why Samson Satele and Jake Grove were cut loose(even when healthy Grove was not much of an improvement over Satele), and Berger might get replaced soon. Its why Smiley needed to be replaced with a healthier lineman who has the agility and power Smiley had when he wasn't nursing his shoulder. Incognito is not the long term answer at LG either for this reason, as running to the left side has been a disaster because he cannot hold his own and push his oppenent. When I see RB or RW run to the left I immediately notice that the LG spot is usually the first to give up the battle and then our running back is down. RG I think McQuistan in time could be better at run blocking since his size and strength suggests he would be better at doing so but this has proven not to be the case so far. The right side was being exposed by the Steelers and it wasn't all Vernon Carey though he didn't play very well either. McQuistan is at best a backup but we knew this. So next season a new center and perhaps LG may be in order. Jerry I think should have a chance to reclaim his starting job and see if he improves throughout the year and into next. Incognito should be looked at at the center position but I'm not sure the coaching staff will replace Berger since he's one of their guys. But clearly the interior of the OL continues to be the main problem of our offense IMO.
i pretty much agree with this assessment. I think if we can get a bonafide top 10 type center or OG we should. I dont think we need both however. You can get away with one average offensive lineman out of five. I will say that I'm not sure what the plans for Jerry are though. I actually think he may end up being the LOG. A pairing of him and Long would be a monster in the run game and Jake seems to be able to hold his own without needing help in the passing game
How about cutting Carey and using his money to sign Carl Nicks.... then draft a massive RT like Marcus Cannon of TCU.
I like what their doing along the line at florida state...athleticism is at a premium...training the body physically, nutritionally, to have an excellent body fat ratio for the position...
Gotta disagree on the size of the LG postion. A lot of teams have some biggies over there. Depends on the scheme that is being run. Its very apparent since the signing of Marshal, this team wants to throw the ball a heck of a lot more downfield. The run vs pass being the same amount or almost, as of now, is, I believe, just getting Henne and the offense in the swing of things. Plus the defenses we have played, plus the change in the type of scheme we run. Even Theisman mentioned it on the NFL AFC playbook boradcast. " Miami can run it if they want to but its clear they have put the run game on the back burner and have gone, scheme wise, to the passing game " I agree with him 100 per cent. Its clear they want to make it a pass first team. On the LG, look at a lot of teams around the league, their LGs are pretty big guys. This new offense is not relying too much on having a LG that can pull all game long. Not from what I have seen so far. I am happy with the Oline the way it is, could use a better center but just the same, this Oline is not a bad one and IMO is as good as last years. People moaning about it are people that love the run game, its that simple. Things change and its pretty evident this offense is evolving away from its mainstay of the run game. If it wasn't, they would not have paid a boatload for Marshal. Add another good WR next year and it could be a scary offense IF Henne progresses the way they want him too.
