Phins Made Big Moves In The Trenches… Are They Winners?

Miami’s interior O-line has had an upgrade of consistency and talent…

…But the Phins let go of their best D-Line player in Suh

Dolphins fans have said it over and over and over: Miami won’t be a consistently good team until they improve the trenches.

Sure the ‘skills’ on both sides of the ball get all the accolades, but the ‘glory boys’ can’t do jack unless the lines are doing their part. While the casual fan may not realize the full effect that the trenches have on the outcome of a game, the more savvy fan knows that winning at the LOS drastically increases your odds of winning games.

Now you can’t fault the Dolphins for a lack of trying to improve the lines on both sides of the ball over the years. The problem is, the Phins efforts have mostly ended in failures for one reason or the other.

1. Overpaying Suh
2. Drafting Martin
3. Pouncey’s injuries
4. Long’s injuries
5. Thomas, Turner, Grove, Carey, Jerry, Satele
6. Phillips?

Imagine if even half of these moves worked out?

If the Phins OL finally performs, then the ball will be in Tannehill’s court

This season the Dolphins are at it again. Among fans, the latest string of moves have received mixed reviews. But given how jaded (and rightly so) the fanbase is can you blame them? Phinsnews though feels good about where Miami is heading… but they still have many miles to cross.

The Dolphins signed former Pro Bowl Guard Josh Sitton, and not only is he an immediate upgrade at Guard, but he brings much-needed leadership to this position group. So far, Gase hasn’t had much luck with FA’s in Miami… But I think he wins on this one.

Sitton is still very effective at 31 (32 heading into the season). PFF has him as the 5th ranked Guard. He isn’t a mauler. Instead, he shields and holds his ground at the point of attack very well. His feet are still light and his hand fighting is excellent. Also, he’s a master at the art of holding… and uses it profusely. But as I said he’s a master and was only flagged for 2 holding penalties in 2017. Sitton was very rarely beat in 2017. The last play in the clip below was the only whiff in the 3 games of his review.

Sitton is still a Top 5 Left Guard

Sitton has missed some games over the last 2 seasons. There’s some chirping that he’s injury prone, but the injury that effectively ended his 2017 Season was just bad luck. It doesn’t appear that he’s breaking down. Although, he did miss the 2nd Half of a game midway through the season with a concussion. But he came back strong a week later and performed at a high level. So his vitality is still there.

Tannenbaum was prepared and pulled off a fine trade when Pouncey was released

In the initial review, the Phins seem to have made a nice swap at Center by releasing the often injured Mike Pouncey and acquiring Daniel Kilgore for an exchange of 7^th RD picks with the 49ers. PFF graded Kilgore as the 18th best run blocking Center in 2017. Davis, Sitton, Kilgore will give the Dolphins a whole new look when attacking the A and B gaps. In a cursory study, it’s obvious that with Kilgore you are replacing point of attack power for Pouncey’ ability to work blocks at the second level. This will bring a higher level of consistency to the run game.

While Pouncey was a highly respected player in this organization, he was plagued with injuries over the years. And even though he played a full 16 games last year, he wasn’t as dominant as he used to be. While Phinsnews hopes the best for Pouncey, most pay per head bookie sites are giving slim odds that he plays a full season in 2018.

Kilgore has been a starter for 39 games at Center, so he’s a vet. His level of play recently earned him a new contract… only to end up replaced in FA. The only worry I have is, is why did the 49ers sign Center Weston Richburg and get rid of Kilgore? Was it simply a move to upgrade? Youth? Or was there something more?

Phinsnews is working on a thorough film study on Kilgore

Unlike Sitton, Kilgore is far more of an unknown quantity. As an example, Kilgore’s play drastically improved when Jimmy Garoppolo was under center. Was it more a product of finally having a competent offense or was it merely a blip on the radar? It’s hard to tell because he played in such a terrible offense for so long compared to his brief run in a competent one.

But our resident film junky M.J. had this to say based on a limited observation:

“After watching Kilgore’s game against the Jags late in the season, I was pleasantly surprised. Even though Kilgore was given some tough responsibilities against massive Marcell Dareus (331Lbs), he didn’t have a bad snap all game… some stalemates yes, but he was never beat. Even with Dareus in the 1 tech playside on Zone Stretch runs, Kilgore was able to provide at the very least adequate space for the runner to gain yards. He seems to handle power fairly well in both run and pass protection. This is a stark contrast to Pouncey and removes a major weakness from the Phins Offense. Ironic, Kilgore’s Zone stretch skills would have been perfectly suited for Jay Ajayi.”

Hate to beat a dead horse, but here’s a reminder of how Pouncey handled power with DT’s in the 0,1, or 2i tech:

Suh was just too damn expensive… but how does Gase replace his snaps?

The big surprise (sort of) was the parting of ways with Suh. Even though his departure leaves a big void to fill, the price tag attached to his attitude was just too much. Phinsnews likes the release of Suh–this was one of the more popular moves among the fanbase. Yes, he held his own even against two blockers (mostly), but the price was always prohibitive… and even more so now as Suh begins to decline.

At present, Miami will go into the 2018 Season with Phillips and Godchaux as the starter. Of course, this could change come draft day. While I’d prefer a Linebacker at #11, they must add a DT at some point in the Draft. Maybe they’ll hit later in the draft like they did with Godchaux? That, of course, wouldn’t be good odds.

With our luck, the Dolphins will draft a Defensive End at #11… No! I must stay positive: Linebacker, linebacker, linebacker.

Is it possible that the Phins brass made all the right moves?

Miami did make some nice moves at DE to mitigate the loss of Suh. While they’ve become less stout in the interior D-Line, the addition of stud pass rusher in Robert Quinn and the return of William Hayes, who was excellent against the run, is a bit more than a nice booby prize. With Charles Harris entering his second year, and Branch hopefully getting healthy the Dolphins pass rush on paper looks to be trending up.

So even with the Draft about a month away, it appears that Miami has done some good things, particularly in the trenches. This should go a long way towards making them a more balanced team… and that’s needed in the worst way. It will be interesting to see if these two units can finally become a strength for this team, instead of a disappointment?  What are the rest of the Miami Dolphins News fans thoughts about what Miami has done to bulk up the trenches?