It is already becoming a running theme that there are huge question marks on the offensive line, and we have just begun OTA’s. The Dolphins on paper have more talent and look like a better team than last year. They have upgraded themselves at multiple positions, however, there are still some holes on the roster. However, when the weaknesses and holes on a team decrease, that means the weaknesses that are still visible get even greater scrutiny under the microscope.
Most of the pay per head services sites like AcePerHead.com are agreeing that the reason that Miami’s offensive line is such a question mark and pending issue is because they will have two very inexperienced players playing the Guard position. Whether Turner, Thomas, or Douglas starts this season at Guard, the lack of experience is going to come into play, and often lead to mistakes and bad plays, which can ultimately lead to turnovers or not gaining first downs, which depending on the situation in the game can lead to losses. The offensive line is the backbone of your offense and if there are constant issues in the blocking game then this is going to limit the success of our offense.
What is even worse is that the Dolphins are not even counting in the fact that Branden Albert, their best lineman, may not even be healthy for the first game, and there is no guarantee that he can stay healthy enough to play the whole season. In the last three seasons, he has not been able to stay healthy enough to play a complete 16 game season. Out of a possible 48 games, he was only able to play in 34 of those games. Usually, when a player has a history of injuries that causes him to miss games, that trend continues for the rest of his career. With that being said the fair assumption, and safe thinking would be that Albert will most likely not be able to play a full 16 game season in 2015.
I hope he can stay healthy, but the reality is that Albert is coming off major surgery, and injury, and he has a history of being injury-prone, so there is a decent probability that he may have another injury this season. Last season after Albert got injured the offensive line was never the same, and they began to play worse as an overall unit. Now one year later, and Miami still does not have a suitable backup for Albert in the case he does get hurt again, which means we could have a deja vu scenario on the offensive line again this season.
The Phins have all their eggs in one basket in regards to Albert being healthy enough to play, however yet again this season there is no contingency plan if Albert can’t play. Sure we can move James to Left Tackle, but that is not his natural position, and not only is he not as good a LT as Albert, but then there will also be a lesser skilled player playing the RT position. Add that into the fact that the Guard positions are already a weakness, and then we are left with an even worse offensive line than was originally feared.
I believe we can live with Turner, Thomas or Douglas as our two Guards, but what I am much more worried about is not having Albert for a full season. Albert is the cornerstone of our entire offensive line, and with out him we will be drastically worse on that unit. So as much as the worry over the Guards is an issue at the moment, the much bigger worry should be Albert’s healthy for the entire 2015 season. How does the rest of the Miami Dolphins news fans feel about Albert’s chances to start game one this season, and stay healthy for the remainder of the season?
I don’t see it as Miami w/all its eggs in one basket. It may seem that way because majority thinks Philbin is in a win now or out mode. I believe that Miami’s front office has done a good, no great job of positioning this team for success for years to come. Suh does not equal all the eggs, he will be here for 6 years (per contract), along with Phillips (running mate for 6 years), along with the young WRing core (all of them, exception = Jennings), along with both O tackles and center, 2 servicable RBs excluding Miller (contract due next season), and along w/our QB. Maybe eggs all in with these core of players. That is fine, because all of the above mentioned players are ascending players w/the exception of maybe Albert (O line tackle). But eggs all in doesn’t necessarily mean this season alone. Eggs all in for Philbin, not so much for the rest….
Opps! Wrong article response. True though! As far as guards, eggs are all in with this group. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that they step up or the process gets us another starting guard. Hope they are hard boiled eggs, going to have to be practicing against Miami’s D line every day – good luck w/that!
The key will be Albert, because if he can stay healthy, than he is the glue that will keep this line together. If not that this O-line becomes a hand me down patched quilt blanket with lots of chances to rip along the seems
Facts: 3 passes throw over 30 yards last season ( No worry’s)
1. Allow Aljai to heal as well ( Lamar Miller and Williams wants the ball give them ball). 2. Allow tannehill to be more mobile while throwing this is his strength. 3. Matt Moore and Freeman can throw deep! Utilize all players 4. Have some patience running the ball. 5. Running the ball will give the dolphins stamina to go the distant. When you can run on a team like the New England Patriarch, Ravens, and the (Houston Texans) whom a team the Dolphins have never beaten? The Dolphins are then ready for the playoff’s. Lastly putting every game on the passer is not fair and irresponsible.
Steve I agree completely with your thoughts on running the ball. With Miller, Ajayi and Williams we have a solid 3 man rotation that each has a unique skill set. Also this will help wear down opposing defenses and give our own defense a rest
Plus it is much easier for our guards and other lineman to run block than pass block, so play to the strength of our line and don’t be afraid to run the ball
1. Play your rookies now its time to coach. 2. Play to your offensive line Strength (Dolphins Rookies can run block) it is proven! 3. Learn how to utilized all eleven player in the blocking scheme 4. Coach to run the football most of the time (less wear and tear on your line)
I recall prior to free agency and the draft the offensive Tackle position was discarded over the available receivers. Now some are concerned about the condition of the offensive line.
Here are the facts: 1. Branden Albert is currently in Rehab? 2. Best to allow him to heal best investment to playoff’s 3. Realistic return and healthy game 7 4. Play your rooky linemen (Suh and Cam will fine tune Them) .
What is done is done Meaning we know what should have happened, but for several reasons it did not. The F.O. felt good about a trade for Jordan until the day before the draft – That would have brought in a very good guard in Mathis. They also missed out in free agency when they targeted a Guard that went elsewhere. So now we are faced with 2 Guard positions as question marks. We add to that The Albert situation where we are not sure if he will last the whole season, and we have ourselves a bad situation. But I still trust that there is a plan from this front office. Our fourth round pick might also surprise us and win a starting job. He was pretty good in college.
We have 2 good front office guys, and so far Hickey has proven to make all the right decisions.
So going forward how do we fix this problem for this year. As I see it there are maybe 3 options left. 1. wait to see who is cut and sign up. Go hard after those that are proven better Guards, than what we currently have. The problem here is that other teams might make a better offer.Although we have a bit over 7 million left in the CAP for this year.
2. Make a trade IE: Rishard Mathews for Mathis, plus a fifth round pick to the Eagles. They need receivers and we have an extra one (Mathews) that is a pretty good slot receiver.
3. Sign someone who is not signed up with a team. There has to be someone who played last year and was not re-signed.Maybe a Long, or someone else that might want to play one more year, and give them an incentive laden minimum vet salary contract.
I am sure our Front Office (F.O.) (Hickey and Tannebaum) are looking at all of these possibilities, but only one is pro-active, and that is a trade. They must really work hard to try and make a trade and should be trying to work one out right now, before it is too late. If we have no player to trade, then we have to give up a 3rd or 4th round selection next year to pick up a starting Guard this year, that might not be a bad investment. Will the Eagles trade Mathis for a third rounder ? will we be able to re-structure his contract ? This questions need to be answered ASAP.
I can understand why the coach is trying to portray a feeling to the fans that our Guards have improved tremendously, and that they might just be fine once the season starts. I hope that is true and that we are all pleasantly surprised by their performance.
I agree with Diego, next draft we need to be thinking of drafting an offensive line player in the first round. (Probably Albert’s eventual replacement) and play him as a guard until he has to play Tackle. The F.O. has done a magnificent job so far in upgrading our team. We all know that it cannot all be done in one year. We are getting closer though. Next year we will be ready to challenge, and we will go very deep in the playoffs. This year though, if our offensive line holds, and our D can hold, we will be very competitive and in the playoffs. No question about it, “our offensive weapons have arrived”.
Could be right. I’m thinking that you are off on this one and that Albert will be there for the entire ’15 season. Again, I am an optimist, so I guess I’m being bias. Albert seems to be focused on the up coming season and doing his part to be ready for the season opener.
Depth with the offensive line is definitely my biggest concern. The starting situation is tricky, but like the article said, should Albert not be ready in time, are we rolling with Fox? At least he is getting some reps with the 1st team. I don’t know much about the vet back ups we got in the off season, but thats probably all they are. Should anybody else go down, it could spell trouble for us specifically with the monster d-lines in our division. But next draft, we definitely need to think core positions like O-line and corner in the first couple of rounds. Without having seen a single game this season, it looks like we have assembled the most talent in the skill positions we have had in a good decade if not two. If we can run the ball this year behind the gigantic question mark of an offensive line, we will have the best year as fans we have had in recent memory. The wildcat was fun to watch, but 4-5 receiver sets with all receivers and TEs switching positions on the field will be even more fun. But that is only fun on 3rd and 2 after you run the ball down their throats, and not on 3rd and 12 after getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage and then sacked.
I agree with your comments. Look how good our O line looked in last year’s first game.Moreno had a great game running the football against the Patriots and we beat them. Then as the season wore on injuries, lack ok depth led to Tannehill having to rush his throws, got sacked a record number of times and the running game suffered. I know we had a lot of holes to fill and we did a pretty good job upgrading the talent but with the salary cap you can only do so much each year and we didn’t get all we need this year. We needed linebacker that we really didn’t get all we need but I did like the Mike Hull pick. We needed D backs and we couldn’t get all the offensive lineman we needed.
Jake Long is done playing football! He too is injury prone and cannot perform at as a offensive tackle. The blind side that is. 16 games makes for a long season. Our coaching staff made NOoooo attempt to try to rebuild our line!!! We have to wait and see if a team like Dallas has some offensive linemen on their practice squad and pick them up, any team that has a abundance of linemen available. Other-wise Our QB will get hurt and have no time to throw to our great receiving core. This is our only hope in saving the 2015 season. We should be looking at the CFL. and see if we can steal a player from them. Buffalo may have some over-flow. We must do some scrambling and do our due diligence!!!!All the Miami fans must look at helping our team with suggestions. Keep our eyes and ears focused on reading and send the coaching staff any good possibilities.
Yeah, Jake is finished. MAYBE he could play somewhere at RT….maybe. But, then there are his injuries. He was such a good player who had his career cut even shorter that Boselli.
what about bring in Jake Long back in and get him or whichever of the 3 tackles is best for guard put him there. That’s an awesome spot to have 3really good tackles includingAlbert,James,Long
I don’t see it as Miami w/all its eggs in one basket. It may seem that way because majority thinks Philbin is in a win now or out mode.
I believe that Miami’s front office has done a good, no great job of positioning this team for success for years to come. Suh does not equal all the eggs, he will be here for 6 years (per contract), along with Phillips (running mate for 6 years), along with the young WRing core (all of them, exception = Jennings), along with both O tackles and center, 2 servicable RBs excluding Miller (contract due next season), and along w/our QB.
Maybe eggs all in with these core of players. That is fine, because all of the above mentioned players are ascending players w/the exception of maybe Albert (O line tackle). But eggs all in doesn’t necessarily mean this season alone.
Eggs all in for Philbin, not so much for the rest….
Opps! Wrong article response. True though!
As far as guards, eggs are all in with this group. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that they step up or the process gets us another starting guard. Hope they are hard boiled eggs, going to have to be practicing against Miami’s D line every day – good luck w/that!
The key will be Albert, because if he can stay healthy, than he is the glue that will keep this line together. If not that this O-line becomes a hand me down patched quilt blanket with lots of chances to rip along the seems
Scenario # 2 for offensive production:
Facts: 3 passes throw over 30 yards last season ( No worry’s)
1. Allow Aljai to heal as well ( Lamar Miller and Williams wants the ball give them ball).
2. Allow tannehill to be more mobile while throwing this is his strength.
3. Matt Moore and Freeman can throw deep! Utilize all players
4. Have some patience running the ball.
5. Running the ball will give the dolphins stamina to go the distant. When you can run on a team like the New England Patriarch, Ravens, and the (Houston Texans) whom a team the Dolphins have never beaten? The Dolphins are then ready for the playoff’s.
Lastly putting every game on the passer is not fair and irresponsible.
Steve I agree completely with your thoughts on running the ball. With Miller, Ajayi and Williams we have a solid 3 man rotation that each has a unique skill set. Also this will help wear down opposing defenses and give our own defense a rest
The years Miami were dominant they were a running team mainly the passing will come. Play your Rooky Linemen the only way to no what you have.
League
Championships 2 – 1972 (Super Bowl), 1973 (Super Bowl)
Conference
Championships 5 – 1971 (AFC), 1972 (AFC), 1973 (AFC), 1982 (AFC), 1984 (AFC)
Division
Championships 12 – 1971 (AFC East), 1972 (AFC East), 1973 (AFC East), 1974 (AFC East), 1979 (AFC East), 1981 (AFC East), 1983 (AFC East), 1984 (AFC East), 1985 (AFC East), 1992 (AFC East), 1994 (AFC East), 2000 (AFC East)
Playoff
Appearances 21 – 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983,1 984, 1985, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2008
Plus it is much easier for our guards and other lineman to run block than pass block, so play to the strength of our line and don’t be afraid to run the ball
Scenario # 1 for offensive line:
1. Play your rookies now its time to coach.
2. Play to your offensive line Strength (Dolphins Rookies can run block) it is proven!
3. Learn how to utilized all eleven player in the blocking scheme
4. Coach to run the football most of the time (less wear and tear on your line)
I recall prior to free agency and the draft the offensive Tackle position was discarded over the available receivers. Now some are concerned about the condition of the offensive line.
Here are the facts: 1. Branden Albert is currently in Rehab?
2. Best to allow him to heal best investment to playoff’s
3. Realistic return and healthy game 7
4. Play your rooky linemen (Suh and Cam will fine tune Them)
.
What is done is done
Meaning we know what should have happened, but for several reasons it did not.
The F.O. felt good about a trade for Jordan until the day before the draft – That would have brought in a very good guard in Mathis. They also missed out in free agency when they targeted a Guard that went elsewhere. So now we are faced with 2 Guard positions as question marks. We add to that The Albert situation where we are not sure if he will last the whole season, and we have ourselves a bad situation. But I still trust that there is a plan from this front office. Our fourth round pick might also surprise us and win a starting job. He was pretty good in college.
We have 2 good front office guys, and so far Hickey has proven to make all the right decisions.
So going forward how do we fix this problem for this year. As I see it there are maybe 3 options left.
1. wait to see who is cut and sign up. Go hard after those that are proven better Guards, than what we currently have. The problem here is that other teams might make a better offer.Although we have a bit over 7 million left in the CAP for this year.
2. Make a trade IE: Rishard Mathews for Mathis, plus a fifth round pick to the Eagles. They need receivers and we have an extra one (Mathews) that is a pretty good slot receiver.
3. Sign someone who is not signed up with a team. There has to be someone who played last year and was not re-signed.Maybe a Long, or someone else that might want to play one more year, and give them an incentive laden minimum vet salary contract.
I am sure our Front Office (F.O.) (Hickey and Tannebaum) are looking at all of these possibilities, but only one is pro-active, and that is a trade. They must really work hard to try and make a trade and should be trying to work one out right now, before it is too late. If we have no player to trade, then we have to give up a 3rd or 4th round selection next year to pick up a starting Guard this year, that might not be a bad investment. Will the Eagles trade Mathis for a third rounder ? will we be able to re-structure his contract ? This questions need to be answered ASAP.
I can understand why the coach is trying to portray a feeling to the fans that our Guards have improved tremendously, and that they might just be fine once the season starts. I hope that is true and that we are all pleasantly surprised by their performance.
I agree with Diego, next draft we need to be thinking of drafting an offensive line player in the first round. (Probably Albert’s eventual replacement) and play him as a guard until he has to play Tackle.
The F.O. has done a magnificent job so far in upgrading our team. We all know that it cannot all be done in one year. We are getting closer though. Next year we will be ready to challenge, and we will go very deep in the playoffs. This year though, if our offensive line holds, and our D can hold, we will be very competitive and in the playoffs. No question about it, “our offensive weapons have arrived”.
Yes there is only so many holes we can fill in one off-season, and next year first round should be a LT
Albert is the new Jake Long. This will come back to bite this offense in the ass.
They should be working James at LT during OTAs and preseason because he’s gonna end up there one way or another.
Just sayin.
Could be right. I’m thinking that you are off on this one and that Albert will be there for the entire ’15 season. Again, I am an optimist, so I guess I’m being bias. Albert seems to be focused on the up coming season and doing his part to be ready for the season opener.
I hope Albert will be playing all season, however, his age and recent injury history is a big question mark
Depth with the offensive line is definitely my biggest concern. The starting situation is tricky, but like the article said, should Albert not be ready in time, are we rolling with Fox? At least he is getting some reps with the 1st team. I don’t know much about the vet back ups we got in the off season, but thats probably all they are. Should anybody else go down, it could spell trouble for us specifically with the monster d-lines in our division. But next draft, we definitely need to think core positions like O-line and corner in the first couple of rounds. Without having seen a single game this season, it looks like we have assembled the most talent in the skill positions we have had in a good decade if not two. If we can run the ball this year behind the gigantic question mark of an offensive line, we will have the best year as fans we have had in recent memory. The wildcat was fun to watch, but 4-5 receiver sets with all receivers and TEs switching positions on the field will be even more fun. But that is only fun on 3rd and 2 after you run the ball down their throats, and not on 3rd and 12 after getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage and then sacked.
I agree with your comments. Look how good our O line looked in last year’s first game.Moreno had a great game running the football against the Patriots and we beat them. Then as the season wore on injuries, lack ok depth led to Tannehill having to rush his throws, got sacked a record number of times and the running game suffered. I know we had a lot of holes to fill and we did a pretty good job upgrading the talent but with the salary cap you can only do so much each year and we didn’t get all we need this year. We needed linebacker that we really didn’t get all we need but I did like the Mike Hull pick. We needed D backs and we couldn’t get all the offensive lineman we needed.
Jake Long is done playing football! He too is injury prone and cannot perform at as a offensive tackle. The blind side that is. 16 games makes for a long season. Our coaching staff
made NOoooo attempt to try to rebuild our line!!! We have to wait and see if a team like Dallas has some offensive linemen on their practice squad and pick them up, any team that has a abundance of linemen available. Other-wise Our QB will get hurt and have no time to throw to our great receiving core. This is our only hope in saving the 2015 season. We should be looking at the CFL. and see if we can steal a player from them. Buffalo may have some over-flow. We must do some scrambling and do our due diligence!!!!All the Miami fans must look at helping our team with suggestions. Keep our eyes and ears focused on reading and send the coaching staff any good possibilities.
Yeah, Jake is finished. MAYBE he could play somewhere at RT….maybe. But, then there are his injuries. He was such a good player who had his career cut even shorter that Boselli.
what about bring in Jake Long back in and get him or whichever of the 3 tackles is best for guard put him there. That’s an awesome spot to have 3really good tackles includingAlbert,James,Long