Going into Thursday nights Preseason Game there was one key improvement that I was hoping for: discipline. I especially wanted to see the offensive presnap penalties well under control.
Not only did Miami prove to be more disciplined, but Mike Gesicki had a good showing when it came to blocking… and that was a big surprise.
Yes, Miami needs to become even more disciplined, and two key players are still struggling with the same ole’ issues when it comes to penalties… But 7 penalties for 52 yards is solid at this point, especially with most of those penalties coming in the second half. Also, the only offensive presnap penalty came late in the 2nd half with Connor Hilland’s false start.
Now, Ja’Wuan James still shows a tendency to grab on wide runs, and Davon Godchaux is continuing his trend to jump early. These need fixing, for sure. Both are key players. But the fact that Laremy Tunsil didn’t get flagged is big… and a rarity. If he can just lock this aspect of his game down, then Miami will be in a good position to have an effective O-line.
Preseason is about tryouts, growth, and building consistency
The Offensive Line was solid. And given they are a new group and this is the 1st Preseason Game, their overall play offers hope.
- Laremy Tunsil was disciplined, solid in pass protection, and only blatantly missed one assignment in Run Blocking.
- Josh Sitton was as good as billed.
- Daniel Kilgore was solid, but his power moved interior defenders on two key runs.
- Jesses Davis was solid… nothing spectacular, but that’s light years better than what’s been at RG in the past. There was only one run play that he took a slight loss on. He continues to have zero flags.
- Ja’ Wuan James is still playing less than his talent and was the only starting O-Linemen flagged. But his history shows he struggles on Outside Zone runs… that history is continuing
Preseason has offered up a nice surprise
Now to take a closer look at the big surprise to many fans and pay per head review sites.
Mike Gesicki blocked pretty darn well. It’s only one game and for less than a quarter of play, but the film is very encouraging. Funny, I saw more issues with his routes than his blocking. Go figure.
Gesicki has a good grasp of NFL holding: A handful of jersey inside the numbers is all good. Can he teach that to Ja’Wuan James? While he’s driven back in the second play, that’s because he had two defenders to deal with. In the 3rd play, Gesicki opened the lane and it was Gray’s missed block that kept the run from being a big gain.
These two plays displayed excellent blocking. In the first play, againGesicki takes on one blocker and interferes with a second…just enough to allow the runner time to get beyond the LOS. Armando Salguero was very excited about the draw play on 3rd and 11 that netted a near 1st down. But it was Gesicki that made the key block. That was the biggest ‘hurrah’ for me on that one.
Even in his pass protection, Gesicki showed improvement.
Yup, Tannehill missed an easy throw, the defense was shredded, and Carroo is likely a waste of picks. But the play of Wilson, Fitzpatrick, and Fales was a nice counterbalance. The interior of the D-Line is my only real concern at the moment. The caveat to that is Jordan Phillips wasn’t starting and he’s appearing to finally have turned up the dial. All in all, things went pretty well and the team looks far ahead of where they were in last year’s first Preseason Game. Still, it’s early, but so far so good. Go Phins!!!
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